I was all alone at home watching a football game and sorting through some old baseball cards when my wife called. She had gone to the grocery store and picked up lunch for her daughter. On her way home with the dogs, she heard a pop from the right front tire just before it went flat. Fortunately, she had just gotten off the interstate and was able to find a parking spot about eight blocks from our apartment. She and the dogs were thankfully safe. However, a perfectly relaxing afternoon had just turned into a hassle for me, as I walked over to change the tire. 

It had been too long since I’ve changed a flat and was certain that one of the lug nuts required a special tool for removal. I couldn’t remember where that wrench was stored, and seemed to remember that they couldn’t find it at a Jiffy Lube location the last time I wanted the tires rotated. This was in the back of my mind as I unloaded three cases of water, a case of wine, grocery bags, cases, and luggage from the trunk. Living in an apartment with limited storage means that our car is always packed to the max with crap. My wife’s trip to the store added to that cluster.  It took a lot of time to get everything out, so I could finally get to the spare and search for the special lug nut wrench. I was ready to call AAA when a good Samaritan happened by and offered to help. 

He was walking home wearing a backpack and must have noticed the perplexed look on an old man’s face, as I was surrounded by a pile of groceries, a skinny spare tire, and the scattered parts to operate the jack. To add to my frustration, I explained to him that I couldn’t find the special socket necessary to remove the flat. Upon inspection, he reported that it wasn’t necessary – it had been removed on that tire – probably at Jiffy Lube. The next challenge was to find the notch on the frame to secure the jack, so I dug through the glove compartment to find the instruction manual. The car was also parked too close to the curb and required some innovation to raise the frame enough to remove and replace the tire. The spare, of course, was low on air but he had a pump in his backpack that allowed me to get to the nearest gas station. The guy was a lifesaver, but I only had $8 in my wallet to give him. 

I scheduled an appointment at Les Schwab Tire, conveniently located in our neighborhood. The tricky part is how much to put into a car that we’ll probably only drive 5,000 miles more before selling? We just have to safely drive it to Florida in the spring. Sadly, it’s probably not worth much more than it will cost for new tires, an alignment, and a tune-up. If there are other issues, we might have to sell it here and rent a vehicle to get to Florida, another costly consideration. It’s all part of the challenge of getting our schnauzer pup Tally cross-country to our new home. I was hoping to put off this decision until after the first of the year, but a flat tire has suddenly changed all of that thinking!