Flat Tire

I went downstate last Friday to hang out with a few sisters-in-law and just have a good time. Did some shopping, a lot of eating, actually went out for ice cream in this super cold weather. Bought a few things, a pair of brown shoes, a bathroom rug, an omelette pan, some lovely, tasty pistachios. The drive down was a little hairy. Though it was sunny when I got onto the I-75 the wind was so strong it was blowing snow onto the freeway that made it hard to see at times. Suddenly one had to drop from 70 mph (yes that is the speed limit on Michigan highways) very quickly. But I got there safely and as I said, had a very good time.

I came home today, another sunny and blustery day, but after I got onto US-23 after getting off I-75 in Standish some sort of board was in the road that I could not avoid. There was a car to my right, and ones in the lanes approaching me so I could not swerve. Hit it dead on with my left front tire, it smacked the undercarriage and flew out behind me. About a minute later I heard the dreaded "helicopter overhead" sound informing me one of my tires was flat and I pulled over as quickly as I could. Left rear was deader than a door nail. I called USAA, and a tow truck was sent out and arrived about 20 minutes later. As it was about 17 degrees Fahrenheit I had no desire to attempt putting on the spare myself, besides, it turned out that the guy had to whack the rim with a sledge hammer to get it off anyway. I don't carry a sledge hammer in my car. And as I have road side assistance on my insurance policy, I may as well get what I pay for.

When I got home, I emptied the car before I pulled into the garage. Later I noticed some frozen yellowish green spots in the snow where Rory was idling for 10 minutes. Now I have to wonder if something else was damaged by that chunk of debris. Hal will be crawling underneath and taking a look. The tire itself is salvageable, the sidewall on the inside has an L-shaped slice in it. So unless I can find the same tire to replace it with (it had a fairly deep tread) I will have to buy 2 to replace it. Plus possibly have to get some sort of leak fixed. Bummer all around.