I was feeling like a idiot a little tonite. Monday on my way home from town. I noticed the truck was bouncing really bad. I had to keep slowing down & finally put on my flashers and continued home. I was thinking it must be the front end, we have known the steering box is shot just recently but it , I think is too expensive to try & repair on our 79 Chevy C-10.

Tuesday was the 4th of july everything was closed. I had to work from 2pm to 8 pm. It is only 15 miles to town. OH I was able to go to the local gas station & fill up before going in so another 6 miles added in there. The truck started lunging. It was quite a blit annoying. but I had to get to work so I got there on time. I was thinking hmm, It must be trash in the fuel line. I was able to get the part off the carborator & knock out the fuel filter & put it back on. I headed home. that problem was fixed. The truck was still bouncing but I was thinking ok, my truck will be going in this week to get fixed before this one dies.

Wednesday I worked another 2pm to 8 pm shift. I was ready to leave and remembered my A saying to check the air pressure in the tires. So I looked at the tires. YIKES One of the tires , right front tire had part of the rubber trying to come off. I said a big prayer asking to be looked after & kept safe till I got home. 15 miles.

So I head out I got about 5 miles down the road & boom. The tire sounded horrible. I thought I must have a flat tire for sure. I got off the bridge & to the side of the road to look. More of the tread had come loose. However there was still air in the tire.

The spare tire has been at the tire shop waiting to get a good used tire. We had just gotten 3 used tires, balanced & mounted for $25. It was suppose to have been $50 but the day after the work we had a tire with no air & I had to go to work. It took us half an hour to get the tire off the truck. We broke a 4 way lug wrench in the process. They got a little overzealous with the air gun. We did not have a trained gorilla to help change the tire. lol anyway we were not charged the other $25 we owed.  

So what to do? I have no spare tire. I can not call anyone to come get me. I wanted my truck in my driveway. So I decided after saying another prayer to continue to drive the other 10 miles to my home. I doubt I got over 30 miles an hour. The tire pounding on the wheel well was stressing me out, I was getting anxious, my head & back are killing me. I put on my flashers and continued on. If I got a flat I would rethink my options but as long as there was air in the tire I would drive towards home. It was loud. My mind started thinking of the sound as bongo drums.

I got one truck pull up beside me. A young fellow asked if he could help. I pulled over & explained my situation. He said he had to go to the local store & if he saw me broke down he would stop back and help.

I got up to the local store & he sees me again. He offered me his spare tire for free. Another fellow, who had been drinking I figured out later stopped too. He offers me one of 4 of his spare tires with rim for $5.00. For some reason, I pulled off the main road into a parking lot. The young fellow & him both offered to help at the same time. Well the older fellow, He jacks up the truck takes off the tire from my truck & tells me he lives out of his truck. He asks if I am married. What is my husbands name. etc. Well he finally tries to put one of his rims on the truck. It is a 15 in same as mine . He said he got them off a Chevy. It would not fit. The middle of the rim was not big enough. He offers to drive me home. I was only about 6 miles left to go. I said I could make it. I thanked him for his help & said I appreciated it. 

I ended up taking an entire hour to drive 10 miles home. I am exhausted. But  I am suprisingly in a good mood. I want to go to bed but I have a few more errands to do. I did call my A , she was calm too. If I can get a ride in the am, I will go to a local fellow & get a tire. He does a little of everything at his shop. He is called Dirty Dan. He is kinda of a gypsy. but it is the closest place to get a tire. I talked to a neighbor & asked if she could take me there and back . She says why can I not drive the truck as is up there & do it myself. : rolling eyes:  I have two herniated disk & I do not think my back can handle another long bumpy ride.

My other neighbor walks every morning at 6:30 to 7am. lol I should run out and ask if she would help me. I was thinking of putting up a sign asking for help. I had planned on going to alanon noon meeting. Oh Well I guess I will deal with tommorrow then.

I think a flat would have been better , I would have had an easier decission to make. so I feel I was tested again. I am learning I can do things on my own. lol My A was surprised I took care of the fuel filter myself. SEE, hmmm I thought she said I did not do anything. huh? whatever. Watch out world I am on my way back & I got someone mighty who has my back. lol

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I called my A when I got home around 11pm from the  bumpy ride. I was so exhausted. She says I should check some other bald tires in the yard & see if they have air in them. lol NOPE they do not. A neighbor calls when I was on the phone with my A. The neighbor says I should drive the truck as is 6 miles up to the gypsy guy. I asked her for a ride, She is too busy. she is always too busy. She says I can call another neighbor early in the am and ask her for a ride. I was exhausted and up till about 130pm I could not key down. I finally got some sleep & was up again at 6:30am either the dogs are just waking up or the other neighbor is waking at that hour. I am not in a bad mood but I am tired & hurting. I decided to clean the house up some, clean the cats room, water some plants , fill the dogs water buckets, & do some laundry. My A was housesitting for the past 10 days. Our friends came home last nite. I had planned on going to town. but I am thinking my A should do some problem solving herself. Our spare tire is at a tire store in town. She could get a ride home. I think I will take a nap for an hour or so & decide again what I am going to do. I do need to go town but I can go Friday. I work at 8 pm till 8 am. Then do a sale from 10 am to 2 pm then back to work from 7pm to 11pm. Seems one of the grandkids wants some money. He is 18 & works at Mcdonalds so he is staying with his grandfather 3 nites from 11pm to 8 am. There are bets he will not show up. I have agreed to stay if he does not. If he does then I get a big 13 hours for the week. Kinda pissed but I don't really care, I can not control it or change it so................

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I took a nap around noon for about an hour. phone rang woke me up nothing important. I got up & called a few more neighbors to see if I could get a ride to the tire repair man. Either no answer or doing something. I did talk to my neighbor who has cancer 3 years now, I was able to catch up with him & just talk. He is a sweetie and only 53 now. I called the tire shop that our spare is at, no they have nothing for us. I am thinking of breaking down and buying brand new firestone & big ten tire have 4 for $99. I finally heard a voice suggest one neighbor a little further away. She has an invalid son who is 36 but she always help others. She came over to save the day. She had someone who could sit with her son and give her a break. So the gypsy man was not as bad as I had heard. He was really nice. Even though there little shop is overpriced on used items. that is their business. He took my tire. oh I found a black widow spider on it as I picked it up off the ground. It is dead now. So he changed, balanced & mounted the tire for $20. He gave me his home phone number and said just come around back if I have that problem again. I can not find his card later. I got back home & proceeded to change the tire. I have never changed a tire before that I know of. The man who tried to help me the night before. he put the lugs on so tight I could not budge them. I had to spray them with wd40 & put a piece of pipe on the 4 way lug wrench. It took me about a half an hour or longer to just get the lugs off the tire. did anyone hear me scream? I called my A and told her I did not see a way to come get her because everywhere I needed to go would be closed before I got there & I would have to return Friday to finish my errands. Well the people/ friends she was housesitting for brought her home. I went and laid down as my back was killing me. I have 2 herniated disk in my back & chronic pain. So my new to me tire looks like it might be uneven but it looks brand new. I will tell when I drive on it. It needs more air. My A gets home. She thanks me for getting her a book from the library " the seat of the soul" It has another explaination for alcoholism. I was hopeful for all of about an hour. She gets a ride with a neigbor the one who told me to drive on the messed up tire, they were going to local grocery store. Well she buys a small bottle of wine. :rollingeyes: I can only pray that she is with me tommorrow & Saturday if not, it will be like a two year old beign dragged along. Still in a good mood for some reason.

-- Edited by hmrnrnmm at 10:56, 2006-07-06