Roadside assistance

Apparently you can deflate your tire just by hitting it really hard on the curb. Want to guess how I know?

We were driving home last evening from a friend's house, and I took a corner a little too fast. There was a loud thud, and we limped across the intersection to witness our hubcap spinning away from us and the air leaking out of our rear passenger-side tire.

If you need to get stuck with a flat tire, especially one that's totally your fault, you should try to do it on a nice spring night in an upscale neighborhood. Vicki took the kids for a walk while I wrestled with the tire iron. The van is a 2006, so the original tires are still on, which meant that the lug nuts were nearly impossible to remove.

We have AAA, which Vicki called, but I was determined to at least get the tire off and changed before they arrived. I figured they could fix the tire or try, but I didn't want to be the guy standing there waiting for someone else to come and change his flat. I realize this is what AAA is for, but still...

After about 15 minutes of struggling with the tire iron, it occurred to me that I could lower the jack back down and simply stand (actually jump) on the handle of the iron to undo the lug nuts.

Worked like a charm, and it was done just in time for the guy to come, hammer our bent rim back into shape, fill the tire back up with air, and send us on our way.

Meanwhile, Vicki and the kids picked some flowers, met a neighborhood cat, scoped out a few houses for sale that we'll never be able to afford, and had a generally pleasant time of things.

I'll be interested to hear Samson's retelling as it evolves, because he got back just as the AAA guy arrived and today he kept talking about "the mechanic" fixing everything. I kept trying to include "but Daddy changed the tire," but I'm pretty sure that part is not making the final narrative.