Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Flat Tire Fiasco or how not to change a flat tire.

I went in to work today only to go to a 7 oclock meeting.  My plan was then to make one stop and head home.  Lo and behold when I got back to my car it had a flat tire. 

Kind of deflated my mood a little, but no biggie I can change a flat. 

Step 1

Call my husband so I have moral support and trouble shooting help.  Put him on speaker phone.

Step2

Dig out the three huge garbage bags of clothes in the trunk that were supposed to have gone to the Rescue Mission months ago and put them in the back seat of the car so if anyone comes down to the parking garage I don't look like I am hauling around garbage.

Step3

Dig out the spare tire/donut and the tools and the little crappy car jack that comes with the car.

Step 4
Loosen the lugnuts.  Not as easy as it sounds. I don't have a tire iron just a bunch of great tools and so first I have to figure out what size of socket wrench I need. Start cussing.

Step 5
Jack up the car. Also not as easy as it sounds as it is a crappy little car jack and takes about 10 times more work than it should.  Cuss some more.  Finally get it to where I can take off the tire and the car jack folds in half.  Car is now back where it started and I have  no car jack.  Deep breath

Step 6
Go upstairs to the staff lounge praying all the while someone with a car jack is in there.  I am in luck.  One of the surgeons generously hands me his truck keys, tells me where to find it, says it is a crappy little car jack too, but if I want to wait for him to finish his case he will come help me.  Great, except he is in a longer case and I don't want to wait that long.

Step 7
Go find his truck and locate car jack.  I have some minor difficulties locating it and figuring out how to get to it, but do.  I can't get it out of the truck.  It appears to be bolted down.  Run back down to the parking garage and grab some sockets and a wrench I think will work.  Run back to the truck only to discover they are too small.  Run back to parking garage get some larger sizes, run back to truck, I now have the right size but the freaking socket is too short.  EFF!  Run back down to car, grab a ton of tools, go back to truck and finally get it unbolted from the floor of the pickup.  At this point I discovered I didn't need to unbolt it all I had to do was turn a little handle and it would have come free.  Start laughing, think about crying.

Step 8
I can't figure out the car jack. 

There are some extra parts I don't know if I need or not. Go back to nurses lounge and between three of us nurses we couldn't figure it out.  Call hospital security.  They offer to air up my tire.  I don't want it aired up I want my spare on.  They transfer me to maintenance.  The offer to air up my tire.  Finally they admit they have a car jack and tell me they will meet me at my car.

Step 9
Go back to my car, get car jack figured out and car halfway jacked up, when maintenance finally shows up with a real car jack.  Maintence man jacks up my car and looks impressed with all the tools I have and with the fact that I have the lugnuts loosened. I try to impress him some more by trying to take the lugnuts off and tighten them instead.  Ooops.  Damn socket wrench.   He helps get the tire changed and drives away.

Step 10
Get everything cleaned up turn around look at tire, it is nearly FLAT!  I mean it might as well be flat.  Shrug my shoulders and get in the car.

Step 11
Drive to Walmart so I can get it fixed and get my Christmas shopping finsihed. They tell me it will be 45 minutes to an hour.  PERFECT, things are looking up!  Go shopping, take my time, pay, go check on car.  Still not done.  Sit down, read some magazines.  It took 2.5 hours to fix a flat tire! 

By the time I left I was so frustrated.  I wish I would have brought my running shoes. I could have got a nice long run done, instead I don't get home until 1pm and the weather is no longer sunny and warm.  It is cold and windy. 
 

On the bright side I finished the kids Christmas shopping and came home to some great new socks to review and you will all have a chance to win a pair after I get them tried out! 

20 comments:

  1. AHHH! So frustrating, but also told in a hilarious manner, so well done.

    I've actually only had one flat tire in my life (knock on wood) and had a semi similar experience. I got a flat, a super hot guy walked by (I was in the city) and asked if I needed help changing the flat. I obviously said yes. He pulled out my spare and it was flat too. I called a tow. lol

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  2. Oh man. Sorry you had such a hard time. Sometimes things are so frustrating all you can do is laugh when you really feel like crying. Glad you were able to get your shopping done though. At least Running Ricig's stranger stopped to help. When I had a flat, 3-5 guys walked by and didn't even ask to help. I had to change it all by myself. At least I can say I changed a tire by myself I guess:)

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  3. Oh man that seems like a totally crazy tire debacle! I bet you are glad to be done with that and for some reason it reminds me of the crazy times I have had...at least in the future you will laugh!

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  4. Whoa that sucks, but wow talk about handy in a crisis. I'd have no clue where to start with a dang flat tire. Can't wait to hear about the socks!

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  5. Oh dear! You dealt with it so much better than I would have.

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  6. Agh, flat tires are the worst!!! I've had so many flats lately too--maybe there is something going around :)

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  7. you are way better than me
    I would not know where to start
    I mean kind of,..but I would not attempt to fix it myself!

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  8. oh my gosh this sounds like the worst morning ever! i would have had a melt down, been lying on the ground of the parking garage crying, and probably bashed in all of the windows to my car. changing a tire is tricky, tried to do it once in -20 degree weather and it took me almost an hour to loosen the bolt thingys because it was so flippin cold, next time it happens i'm just going to abandon my car and buy a new one. seems like it would be so much easier.

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  9. ugh I'm so sorry. Sounds like an awful day. Hope that tomorrow is a better day!

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  10. Ugh, hate flat tires! Good job, though!

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  11. Ugh- this sounds horrible! I hate when things like this happen!!!

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  12. That is sucky and funny all at the same time. You are a tougher cick than I am, I would've called the nearest shop and paid them to tow me or fix it.

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  13. You need to get AAA! Then you just have 3 steps. Step 1, call AAA, Step 2, wait for them to get there, Step 3, let them do it!

    I feel like I have earned the right to say this. I have changed probably 10 flat tires (living and working in a very industrial area will do that), and 2 flat tires ago, after I changed it with the help of some nice bystanders, my dealership "lost" my jack, so I now no longer have one. I learned this during my last flat tire. The one from our truck is too big to fit under our car. I am stuck calling AAA until we buy a new one. They are not cheap, so I have just been calling AAA every since.

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  14. Oh, I'm so sorry, that just sucks! But you kept it positive- at least you got the Xmas shopping done AND great socks to review!!!

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  15. I hate flat tires. Makes me almost thankful for my recent run of dead batteries. Those at least are easily solved by a call to AAA. ;o)

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  16. Oh wow! I can change my tires now but I almost always have trouble loosening those nuts. :)
    I had AAA before until I realized that they are only good in non-emergency/time frame situations. Once my car veered off road and into a ditch in a rainy day with tornado warning. Called AAA and I didn't see anyone until about 1 hour later. Boyfriend had a wreck out-of-state in a snow storm. AAA wasn't able to get to him. He got someone else instead. :)

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  17. Oh wow! I am sorry to hear that you had such a rough day! Great to hear you got all of that Christmas shopping done!

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  18. This was before you read my blog, but I had two flat tires in three weeks! And I don't know how to change a tire, at all! So I am super impressed that you got that far! So sorry you had to go through that. I would be so frustrated and I think I would be cursing a lot as well. Ugh, what a nightmare!!!

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  19. Oh no, that is awful! I'm impressed that you tried….I think I would've called my hubby to get him on his way or AAA :)

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  20. Geez!
    Fiasco is definitely the right word. Good for you for getting through it and not just throwing in the towel!

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