So Tired

Yesterday I learned there is a very fine line between someone who acts calmly in the face of adversity and someone who is so pessimistic that they react to horrible situations with dull resignation. I thinking I'm more a part of column B, but somehow this story ends up much more positive than a normal Jason Adventure of Woe.

So I'm driving home yesterday night. I had just kicked in another half hour of unpaid overtime, so I was not in the best of moods, but was gonna be home soon and I would get to see Lost and eat a frozen pizza and everything would be better. I pull into the right lane of the highway at my exit when the Truck Of Malfunction begins pulling to the right.

"Well it is the TOM, what do you expect?"

I figured I was less than a mile from my apartment, I'll get home and figure out what's wrong there. No need to stop here, it'd be suicide in rush hour traffic. Maybe 100 feet later, the TOM goes, and I quote "TH-WHUMP!" and suddenly I cannot drive at all. I pull over to the shoulder, get out and survey the damage.

My tire is no longer on the wheel. All I have is a metal hub, no rubber. I crawl down and have a look, sure enough, there is my tire caught under the very back edge of the rim, lying flat on the ground. As any of you know who read religiously, I have no spare tire and my adventures in wheel care are the stuff of painful legend.

I get back in the car and call everyone I know who is within driving distance of me, along with my parents, just because if anyone knows from car troubles, it is them. Apparently 6:25 is a bad time to call people, however, as no one answers their phone. I consider my options and finally land on throwing myself into oncoming traffic.

Then I remember that I have roadside assistance on my cell phone, which I picked up after all the TOM fiascos in the past. These people are awesome. They got me a tow truck within 20 minutes that had a tiny little man inside who managed to get the TOM onto his truck in like 30 seconds despite the fact that, according to him "The tire is gone. Would you like to bring it with you? I can keep it in the back of [the TOM]?"

I was all set to drive back to my apartment and then go driving about through the night looking for a place that could outfit me with a new wheel at 9:00 at night. But the tiny tow truck guy does not settle for second best. He drives me through the ghetto (AKA: The 4 miles past my apartment) to this tiny little auto place full of 4 men who don't necessarily speak English, but do get me a new tire and up and running in under 10 minutes. We then communicate through sign language that the cost will be $20. And then when I only have $19 on me in cash, the price becomes $19.

To recap: In under an hour, I had a blow out, a tow, a new tire replaced, and made it back to my apartment for a total cost of $19. I just used up every ounce of good will that I had coming to me, including the karma I had from that donation so that the kids could go to the aquarium.

So look out for me, I'm gonna be doing good deeds all over the place to get the ledger back in order.