Thursday, November 11, 2010

Tools and Taps

Oh that Writers' Block, bringing out the ignorant in everyone. I can't sit next to Vernell for awhile - the things that were said, I have to donate to the United Negro College Fund to atone. Scott Woods gave me a poetry assignment for next week. The word I was given is in the urban dictionary.

While driving home, by the Schottenstein Center there was a familiar ker-flunk ker-flunk noise by the right front tire. Yes, it had gone flat. Tried to make it home and could not without causing untold damage to the rim and who knows what else. Ended up in a lot by the gas tanks at Trabue and Dublin Road. It was well lit for 11PM and the surface was flat.

My mechanical skills are quite limited. This was the third time I've ever had to change a tire, first on the Volvo, and the first late at night.

So I pulled out what I needed from the compartment in back of the wagon. The spare is full size, not a doughnut, and set to work. The jack is about the size of a breadbox. Somehow I managed to get the wheel off the ground. Four of the five bolts came off the tire rather easily. The one bolt left though, serious pain in the ass. Yet, after some thought and a few cuss words it was finally extracted.

The tire came off rather easily but it took a few tries to get the new tire on. It was not quite light enough to completely see the bolts through the holes in the rim, but there was success. Got the bolts back on tight enough to make it home. Only took about half an hour. Aside from the damaged and torn apart tire, no one was hurt.

This morning I get to head over to the tire store and have them put a tire on the rim. I think I'll keep the spare on as it is a full size tire in decent shape. A plus is having the day off. The kid is here to wait for the school bus then we face the rest of the day.

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