We've owned our Buick since we moved to AZ. My dad gave it to us, it had just had new tires put on it about 7 months previous.
My first experience changing a tire was only 1 1/2 later (just a crappy brand of tires if you ask me), the tire just blew out on the freeway.
Then we got another flat about 3 months later, had to have that one replaced.
Then we replaced the other two 6 months later. (In case you're keeping track that is now about 17 months ago.)
For about a month we've been driving on a tire that is again going to blow any second, so we had all 4 replaced (a big ouch to the emergency fund).
Now today, I'm driving the truck (a completely different car, even!). I'm picking E up from school along with 3 little girls we carpool with, M was at a ward members house, I have Grant in the car, and we're going to get Cooper to bring him to our house to play. I pull up to the school and one of the dads waiting there says there's a hissing sound coming from my tire (I could hear it too, but what could I do?). I decide to take my chances and take it home. I'm about 1 mile from the first drop off point, on the Salt River bridge: flub-flub-flub, the tire is completely smooshed. I pull over to the side of the road, call AAA, they're sending someone out, they should be there in no more than an hour.
An Hour! with 5 kids in the car (4 of whom are not mine). I call one of the little girls moms, she'll come get the girls (who are now screaming, sure that the truck is going to explode at any moment). I call Amberly to tell her that we won't be getting Coop any time soon. She says she'll come get E (she has 3 kids, Cooper (4), and two babies). I'm thinking to myself "It's one o'clock, M hasn't napped yet and I might not get home until 2? M is going to be one grumpy baby."
Amberly, being the super-woman she is, happily agrees to pick M up from Katia's house and let him nap at hers while her two sleep also. She really is a trooper.
After 25 minutes it occurs to me that Danny Stevens is at home and can come help me out, what a guy: he says he'll be right there!
AAA gets there after only 1/2 an hour, to my good fortune (I called Danny as soon as I saw the truck approaching, luckily he hadn't made it out the door yet), they jack it up, get the tool to take the spare down. Apparently the tool to take the tire off is specific to Chevy trucks and 1/3 of the tool is missing, so the spare is not coming down. Where would I like to be towed?
So here I sit at home, Grant is asleep while my two kiddos entertain Amberly, I have no car to get over there to pick them up (A had to take the Buick to work today), and since all the babies are asleep, it's best everyone just stays there.
All I have to say:
I'm grateful for Glenda, Amberly, and Danny. There is a reason why the church is organized the way it is, we can always count on our Stake members to help out.
I'm grateful to Maryjo, she's an amazing aunt.
I'm grateful for cell phones, I would have been up one swiftly moving creek had I not had one.
I'm grateful for prompt service.
I'm grateful to have vehicles that work well.
Thank you's I have to send:
One to Amberly, and a make up playdate at my house so she can have some quiet moments while her babies sleep.
One to Glenda for picking up the girls on her day off.
One to Danny for being willing to help a damsel in distress.
BTW: A was in a meeting all day, so I couldn't reach him to come help. I could have attempted to change the tire myself, but if I'd tried that first I would have been stranded for even longer with the kids in the car, since I wouldn't have been able to figure out that I was missing the tool piece, and then I would have put in a call to AAA and had to wait even longer, Amberly's babies may have been sleeping by then and she wouldn't have been able to make it out of the house, it could have been so much worse.
