Of Missed Weddings and Tires...
Oct. 16th, 2006 09:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lady_saraiAll right, well, the weekend is over. And tonight was Parent/Teacher conferences, which meant I left school at 7:30 after leaving home at 6:45. Wee! =P
Things went well, though--I have all the trouble-makers tomorrow night, though. ;)
Anyway, the Wedding.
I left my house at 11 am. (This is important.) I got lunch and gas and bought soda, because Nicole wanted me to bring soda to her potluck reception. I was on the I-295 at 11:45.
I drove north and picked up Stephanie in Fairfield outside Waterville at 1:20ish, and then we picked up Tina in Newport at 1:45.
At which point we were free and clear and on the way North toAlaska Millinocket. We listened to Rob Thomas and RENT, and talked about teaching. Which was very nice. (I think the key to being friends with Tina is distance. ;) She was good this weekend.)
The wedding was at 4 pm, and at Tina's exit was mile 157. Millinocket's exit is 244, and then the hall was another 12 miles after the exit. (Just for reference.)
So, when we left Newport we still had roughly 100 miles to go, and about 2 hours if we wanted to be on time. We were golden.
And then, we reached exit 199 on I-95. It was 2:45. We were behind a truck with a refrigerator in the bed, and suddenly we heard some loud noise, like a jet plane directly overhead. We thought at first it was the truck in front of us.
And then we realized. My tire blew.
Literally.
Yeah, THAT was fun.
>_<
Looking at the picture, and listening to the stories people have told me the last few days, we were very lucky. The car jerked and I KNEW the tire was flat, but I never lost control, and it didn't swerve all over the road. I just moved to the side easily and we were safe and sound, if pissed. NOW,of course, I'm thankful for this.
Steph told me (once she stopped laughing) that I said something along the lines of "Fuckity Fuck Fuck." I might believe her.
I was not amused. So, I called AAA and told them where we were--directly past the exit ramp. I mean DIRECTLY.
You'd think that would be easy to find, right? HA.
You'd also think people might pull over to make sure we were all right, or at LEAST move in to the passing lane so they didn't hit us standing on the side of the road.
Nope. Some people in the exit ramp slowed to yell and ask if we were okay, which was nice.
On top of this, the trunk of my car is broken and can only be opened with a screwdriver--which we didn't have. So, what did we do?
We unloaded the backseat--backpacks and duffels and gifts all went on the roof of the car. Then we took apart my backseat and Tina literally crawled IN TO my trunk to pop it open from the inside. She wouldn't pose for a picture in the trunk, though. ;)
Then we got the spare out, and Tina jacked the car up. I was happy to have Tina with me because she knew how to use the jack and knew the order to take the lugnuts off--I didn't know these things and likely would have just waited for AAA.
So, we took turns trying to get the lugnuts off. Steph finally STOOD on the handle to loosen the lugnuts and we managed to get 3 off before a very nice, bald man came seemingly out of nowhere to help us.
He had left the highway and then parked his truck on the exit behind the trees and came back to help us. He was very nice, and changed the tire for us. Then a state trooper came along and asked if we were all right.
We then drove 50 miles an hour the rest of the way to Millinocket. We didn't get going until roughly 3:30, and we arrived at the reception hall at 4:45 pm. >_< 5o-something miles in an hour and 15 minutes.
Poor Nicole cried when we showed up, which made US cry, because we MISSED THE WEDDING.
We stayed at the reception for a few hours and then went to our hotel for the night, where I freaked out completely, because OMG where was I going to get a tire on SUNDAY?!
We called our families asking for advice, and everyone said we would make it to Bangor (80 miles away) if we took it slowly.
I called AAA and they were no help.
We played a game of pool (I sucked) and watched Father of the Bride Part 2 and I was asleep by 11.
This meant I woke up at 6:40 am, at which point Tina said "good morning sleepyhead!" and Stephanie made grunting noises because she was not awake yet.
We had the continental breakfast--3 cereals and 2 types of toast. And watered-down apple juice.
(Nothing on this trip did anything to elevate our opinion of Millinocket, let me tell you. North of Bangor, there is nothing but TREES.)
We left the hotel at 7:20 am.
I drove 40-45 miles an hour, stopping every half-hour or so to check the tire (as I'd been told to do by numerous people).
We arrived at the Walmart Supercenter in Brewer at 9:40ish. 2 hours to travel 80/90 miles. Yeah.
But! I got a new tire and the old one disposed of, all in under half-an-hour and for $63. :) Walmart makes me happy.
So, we were on the highway again by 10:30. I finally dropped Tina off in Newport around 11:20 and dropped Steph off in Fairfield at 11:45.
Then I drove myself home and collapsed on my couch at 1:30. Ish.
I was so exhausted, it wasn't even funny. I went to sleep at 3:30 and woke up from my "nap" at 5. Then I went to bed for real at 8.
At least I was rested this morning, but my back is still achy from trying to change the tire and from being ridiculously tense.
I'm the kind of person who thinks of all the ways things can go wrong--especially when something DOES go wrong. I did not enjoy myself because I was freaking out so much.
The upnote is that everyone has been very sympathetic and I am glad I took the picture, because TELLING people the tire blew doesn't seem to have the same effect as when they SEE how the tire blew.
