Yesterday afternoon, I had just pulled back into work, to get more orders, to take care of more patients. In a matter of about three minutes, my beautiful new Goodyear Integrity front tire gave up being a new, buff, hulk-like, strong, man tire. It instead decided to become a flabby and lifeless couch potato of a tire. It seems the tire had literally been screwed. I had just been talking with a friend the day before about tires. I expressed that some people seem to be prone to flat tires. I told them that I had been very lucky and had probably not had a flat tire in about 10 years. Even then, I have only had one in my whole driving career (despite driving on some pretty worn tires). I guess that is what I get for opening my big mouth!
The plot thickens: I had a fairly easy time getting 4 of the 5 lug nuts off. The last one seemed pretty stiff. I gave the crowbar quite a bit more pressure, and then SNAP! Nope, it didn't instantly become lose (well, I guess it depends on your definition). Instead, I broke the whole bolt that the lug nut screws on to. You can see what is missing in the middle top of the lug nut pattern above. While I had the wheel off, I noticed that the brakes pads probably only had about 1,000 miles left on them (miles I could put on in less than a week). I thought it was funny that my flat tire would occur at my work, considering I am not there for most of my work day. When all of the rest of this stuff happened, it became even more hilarious. So, I put the weenie wheel and the four remaining lug nuts on, and parked the van. I can't wait to get it back in a month or so. Normally these repairs could be done in a day, but the shop we take them to, must be more thorough then most or something. Oh, how I will miss feeling like a soccer Mom, as I drive a big cargo van, until my Caravan is once again road worthy.
Today while I was out and about, I saw this. No, the gold Nissan
Altima did not rear-end the red
GMC Jimmy. The Jimmy appeared to be out of gas, and they were using the
Altima to push this mid-size SUV. How could it get even better you ask? Well, they were trying to push it onto Redwood Road! You know, only one of the busiest roads in the state! I sort of wondered if maybe that was a "special"
Altima, that was actually made to push a 4,000 pound SUV. You can imagine my disappointment when I figured out it was not. It was hard to tell, but I used my special detective skills. When I heard the engine screaming, could smell the clutch burning, and the Jimmy only inching forward, my Sherlock Holmes training came back to me. Best of luck with that sweet setup my friends!
Today I went in an apartment building that might have been built before the Salt Lake Temple. The only difference was, that this building has probably received about 1% the maintenance that the temple has. After I spent a couple of minutes, worrying about falling through the stairs, I got quite comfortable. Maybe it wasn't such a bad place after all. But then, as I was leaving, I saw this sweet note on the inside of the front door. I guess as long as everyone follows the note, the place could still be nice. I wonder if they are going to post another note about termites soon.
Hmmmm.....
A couple of weeks ago, my
Alero flashed this at me! Yep, the old girl just turned 150,000 miles. It still runs really well though (knock on wood), and as long as it does, it is worth keeping. I have owned this baby for a long time, and it has been with me through a lot. I have hardly had to fix anything on it. I have owned it now for six years and it has continually soldiered right along. I have tried to treat it well, and it has rewarded me numerous times over. I really have loved owning and driving this car. While I am a car nut, I also am pretty practical. Therefore, I cannot really come up with a compelling reason to ditch my paid off car that runs fine, for a new car and payment book. So, baby, here is to another 300,000 miles AT LEAST!..........OR........to me winning the lottery and buying the whole fleet of dream vehicles I would like to own.
Yesterday afternoon, I had just pulled back into work, to get more orders, to take care of more patients. In a matter of about three minutes, my beautiful new Goodyear Integrity front tire gave up being a new, buff, hulk-like, strong, man tire. It instead decided to become a flabby and lifeless couch potato of a tire. It seems the tire had literally been screwed. I had just been talking with a friend the day before about tires. I expressed that some people seem to be prone to flat tires. I told them that I had been very lucky and had probably not had a flat tire in about 10 years. Even then, I have only had one in my whole driving career (despite driving on some pretty worn tires). I guess that is what I get for opening my big mouth!
The plot thickens: I had a fairly easy time getting 4 of the 5 lug nuts off. The last one seemed pretty stiff. I gave the crowbar quite a bit more pressure, and then SNAP! Nope, it didn't instantly become lose (well, I guess it depends on your definition). Instead, I broke the whole bolt that the lug nut screws on to. You can see what is missing in the middle top of the lug nut pattern above. While I had the wheel off, I noticed that the brakes pads probably only had about 1,000 miles left on them (miles I could put on in less than a week). I thought it was funny that my flat tire would occur at my work, considering I am not there for most of my work day. When all of the rest of this stuff happened, it became even more hilarious. So, I put the weenie wheel and the four remaining lug nuts on, and parked the van. I can't wait to get it back in a month or so. Normally these repairs could be done in a day, but the shop we take them to, must be more thorough then most or something. Oh, how I will miss feeling like a soccer Mom, as I drive a big cargo van, until my Caravan is once again road worthy. 
Today while I was out and about, I saw this. No, the gold Nissan Altima did not rear-end the red GMC Jimmy. The Jimmy appeared to be out of gas, and they were using the Altima to push this mid-size SUV. How could it get even better you ask? Well, they were trying to push it onto Redwood Road! You know, only one of the busiest roads in the state! I sort of wondered if maybe that was a "special" Altima, that was actually made to push a 4,000 pound SUV. You can imagine my disappointment when I figured out it was not. It was hard to tell, but I used my special detective skills. When I heard the engine screaming, could smell the clutch burning, and the Jimmy only inching forward, my Sherlock Holmes training came back to me. Best of luck with that sweet setup my friends!
Today I went in an apartment building that might have been built before the Salt Lake Temple. The only difference was, that this building has probably received about 1% the maintenance that the temple has. After I spent a couple of minutes, worrying about falling through the stairs, I got quite comfortable. Maybe it wasn't such a bad place after all. But then, as I was leaving, I saw this sweet note on the inside of the front door. I guess as long as everyone follows the note, the place could still be nice. I wonder if they are going to post another note about termites soon. Hmmmm.....
A couple of weeks ago, my Alero flashed this at me! Yep, the old girl just turned 150,000 miles. It still runs really well though (knock on wood), and as long as it does, it is worth keeping. I have owned this baby for a long time, and it has been with me through a lot. I have hardly had to fix anything on it. I have owned it now for six years and it has continually soldiered right along. I have tried to treat it well, and it has rewarded me numerous times over. I really have loved owning and driving this car. While I am a car nut, I also am pretty practical. Therefore, I cannot really come up with a compelling reason to ditch my paid off car that runs fine, for a new car and payment book. So, baby, here is to another 300,000 miles AT LEAST!..........OR........to me winning the lottery and buying the whole fleet of dream vehicles I would like to own.
