Death Defying

Yesterday I drove down to San Jose to hang out with the girls. We had Thai for lunch and then we went shopping for some stuff for Sophie's new house. Then Erika and I went and saw Stick It. hahahaha. Yes, it was as bad as it looks and a whole lot more. But that was exactly what I was expecting, so I was not disappointed.

Then on the way back up to Berkeley, I notice that the steering wheel is kinda shaking/vibrating and I can hear a thumping sound from the front end of the car. So I call my brother and dad and they tell me I should go get it checked out. So this morning I was going to drive around and find a place and I go to the garage and the front leftside tire is flat and the tread is coming off.

Holy crap! I am SO lucky that I did not break down on the 880. That would have been a complete fucking nightmare. So I put the donut on the car and drive it to Goodyear. Because that's the only reputable tire place around but fucking expensive.

So the cheapest tire they have is $91 and then he calls me out to look and says that all the studs where the lug nuts screw on look like they're broken. I noticed it too when I was putting the donut on because the nuts didn't have a whole lot of room to screw on.

Silly me. I've been driving a death trap this whole time. He said that the wheel could have come flying off. In the past year I've had to change both tires on the driver's side so I know they were good, but I think the other tires were probably from the original car.

He then shows me the back tire on the passenger side and points out all the cracks in the rubber. I'd prefer to find somewhere less expensive, but honestly I didn't really have a choice. I'm supposed to be driving home this morning.

I had to buy 2 new tires, plus he was going to replace the studs on the front tire and all the lug nuts. WTF, half of the lug nuts on the front tire were different from the others. I guess it's good that this happened now before I got on the road.

But damn! it's probably going to $300+ when it's done.

Plus, he said it would take 1 1/2 - 2 hours to fix. I decided to walk back to my apartment rather than waiting there, but I underestimated how far it was and I was wearing flip flops. Then as I'm finally at my apartment, I realize that I left the keys with the car, with my apartment key on the ring.

I crossed my fingers and somehow the front door was not pulled all the way closed so I got in! And I had left my apartment unlocked so I didn't have to wait in the street or go somewhere else. Yay!

Now I'm supposed to be packing while waiting for the call, but I'm typing up this rant instead.

I still need to write about my mini-vacation to Las Vegas, but I'll do that later.

Toodles!