Just kidding. Life is good. I am alive, I am breathing, I have a lovely little home, I have a job and good friends. What I do not have is good luck. Good car luck to be specific. Guess what. I GOT ANOTHER FLAT!! Doing what you might ask? Expert Aidan-rescuer and car-fixer Daren (my teaching partner Stacy's husband) thinks I ran over rock which literally ripped a hole in my tire. A hole big enough to stick a finger in. So my front passenger tire is basically garbage. Might I mention this is my 4TH FLAT IN 3 YEARS. 4TH.
Do you have a spare Aidan? Why yes, thank you for asking - I do! In fact, I have 5 SPARES ON RIMS! But where are they Aidan? Well, that's a funny story. My 5 extra summer tires on rims are sitting in storage in Amos where my old van was brought to it's final resting place when I crashed it way back in November. The kind mechanics removed the tires from the back of my van and stored them for me (did I mention when I crashed my van I had 5 tires on rims floating around the back seat? I could have been decapitated). Now you may ask, Aidan, why haven't you retrieved your tires from Amos, you pass through there fairly frequently? If you had just picked them up, you wouldn't be so stressed about a silly flat! Well, allow me to let you in on a little frustrating secret. The Amos dealership - no matter what - is ALWAYS CLOSED when I pass through town. I have not once been able to make it to the service department where my tires are stored before it closes. So that has been my dilemma. I do not like travelling without a full-sized spare on a rim for obvious reasons. As I am sure you could imagine, the factory-issued spare tire that comes with a van is literally the size of a large bagel and useless on long trips like mine.
But before I tell you the solution to my problem, allow me to tell you the tale of how this happened in the first place.
I was working at school yesterday completing my didactic order for next year (I got placed in Grade 2 again, I am quite pleased!). Working hard on a lovely afternoon didn't bother me as I had the windows open, the shades pulled up and I was doing what I love best, spending money. The clock struck 4:30 and I left work for the grocery store to pick up a few items to tide me over until my IGA order arrives this Tuesday. I bought my goods and as I was leaving, I was tricked into giving a ride home to someone I am fairly certain is a gypsy ready to curse me. I drove this person home, and as I was leaving their home, DING my low tire pressure alarm went off. Gypsy curse. Now, this is fairly typical of my van, especially in winter when the air contracts inside the tire and I lose a little pressure. I am not usually concerned. However it was like, 20 degrees yesterday so I did give it a second thought, but kept driving. I was heading to Daren and Stacy's house to borrow some large clamps I needed to hang a large wet rug up outside on my railing (another story for another day). As I pulled up beside Stacy's home, I went around the car and saw that the front passenger tire was losing air at an ALARMING rate and a very loud and obnoxious hissing sound could be heard. Daren immediately got out his tire-fixing kit (similar to doctor's bag) and began poking and prying, trying to find the hole (didn't take long, it was about the size of a penny) and the cause of the tear. He thinks it was a rock which is entirely possible seeing as though Wemindji's landscape is littered with rocks big and small. He plugged up the hole, filled up my tire and sent me on my way. This man has helped me on more occasions than I am comfortable admitting to and honestly I should have him on retainer.
So as of now my tire is still plugged and full of air but I am wary of tomorrow. I have started the ball rolling to make arrangements for a transport company to pick up and deliver my tires from Amos to me this week hopefully and then I shall be on my way. In the meanwhile, please say a prayer for me to whichever god you believe in, light a candle, clutch some beads - because I could use all the good karma I can get right now!!
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| Slowly but surely, it shall be summer in Wemindji. |
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| Ordering! |
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