It's a cold, rainy night. I'm having trouble with my computer keyboard (again). I'm in a foul mood and don't give a flying crap about blogging. And - for the first time in my life - I have no photos to accompany my post.
But I promised that I'd write about my horrible experience in town last week. So, gather 'round, boys and girls - here we go.
It's no secret that I absolutely dread making the long, perilous drive to town. I'd rather be hung upside down by my toes, stark naked, in the town square
Don't try to visualize that. You'll hurt yourself.
After living here for six years I still haven't gotten used to navigating the narrow, endlessly winding mountain road.
I can only describe it as being like a roller coaster ride from hell in a Twilight Zone episode.
There are times when I actually get physically ill anticipating the drive, and I often procrastinate as long as possible.
I decided to go last Tuesday (the 24th), before Thanksgiving. My plan was to embark early in the morning, do my shopping as quickly as possible, and come home immediately.
A no-nonsense excursion.
The drive was fairly decent - no traffic and surprisingly nice weather. When I get to town my routine is always the same:
I dump my trash at the town trash depository (or whatever it's called). Next I go to the bank (drive-through window), then I go to Walmart and the supermarket (the only two major places to shop).
Things were going normally (or as "normal" as they ever get) until I was about a block away from the bank.
Suddenly - -
Yes, VERY suddenly
my car began bouncing up and down and making horrifying banging and clanging sounds. My first panic-stricken thought was that the entire engine was falling out
(I'm not mechanically inclined - - what the heck do I know??).
I made it into the bank parking lot and managed to park the car. I was reluctant to get out for fear of what I'd see.
I got out...and the car looked okay. Nothing discernibly wrong. Then I ventured over to the other side of the car. The passenger side.
The front tire was flat. Actually, it was more than flat. It was completely shredded and nearly gone! I'd never seen anything like it.
Here's my BIG QUESTION:
When the hell did this happen??? My drive to town was completely smooth. If there was anything wrong with the tire, I would have surely noticed.
So here I am at the bank, stranded with a shredded tire...and no spare.
Fortunately
for a rare change, good luck was with me. I had a working cell phone AND there was a phone book in the car (I had planned to bring the phone book in the house but never got around to doing it).
Cut to the chase, Jon. Your readers are getting bored.
I'm NEVER boring, Kemosabe. Annoying, maybe, but not boring.
After making several phone calls (which was a problem since I can't see anything without reading glasses), I found a local guy who was able to tow my car to a local tire "shop".
The towing guy said all of my tires looked bad and I should probably get all new ones.
So that's what I did. The people at the tire shop were really nice,and the cost...wasn't too bad.......
but I was trying to be financially frugal this month and it took a painful chunk out of my savings.
To make a long story short (which has never been one of my fortes), I was in the tire place for about two hours. By the time I got to Walmart, I was so frazzled that I couldn't remember what I needed to buy.
And, as usual, they were low on many items.
The toilet paper aisle was COMPLETELY EMPTY. No T.P. , no paper towels, not even any Kleenex.
What the hell is going on? Were people stocking up for Thanksgiving??
I don't have any suitable way to end this story, but I can assure you that I plan on writing a letter to Santa and begging him to send toilet paper for Christmas.
Getting a flat tire is a nightmare; it's happened to me too many times and it's a helpless feeling...and expensive to deal with. That road sounds terrifying. TP is OK here but the stores are back to limiting. I managed to get some today when I ran in to get medication from the pharmacy. Ugh to that too!
ReplyDeleteOnce it was on the news that there would be a big surge in coronavirus cases, the hoarding began again. At least that's what I read in the paper, and looks like they were right.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to read about your tire. It's lucky you were able to make it into town, I am surprised you could steer it without noticing too much. My car tire went kind of flat a couple of years ago while I was at a nearby store. I drove home and I could really feel it in the steering and it wasn't even totally flat by the time I got home. Last year my husband ended up with what looked like a big chicken bone somehow stabbed into the side part of the tire. There must have been a voo doo doer at the grocery store parking lot that day. My husband put the spare tire ("donut") on, and came home. When he took it to the tire store they thought it looked like a big chicken or turkey bone shard, too.
ReplyDeleteI have been getting an extra multi roll pack of TP every other trip to the grocery store for a while now, so I have pkgs of TP stashed all around the house in strange places like under the bed, in a hidden corner in the dining room, etc, so we are set up all right with that this time around. Last time it was always a big deal of whether we would run out of TP before the store stocked some again, and then the stupid TP they stocked caused our sewer to back up. Luckily (for us), our son in law, is a plumber, not too lucky for him.
I'm certainly no expert, but wow. That sounds like a major blow-out. I only experienced that once, but the 'bang!' scared the heck out-a me. Thank God it didn't occur while you were navigating the mountain road, AND you elected to safety-size the car.
ReplyDeleteSo glad my initial thoughts (your last post) about your having hit an animal were incorrect. That's a huge fear of mine. So much so, I wouldn't be surprised if someday I run into a tree while trying to avoid a squirrel.
Cars are one of the biggest necessary evils sometimes. My dad was a retired mechanic so I was fortunate enough have him help me ... A LOT ... throughout the many years!
ReplyDeleteI bet Santa never though he'd get requests for paper good huh?!?!?!?!
ReplyDeleteGood you got tires. Happened to me once too. Better to be safe toots.
It sounds like you had one hell of a blow-out. They just happen without warning and sometimes the tire is indeed shredded. It is good it did not happen on that nightmare of a road you describe. People were hoarding paper goods here a few weeks ago but our aisles are re-stocked often and they are limiting supplies now. People create shortages when they go into panic mode. It is more than disturbing. Does Amazon Prime deliver where you are? Walmart? These might be options. Even if the items are currently unavailable you can back order them and you will get them when they are available again.
ReplyDeleteLet me know if I can help in anyway. Glad you made it home safely. Hopefully you had some homemade wine waiting for you.
What is the deal with toilet paper? I'm running into the same shortage, empty shelves of toilet paper. I tried bamboo toilet paper. DO NOT TRY BAMBOO TOILET PAPER because your fingers will go right through it! Doesn't it seem that we can't get through a week or two without some costly event? Today I found out my irrigation box is kaput? How did THAT happen? That's a cost of $475 plus $189 for a rain sensor. Granted, this is small potatoes compared to people who don't have jobs or who can put food on the table but still. My TimeMachine backup doesn't work, again, after the latest Mac OAS upgrade (Big Sur). Same thing happened when Apple upgraded to Catalina. Another cost to be absorbed. What happened to simple times? But still, what's with this toilet paper shortage?
ReplyDeleteGlad you were in town when you got the flat! I think people have started stockpiling paper products at home again because of the uptick of Covid cases. Stores are limiting most of those goods to 2 items per person.
ReplyDeleteUgh, I know that sinking feeling about Car Repair. Cheryl said you got "lucky" by having the tire fail where it did. ( I say "luck" as in the best kind of bad luck.... Lucky would mean you did not need new tires at all!) At least it was not anything that would cause you to be Stranded... near Walmart! What is the deal with the Toilet Paper???? Again?!!
ReplyDeleteNot good news about the unexpected tire replacements, but at least it did happen when you were in town and not as costly as it might have been, little consolation. It does seem that stockpiling is happening in some places again. And, I have noticed brands never seen before in some local stores. What seems to be out of stock in several places now is toilet bowl cleaner and what’s up with that?
ReplyDelete