in entirety (flat tire pt. 2)

the continuation from the previous post . . . the AAA guy could not lift dear old Funkwagen high enough to get off the tire. "I just need about three or four more inches man," he tells us at about 5AM. "Do you have any 2x4s?" he skeptically asks.

"... no ... but let me check that trash pile over there and see what I can find ..." the anabatingly sanguine Jordan proposes while the rest of the Moxie crew laughs bitterly. Why would there be wood in a pile of trash?

Serendipity smiles upon her most trusting son yet again, and he manages to uncover a three to four inch block of wood! Yet Moxie's troubles are not yet over. Each pump that thrusts the jack higher is accompanied by a splintering sound and a slight compression. The jack reaches its end and there is just enough room to remove the old tire . . . but the spare simply won't make it. It needs literally millimeters.

It's 5:30AM and we're at wits end. Our friend Reshon the AAA man is out on the morning of the 4th of July and he's ready to head home; he's certainly not very hopefull. "It's just not gonna cut it." He says. But then he pauses, and off-handedly mutters, "you said you don't have a jack, right?"

"No, but do you have one in your car?" Jordan proposes bouyantly. Reshon responds, "I think so ... I guess we can try it."

This jack does the trick! But we have to let out a dangerous amount of air to get the spare on - we're only at 55 psi and we should be around 80. This tire also supports all the weight of our equipment. Plus, Reshon can't tighten the lugnuts enough to make Funkwagen safe enough to drive. "You need to take this thing to a tire shop first thing, 'fore you head anywhere else," he admonishes before he heads out.



So that's what we do. We drive her (slowly) to the closest place, park her, and walk to Julie's, finally arriving at 7AM. Everyone passes out, and at 1PM Evan and Jordan get up and take care of business. Luckily, this tire place is open on the 4th of July and we're able to get everything in order to head to Cincinnati to rest and celebrate. And that's the entire story. Time to retire.