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I thought TOMORROW was the 13th?
Feb. 12th, 2009 02:57 pmToday is not the worst day of my life. It isn't really even a contender.
However, it sure hasn't been a good one.
You'll probably be seeing a swathe of Tweets about this momentarily, but I figured this is a tale that requires being told in more than 140 letters at a time.
So, this morning I needed to fill up the tank, so I headed to the gas station. I noticed that there seemed to be a strange sound coming from behind me. God, don't let it be the engine, I prayed.
God has a funny sense of humour, kids.
I got to the gas station and filled up Supercar (22.65 kpl trip, thanks to the fine people at Road Trip for doing the math) and gave the car a quick walkaround. Ah. Driver rear tire's flat. Fuck.
It's been troublesome with losing air, so I took it to the air pump and filled it up. It's never a good sign when you can HEAR the air flowing back out of the tire.
I figured I'd go to the dealership and see if they can help, and got onto the highway. A bus had broken down in the middle lane near Trafalgar, which had not helped traffic today (Cynra described the highway as a parking lot, which was an accurate assessment). I got onto the 401, and a nice fellow commuter told me that I had a flat tire.
That was when I figured out that I wasn't making it to work on time.
I realized that I had a tire patch kit and pump in Supercar (which we get in lieu of a spare). Of course, I opened up the thingy that holds it and realized that I didn't have any instructions. Feh.
Since it was a mild morning with a light drizzle, with occasional epic gusts of wind, I headed into the Starbucks there. Not only were they cool with me waiting for my tow truck driver in there, they gave me a free coffee as well.
I killed some time waiting for him to arrive, and when he did we tried out the sealflation device, and it was no good.
Now, my plan had been to have Supercar towed to the dealership, get the tire replaced, and head into work. The tow truck drive pointed out that the rim was damaged, and the dealership would be unlikely to try to fix it, instead replacing both rim and tire.
He also pointed out that my CAA coverage covered 10 kms free towing, after that it was, like, a thousand dollars a klick. Okay, two. The point is, it would add up.
So, desperation being the stepfather of inspiration, I remembered that I had my summer tires, on rims, at home. So I had him drive me home, and then we took the car over to Canadian Tire, where I got the flat taken off and the summer put on. Now, God willing, I won't have to worry about a sudden snowfall in the next few weeks (I shudder to imagine the kind of control issues you'd get with one summer and one snow tire). I eventually made it to work, only three hours late.
Now, this could have been a shitty, shitty day. As I said, God knows it wasn't a good one. But everyone I dealt with today was great. The Starbucks barristas were very friendly, and like I said, free coffee. The tow truck driver was considerate, and even helped me avoid the towing fees. The staff at Canadian Tire were helpful and quick.
So, yeah, that wasn't as bad a day as it could have been. Tonight is gaming and roti night, and before that there's my first kickboxing class at the wellness centre, and hopefully a visit to Dragon Lady for my fix.
However, it sure hasn't been a good one.
You'll probably be seeing a swathe of Tweets about this momentarily, but I figured this is a tale that requires being told in more than 140 letters at a time.
So, this morning I needed to fill up the tank, so I headed to the gas station. I noticed that there seemed to be a strange sound coming from behind me. God, don't let it be the engine, I prayed.
God has a funny sense of humour, kids.
I got to the gas station and filled up Supercar (22.65 kpl trip, thanks to the fine people at Road Trip for doing the math) and gave the car a quick walkaround. Ah. Driver rear tire's flat. Fuck.
It's been troublesome with losing air, so I took it to the air pump and filled it up. It's never a good sign when you can HEAR the air flowing back out of the tire.
I figured I'd go to the dealership and see if they can help, and got onto the highway. A bus had broken down in the middle lane near Trafalgar, which had not helped traffic today (Cynra described the highway as a parking lot, which was an accurate assessment). I got onto the 401, and a nice fellow commuter told me that I had a flat tire.
That was when I figured out that I wasn't making it to work on time.
I realized that I had a tire patch kit and pump in Supercar (which we get in lieu of a spare). Of course, I opened up the thingy that holds it and realized that I didn't have any instructions. Feh.
Since it was a mild morning with a light drizzle, with occasional epic gusts of wind, I headed into the Starbucks there. Not only were they cool with me waiting for my tow truck driver in there, they gave me a free coffee as well.
I killed some time waiting for him to arrive, and when he did we tried out the sealflation device, and it was no good.
Now, my plan had been to have Supercar towed to the dealership, get the tire replaced, and head into work. The tow truck drive pointed out that the rim was damaged, and the dealership would be unlikely to try to fix it, instead replacing both rim and tire.
He also pointed out that my CAA coverage covered 10 kms free towing, after that it was, like, a thousand dollars a klick. Okay, two. The point is, it would add up.
So, desperation being the stepfather of inspiration, I remembered that I had my summer tires, on rims, at home. So I had him drive me home, and then we took the car over to Canadian Tire, where I got the flat taken off and the summer put on. Now, God willing, I won't have to worry about a sudden snowfall in the next few weeks (I shudder to imagine the kind of control issues you'd get with one summer and one snow tire). I eventually made it to work, only three hours late.
Now, this could have been a shitty, shitty day. As I said, God knows it wasn't a good one. But everyone I dealt with today was great. The Starbucks barristas were very friendly, and like I said, free coffee. The tow truck driver was considerate, and even helped me avoid the towing fees. The staff at Canadian Tire were helpful and quick.
So, yeah, that wasn't as bad a day as it could have been. Tonight is gaming and roti night, and before that there's my first kickboxing class at the wellness centre, and hopefully a visit to Dragon Lady for my fix.
