I Can't Make This Shi Stuff Up

Sometime last week I noticed I had a small leak in the right front tire of my car. I had a look and saw I had run over a nail. No worries, I let Paul know about the tire and asked him if he would take care of it for me. He is so good about doing this kind of thing and taking good care of us that way. He said he would see to it over the weekend.

He tried to fix the tire last Sunday when he was out with Sebastian. The tire shops were all closed, and our mechanic was going to pick up the car and finish the tune up on it Thursday anyway. The mechanic never picked up the car on Thursday and the tire in question was forgotten about.

Last night we drive up to Harper Mountain for an appreciation dinner for the volunteer ski patrolers (of which Paul is one). Paul takes the truck and I have his mom and the kids in the car. We had a good time up there and I did not have to cook dinner. My kind of night.

Same car seating arrangements on the way home. Kids all tucked into their car seats, cozy in their pajamas, grandma E's knitted blankets keeping them cozy. Paul leading the way in the truck.

I get part way down the hill and the road begins to feel strange. I thought "This is not a graded road, is it?" Then I said to Judy, "I think I have a flat tire." I pull to the side of the road and flash my lights at Paul several times. I get out of the car to check the tire. Yup, it's flat.

Sebastian is in the backseat starting to panic, "The car is broken, I want to go home!!!???" "How are we going to get home??" The kid had himself worked right up to a state of panic in two seconds flat. I try to calm him down, while trying to reach Paul on his cell phone. Sebastain won't be mollified. The kid works himself up to the point of vomit. Yes folks, more friggin' vomit. Only this time their is not only vomit, but 5 people stuck in the stinking car, in the middle of no where with a flat tire. Did I mention it was trying very hard to snow?

Paul does not answer his cell phone, he never does. No problem, my parents raised me right, I know how to change a flat tire. Loosen the lug nuts first....no problem. It's hero time, my kids are going think I rock, this really impress my mother-in-law too.

I get the flashlight out and go back to the trunk. There is no jack. WTF? What happened to the jack. No worries, I will call BCAA they will send a tow truck, Tow Truck Man will come and change the tire. The only downside of this plan, instead of being outside in the fresh crisp air being the hero, I am now inside the warm, but stinky car.

I call BCAA, tell him what is going on:

"Where are you ma'am?" (Why do they always call you ma'am)
Me, "Ummm, well, I am on my way home from Harper Mountain."
BCaA "I am in Vancouver ma'am, I don't know your area."
Me "I think I am Paul Lake Road, but I am really not sure."
BCAA "Are there any land marks you can give me?"
I look around "Nope, I am in the middle of Nowhere, do you know where that is?"
BCAA "What are you close to?"
Me "I am between Pinatan Lake and Kamloops, I am sure I am on Paul Lake Road."
BCAA "Well, I will try to send someone, it will take an hour or so for them to find you."

An hour in the smelly car with 3 kids and Grandma Judy. No problem. Judy and I compare notes and figure we should have had more to drink at the party. To late for that. I start the kids singing, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Old MacDonald and anything else I can think of. The Tow Truck Man, our new Hero, shows up in a half an hour! WoooHooo. He gets out his jack and changes the tire in under 10 minutes. Yippie.

It was a fun, smelly, drive home on an larger than average doughnut. I was just happy with the way it all turned out, having a blow out can be nasty and we were lucky. I did call Paul again once we got on the road. It seems his cell phone turns off automatically when you are in an area of no service for a period of time, to save the battery. He did not get the message until he got all the way home. He was on the way to rescue us when I called him.

I think Paul felt bad about the whole thing. There was nothing he could have done different, it is just the way the cards fell last night. He had the tire fixed his morning and after much searching he found the jack. It was in the car the whole time, in a secret compartment in the trunk. Paul said, "You would have never found it in the dark, I don't know why the hell they put it there." He made sure that I know where it is now and stuck some gloves in the secret hiding spot too. "If this ever happens to you again when it it this cold out, you will need some gloves." He is a good man.

Running:
I had a great 11 mile run this morning. It dumped snow last night, we got about 6 inches or more up at our house. The run was down in the Valley and snowed on us the whole time. It was beautiful. It was only about 0 degrees C, so the snow melted as it hit the ground. I picked up my race packet for the race tomorrow, I still don't know if I will run or not.