Yesterday was quite a day. It started normal, but..........
I am a proud Grandma of 2 month old twin baby girls. My daughter had a doctor appointment in Tacoma, about a 45 minute drive from home, Maple Valley. So we loaded up the girls and off we went.
The rain had begun and it was ugly out there. The doctor appointment went without any problems and the girls were wonderful. As we were leaving I had my daughter wait at the front door as I went to get the car. The rain was dumping with full force and I forgot my hat at home of course! As I approached my vehicle I soon realized my day was changing for the worse.
I had a flat tire! Crap! When was the last time I changed a tire? I can't remember. I looked at my Tahoe and thought if only I had a little car with a small tire! Well someone had to hear about my panic, so I called my husband. He answered his phone from his dry heated office and 45 minutes away with cheer in his voice, little did he know that cheer was going to change. "Hi Honey how are you?" I proceed to tell him that I was in a parking lot in Tacoma, in the pouring rain with @*$**@! flat tire! He asked if I knew how to change a flat? Well not on this car!He had a little chuckle to his voice and went quite. This did not help my panicked anger. So I knew this was not going to change my situation and if I wanted to go home I needed to start working on this and I told him I was going to change a tire and hung up on him. I didn't know how I was going to do this and I was not happy to think of changing a tire on a Tahoe in my heeled boots, dress pants and dress leather coat, but I had babies that were not going to do well sitting in a parking lot in Tacoma.So the next stop was to get my daughter and my grand-babies to the car. The rain was dumping in bucket loads. Within minutes my hair was soaked and I had streams of water running down the side of my face. We loaded the babies into the car and I pulled out the trustworthy manual to the car. I was able to find all the tools to repair the tire and had jack in hand. The tire is under the vehicle and according to this manual there is a hole in the bumper to insert this pole to release it. My bumper has no hole in it! Do I have to remove the plate? @**!!@##@@!!!! I called my husband again and inform him that I can't find the hole to put the "thingy" to get the spare.In the middle of my ranting he tells me to hold. He is talking to someone and telling them where we are. So I wait and then I hear that Les Schwab should have someone out to us soon, to change the tire. Well that's better, but I want to see something happen now! As I stand there getting drenched, I decide inside the car is a better idea. So we sat in the car to get warm and my husband sends me a text with the Les Scwab phone number, they are suppose to call me. Not fast enough again! I call them and they tell me they should be there within 30 minutes. All I can think of is feeding and changing babies inside a car for the afternoon. What Fun! A few more minutes goes by and I get a call from Luke of Les Schwab. He informs me that he will be there in 10 minutes. Things are looking up! Luke shows up and looks at the tire. I told him I couldn't find where to release the spare and he asks for my key. So do you think the manual could have mentioned that the lock on the bumper was where the hole was?But that's OK, now I know. So Luke works on getting this spare and it won't release. Just a little problem! After climbing under the car and then finally giving up, he decides that he will just fix the flat tire and save me a trip to Les Schwab. Perfect! I have no problem with that. So out comes the tools and off comes the tire. He spins it around and there's a piece of metal in the tire and it made a 1 1/2" hole in my tire. So there's the next problem! The tire can't be fixed, the spare won't release, my car is on a jack, I have no back tire and we are waiting for babies to tell us it's time to eat!Luke was on the phone to Les Schwab and then informed me that all he could do was to take my wheel and tire back to the shop and put on a new tire and return with it. So off he went. 30 minutes later I had a new tire mounted on my vehicleand he handed me my bill. We had just purchased these tires a few months prior to this from Les Schwab and after all this I will always be a faithful customer to them. I now know how to change the flat, but can someone supply me with an air compressor so I don't have to try and get those lug nuts loose? Oh that's right, I can just call Les Schwab!
We did arrive home safe and with a new tire. Let's not forget the problem with the spare. All the men in my house of course had there 2 cents to say about that! Of course they could have gotten it off! Luke must not of known how to do it! But, they didn't hop in their car to come and help now did they? So as our conversation went on and they had their "manly" comments, I decided to give them the opportunity to show their knowledge to us all. I told them it was only sprinkling outside (it was really dumping still) and the car was outside. I would be happy to allow them to go out there and take off the spare so they could show their talents to us all. They informed me that I was being mean.
So after our wonderful afternoon that extended to the evening, I would like all women out there to know about your local Les Schwab.I'm happy to be home, safe, warm and dry. I'm also very grateful to my husband for knowing who to call, even if I did swear at him.
Thank You Les Schwab
Cathy Lemon
John L. Scott - Maple Valley WA
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