My Morning Excitement

I was driving to work this morning, and as I came off the highway I got stuck in a long line of stop-and-go traffic. Soon, I detected a grinding noise in the front end. I didn’t think too much of it because the pavement underneath was a little bit rough.

But as I moved along, the noise got worse, as did the handling of the car. So I pulled out of traffic as soon as I could, turned a corner and pulled into a parking lot to have a look at the car. For some time before, I’d been hearing a slight grinding noise when I put on brakes and although the shop told me there were no problems with the brakes, I was a little concerned that some previously ignored problem had become something greater. Visions of having the wheel fall off while I was driving came to mind!

Investigation showed I had a FLAT TIRE! The grinding noise must have been the rim riding on the pavement through the flattened tire. So I got out the jack, and the spare tire, and all the related tools, and the owner’s manual to guide me through the operation.

Yes, I had NEVER changed a car tire before! Oh, I knew the concept of the process, and knew it wasn’t difficult, but I’d never actually done it myself. I wasn’t happy about having to do it while wearing my new off-white jeans, but I didn’t have much choice. So I changed my tire, and drove to work.

Now I have to figure out what to do to get the flat fixed, where to take it, and whether it is covered by the extended warranty.

So that was my little bit of excitement for today. Fortunately, it happened while traffic was completely stopped, and not at high speed!