I feel like such an idiot.

[museikchik]

So this evening I was supposed to go over to my friends house and watch a movie. I was on the road for not even 5 minutes when I did something completely stupid. I look over and notice the police have blocked off the entrance to the freeway. As I am looking at that I run right into the curb on the side of the road pretty hard. I decide to pull over in the nearest parking lot. As soon as I get out of the car I hear the air gushing out of my tire. There is about a one inch gash on the side of my tire. I was able to make it home. I had to call my husband and tell him what I did. Normally I wouldn''t think twice about it but I don''t have a job right now and funds are kind of limited. I could hear the frustration in his voice when I was telling him what happened. He is fine with it but I feel so stupid and totally don''t need this right now. Oh and as a bonus I get to be stuck in my hot apartment for Labor Day weekend because we can''t fix the tire until Monday.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 9/5/2009 12:01:34 AM
Author:museikchik
So this evening I was supposed to go over to my friends house and watch a movie. I was on the road for not even 5 minutes when I did something completely stupid. I look over and notice the police have blocked off the entrance to the freeway. As I am looking at that I run right into the curb on the side of the road pretty hard. I decide to pull over in the nearest parking lot. As soon as I get out of the car I hear the air gushing out of my tire. There is about a one inch gash on the side of my tire. I was able to make it home. I had to call my husband and tell him what I did. Normally I wouldn''t think twice about it but I don''t have a job right now and funds are kind of limited. I could hear the frustration in his voice when I was telling him what happened. He is fine with it but I feel so stupid and totally don''t need this right now. Oh and as a bonus I get to be stuck in my hot apartment for Labor Day weekend because we can''t fix the tire until Monday.

oh no I am so sorry. I heard that a big cause of accidents are drivers checking out accident scenes, etc, so you aren''t alone. Hope things get better, hugs.

 

[Indylady]

Lots of hugs! I am sure that things start to look up for you sooner than you think!

 

[Burberrygirl]

Hugs, I'm sorry that happened! Thankfully, my dad is in the tire and wheel business and I don't have to worry about it. I'm always hitting huge holes and sometimes curbs.. oh, and my mom loves backing into all our cars! Thank God for connections. Wanna trade places? This Labor Day weekend I have to go to this huge family golf tournament and a party after. It's gonna suck, I'm not very good at golf... I hope things start to look up for you!

I just noticed your avatar, that is the cutest picture!!!

 

[Tuckins1]

D''oh!! I''ve done stupid things like that before too... Just get a new tire and move on. This is a lesson learning moment- i''m sure you won''t do that ever again!

 

[Sabine]

Awe, that stinks! Hopefully you can find something fun to do at home this weekend!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Don''t beat yourself up about it. Accidents happen. Hope you get it fixed soon!

 

[perry]

I understand your frustration and the impact as I have been there (including the financial situation). I too have done "stupid" things that caused minor auto damage (and my last one cost about $1200 to fix). Lets just say that with where I currently live if I''m over tired or sick and not paying detailed attention when parking my van in its tight parking space - or backing out of the garage with the car (with old small garage doors)... I have thought of modifying the garage (it''s cement block and stuctural steel - not easy to modify) - or tearing it down and starting over.... ($$,$$$).

Flat - or damaged tires - in my case are typically caused by road issues or debris. I seem to have more than my fair share of them - especially when in Chicago. The Chicago area seems to have some kind of road tire monsters as most of my tire problems in life have all occured in the Chicago area - and I have almost always lived 3-4 hours north of there which makes tire problems more of a problem.

One lesson I have learned is to have a full service spare tire. Then if I get a flat tire all I have to do is change the tire and keep on booking down the road (its not like I can drive home on a donut spare).

Unfortunately, it is hard to find a car these days that even holds a full size tire in its wheel well. But, this was one of my personal 3 criterias for buying a car this year. So now I have a Hyundia. Subaru was the other brand that all of its cars could hold a full size spare. I have been told that VW also has that feature - but I did not personally verify that as there are not that many VW dealers in my area (and even the Hyundia dealer is 45 minutes away).

So while I do understand your situation; I offer the advice that a full size spare tire is a wonderful thing to have. That is something that everyone can have if they want to in the future.

Perry

 

[D&T]

Date: 9/5/2009 9:07:21 AM
Author: Tuckins1
D''oh!! I''ve done stupid things like that before too... Just get a new tire and move on. This is a lesson learning moment- i''m sure you won''t do that ever again!

been there done that too

so sorry this happened.

 

[purrfectpear]

Donut spares are fine for driving around on for a few days, just don''t drive over 45mph (like on a freeway).

I got a flat 200 miles from my destination when I was driving from Cali to Kansas last year. I drove on the donut (yep, on the highway) for the next 4 days until I could get matching tires ordered and replaced.

