The Drive of Shame

Get your mind out of the gutter. It wasn’t that kind of drive.

I blew a tire for the first time. I admit I should’ve seen it coming, knowing that my tires had struggled to hold air in the winter months.

During spring my tires performed a lot better but on a weekly trip to pick up the papers in Havre, I passed a vehicle going a somewhat reasonable speed when I knew something wasn’t quite right. The blowout wasn’t as dramatic as I thought one may be. I made it safely to the shoulder but the road was really busy and it was a little concerning.

Another concern was the doughnut being able to hold the weight of papers for the remaining 24 miles of the trip. So I was hoping to find a close replacement before pulling the spare from under the stacks of papers in my trunk.

I was out of range of cell service so I had no idea how things would play out. So I texted my insurance provider but the company was training in Billings and so “Roadside Assistance” was useless.

My only option was to trust in the Stepney. So I pulled out all of the papers to reveal the fresh spare that was fully inflated.

I almost freaked out as I couldn’t find my jack with the tire. The jack was found in a side pocket in my trunk.

I removed the tire only to find that I hadn’t rotated the jack enough to fit the spare on.

A guy from North Dakota came by to see if I needed help and though I felt okay, he explained that I was using the jack the wrong way. The slot on the crowbar was beneficial after all.

After the spare was on and the papers were back in my car, I took off! The 45 mph trip back home was slow but I was never so thankful for air conditioning. I am also thankful that no one was hurt and the papers were still out by Wednesday morning.

The incident happened only days before the mosquitoes started getting bad in Malta, so I am also thankful I wasn’t exposed to the West-Nile and Zika Viruses.

If I have learned anything from my first blowout I have learned a couple of things. A. Don’t trust old tires, unless you have no other option. B. I should really pay attention to my owner’s manual. C. I may start carrying a full sized spare in the back seat.