Wrench (or rather tire iron) In Our Plans

I was planning on taking the kids skiing the other day, doing the Dartmouth half-day ticket, when we had a serious wrench tossed into our plans. The Mazda had a flat tire. Upon closer inspection, you could see a massive rock sticking out the tread. What a bummer.

Adding to my angst was the fact that I’d never changed the darn tire on that car, though I thought about it since we owned it. It just never came up, and time and again I told myself to be prepared, because one day I was going to have to deal with it, and (like all things in life) I wouldn’t have a clue.

Well, my time had come, and fortunately for me, I did have some experience using the jack since I need it to change the oil. The wimpy flatlander in me wanted to simply have it towed because I didn’t want to lay in the snow and get wet and dirty, but then the real-man in training in me told me to stop being such a sissy and deal with it. Plus, the guys at AAA gave me a guilt trip about towing it even though it wasn’t an emergency. Sure, I could have demanded they come, but they inspired me to take matters into my own hands.

I ended up changing the tire and putting on the spare, and then taking it over to our trusted mechanic at Meunier. They were busy and told me to come back in an hour. The spare tire is a bit of a joke, and in snowy/icy conditions, a bit menacing, but drivable. I came home and started to think about our day.

It was early morning, and R had to go to work, so she took the Fit and we waited for our tire. My plan was to get the kids fed, do our schoolwork, then put that tire on ASAP, after which we could go skiing, but the clock was ticking. Half-day tickets go on sale at 12:30, and it would take us at least 45 minutes to get to the slopes.

The tire took longer than we’d thought, and by 11:00, I was beginning to sweat. I decided that we’d eat on the fly, and started packing a lunch. By 11:30, the tire was ready, so we set out plan in motion. I loaded up all the ski equipment and the lunch, got the kids in the car, and headed over to Meunier. I was grateful they could squeeze me in at the last minute, but they’re always helpful.

They swapped the tires, I put the spare into the trunk, which was a complete disaster because I had to rummage around for the spare tire, and then drove to the ski hill. We made it just in time, got our tickets, and had a wonderful day skiing.

It was a lot of fun, though I froze my you-know-whats off. I was so cold, and it was at the end of the day that I realized, much to the delight of my kids, that I had been skiing all day with the fly of my ski pants down zipped down. I wondered why my lower extremities were so cold.

Oh well, yet another story to amuse mom with when we got home.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.