Tire Trouble

I was driving around downtown looking for a Wells Fargo. There are four Wells Fargo locations downtown but they are either on one way streets or don’t have drive ups or are behind a locked gate. I was stopped at a red light about to turn onto the right one way street when this guy next to me honked and rolled down his window.

He told me my tire looked a little flat. Only then did I notice that my whole car was leaning to the right.

I pulled into the first parking lot I was. Magically, it turned out to be the elusive Wells Fargo parking lot. I opened the back and began looking for a jack. All I saw were three crowbar thingys… no jack. I called around until finally someone had pity on me and promised to go purchase a jack and meet me there.

I didn’t want to look totally helpless when they arrived so I tried to look busy. In doing so I found the jack!

I thought I would start the tire changing process. I started to turn the little knob on the jack and raise the car up. In the process I got my hands all dirty and the asphalt tore my little toe nail off. So I am howling jumping around the parking lot with my filthy hands infecting my open wound.

I should have stopped there, but I didn’t. I started taking the lug nuts of the tire. (Yes, I now know lug nuts come off before you raise the tire.) I got four of them off but the fifth was just so tight. A good Samaritan came by and asked if he could help. He looked like Andre the Giant so I said sure. He put the tire iron on the nut and gave it a jerk. The lug nut came off as well as the bolt it was screwed on to.

He quickly apologized, gave me a hug and tried to kiss me before jumping in his little car and zooming off.

I took the tire off. Yup. It was really broken.Finally reinforcements arrived and finished the process. Thank God, cause I would have never figured out how to lower the mud encrusted tire from under the Explorer.

While the spare was being reattached I called my local Goodyear to price new wheel parts. I talked to Mike who calmed me down and reassured me that a spare can be driven on even if the wheel only has four bolts. I told him I would bring him cookies.

Once the car was repaired I tried to drive it home. It made funny noises. So I just drove it to the Goodyear store. I left my poor injured baby in the middle of downtown Salt Lake overnight. If she never starts for me again I totally understand.

**Just a shout out to all the people I talked to that night who now think I am crazy: Grant, Mike and Magdalena, Alex, Mike @ Goodyear, Kelly, Jackie, Dad, Cam, and the Wells Fargo teller.