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RE: Sometimes there is a magic to car problems, or maybe I am just an optimist.

in #lifelast year

Last time I had to change a tire, it was winter, probably about -25 (-13 for you folks over there), I had about twenty minutes of daylight left, and no gloves. I thought I'd be quick but everything that could go wrong, went wrong. People would drive by and gawk as well, which only made things worse.

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I thought I'd be quick but everything that could go wrong, went wrong. People would drive by and gawk as well, which only made things worse.

The old, I thought it would be quick but wasn't quick and people were gawking like idiots scenario. Classic.

Flats always happen at the worse possible time right? Minus 25? A little bit chilly.

Worst time was on a motorbike. No spare, no tools, nothing. Middle of nowhere. Ended up driving on the flat rear tire all the way home. Dropped the bike off at the shop the next day since I had to work. They fixed the tire.
Bike was ready for the evening so I went out again. Another flat. Ten minutes into the ride.

Same thing, drove home on the flat. Took the bike in to the same shop next day. Stuck around while a different guy worked on it. The tire was full of shop towels...

Who puts shop towels in a tire!

I ride too and have ridden on a flat rear which is no fun at all, fortunately it wasn't too far. Getting that second flat though...towels in the tire? Lol. That's some nutbag shit right there!

Stupidest things happen to me. You get used to it...

I've seen spinifex grass used to stuff a car tyre in the outback just to limp it into Alice Springs, (wasn't me) and it worked reasonably well, the car made it, but it's not ideal and certainly towels in a motorbike tyre doesn't make sense. What did the dude who did that think was going to happen?

Could have been trying to scam me into buying a new tire but the other guy wasn't in on it. I don't really know but that's the reason I settled with in my head. They knew if there was a problem I'd come back to the same shop. Common mechanic scam.

Spray something flammable around the rim and light it. That'll pump a flat back up in seconds.

Indeed it will...I've seen it done but haven't needed to do it myself. I carry a co pressor on board my 4x4...did a post on it a while back. I have to really as I air-down often when I off-road.

I've got this image of you telling this story to your grandchildren, and somewhere over the years, the story got taller:

"The last time I had to change a tire, it was winter, probably -25, and I lost three fingers to frostbite. I slipped on the ice too, and broke three bones. I used a wrench to stab the ground and crawled to the roadway, where people drove by and gawked, which only made things worse."
"But grandpa...you still have all your fingers."
"Oh Ralphie, these aren't my original fingers. I had to harvest some new ones, after I lost these three. That's a whole different story. It was probably -25 when I set out for the graveyard..."

Minus the frostbite, etc., your story does sound worse than mine. I'm glad you kept all your fingers though...or did you...

These aren't my original fingers.

I knew it.

They used to belong to gawkers. Instead of giving them the finger, I took some.

I'm assuming you've got one arthritic one from that cranky old man, one delicate lady finger that used to have its nail painted pink from the lady with the chihuahua in her purse, and one calloused from the homeless man that was holding a brown paper bag. Reminds me a bit of that horror movie called something like "The Hand." I hate horror movies. I'll have nightmares forever from watching one. I bet you love them.

I don't watch horror movies. I've seen some of course but don't actively seek them out. Can't even remember the last time I sat down to watch a movie of any kind but I'm sure at least one or two in the past year. No clue what they were though. Stopped watching TV and shows as well. But the last one I enjoyed was The Walking Dead.

I haven't watched TV or movies for my own purposes in a long time either. Doesn't hold me. We have recently started watching movies on Saturday nights deemed relevant to the part of history my son is covering at that time. Toward the beginning of the school year it was Gone with the Wind for the purpose of the American civil war. Last week was Fried Green Tomatoes for its southern theme and the stuff with the KKK, as we just hit the civil rights movement. I had my husband track down Evita, because we talked about Juan Peron and Argentina a few weeks back. My husband is horrified. I'm pretty sure he would rather punch holes in the dry wall and then repair them (with ear plugs in) while the movie is playing rather than participate. So maybe we will find something else for Saturday. Ha. Anyway...