Thursday, August 9, 2007

Just Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop

This was too easy. I went to Just Tires to take care of my flat tire, using my road hazard warrantee.

I told them I would prefer having a new tire instead of fixing the old one -- haaaaaaaa -- but we all know the warrantee has gobbledegook language that lets them fix the tire if they think it's fixable. Of course I could always BUY a new tire. Meanwhile, the fixed tire does retain its warrantee. I just have to be patient. When the patch fails on the old tire and I run off the road, I can finally get a new tire for free.

Just Tires said they would rotate the tires [for free] and check to see if I needed a wheel alignment [about $80]. I didn't tell them that I had marked the tires so I could tell if they had been rotated. Funny, nobody asked what all the white chalk Roman numerals were. The flat was marked with a IV. The others with I, II, III. I asked where the fixed flat was going to go. Left front. Sure enough, that's where they put it. And they switched all the other ones too.

Then I was braced for a wheel alignment charge, but they said, no, the car doesn't need one.

Total cost:  $0. That's the good news.

The bad news is that I had a run in with one of the construction dudes today. Each morning it's a crap shoot who is going to show up to make noise and leave construction poop on the road.

Some guy pulls up in a HUGE dump truck and parks it in the middle of the street, almost blocking my driveway, but not quite. Today they're removing dirt for a new driveway.

I back out, slowly, because I have to dodge the front end of a an electric blue and chrome truck cab so large that the tires are almost as high as the roof of my Jeep. With giant treads that eat small children.

I continued to creep slowly, slowly, slowly, because I didn't want to hit something the size of a T. Rex that could dent my car with just the sound of its engine.

I don't remember being that careful leaving my driveway since the flood of '87, when people floated in boats down the street. Careful. Careful. Tap. I touched the truck. Touched it. I didn't hit it. I didn't bang into it. I literally touched it -- *tap* as opposed to *TAP.* In fact, as taps go, this one didn't even begin to qualify as a no harm, no foul parallel parking tap.

So I put my car in drive. BUT WAIT!! OUT OF NOWHERE, HERE COMES THE TRUCK DRIVER!! HEY HEY HEY HEY!!  Irolled about five feet and stopped. He comes running up to my window. 

Yes? You hit my truck. No, I barely touched your truck. You have no damage. Well, be more careful next time. No, next time you be more careful and don't park your rig in front of my driveway.

Honest to goodness the guy was smiling. There will be nine inch nails on my driveway tonight.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

No, tomorrow your driveway will be completely blocked.  :-)

Anonymous said...

I'll tell you to say "That was just a warning" but he'd probably turn you into the cops & then the cop would arrest your for resisting arrest...did you see that one on John's blog? HA!

"Construction poop" HAA! That is too funny! "Tire treads that eat children" you are in rare form tonight! You should write columns for the Tribune. People would love this stuff.

HA! That would be funny if you had like a ton of nails in your tires & you go back to the tire place & say I want them all fixed! HA! Then you might get some free tires. Then you can do this like once a week until the construction is over! HA! They will never mess with you again! HA!

Anonymous said...

You should have run him over when he ran up to your car. Dead men don't testify against "frail older women who live alone" and keep dry-cleaning on their stoop. In AZ we just shoot them. The audience reaction is about the same.

Anonymous said...

Too bad you couldn't run over his foot.  *tap*  

"treads that eat small children"  LOL
Anna