adventurous monday....

Oh boy... what an evening I had yesterday! It was between 6 and 6:30, and I was driving to a Board Meeting and BOOM! FLAT TIRE! Right on the 215 freeway... luckily I was able to pull over very easily and get out of the way of traffic. And thankfully the shoulder is nice and wide at this area of the freeway!

So... faced with the dilemma of having Troy in first night of his night class (the class had just started 20 minutes before and goes until 9pm)... I sent him a text to let him know what was going on, but started calling everyone else I could think of to come help me. I was only 2 blocks from my buddy Mark's house... but of course, it being only 6:30pm, he was still at work downtown. So I tried Darren who I knew was probably on his way to the gym... left him a voice mail. Then I called the Board to tell them that I would be late, but that I would get there as soon as I could.

So... with no prospects for help just yet, I remembered that Troy had been given a AAA membership for Christmas... perhaps I could use that? So I asked Troy if he had his card, which of course he didn't... and reassured him that he should stay in class instead of coming to get me. He didn't seem to keen on the idea but reluctantly agreed. So, I tried to call Colleen to see if she could look for the AAA card, but then realized that after the phone had rung several times that she was on a TRAX train on her way to the Opera with Tina. Haha. So..... back to Darren. Tried again and Viola! He and Avery were on their way to rescue me! Thank you, Darren!!!!

Darren and Avery arrived a little while later and we got to work on the tire... unfortunately my jack has a very specific place on the undercarriage where it is supposed to go, and we could not seem to locate that spot.... perhaps it was the distraction of the numerous cars racing past us? Anyway... we finally settled on a spot we thought may be it and he worked away while I went to check on Avery who was sitting so patiently in her car seat. We had a lovely chat while we counted the car whizzing past, played with her purse and talked on her cell phone.

I went to check on Darren a little bit later, just in time to see my car roll off the jack and just about give us both a heart attack. So.... we tried his jack...... it worked well enough to get the tire off, but when we got the car high enough to get the spare tire on.... off the jack it rolled. Luckily my tire was under the car, holding it up off the ground... Haha!! And before anyone asks.... Yes, the parking brake was on and yes, the car was in park. Unfortunately the shoulder was just slanted enough to be causing major difficulties.

What do to next??? By this time it was about 7:45 so we piled into Darren's car and raced to try to make it to an auto parts store he knew of that closed at 8pm. Figured we'd just buy a better jack. :) While we were driving I had Troy send me Tommy's number and we called to try and get the info for AAA. We got the info from Tommy and I called AAA while Darren kept driving towards the auto parts store, just in case.

AAA answered quickly and looked up Troy's account..... however, once they found out Troy wasn't with me, the story changed to, "We can't come out unless he is there. The account is in his name and he needs to be present for us to come." I laughed and said, "Well if he were here, I wouldn't actually need you to come now would I?" They didn't think that was as funny as I did. Haha! So I tried a different method... I said my brother in law is with me, can you look up his account and come out on that account? They said, sure..... right up until the operator found out that the account was in Tina's name. It then turned into the same thing... "Unless Tina is there with you, we cannot come out." So I tried another line of reasoning.... "Troy is in school and Tina is at the theater. Neither of them can be reached, nor can they come to meet me. What are my options?" Unfortunately short of buying a whole new membership on the spot, I had only one... Troy could step out of class and call to see if he could get them to allow me authorized use of his account, despite the fact that he wasn't at the car.

Meanwhile... Darren, Avery and I arrive at the auto parts store to see that they have just closed. Right then Troy calls to tell me he is on a break from class, so... I give him the number for AAA and he calls. He spends the next 20 minutes on hold, but finally got through. The guy he talked to also said that they could not come out unless Troy was there. Troy said something along the lines of, "Listen, my wife is stuck on the side of a road and I cannot get to her. I need you to go help her. I understands its policy that I am supposed to be there, but if I was there, I wouldn't need your help. Can you make an exception?" The guy finally agreed and said they'd be there in about a half hour. So... Darren drives me back to my car to drop me off to wait for the repair truck. Thank you again, Darren for all the effort!!!

While we were gone the cops stopped by and tagged my car as abandoned... unfortunately, they didn't bother to change my tire while they were there. Haha! I know it's not their job, but it would have been greatly appreciated.

So anyway... its about 8:15 or 8:30, just about dusk, and I am back at the car waiting patiently when I see a gentleman climbing down the embankment a little ways in front of my car. He came to see if I needed assistance... he asked if I was ok and what was the trouble. I explained that AAA was on their way, but I appreciated him stopping. I said that we had broken my jack trying to change my tire, but I would be fine until the repair truck got there. He said, "It's fine, I'll just go get my jack and we'll get you on your way before it gets any darker." He climbed back up to his car and came back with a heavy duty jack and got to work.

I asked how he had even seen me from where his car was. He told me that he had driven past and saw that I was alone and needed assistance so he got off the freeway and drove back to the on-ramp that was just above my car and climbed down. Talk about going out of his way to do a good deed?!?! What a sweet man!! I profusely thanked him for his assistance and he said that 5 minutes out of his day was no big deal when it came to helping a young woman who was alone on the side of the road. He said it was far more important to make sure that I was safe and could get on my way. He was very kind and I was so very thankful for his help!!

He got the flat fixed pretty quickly and headed off. I have no idea who he was, but I do want to tell him thank you for stopping to help me!! He completely went out of his way, and I appreciate it so much! And so does Troy.... he was really struggling with not leaving class to help me, but since it was the first night I just didn't think he should. Especially since its only a 6 week course... they cover a LOT each night. And besides, it all turned out OK.... just unfortunately took SEVERAL HOURS! Haha!

Anyway..... I finally made it home at about 9:15 or 9:30.... Haha! And I totally missed my Board Meeting, of course... oh well! What a crazy evening!

And today I finally have new tires! The Discount Tire in Draper gave me an awesome deal and got me in and out in about 10 minutes.... they rock! If you need new tires... please go see them!