A night of first experiences that were not all that great...

Tomorrow is a special day at our house so I decided to take a trip to "the big city" to buy some supplies. On my way home, I hit something in the road and I am VERY thankful to say that I AM OKAY...

I was driving along, minding my own business while listening to "Iron Man" on the iPod, when I noticed a truck and boat pulled off to the right side of the road. By that time, I had either just passed someone or I was getting ready to pass another car because I was travelling in the left lane. I was driving 78 MPH. I was paying attention to my driving, but at that speed and the fact that there was a guy walking by his boat and trailer and the fact that it was getting dark, I didn't realize that there was something in my lane until it was too late.

The object appearred to be two pieces of two-by-four boards nailed together (I honestly don't know what it was), approximately two feet in length. I knew (at that speed) that if I jerked the car to avoid it I would run the risk of rolling my car so I decided that the best decision was to try to roll over it. Unfortunately, I was driving the low-slung Honda and not my high-rise SUV. I must have been pulling the steering wheel slightly to the left [unconsciously] to try to avoid it because next thing I know I felt the object go under my tire (with a VERY LOAD BANG) and all the way through the bottom of the car, then I heard a very weird "squishy/floppy" sound. Nothing happened to my ability to steer [thanks to the low-profile tires] but I knew that it wasn't a good sound so I turned on the signal, let the car slow down, and pulled off the side of the road and into the dirt.

As I was getting ready to turn off my car, I noticed that the "flat tire" symbol was on. OH BOY!

It was getting dark and I was literally in the MIDDLE-OF-NOWHERE with NO STREETLIGHTS so I quickly got out of the car and walked around to the front passenger side where I noticed that the tire was flat. I remembered that we didn't ever get around to putting a flashlight with charged batteries in this car. So, I did what every other inexperienced person would do in this situation -- I panicked.

HUMPH! I didn't even CURSE -- when I had the PERFECT opportunity to let a few of the VERY CHOICE words that I have learned over the years, fly.

In the past I have taken many opportunities to read the instructions in the little booklet that came with the car on how to change a tire... I tried to recall the step-by-step instructions that the salesman showed us when we purchased the car (at my insistance so that I would know how to work the dang thing if this event should ever happen)... I even tried to recall the time that I pestered my dad into letting me help him change a tire when I was a small child.

The ONLY thing that came to mind was the fact that you have to leave the wheel on the ground while you loosen the bolts. Unfortunately, that didn't help me remember how to assemble the darn jack and make it work -- I was really missing that cool jack that my dad used to have in the garage (either the red or bluish green one where I would beg him to let me stand on while he moved the handle up and down so I could be "up in the air").

Well... Absolutely no inspiration came to mind so I thankfully remembered that we pay for this AWESOME little extra on our car insurance called "ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE" so I did what any other inexperienced/freaked out person would do in my exact situation -- I called customer service [with the sound of tears in my voice] and the woman arranged to have a company come out to change my tire.

I was thankful that it was dark by the time we finished our conversation. And I was thankful for the fact that I was in a black car. I was even thankful that that one serial killer (Ted-something-or-other) wasn't around because I have never really shared [with you] my irrational fear of sitting alone in a car -- alone -- on the lonely Interstate -- in the dark. (I'm sure that I have my mom to thank for drumming that little fear into my mind...LOL.)

Thirty-five minutes later, the guy called to tell me that he was on his way. Because he was five miles from my location at mile-marker 242 I switched on the emergency lights so he would see where I was. He pulled up behind my car and by that time I rolled the window down an inch -- I recognized his voice from the phone call so I felt safe because he was there to help me.

The entire process didn't take him very long so I owe BEN a HUGE thank you! You are my hero tonight because you changed my tire and got me on my way home without murdering or maiming me or even taking off with parts of my car and leaving it on blocks while I was sitting inside it. And thank you for not sticking me in a tub of ice water after cutting out my kidneys or other body parts. And thank you for not doing any other things that we are constantly warned about in the e-mail scams that people forward to me all the time...

Don't quote me on this next action because I may-or-may-not-have-actually-done-this (wink, wink): When it was all over, I was really glad that this happened at the end of an on-ramp because we were off the road and the ramp is rarely used, so I followed Ben in the illegal process of backing up our cars down the on-ramp to get to the not-busy backroad so that I could travel less than 50 MPH on my way home.

It was a L-O-N-G T-R-I-P tonight -- more so than usual. Can you guess what I did before getting home??? I stopped at Wal-Mart and purchased a FLASHLIGHT that better be left IN THE CAR.



When I got home, my roommates had to check the car over (luckily it is dark -- I don't think I want to know if anything else happened to it tonight). One of the youngest roommates was inspecting the bolts on the car and noticed that one of them was coming off -- I shudder to think how much one of those little "puppies" would cost to replace. When we took the tire out of the trunk and inspected it with the new flashlight we noticed this {insert naughty word of your choice} little slice through the tire -- I guess it was a good thing that I was planning to buy a new one anyway. (I am KEEPING MY FINGERS CROSSED that I won't have to buy a new wheel!!!)

OMG! I am so thankful that it didn't have a more disastrous turnout.

There are so many things/signs that I noticed after the fact...... The fact that I chose to drive the car with low profile tires instead of the SUV -- I shudder to think what would have happened in the other vehicle if the tire popped at that speed and I am PRAYING that we will NEVER have to find out... The fact that I *almost* transferred money from my car account to go and buy tires that we don't (excuse me, "didn't") really need but ought to get before winter because that car does a piss-poor job in the snow -- I decided to do that on another day... The fact that before I left the house I asked my husband if there was "anything messy in the car or trunk that would tick me off if I went out there and found out that I couldn't put my shopping bags in the trunk because [he] left it full like it was the other day when I went to Wal-Mart" -- and the FACT that HE ACTUALLY GOT UP AND WENT OUT TO CHECK when he usually just rolls his eyes... And there was the fact that I went around and kicked the back tire on that car when I was filling it up with gas -- I hardly EVER look at the passenger side when I am at the gas station.

All these things are either omens or I jinxed myself... I have been dreaming about trading this car in for something that I can't afford. Maybe I need to take another trip to Idaho to see if I can win the lottery because I really want to make my dream of owning a different car come to life and getting rid of this one before anything else happens to it/us.


Bottom line is that I have had my suspicions confirmed ----> THAT CAR IS POSSESSED by the devil or something equally evil. Next thing I know, Stephen King will want to purchase the movie rights... We better start thinking of a good/catchy name for it because "Carrie" has already been taken.