Wednesday, January 13, 2010

13/365 Bad day

Today wasn't great - but it is much better than it could have been.

The trouble started on my way to work when my right left tire blew out. Complete blow out while I was driving. This on a 13 month old tire!

I was able to safely get off the road (thank God) and assess the situation. I called Matt, who was unable to answer the phone because he was still at work, called a tow truck and called work to let them know I was definitely running late.

Then I waited. While waiting I found out that I was the second flat tire on that stretch of road in a week. Guess there was something in the road.

Finally Matt arrived and was able to change the tire before the two truck. So I called to cancel it.

Here's the tire damage:

My bad day

And the spare on the car:

My bad day

Notice how the spare looks low? Yeah. It was. So I call into work again and let them know I'll still be late. They start laughing. Matt tells me to rush up to the tire place to check the air while he packs up everything - the bad tire, the jack, etc. So I leave him and hurry off.

Luckily it was just low - no leak or hole. So they fill it up and I'm good to go. Finally, after all this delay, I'll make it to work. But I have to wait for Matt to get there so he doesn't worry. So I wait, and wait, and wait, and wait. Just as I'm about to give up and head to school - Matt calls.

Wait for it - wait for it.....



He's out of gas.

Seriously.

His car has run out of gas at the bottom of the hill about a block away from the gas station. I can't give him too much of a hard time, he did just rescue me. And the car is 18 years old and doesn't like the cold. The sensor might have just been off. Yeah, we'll stick to that story.

I call work again to let them know the latest developments and they can't stop laughing.

So now I have to go back and pick him up.

And then take him to get a gas can.

And then take him to the gas station to get gas.

Finally! Our adventures are nearly done.

But wait.

There's more.

Sitting at the gas station with Matt in the car, ready to head back to his car with the tank of gas at his feet - my car dies.

Yep. You heard right. Dead battery.

After exclaiming a few choice words and wondering if we might have broken a mirror somewhere, I call in to work again. This time I update them and the laughter is overwhelming. They tell me to forget it - don't bother coming in. But thanks for the laugh :)

So Matt walks back to his car and I baby sit the bug. Then Matt drives back and fills up his car. Then he drives home to get the tool kit. Then he drives back to get the battery out. Then we drive off to take the battery in.

A few hours later and one fully charged battery - he is finally able to get it in and the car starts.

Changing the battery

Thank God.

Unfortunately he strained his back in the process, so he can't make it to work tomorrow. But all in all, we are very lucky. Lucky to have each other to help, lucky we were safe and lucky that we were able to handle things ourselves.

Here's hoping next week is better!

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