Tiring Tires and More

Now, this is worse than what happened to our tire, but while driving to work last Wednesday, my tire blew out around Point of the Mountain. The right side of the road was all a hill, so I got scared to change the tire on my own. I called Tim, my boss, then UDOT, who have a roadside asstance vehicle that I've seen helping people once or twice. While waiting for help, a really nice guy stopped and insisted he help. We almost had the new tire on when the jack broke (probably a combination of the hill, the heat, and the fact that we've used it too much). Luckily it bent, so it still kept the car from crashing down. We sat there wondering what to do, and the UDOT truck drove up as the guy was going to get his car jack. We fixed it quickly after that, but I still had to make an expensive trip to Walmart to replace the back 2 tires.

I got thinking that I've done a lot for the car lately, so I decided to make a list of our car issues that have happened in the last year...

1. We got it registered in GA about last July, but had to re-register (and re-pay) for Utah.

2. This required a Safety and IM test which I made an appt. for, but had to reschedule somewhere else because the place I went lost their certification to do it that week.

3. Before the safety test, we had to replace the entire windshield.

4. We had to look all over Provo, only to find the vehicle registration office is a few blocks from our apartment

5. Brakes replaced

6. Brakes replaced again because the first ones were bad (a pain, but free)

7. I got hit in a hit and run which is a lot of paperwork and phone calls

8. New body work done due to the hit and run. This took a week and caused me a lot of stress due to the dumb car rental company.

9. New timing belt...expensive

10. Flat tire = patch + tire balance due to potholes in the winter

11. 3 Oil changes in the past few months

12. Tire blowout on the freeway this week = 2 new tires and a new jack

Now I know I drive it a lot, but I think I've had my share of car problems this year. I say I because Tim never drives, so I have been the one to take care of everything with the exception of one oil change. At least I'll feel a little better driving with new tires across the country in a few weeks.