This afternoon, almost right after I managed to get out of bed, I drove down to Payson. (In case you didn’t read that one, I got to bed around 7AM after working late, posting, and then being interrupted by a broken power rod.) I stopped by the ACE Hardware store to look at some epoxy (which reminds me to look the pruduct up on-line tonight), then headed over to the High School to pick up Heath. I had about 10 minutes, so I went around the dial and managed to find 6 stations that weren’t playing country, gospel, or in spanish, so I programmed them into part of the radio’s memory.
Then Heath and I drove over to the local movie theatre and watched Hidalgo. That was pretty good. Obviously, Hidalgo comes through in the end after it looks like he will fail, in a split-second finish. Could it be any other way? Is the story any less if you know that going in? Is it possible for you to know what the story is without knowing that? I don’t know.
We exited the theatre to find that the rear left tire was flat. I called my dad to be sure he didn’t have some alternate plan, then began the tire-changing process. Heath ran across the street to see if the Big O Tire was still open while I took the flat one off, but alas, they were closed. So I put the donut on and soon we were on our way. I could see, as soon as I took the tire off, that I had a screw buried in it. Could have been picked up as early as ACE Hardware; I mean, they sell screws there, right? But I knew better, so I left the screw in the tire. My father will take a look at it tomorrow.
I had a little more shopping to do (abrasives, light bulbs, marshmallows), so we stopped into the WalMart on the way home. The two-lane road between Payson and Pine was extra-fun, since I wouldn’t drive faster than 50 on the donut, and tried to stay around 45. And mostly, there isn’t passing on that road. The first place I was able to let people by (the Flowing Springs turnoff, I believe), six cars passed me. The next time (the passing zone near the Natural Bridge), it was only four. I tried to be polite as possible, considering the circumstances, giving everyone room to pass whenever I could.
Anyway, that’s my first flat tire. It was a little stressful, but more in regards to potentially having to pay to replace the tire than anything else. I can afford $4 for a movie, but tires aren’t in my budget right now. Is this why I never picked up driving? Incidental expenses? We’ll see how things go. I can get my lamps in a store tomorrow morning. They’re done, and now I have bulbs for them. Maybe they’ll make me some money.
