I officially and successfully , through blood , sweat and tears , changed my first flat tire today.
Well , its not really my First flat tire , but first in a long time , and maybe the first completely alone. Why is this such an accomplishment ...
Woke up to a flat tire ... I whipped out my bicycle foot pump ...pumped the tire up to a driveable inflation and made my way to the first gas station to fill it up completely. My intent was to at least make it to a service station I use near my job and beg a ride to work from there as they fix/replace my tire. Well , i make it to the 1st gas station .....NO Air ... I rumble and bumble to a second one ....cringing at every revolution of the tire as it vibrates the car ....and for a mere 50 cents I may purchase air to inflate my tire ... Psssssssss.... goes the air hose as
it fills my tire and Pssssss at approximately the same rapid pace do I feel air blowing at my chin thru a hole in the sidewall that you can stick a finger thru. DAMN !!@$#..Not gonna make it to work with that much of a leak. Rumble and bumble back home ...gonna have to put on the spare
Well ...it only took me an hour and half or so because the crappy little jack and wrench that comes with most cars suck. The screw-style jack doesn`t come with a crank handle so you have turn it with a screw driver , half a revolution at a time. Once I have the tire lifted sufficiently and begin to remove it , the crappy ass jack kicks over ...Three freaking times. I knew enough to put the e-brake on and a brick under the back tire to keep the car from moving , but you don`t need a lot of movement for the damn jack to kick. The last time the tire was almost off and the jack tipped over dropping the disc brakes onto the bottom of the tire and rim jamming it into place ..agghhh..This all happened prior to my first coffee !
So , at this time I call work to alert my lateness and complain about my situation .. and head out on foot for a coffee ... Appx half a cup of coffee and a mile or so round trip later , I tackle the jack again. Success ... Wheel off , Donut style spare on ...remove jack successfully
, tighten lug nuts ummm tightly... I am victorious ..
I am a credit to my gender .. I am Man ... I can change a tire..
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving
Another thanksgiving gone by , didn`t do anything , didn`t speak to anyone , other than sending out some text messages .....went to Lori`s parents for about an hour then went home and laid on the couch watching football ignoring the phone that won`t stop ringing ....feeling down..Yeah the Jets got destroyed ...didn`t help the mood
Black Friday - had a nice day ...avoided all malls and stores ...took a nice scenic drive out to the northwest corner of ct stop[ing at a few parks on the way ...too cold to walk for very long ...we also hit Session Woods Wildlife Park , Burlington but simply checked out their museum of stuffed animals and skipped the hike - be back in the spring ... AND finally as a surprise for my girl (she generally hops in the car for one of my excursions with no questions or expectations or knowledge of our agenda ) took Lori to the Last Post - a kitty retirement home of sorts. Its in Falls Village ,ct and this is a no kill shelter for cats who find themselves willed there or dropped off or whatnot. Lori was in kitty heaven as we entered the Large Kitty Dorm. There are large exposed wood beams with reclining kitties , numerous kitty beds , scratch posts kitt
toys and stuff. And dozens and dozens of Cats !!! This cat hotel has kitty doors that lead to a fenced in area for kitties to run around , as well as a porch.
As soon as lori kneeled down to pet an insistent kitty , we were surrounded .... easily 8 or more kitties were around us vying for attention. Lori made her rounds and met almost every kitty. We went outside on the porch and sure enough within minutes
the porch was packed with purry pussycats. Say that three times fast !
Had to drag Lori out of there as she would`ve stayed for hours ... I anticipated that the kitty contentment she would experience would mean lots of nice and lots of love for me . . but even I was surprised how
the glow of those kitty moments would last. She was nice to me all day and all night .
Black Friday - had a nice day ...avoided all malls and stores ...took a nice scenic drive out to the northwest corner of ct stop[ing at a few parks on the way ...too cold to walk for very long ...we also hit Session Woods Wildlife Park , Burlington but simply checked out their museum of stuffed animals and skipped the hike - be back in the spring ... AND finally as a surprise for my girl (she generally hops in the car for one of my excursions with no questions or expectations or knowledge of our agenda ) took Lori to the Last Post - a kitty retirement home of sorts. Its in Falls Village ,ct and this is a no kill shelter for cats who find themselves willed there or dropped off or whatnot. Lori was in kitty heaven as we entered the Large Kitty Dorm. There are large exposed wood beams with reclining kitties , numerous kitty beds , scratch posts kitt
toys and stuff. And dozens and dozens of Cats !!! This cat hotel has kitty doors that lead to a fenced in area for kitties to run around , as well as a porch.
As soon as lori kneeled down to pet an insistent kitty , we were surrounded .... easily 8 or more kitties were around us vying for attention. Lori made her rounds and met almost every kitty. We went outside on the porch and sure enough within minutes
the porch was packed with purry pussycats. Say that three times fast !
Had to drag Lori out of there as she would`ve stayed for hours ... I anticipated that the kitty contentment she would experience would mean lots of nice and lots of love for me . . but even I was surprised how
the glow of those kitty moments would last. She was nice to me all day and all night .
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