Today was "one of those days". I kept fighting "chance" all day and "chance" kept winning. When will I learn??
It started when I woke up late. I hardly ever sleep late anymore. I kinda wake up automatically at 7am or earlier. Today I woke at 9:02am. That's not terrible except we were supposed to be downtown at by 10:00am.
This is when I should have given up.
I persisted though. I looked for some clothes and realized that the majority of the boys clothing was still dirty from our camping trip. I'd thrown some in the washer the night before but they were still wet. I ran in and threw 2 pair of pants in the drier. If I could get them dry-ish by 9:30 we could still make it. I ran back into the bedroom to find myself something to wear and it was like aliens abducted me and I had lost time. It was now 9:25! EGAD!!!! I hadn't even bathed. I gave myself a spit bath and yelled at the kids to get up,, QUICKLY!
(yes, the kids will not get out of bed unless I yell at them)
We managed to get it together and headed out the door at 9:50. We were going to be late but we were still going to make it... kinda.
As we were getting off the exit at 16th st. , I hear THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP
and I thought "when did they put rumble strips in here?"
Then I got a sick feeling, there are no rumble strips, it was my tire.
Where was I going to pull off? I found a RiteAid and pulled towards the back of the parking lot.
Getting out of the car, I hear a loud hiss. T1 also heard it and pointed at the front passenger tire.
"There it is!"
Looking down, I saw this:
Some giant chunk of road trash was lodged in my tire. It was loosing air fast. In just a few moments the tire was almost completely flat. Great, I'm going to have to change the tire. Now I'm no stranger to changing tires, I've done it many times but never on the Pathfinder. I know it makes no difference how big the car is that you're changing the tire on but jacking up that beast made me a little nervous.
First things first though. I had to find the supplies in the back to do it. I located the jack tools pretty easily and then I found the jack. The jack was BOLTED DOWN to the back of the car! Now this seems like a pretty simple obstacle to overcome but nothing is ever simple right?
- It's like 29 degrees out and I'm totally not dressed for 29 degrees because,, oh,,, I don't know,, it's OCTOBER? My hands were freezing. Like icicles I tell you!
- It is unclear where it is bolted down because it's embedded into the frame.
- It's never been removed before and it's REALLY in there.
(not my trunk btw)
I did finally get it unscrewed and I learned stuff I guess. The kids learned a few new curses, too.
So then I stand there and say "Where is the spare?" I seriously didn't know! T1 and T2 both simultaneously pointed under the car.
UNDER THE CAR???? WHAT?? YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDIN' ME!!!
So I have no idea how a person is supposed to get to that so if all else fails? Follow directions. I pulled out the owners manual and you will not believe this.
Really.. you won't. Get this, You have to assemble the jack tool in an unnatural fashion, blindly feed it down a long narrow hole in the bumper, and then imagine how to fit the "T" end of the jack tool into the key slot and then crank the tire down.
Again with the cursing. Really people, this is tricky.
So I get the spare off and by now, I'm FILTHY. That tire is GROSS. I move to the front of the car to put the jack under the frame. I'm laying on the ground trying to determine what is the car, what is the frame and what is fiberglass. It's not as cut and dry as one might think!
About now I hear "YOU NEED SOME HELP?"
The nicest old guy came over and helped me. As he was getting down on the ground to look under the car he said "I just had knee replacement 3 months ago, I better take it slow!"
Oh my goodness. I begged him to let me do it but he wouldn't hear of it.
We worked together and had that tire off and the spare on in no time flat after that. Such a nice guy. I was happy for the help. This also is not the best part of town. 16th St. is known for it's shady company. I knew immediately that this guy was decent. We missed the class at the library of course. This is quite a long and convoluted tale and I could regale you for hours because this is not the end.
We came home and I got a real life shower. By this point, bathing was NOT an option. I was gross. I called my mom to see if she needed a ride to work and she did indeed need a ride. That gave me just enough time to run up to the mall and get the tire fixed.
It's now about a quarter till 12 and I'm at National Tire and Battery. They've always been really good about fixing our tires. We seem to have the worst luck picking up nails in our tires. Pretty sad considering how infrequently that car leaves the driveway.
I tell the tire guy that I've picked up a LARGE piece of metal in my tire and he says that it'll be at least 2 hours. Great. So the boys and I went to wander about the mall for a while. We had lunch and mooched some magazines at Borders. At 3pm I still hadn't heard from NT&B. They were supposed to call my cell when they were ready for me to come pick it up. I decided that we'd walk back to NT&B and wait there. We wait in the waiting room for about 10m when I decide that we have to go. I have to get mom to work by 4. When I step back out to the counter the tire man says "OH, I was just getting to yours!"
Really?
So I told him "how 'bout I leave the tire with you, I have to go" He says... (here's the kicker people) "oh! yeah, you can do that"
Really?
So he goes out to get the tire and comes back in without it. He was gone like 3 minutes? He lets me in on the news
"yeah, that hole is too big, we can't fix it"
Oh. My. God. You couldn't tell me this almost 3 HOURS AGO? I wanted to throttle him. I get to buy new tires. JOY.
So I whip over to Mom's house (which is fortunately right around the corner) and take her to work on 5th St. I got NOTHING accomplished today. NOTHING. No school, no class, none of my other errands and chores. Such a failed day. I didn't get home until 4:30 and I was really feeling my blood pressure rise. So what do I do? Eat Ruffles chips and dip for dinner. Real good for the blood pressure huh? I think I need some orovo.
Now I'm setting here at 1:46am and I realize I didn't turn the chicken light off. My poor birds are trying to sleep with a 45watt bulb shining in their face. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
I gave the kids the carving equipment and told them to "go to it" this is what they came up with! They had a lot of fun doing it.
The light and the leaves were just perfect.
T2 Dressed up as "A Halo Guy". He and daddy made the costume. Homemade costumes are the way to go aren't they? I mean, anyone can BUY a costume, but it takes more imagination and skill to come up with one on your own!
That's Miss Prissy by the way. She's the one who had the egg problems a while back. She and I have a bond now.
