A Cold and Rainy Day

It was a cold and rainy day. Don't all good stories start on days like this?  I was at work.  Just before I had left for work I noticed that my passenger tire looked a bit low.  I sprayed a can of Fix-a-Flat into the tire and made my thirty minute drive to work.  When I got to work the tire looked worse.  Worse, as in, it was totally flat.

During my lunch break I filled the tire with a portable inflater.  By the end of lunch, the tire was flat again.  Did I mention that it was cold and rainy?

I contemplated my options.  It took almost an hour for the tire to go flat and it only takes thirty minutes to drive home.  If I inflate the tire REALLY full just before leaving work, I would be able to make it home, right?  The other option was to put the spare on.  Did I mention it was cold and rainy?

Although the first option sounded easier, I started to imagine the tire giving up as I sped around a corner at 50 mph.  I'm pretty sure I've that on CSI and it wasn't pretty.

It was a cold and rainy day.  I was in a parking lot putting a tiny tire onto my car.  After some work, I noticed the spare was flat.  The writing on the tire wall said it should be inflated to 60 psi.  My gauge said the tire had 18 psi.  This must be my lucky day!  The valve stem was located inside a small metal circle cut out of the rim.  I reached two fingers in and tried to twist off the cap.  After struggling for a few moments I looked down at my work.  The tire was still flat.  The cap was still on.  My fingers were cut to shreds thanks to the metal hole cut in the rim.

After some creative thinking and problem solving, I had the spare inflated and it was staying full. Finally, something was working properly.

The next morning was Saturday.  I decided to drive over to our favorite tire shop before work.  You have a favorite tire shop, don't ya?  With my tiny tire still inflated, I drove over to the shop.  The parking lot looked empty as I approached and I was happy knowing my wait would be short.  As I pulled into the empty parking lot I saw the sign on the door,  "Closed Saturday and Sunday".  I tried one more shop on my way home.  Closed.

I went home on my tiny tire.  At least it wasn't rainy.