TheBanyanTree: I Was So Tire-d!!

[Pam North]

(Note:  I spent last weekend in Hershey, PA with my son while he
competed in the Hershey Track & Field Games North Atlantic Finals,
competing in the Softball Throw, Boys 13-14 years old.  The company
put on a great meet and took great care of the kids competing!)


The meet was over.  And the weekend was pretty much over as well.  It
was great fun, it was entertaining, it was rewarding!  Except for an
hour 'dance' that Charlie really didn't even want to go to, it was all
done and he was ready to go home.  (Okay.. he wasn't "ready", but he
was accepting!)

I was going to pick him up from the dorm and start driving south with
him so that I, A, didn't have to try and race home to get to the
airport at the scheduled arrival time and pick him up, and B, so I'd
have some company.  He'd enjoyed the plane ride up, but he wasn't too
broken up about having to miss the return trip.

The girls and boys were each in separate dorms at a nearby college,
and we had to go to the girls' dorm and sign for our children!  The
chaperons were very security conscious and requested we bring ID to
get them.

So it was after ten Saturday night, when the evening's 'festivities'
and  'celebrations' were completed, and we could go retrieve our
children.  Right!  Me and about a billion other parents!

The dorm had a long one-way drive, and by the time I got there, it was
already loaded with cars of parents waiting.  The cars were all along
one side, and the other was open enough for cars to drive through. 
And all the spots were taken!  When I got to the end, I saw that cars
were lining the sides of the side streets as well, so I 'made' my own
spot at the very end, over to the right where the drive widened.  It
wasn't legal, but it was safe and out of the way, and it was late and
I was looking at an eight-hour drive!

So I parked, grabbed the keys, locked my car, and walked to the dorm
entrance.  I was all the way up to the information desk before I
realized that I'd left my ID in the car!  And I turned around and
traipsed back to my car to get it.

As I walked up on my car from rear, I realized that there was actually
another foot or so that I could move closer to the curb on the right,
just to make more sure that there was enough room for passing cars. 
So instead of just grabbing my ID and going back, I got in, started
the car, and turned the wheel tot he right and gave it gas.

And managed to hit the curb at the exact spot that the curb protruded
roughly - rough enough to scrape my rim, gouge my tire, and cause a
large 'whooshing' sound that I knew was the air leaving my tire!!!!!! 
CRAP!!!!!

Guess I got a little *too* close!

Now, I've changed a few tires in my day.  And I'm not intimidated or
scared by a flat tire.  But I *was* a little concerned about getting
to my spare!  My car, which is actually a GMC Jimmy (SUV) has a spare
under the vehicle.  Somehow, you're supposed to get it down...

Okay.  I broke out the owner's manual and my trusty flashlight, sat on
the ground behind the car, and started reading.  I knew where the jack
was, it just took me a few minutes to re-figure out that it wasn't
coming loose until I unscrewed the 'holding' cap.  And a couple more
minutes to realize that the bi-bolt-remover-thingy (whose name I can't
remember right now!) was deeper in the compartment and not attached to
the jack.

I got up and down several times checking this and that and scoping out
a plan.  Meanwhile, other fortunate parents have claimed their
children and are leaving.  Driving by, walking by.  Totally ignoring
this pathetic 'damsel in distress' at the side of the road!  (Okay,
*I* knew I wasn't a DID, but THEY didn't and they didn't stop to ask
either!)

Actually, it turned out to be a pretty simple evolution, inserting the
unknown-named thingy into the hole and rotating it to lower the cable
holding the tire under the car.  And pulling the tire out and
unhooking it from the cable.  Easy!  And in fact, it was pretty simple
to just reverse the process and raise the cable back up and out of the
way before I even bothered getting up since I knew I wouldn't try and
put the flat tire back under.

Easy!  The real problem came when I tried to remove the hubcap!  I'd
been at it for fifteen or twenty minutes and I was hot and sweaty and
frustrated with the hubcap.  My hands were totally blackened from the
spare tire, and I was wishing that the hubcap would just LET GO when I
tried to pry it from the tire.

FINALLY,  a nice gentleman from Idaho stopped and offered assistance! 
I really didn't want to just jump up and hand over the tool (like a
good damsel in distress would!), but he seemed to be confident and
insistent, and so I obliged him.  Good thing too!  'Cause you know
that hubcap I was trying to remove??  Well, it was actually the rim!!!
 The way mine is designed, only the very center piece is removed to
get to the lug nuts!  Sheesh!

So we formed a team.  I worked the jack up and down, and he loosed the
lugs, and then removed them.  I rolled the spare over, and he removed
the mangled mess and replaced it with the spare.  During this time,
another woman who worked at the college stopped by, and she joined in
helping him and I really did feel helpless!!!

But my tire got changed!!!!!  And I tossed the mangled one into the
back of the car.  And right about that time, the North Carolina
chaperon, Charlie's, walked by and said, "Hey!  There you are! 
Where've you been?  Charlie went on to the dance because we didn't
know where you were!!  Kirk tried to call but you didn't answer!"

Well DUH!!  Who's going to stop and answer their cell phone when
they're covered in grease and dirt and sweating over a flat tire?!?!? 
She told me her story and I told her mine, and then she called ahead
for my child.

With my tire all changed (and thankfully it was a full-sized spare and
not a 'donut'!!) I went back to the dorm - with ID this time! - and
filled out the required forms, flashed my ID, and even got to wash my
hands!!!!

When Charlie found me, we loaded his suitcase (around the bad tire!),
loaded up, he curled up, and I started driving south.

I don't think I took the most direct route to the interstate, but
since I didn't KNOW a route at all!!, any was better than none! 
Unfortunately, after driving for only a couple of hours, I knew I'd
never make it all the way south, so I made up a Plan B!  I pulled off
at an exit that had a Wal-mart, parked in the middle of their lot,
cracked the windows, locked the doors, stole the one blanket from
Charlie, and took a FIVE HOUR nap!!!  (Okay, OKAY!!!  I'll confess
*completely*!!!  I woke up a couple of hours later, saw Charlie was
*holding* the one pillow, so I stole that too and put it under my
head!!!!)

It was almost six before I finally WOKE up and realized that we had to
hit the road!  Nice nap!

Pam

(Oh ya...  Charlie won FIRST place with a throw of 249' 8"... not
bad!!!  Forgive me for bragging!)