And now, off to bed so I can prepare for another day of teaching followed by another night of conferences. =P
Things went well, though--I have all the trouble-makers tomorrow night, though. ;)
Anyway, the Wedding.
I left my house at 11 am. (This is important.) I got lunch and gas and bought soda, because Nicole wanted me to bring soda to her potluck reception. I was on the I-295 at 11:45.
I drove north and picked up Stephanie in Fairfield outside Waterville at 1:20ish, and then we picked up Tina in Newport at 1:45.
At which point we were free and clear and on the way North to
The wedding was at 4 pm, and at Tina's exit was mile 157. Millinocket's exit is 244, and then the hall was another 12 miles after the exit. (Just for reference.)
So, when we left Newport we still had roughly 100 miles to go, and about 2 hours if we wanted to be on time. We were golden.
And then, we reached exit 199 on I-95. It was 2:45. We were behind a truck with a refrigerator in the bed, and suddenly we heard some loud noise, like a jet plane directly overhead. We thought at first it was the truck in front of us.
And then we realized. My tire blew.
Literally.
Yeah, THAT was fun.
>_<
Looking at the picture, and listening to the stories people have told me the last few days, we were very lucky. The car jerked and I KNEW the tire was flat, but I never lost control, and it didn't swerve all over the road. I just moved to the side easily and we were safe and sound, if pissed. NOW,of course, I'm thankful for this.
Steph told me (once she stopped laughing) that I said something along the lines of "Fuckity Fuck Fuck." I might believe her.
I was not amused. So, I called AAA and told them where we were--directly past the exit ramp. I mean DIRECTLY.
You'd think that would be easy to find, right? HA.
You'd also think people might pull over to make sure we were all right, or at LEAST move in to the passing lane so they didn't hit us standing on the side of the road.
Nope. Some people in the exit ramp slowed to yell and ask if we were okay, which was nice.
On top of this, the trunk of my car is broken and can only be opened with a screwdriver--which we didn't have. So, what did we do?
We unloaded the backseat--backpacks and duffels and gifts all went on the roof of the car. Then we took apart my backseat and Tina literally crawled IN TO my trunk to pop it open from the inside. She wouldn't pose for a picture in the trunk, though. ;)
Then we got the spare out, and Tina jacked the car up. I was happy to have Tina with me because she knew how to use the jack and knew the order to take the lugnuts off--I didn't know these things and likely would have just waited for AAA.
So, we took turns trying to get the lugnuts off. Steph finally STOOD on the handle to loosen the lugnuts and we managed to get 3 off before a very nice, bald man came seemingly out of nowhere to help us.
He had left the highway and then parked his truck on the exit behind the trees and came back to help us. He was very nice, and changed the tire for us. Then a state trooper came along and asked if we were all right.
We then drove 50 miles an hour the rest of the way to Millinocket. We didn't get going until roughly 3:30, and we arrived at the reception hall at 4:45 pm. >_< 5o-something miles in an hour and 15 minutes.
Poor Nicole cried when we showed up, which made US cry, because we MISSED THE WEDDING.
We stayed at the reception for a few hours and then went to our hotel for the night, where I freaked out completely, because OMG where was I going to get a tire on SUNDAY?!
We called our families asking for advice, and everyone said we would make it to Bangor (80 miles away) if we took it slowly.
I called AAA and they were no help.
We played a game of pool (I sucked) and watched Father of the Bride Part 2 and I was asleep by 11.
This meant I woke up at 6:40 am, at which point Tina said "good morning sleepyhead!" and Stephanie made grunting noises because she was not awake yet.
We had the continental breakfast--3 cereals and 2 types of toast. And watered-down apple juice.
(Nothing on this trip did anything to elevate our opinion of Millinocket, let me tell you. North of Bangor, there is nothing but TREES.)
We left the hotel at 7:20 am.
I drove 40-45 miles an hour, stopping every half-hour or so to check the tire (as I'd been told to do by numerous people).
We arrived at the Walmart Supercenter in Brewer at 9:40ish. 2 hours to travel 80/90 miles. Yeah.
But! I got a new tire and the old one disposed of, all in under half-an-hour and for $63. :) Walmart makes me happy.
So, we were on the highway again by 10:30. I finally dropped Tina off in Newport around 11:20 and dropped Steph off in Fairfield at 11:45.
Then I drove myself home and collapsed on my couch at 1:30. Ish.
I was so exhausted, it wasn't even funny. I went to sleep at 3:30 and woke up from my "nap" at 5. Then I went to bed for real at 8.
At least I was rested this morning, but my back is still achy from trying to change the tire and from being ridiculously tense.
I'm the kind of person who thinks of all the ways things can go wrong--especially when something DOES go wrong. I did not enjoy myself because I was freaking out so much.
The upnote is that everyone has been very sympathetic and I am glad I took the picture, because TELLING people the tire blew doesn't seem to have the same effect as when they SEE how the tire blew.
And now, off to bed so I can prepare for another day of teaching followed by another night of conferences. =P
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-18 03:09 am (UTC)I'm so glad my dad taught me how to change a tire when I was little! And I'm glad that things went well with Tina.
It's nice that you're getting a chance to settle into your classroom, but good luck with the troublemakers! =P