Car Rhymes with Truck

I started this journal because of cars. I hate cars. They're the straw on this camel's back. Wednesday I spent 4 hours in my car dealing with a flat tire. Did I mention my boss is a nice guy? Normally, I don't think CEO's are thought of as nice guys, per se.

But there I was, at his condo here in town, waiting on the floor guy to give me a quote when my boss happens to arrive there, after 4 hours on a plane. The floor guy and I finish up and I go down to the parking lot and get in my car and thump. Flat tire.

Sooooo, knowing this is gonna take part of my day, I call upstairs and let boss know I'm in parking lot with a flat tire and I'll be late getting back to the office. And down he comes to help.

I don't think he's ever heard me cuss before. Not like this.

See, I know about cars. I know they break. So I TRY to take precautions. I have a spare tire. I have a little compressor, I have the can of tire fill stuff, I have tools, I have a phone book to find tow companies with. But that day, nothing helps. The spare tire is stuck in it's holder thingey and neither of us can get it out. The compressor doesn't seem to want to work, and the can of tire fill stuff isn't helping on the flat tire.

So eventually I call a tow truck. And Boss man tells me to use the company Amex card to pay for it. Nice! I'm wondering if it was cuz the sight of me in the back of my jeep in heels and a dress, breaking the metal spare tire holder while cussing at the spare tire like a sailor scared him.

Tow truck on its way, and boss rather reluctantly leaves me cuz he has a meeting. So I wait. And wait. An hour and a half for the tow truck. Did I mention it was cold and drizzly?

At the Tire place, they do a 'courtesy check.' Courtesy my ass. It's their way of making extra money. If I'd have let them have their way my bill would have been over $700. The list of things I supposedly needed was: 4 new tires. An oil change. Air filter. Wheel alignment. Wheel balancing. Yadda yadda ya.

After saying no no no and NO. The bill still came to $225.00. For a budget that doesn't have a lot of wiggle room, that news was like a bowl of jell-o.

4 hours after the saga began, I was on my way home just in time for peak rush hour Atlanta traffic. The joy. Lots of time to sit and think about the phone call I received while I was at the car center.

The pool of doom had hit another snag. Oh gee, surprise, surprise...