Friday, January 9, 2009

Terrible Horrible No Good Verry Bad Day


It all started at 7:15 this morning in the midst of a white out in Palisade. I had just left my dad's from dropping Maddox off, the roads are slick and snow packed. There is a long steep hill with a stop sign at the bottom where it meets another cross street, I am sure you can guess what happens next. Yep, though I am going very slow, I begin to slide, I can't stop. I end up sliding the passenger side of the truck against a large pile of boulders and a telephone pole. I get out check the damage, and to my surprise there is only a scuff on the rear fender which I think will buff out, and amazingly no dent. So I continue to school, dreading the fact that I need to call and tell Brian about the incident, all too well knowing what his reaction will be.

I make the call, no surprises on how he reacts...

Later I discover that I did not bring lunch! ARGH! So I head to the local pizza shop to get a slice. Once I order I realize that my wallet is missing. The one that has my ID and credit card, and this shop doesn't take checks! Great, now I got a wrecked truck, a mad husband, an empty stomach, and an irrational grouch approaching if I don't get food in me soon. (Thankfully the owner said he would take my check, even though there were multiple sights saying "NO CHECKS ACCEPTED" in angry bold black caps.)

Just then some dude walks and informs me that I have a flat tire! Can you believe it -- a flat tire on top of the rest of it! Thankfully I am right next to a gas station that provides free air. ( I hate that other stations charge for air, I mean it is air COME ON!) So I begin filling the tire up hopeful that I have solved a problem, when I hear loud hissing coming from the other side of the tire and notice that it is no longer inflating.

Yeah, I have a popped tire, though I can't see it on the other side, so I hurry and drive back to school so that I am not late to teach my Algebra class. On the way I realize I have to make yet another bad news call to Brian to inform him of the further damage I have inflicted upon his truck. Again no surprise by his reaction.


My brother Alix shows up towards the end of school with a huge smile and changes my tire for me, he is almost finished and Brian pulls into the parking lot, I hurriedly escape to the safety of my classroom (though there is only minutes left before the bell, I am just not ready to face his wrath.)

Eventually I have to bite the bullet and go outside, and of course Brian and Alix are still there. Brian seems to have calmed down and doesn't even yell at me, instead he gives me a hug and says he is not mad, just wonders why it always happens to his stuff...

Then he shows me the tire and wheel. The tire is absolutely fine however, the wheel is bent on both the outside and the inside so the seal was broken and no air would stay in.

This means we need to buy a new wheel. This means that we won't be taking the truck to Moab for our weekend get away which means no hiking, we can't take my car off the paved road. This also means there may not even be a weekend get away.

When I finally get home, Brian takes the wheel to get a new one, and I go running. While on the run Brian hunts me down and shows me the quote for a new, basic, steel, nothing fancy wheel...$380.00 - American?!

He lets me stew and get knots in my stomach for the rest of my run. When I get home I feel the tingling that precedes tears building behind my eyes, and then he informs me that they found a used one for $100.00, ordered it and it will be here in 7 days.

It was a terrible horrible no good very bad day!

Learned? Like Alexander in this book, I can look back and see that while I was in the midst of it and it seemed as if it couldn't, or wouldn't, get any better it was not the MOST terrible horrible no good very bad day, and I had survived, and maybe I won't move to Australia.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

$380 for a stell Rim? In Canada, we buy 4 "steelies" for about 45 a pop, and that is for fancy 18" rims to snazz up on your winter tires for your BMW6 series coupe. For a 4x4 truck, a used steelie would be like $25. Methinks hubby doesn't just have a truck, but he's got a NICE truck!

But at the end of the day people are more important than stuff. its great you didn't get hurt, and you got a hug too.

Anonymous said...

WOW! That's a doozey of a day. You poor thing - I'd say a weekend at a spa is more like what you need right now.

pretendingsanity said...

I'm just feeling glad it was the truck and not your car!