Re: Screwed Myself Again

[G. Morgan <sealteam6@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

JoeRaisin Wrote:

>And this time, mother nature threw her two cents in as well... the bitch.
>
>About 40 min from home on an hour and half drive, guy pulls next to me
>on a passing lane and points to my tires.
>
>I hadn't felt anything out of the ordinary but I pull over and sure
>enough, the right front is about 2/3 flat.  Well, I knew it had a slow
>leak and I was keeping up with it.  It was only losing about 10 lbs of
>air over 5-6 weeks if I let it go that long, usually checking and
>topping it off with a pound or two once a week.  Don't know if what was
>causing the slow leak was the cause of the flat... Don't care.
>
>I have gotten into the habit of looking at it and I know it was riding
>nice and high when I left the job site.
>
>No problemo... I got a spare and right after I started driving this heap
>I had gone to a junk yard for a jack and tool kit that normally come
>with a 2001 Sierra.  Only took about two hours of hunting around but I
>found a junked 2001 Sierra that had everything I needed.  Worth the
>time, I figured, as having a flat without a jack is a bitch.
>
>So I flip the seat forward and there's the tools... oh shit, I used the
>jack when I was working on my yard tractor and never put it back.
>
>I suck at this...
>
>Well.... again, no problemo... I got AAA road service.  I give them a
>call and tell them I need a tire change - won't cost a me penny.  They
>make the arrangements and tell me I will have about an hour wait.
>
>No problemo... that will give me time to crank the spare out from under
>the truck and have it all ready when the guy gets here.
>
>There's a hole in the bumper with a sleeve that directs the long tool
>right to the crank that drops the spare... assuming, of course, that
>one's bumper isn't cocked, which mine is.
>
>Though it took a minute to figure out the problem.
>
>No Problemo... that plastic sleeve isn't hard at all to remove and I
>peer into the hole with my pen light... there's the nut all I gotta do
>is slide that tool right on to it.  Hell, it only took about five
>minutes to get it seated.
>
>I crank and crank and crank... the cable is lying on the ground but the
>spare has only dropped about 4-5 inches.  I kick and pull but it's not
>moving down at all.  So I feel around, trying to figure out the problem
>but can't seem to find where things have gone wrong.  I realize that the
>entire mechanism is suspended by two hooks and ONE bolt.
>
>NO Problemo... it's a work truck and I gots tools up the ass (it's the
>safest place to keep them in some of the areas I work in).
>
>I grab a wrench that I think will be right, based on my guestimate when
>I felt it.  I feel around for several minutes and realize the half inch
>is a little too small.  What was I thinking!  Auto makers love the
>9/16th. takes a few minutes of blindly feeling around to realized the
>9/16th ain't gonna make it either.  The 5/8 was a perfect fit.  so I
>commence to unbolting the entire mechanism (and I made sure that's what
>I was unbolting).  At a quarter turn at a time it only took... Forever.
>
>I still couldn't get the spare off the damned mechanism, but with the
>whole thing lying on the ground I can see what I'm up against.  The
>retractable hook that prevents it from dropping while I'm, driving down
>the road is all corroded from the Michigan road salt and it won't retract.
>
>NO PROBLEMO... I gots lots of tools.  I beat on it with a hammer...
>nope.  I crank on it with pliers, several different types of pliers in
>fact, including vice grips... nope.  I beat on it some more with the
>hammer, not that I think the hammer will suddenly work, but I needed a
>bit of therapy about then.  I can see how it's supposed to move so in a
>moment of clarity, I grab my mini pry bar and that does the trick.
>
>Did I mention that it started raining right before the mechanism
>dropped?  Wouldn't have done any good to rain before that as I was under
>the truck and would have been somewhat protected.
>
>Tow truck gets there about 5-10 minutes later and the driver says, "Glad
>to see you got the spare off.  When I heard the year of the truck I
>thought for sure it would be froze up and I'd have a hell of a time
>getting it down."  Then he sees the mechanism sitting there on the
>ground and says, "Oh, I see you did have some trouble."
>
>We change the tire (still raining) but now I got nowhere to put the flat
>tire.  One would think that with a full sized truck bed there would be
>room for a tire, but with all the tools, equipment and ladders I carry
>there was no friggin way.  So I put it on top of my ladder rack (which
>has other ladders on it, the ones that won't fit in the bed).  Those
>damned tires are HEAVY!
>
>I climb on top of the truck and bungy the fucker down.
>
>Did I mention it was raining?
>
>Turns out the spare was low on air itself - about 20 lbs in it and it
>should be 44.
>
>NO FUCKING PROBLEMO... I know I'm only 7 miles from a gas station with
>an air pump.  I stop there all the time.  In fact I was planning to stop
>there in any event as I had to pee like a friggin racehorse.  Where I
>had pulled over was on a highway through the woods but this time of year
>there's no cover.  I would have had to trek about a quarter mile through
>the remaining snow and over a ridge to avoid getting arrested for
>indecent exposure.  I just KNEW the minute I whipped it out a damned
>female trooper would drive by and get all offended 'cause I wasn't
>slipping that monster to her.  I figured I could hold it - but it did
>add a bit of spice to everything else.
>
>It takes a dollar in quarters to activate the air pump and I have no cash.
>
>No (sigh) problemo... got the debit card and go inside to use the
>bathroom and the ATM.  What ATM?  I could have sworn they had an ATM.
>So I buy a vitamin water, I'm pretty thirsty anyway, and get $10 cash
>back, then make change.
>
>I go back out into the rain and fill the tire up to the prescribed 44
>lbs, let the hose snap back and climb in the truck.
>
>I start it up, turn on the wipers and pull away.  Less than a mile later
>the wipers start making that annoying noise they make when they are
>being dragged across a dry windshield.
>
>Must of had something to do with the sun coming back out.
>
>I wonder if my Vitamin water will still be sitting on the ice cooler
>next to the air pump next time I'm by there.
>
>Probably not...


Sometimes you're the bug, sometimes you're the windshield.

You were definitely the bug that day!

I would have called the rest of the day off after all that.  I'd be too
pissed to face any customer, and you just *know* a clusterfuck of a job
is waiting for you on a day like that.



--

I met a guy today who said he was addicted to brake fluid!
But he says he can stop anytime.