On my way to work

On my way to work this morning, a loud noise began building from the front of my car. I pulled off the side of the road, scared the thing was going to blow up at me, or that it would cost hundreds of dollars to fix. (I already knew my exhaust was leaking, which was loud enough, so some amount of repair was in order, but the car was cheap, I didn’t want to spend too much.)

When I got out of the car there was a nice surprise waiting for me… it was only a flat tire! I proceeded to call work and let them know I’d be late while I searched for my jack.

Jack? What’s that? Apparently you don’t get a jack when your car cost you $450.

Just as I was about to stretch the boundaries of my co-worker’s generosity, a truck pulled up behind me. The side of the truck read “Highway Relief” and was branded Minnesota State Something-Or-Other. The man driving the truck was very nice and changed the tire for me while I stood there watching like an idiot. He had to beat the damn thing with a mallet after removing the bolts to get it off, but even with that added work it took him less than five minutes. When I put the beat up flat in my trunk, he warned me that the serrated edges would be sharp, and I apparently didn’t take his advice seriously enough, because when I looked down at my hands, I was starting to bleed from a scrape I hadn’t even felt myself getting.

When I asked if I was going to be charged for the service, he said he was part of Minn Dot, and that my taxes had already paid for it!

That was a nice surprise.

Five minutes later, I’m sitting in the lobby of the Tire Services Etc joint right across the freeway from where I work. (That’s not really their name, but I have no idea what it is.) They gave me an estimate for the exhaust that seemed reasonable, and I got a ride from a coworker, leaving the car there for the day.

All in all, it was quite the experience. My first car tragedy.