This Is Not the Donut I Wanted!

​Last week, Mike got a second car ‘for funsies’ and is listing his main car on Turo on occasion to help offset the cost of owning a shiny Porsche convertible. Over the weekend we were playing musical cars. The Porsche went in his spot in the garage, the Mazda into mine, and mine outside because it was going to rain Friday night and we wanted the Mazda to be clean for the guy who was coming early Saturday morning to rent it for the long weekend. I was going to get mine washed over the weekend anyway, so I didn’t mind it being outside. We know how to compromise in this house 😊 And living in the desert makes this a weekly errand so it was on my To Do List.
During the process of moving my car from one side of the driveway to the other, I cut the wheel too hard and ran over one of the three decorative lights that are along the driveway. In my defense…I forgot they were there! It didn’t seem like a big deal, they’re plastic, at least one of them doesn’t even work so we were going to throw them away anyway. I looked at the tire and all seemed ok, so I kind of forgot about it.
Wednesday morning, as I arrived at the gym, the light went on my dashboard indicating that a tire had low pressure. When I returned to the car about an hour later, I looked at all my tires and none seemed at all low, so I made a mental note to get it to swing by Discount Tires to get them filled soon but wasn’t really worried about it. It’s not uncommon that as the weather changes, the pressure in my tires needs adjusting and it’s not enough to be urgent.
On Thursday, everything seemed normal. I picked the kids up from school, went to my brother’s house and hung out until it was time to take Paige to synchronized swim practice. As we’re on our way, I hit a small bump and then felt the awful and unmistakable sensation of driving on a flat tire. I was fortunately approaching a less busy street that I could turn into and pull over to assess the situation.
I haven’t had a flat tire in probably 15 years or more, but the process of changing one is not something you forget. I pulled out all the tools and spare form the back of my car and said to Paige: “You’re about to learn how to change a tire!” Interestingly, we had recently seen two ladies obstructing traffic while a nice police officer changed the tire for them, and I told her that when she gets her license, I would teach her how to change a tire so that she would never be helpless on the side of the road, so I was kind of excited to have this teaching opportunity occur.
I failed! The lug nuts were on so tight they just weren’t budging! Instead, I accepted my fate and called Roadside Assistance and Paige called her dad to get her to practice. ☹ To say I was disappointed is an understatement.
She got picked up and was on her way and I’m now just sitting in my car waiting. The ETA was anywhere between 30 and 90 minutes, you know, sort of like waiting for the cable guy. so I said, screw it, I can do this! I got back to the wrestling match of my muscles and the tire iron versus the lug nuts and the heat. HUZZAH! I got it to move! And then I got the next one! And the next one! I was so relieved! And out of breath and hot, my goodness! Have I mentioned recently how hot Phoenix is right now?? This is where my brother showed up and took over though. Not because I couldn’t! Changing a tire is really a one-person job, and obviously he wasn’t going to stand there and watch his little sister change a tire. HA! I am happy I was able to prove to myself that I could have done this. I’ve always enjoyed being able to do tasks that some men think women are not capable of. Would I have been cursing at the hundred-degree heat and growling the whole time? You betcha. But it would have been a personal accomplishment of which to be proud!
All things considered, this could have ended much, much worse, so I consider it lucky events unfolded the way they did. Small miracles!