Blow Out!
Tire blow out, that is.
Yes, this evening on my way to the chiropractor's (they're real doctors, they ARE dammit!) office, I was driving happily along route 27, thinking of all the things I needed to do when I got home. When all of the sudden, out of nowhere, the curb jumped out at me and, low and behold, I ran right over it. Now, I have to admit I wasn't exactly paying the closest attention ever, but I wasn't talking on the phone or looking at the radio or doing anything else out of the ordinary (other than thinking).
Now, running over curbs is not exactly unheard of in Massachusetts. In fact, I've done it multiple times over the last 6 months. But it's never wreaked the havoc on my tire that it did this evening. As I pulled the car slowly forward, I heard that very distinct 'crunch' that is the sound of the car's wheel being squished.
Oops.
So I pulled into the closest driveway I could find. It was right next to a Unitarian Universalist Church, but the driveway itself belonged to the little house next door to the church. Once stopped, I got out of the car and looked at the tire.
Uhhh.. Wow. There was not one, but THREE large gashes in the tire and it was flat flat flat as a pancake. Truly, it is a sight to behold:
So I pulled out my Oregon AAA card and called the number, worried that I no longer actually lived in Oregon and thus, my AAA coverage might not be valid even though it was paid through July. Turns out the AAA card works everywhere, even though I now live in Mass!! As they took down my information and dispatched a truck ("my driver will be there within the hour!"), a woman about the age of 40 came out of the house and asked if I needed help. When I mentioned that AAA was sending a tow truck she just laughed and said, "I'll have you out of here in 5 minutes."
In reality it was more like 20 minutes, but she indeed pulled the jack out of her car (I thought I had one, turns out I do not) and proceeded to put on my little spare tire. She pointed me in the direction of the nearest tire store and off I went, calling AAA and cancelling the tow truck as I went. As it turns out, the tire store was closed, so I headed home the long way to avoid highways.
So today has been an adventure. I have discovered that you can drive surprisingly far on those little "donut" spare tires. I've also learned that changing a tire is easy, and that I should have been able to do it myself. After relating my tale to the roommates when I got home, I learned that tire destruction is pretty common in the area, what with the pot holes and whatnot.
So I will be headed to the tire store on my way to work tomorrow, and investing in new tires as well as a new jack for my car. I don't know why I don't have one, but I don't intend to have that same problem in the future. Oh, and I'll throw a blanket in the trunk, in case I find myself stranded on the highway in work clothes again, but without the aid of a nice lady.
