Why Last Weekend Was So Screwed Up

Well, this was my first warning sign.

I didn't know why the vehicles were stopped along South/Eastbound Interstate 10, but a long trail of tire rubber throughout my trip gave me my default suspicions. That and the 100+F temps.

After I passed that point, for some strange reason I wondered when it would be a good time to rotate my tires. I'd been experiencing a slight pull to the left... Gee, this road is feeling pretty bumpy -- at 85 mph!

Suddenly, BANG! Thunk! And other cheesy Batman-like sounds. I made my way over to the right shoulder and found that all the rubber outside the steel belts of my left front tire had shed itself, and banged out my left front fender. Luckily, I was near an I-10 exit into the Casa Grande Outlet Mall, so I limped on over and found a deserted corner of parking lot. My first instinct was to call my buddy Jon and see if he couldn't find me a garage open late on a Sunday afternoon. Dry hole. Not a Triple A member, I gave my insurance agency (State Farm) a call for a recommendation... since AAA's recommendation insisted upon cash I didn't have on me. State Farm found me a towing company that took credit cards!

I should say that I was extraordinarily prepared to take care of this myself, as God and Robert Heinlein intended. I donned my Nomex gloves and tactical kneepads I had on hand for the Cactus Match 3-Gun, but for the longest time I couldn't figure out how to unleash the Ranger Motel's spare tire, and once I did, how to loosen the lugnuts with what little strength I had in my heat-weakened, carpal-tunnel ridden extremities could manage. With my History of American Cinema mid-term awaiting my last-minute cramming, I jumped up and down on the lug wrench (rather dizzily I must say; my water reserves were rather warm by now). I actually got the spare on by the time the tow-truck arrived, but the fine gentleman from Rats Towing tightened the nuts for me, and filled my spare with much-needed air, then refused payment when I offered! Although he might have been shy about defrauding my insurance company for unused services, he should have gotten something for his troubles, so he's got my marginally public blog adoration for his Good Samaritanism.

Here's some video.

And after I got my hastily finished term paper ready, my Professor posted that the web site was a week early with the deadline. Doh!