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machine_dove at 07:08am on 14/11/2005
machine_dove at 07:08am on 14/11/2005Ha ha! It's Monday, with a vengeance. I woke up early, full of plans to get to work...early, and get stuff done before the Hordes of Bitter Bureaucrats descended in force on my office with cries of "I CAN'T LOG IN TO GET MY EMAIL!" The outcome?
Today's Driving-to-work Experiment...FAILED!
Not four miles from my house my front passenger tire blows out hard. To the point where the tire no longer has a sidewall. I managed to manuver the car off the "main" road onto a paved side road (it's a minor miracle that I was actually close enough to one to pull this off) and started the rather amusing process of getting my spare.
The spare on a Mini is stored under the boot and attached to the undercarriage of the car. To get to it you fold up the carpet in the back, pull out the toolkit, and remove one bolt. This bolt holds a metal cover, which hides a metal clip. When you squeeze this clip, the entire tire and the unit protecting it from things like thrown rocks drops to the ground under the car.
I had just gotten to the metal clip part when a pair of very kind redneck gentleman pulled up behind me and asked if I needed any help. Technically, I didn't, but after the hell of complication this year has been, I'm not exactly going to be turning any down. Which turned out to be a good thing, because we had a heck of a time with the mini-jack (heh - that was unintentional). The full sized jack they had worked much, much better. Then the wheel itself was seized onto the car, so getting it off took some doing.
So - I'm now back at home, on a temporary tire, trying to figure out if I can get away with going to a tire place in Fredericksburg, or if I'm going to have to go all the way to the dealership in Richmond. But nothing's open, so I'm killing time until then. If I was still covered by the Mini roadside assistance I'd have just called a tow truck and had them cart me, car and all, to the dealership, but alas! I am not.
Today's Driving-to-work Experiment...FAILED!
Not four miles from my house my front passenger tire blows out hard. To the point where the tire no longer has a sidewall. I managed to manuver the car off the "main" road onto a paved side road (it's a minor miracle that I was actually close enough to one to pull this off) and started the rather amusing process of getting my spare.
The spare on a Mini is stored under the boot and attached to the undercarriage of the car. To get to it you fold up the carpet in the back, pull out the toolkit, and remove one bolt. This bolt holds a metal cover, which hides a metal clip. When you squeeze this clip, the entire tire and the unit protecting it from things like thrown rocks drops to the ground under the car.
I had just gotten to the metal clip part when a pair of very kind redneck gentleman pulled up behind me and asked if I needed any help. Technically, I didn't, but after the hell of complication this year has been, I'm not exactly going to be turning any down. Which turned out to be a good thing, because we had a heck of a time with the mini-jack (heh - that was unintentional). The full sized jack they had worked much, much better. Then the wheel itself was seized onto the car, so getting it off took some doing.
So - I'm now back at home, on a temporary tire, trying to figure out if I can get away with going to a tire place in Fredericksburg, or if I'm going to have to go all the way to the dealership in Richmond. But nothing's open, so I'm killing time until then. If I was still covered by the Mini roadside assistance I'd have just called a tow truck and had them cart me, car and all, to the dealership, but alas! I am not.
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