Is there a WalMart near you? They''re open on Sat/Sun.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

Aw, I am sorry. I am just happy that you did not hit something other than the curb!

 

[movie zombie]

at least you had a good excuse! think of all the men that do this or get into wrecks because they''re eyeing some other female while driving!

mz

 

[Haven]

Aw, I''m sorry this happened! I bet we can all say we''ve been there at one time or another.

Maybe a little story will make you feel better. When DH and I had only been dating for about six months he scraped the heck out of the side of my then-7 month old Chevy Equinox with his own car while he was backing out of my parents'' driveway. It was the first new car anyone in my family had ever owned, and he was *so* embarrassed and felt *so* bad about it. It cost $1200 to fix, as it was a very nasty little scrape.
The truth is that he is a much better driver than I, it just takes one little mistake to prove costly.

Here''s hoping that the rest of the weekend goes nice and smoothly for you!

 

[museikchik]

Thanks so much ladies. You all made me feel better. So I have to tell you the rest of the story. When I called my husband, I asked him if I needed to change the tire immediately (to the donut in the car). I had never done it by myself before but do know how to. He told me not to worry about it, that we would take care of it in the morning. So this morning I am thinking that he is going to change the tire for me. Turns out he wanted to use this as a "training experience" so I got to change the tire myself. I had a headache and was hungry so I was already in a bad mood. I put the jack under the car but didn''t lift it. My husband went to loosen the bolts for me and they were super tight. We didn''t have a pipe or anything long enough for leverage so we had to go to Home Depot to get one at 7:30 am. Keep in mind my husband had just worked all night long so was not in the best of moods (which I don''t blame him). On the way to Home Depot, he kept talking about how the bolts might be tight because the tire wasn''t changed out right away. WHAT THE HECK!!! I had asked him that very question and he told me not to worry about it. If he hadn''t just got off of work I probably would''ve said something but I bit my tongue. We finally get the pipe and went back home. I would say it took me about twenty minutes to change out the tire by myself. At least I know that I can do it all by myself now. The last time I tried I couldn''t get the tire on the car and got super frustrated. Anyway when I was done, I hopped in the car making sure to not drive more than 45 mph and went to McDonalds and got breakfast for the both of us. It was an experience.

 

[steph72276]

Aww, man I feel so bad for you. I''ve been there, done that too. When I was on the way to work a few years ago, I noticed a spider in my car, I was swatting at him, trying to get him out the window when BAM, I hit the curb and slashed my tire open too. I''m sorry about the tire and hope your weekend gets better!

 

[ckrickett]

I''m sorry!!! that''s so lame.

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

They call ''em accidents for a reason.

Glad you''re safe & well, but sorry about the tire and crummy timing.

Hope it''s sorted out soon!

 

[atroop711]

so sorry this happened but on the bright side...glad you didn''t get hurt

 

[purrfectpear]

Congrats on changing your own tire (see ladies, we CAN do it)

Sorry hubs was grumpy. When he''s in a better mood you can tell him from me that the lugs being tight had NOTHING to do with not changing the tire right away DUH.

Lugs are tight because they''re supposed to be tight, and they get tight from not being changed period. Leave it to a guy to make things up on the fly

You get a big high five from me

 

[museikchik]

Date: 9/6/2009 2:31:08 PM
Author: purrfectpear
Congrats on changing your own tire (see ladies, we CAN do it)

Sorry hubs was grumpy. When he''s in a better mood you can tell him from me that the lugs being tight had NOTHING to do with not changing the tire right away DUH.

Lugs are tight because they''re supposed to be tight, and they get tight from not being changed period. Leave it to a guy to make things up on the fly

You get a big high five from me

That is exactly what I told him. My car is a new car and we have never manually changed the tire before. I told him this and he dismissed it like I didn''t know what I was talking about. Yeah, because I have a Master''s Degree I couldn''t possibly know what I am talking about right? I may not know much about cars but that was just common sense to me. Can you tell I am still a little annoyed. One of my worst faults is that it takes me FOREVER to get over stuff.

 

[radiantquest]

That totally sucks and I feel for you, but we have all done it. Maybe not that exact same situation, but something similar. You will get through it. Just grit your teeth and deal with it and in a few weeks it will just be in the past and you will have moved past it.

 

[luv2sparkle]

Can I just tell you that one time I ran over a concrete divider and popped two front tires!!! The sun was shining on it and it was an optical illusion. Worse part, we
lived in a small mountain town and it was in the parking lot of the only grocery store in town. Everyone heard, boy, did I have a hard time living that one down!

So now I tell myself, if that is the stupidest thing I ever do (probably not!), I am doing ok. And-in 6 months this wont matter one bit. Okay, so I have to tell myself
this a lot-it works for me!!