flat tire

i got my first "official" tire blow-out (is that what you call it?) a couple of days ago. i left my house early that day, intending to do some errands before heading to work for my evening shift. but as i pulled into the parking lot at ralph's, i heard this noise and all of a sudden, my car just felt noticeably lower on one side. i just groaned by that point. great, i thought, just great. but seriously, what perfect timing. i was already in a parking lot, and i had left early for work so i wasn't going to be that late. in fact, i made it just on time. i seriously thought that it would take much longer, but nope. everything worked out well in the end. =) i even finished my errands. or the important ones at least.

i had called my mom b/c she has a AAA membership, but no answer. so i thought, i can do this. i can change my car's tire. but no, dude, i couldn't even get the jack out of the car!! it was stuck to the side of the trunk in some weird way that i couldn't figure out, and i kept pulling and pulling, but it wouldn't come out! =p so finally, i asked this truck driver man who had just pulled into the parking lot for help. luckily, he was nice enough to help me out and changed my flat really fast. even if i had been able to pull out the jack from my car, i wouldn't have known to unscrew the nugbolts (?) on the hubcaps and i wouldn't have known how to use the jack either!! dude, those tool-making people are ingenious! such creativity!! how they can make two simple pieces of metal curve a certain way to do so many useful things is simply amazing! haha. but anyways, now i know how to change a flat tire. not that i ever want to go through that experience again. but just in case, if i ever need to use this new-found skill of mine, i got it. =)

ironically, later that day, my mom showed me this letter from AAA offering free membership to a family member for the remainder of the year. i mailed out that offer yesterday. :)