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terriphill
Darth Vader
Offline
Just got home from picking up our new "B" Left Friday afternoon after work...figured we'd get into Enid around 11:00pm. We even stopped off to pick up our oldest son in Fayeteville.
All's well...Family is back together and we are all enjoying being there...until just outside of Tulsa my son and I hear "pop" I look at him and he says...Dad you've got a flat. A minute later...we all knew that he was right.
We manage to pull onto an off ramp that is miraculously flat, although busier than I would have liked. At least its not on the freeway. Its now 10:45 pm on a Friday Night on the outskirts of a pretty big city.
No problem...we are pretty mechanically inclined between the four of us and let's face it, we've driven probably 200,000 miles on family trips around the country and if this is our 1st flat we are actually kinda lucky.
We all get out and look at the tire. Yep it's flat. What's next. Now, those of you who are familiar with cars remember, this is a 2005 Suburban with beefy, four wheel drive tires just purchased in July...a flat was the last thing we had considerd. Heck, we didn't know where the spare was, couldn't find the jack (by the way...we were really disappointed when we found it considering I know there was a three ton jack back at home in the garage)
After consulting the owners manual and searching the car thouroughly, we finally found the tools and equipment, posted the youngest to yell, "car" when vehicles exited the freeway while oldest and husband crawled around under the car trying to figure out how to crank down the spare. (by the way...turns out in Oklahoma...the grass on the side of the highway is full of these great little things called "cockleburs" that dig their spiny little stickers through your denim jeans and create misery when you are laying under a suburban trying to crank down a spare tire.)
Finally! Lugs loosened, car is jacked up, spare is mounted, car let down...throw everything into the trunk..check your watch. Hey! That only took 45 minutes...not Indy Pit time but not bad for a bunch of shade tree mechanics in the dark.
Let's go! We hop in. Turn the key and guess what....when we turned the car off to use the key to unlock the hole in the bumper to crank down the spare, we didn't start it back up. And you know how today's cars turn on the headlights and all the other thingy ma bobs and stuff when you open doors. Yep, you guessed it batteries dead! (Basil I know you don't like profanity so I will not even attempt to repeat my husbands next words...suffice it to say, he had cockleburs in the band of his boxers, on an offramp close to midnight, in a strange city, in a strange state, and we had just killed the battery! It wasn't pretty)
While the boys got out to lift the hood, I got the bright idea to call ONSTAR...we pay for their services, but I don't think I've ever pushed the button. (by the way the button doesn't work if the battery is dead...but I had the number on my cell) They promptly answered, determined that there was just enough juice left in our battery for their little sattelite to locate our vehicle and then promptly put me on hold. While I listened to their music, a gentleman drove up. He said he saw us with our hood up and figured we needed a jump..so he went home to get his cables. Wow! What an angel! He pulled in, jumped our car and soon we were up and running again.
We thanked him profusely. Introductions were made, we offered money, he refused any form compensation. Soon we were on our way.
I know this is long....but I had to share this story of our journey for three reasons:
First, when you get a new car, take the time to find the spare...do you know how to get it out? Have you checked it lately? Do you know where your tools are and how to use them?
Second, do you have emergency roadside service? Do you have the numbers programmed into your cell phone? (or written in your service book?)
And Finally, I wanted to share with you all the name of our savior in Tulsa,OK at Midnight on a Friday night
(Tinster, I hope you are reading this....)
His name was Pedro.
All's well...Family is back together and we are all enjoying being there...until just outside of Tulsa my son and I hear "pop" I look at him and he says...Dad you've got a flat. A minute later...we all knew that he was right.
We manage to pull onto an off ramp that is miraculously flat, although busier than I would have liked. At least its not on the freeway. Its now 10:45 pm on a Friday Night on the outskirts of a pretty big city.
No problem...we are pretty mechanically inclined between the four of us and let's face it, we've driven probably 200,000 miles on family trips around the country and if this is our 1st flat we are actually kinda lucky.
We all get out and look at the tire. Yep it's flat. What's next. Now, those of you who are familiar with cars remember, this is a 2005 Suburban with beefy, four wheel drive tires just purchased in July...a flat was the last thing we had considerd. Heck, we didn't know where the spare was, couldn't find the jack (by the way...we were really disappointed when we found it considering I know there was a three ton jack back at home in the garage)
After consulting the owners manual and searching the car thouroughly, we finally found the tools and equipment, posted the youngest to yell, "car" when vehicles exited the freeway while oldest and husband crawled around under the car trying to figure out how to crank down the spare. (by the way...turns out in Oklahoma...the grass on the side of the highway is full of these great little things called "cockleburs" that dig their spiny little stickers through your denim jeans and create misery when you are laying under a suburban trying to crank down a spare tire.)
Finally! Lugs loosened, car is jacked up, spare is mounted, car let down...throw everything into the trunk..check your watch. Hey! That only took 45 minutes...not Indy Pit time but not bad for a bunch of shade tree mechanics in the dark.
Let's go! We hop in. Turn the key and guess what....when we turned the car off to use the key to unlock the hole in the bumper to crank down the spare, we didn't start it back up. And you know how today's cars turn on the headlights and all the other thingy ma bobs and stuff when you open doors. Yep, you guessed it batteries dead! (Basil I know you don't like profanity so I will not even attempt to repeat my husbands next words...suffice it to say, he had cockleburs in the band of his boxers, on an offramp close to midnight, in a strange city, in a strange state, and we had just killed the battery! It wasn't pretty)
While the boys got out to lift the hood, I got the bright idea to call ONSTAR...we pay for their services, but I don't think I've ever pushed the button. (by the way the button doesn't work if the battery is dead...but I had the number on my cell) They promptly answered, determined that there was just enough juice left in our battery for their little sattelite to locate our vehicle and then promptly put me on hold. While I listened to their music, a gentleman drove up. He said he saw us with our hood up and figured we needed a jump..so he went home to get his cables. Wow! What an angel! He pulled in, jumped our car and soon we were up and running again.
We thanked him profusely. Introductions were made, we offered money, he refused any form compensation. Soon we were on our way.
I know this is long....but I had to share this story of our journey for three reasons:
First, when you get a new car, take the time to find the spare...do you know how to get it out? Have you checked it lately? Do you know where your tools are and how to use them?
Second, do you have emergency roadside service? Do you have the numbers programmed into your cell phone? (or written in your service book?)
And Finally, I wanted to share with you all the name of our savior in Tulsa,OK at Midnight on a Friday night
(Tinster, I hope you are reading this....)
His name was Pedro.
