I got up nice and early this morning and was on the road, when at 5:55 am, my front passenger-side tire went flat. Feeling up to the task, I popped my trunk only to find that I didn't have my car jack's lever - thereby rendering it useless. Lame. Thankfully, Annie had just placed our GEICO roadside service card in my wallet the night before (was that perfect timing, or a jynx? You be the judge). I placed my call and they dispatched a tow truck from Johnny's Auto.
Since it was still dark out, I left my headlights on so the driver could spot me on the side of the freeway. About 10 minutes later, my radio died, followed by my dashboard clock, and then my headlights. Dead battery. Nice. I sat in the dark until the driver could arrive. He changed out my flat with my spare, after having to snap off one of the lug nut studs, and jumped my battery. I had been back on the road for less than a 1/2 mile when 'splat', my spare went out.
I called Johnny's to get the same tow truck driver to pick me up, but their dispatch said I had to call GEICO back and set up a new service ticket. I was just calling them when the driver passed by, saw me, and pulled over. He ended up not being able to help me, due to a doctor's appointment he had, but he saw another driver passing by us in the other direction. He got on his radio, told the guy where I was (he had already spotted me), and then took off. I called GEICO, but they said it would be 30 minutes before Johnny's could come back. What? I had just seen the guy's truck!
After a half an hour, he came by and picked me up. Once we were inside the cab of his truck and on the road I saw that he was sucking on a brand new Jamba Juice! Instead of coming straight over to pick me up, he had grabbed a Jamba! Now that is customer service.
I can't complain, though. In the end, the towing to Les Schwab was free, and my new front tires cost only $77. It turns out that the one was so badly balded that you could stick your fingers though the tread!
As I sat in the Les Schwab lobby, eating popcorn and watching CNBC, I was reminded by the talking head that today is Columbus Day. I was struck at once at how much the explorer and I have in common:
1) He sailed on the Santa Maria.
I drive the Corolla.
2) He had to deal with unruly Spaniards, hostile natives, and the high seas.
I had to deal with Johnny's Auto, GEICO, Les Schwab, and balding tires.
3) He was exploring uncharted waters and lands unknown to Europe.
I was on my way to work.
The parallels are staggering. I expect to be called 'Admiral' from now on.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
wow. did you notice a swarm of locusts following your car or anything? Cause that sounds like a car (or a Justin) under a powerful curse.
Dang, didn't you know that Friday the 13th isn't until THIS FRIDAY?!?! You're a bit early. Sorry you had such a crappy day, hopefully it wasn't made worse by some asshat saying "Looks like someone's got a case of the Muuundays!" when you finally got into work. That would definitely deserve a sucker punch.
Mr. Admiral Sir,
Did your tire popping on you have anything to do with the cops? Because when my car broke down on me I got to go for a ride in the back of a cop car, and I promise it wasn't because of the massive amounts of alcohol that I had consumed.
Years ago my car died in Sac and I had no idea where any repair shops were, so (after waiting an hour) I asked the tow-er to take me to the closest repair shop that could handle engine repair. He dropped me off in the middle of the parking lot (seriously, I was blocking cars) and took off. It took me about 30 seconds to realize that it was the equivalent of a Speedy Oil Change type place. I called my insurance back and even though the guy could only have been a few minutes away, I had to wait another 30 minutes for some other tow guy to drive me a block further to a real mechanic's place. At least they didn't charge me.
I wasn't trying to one-up you, but see if you can beat that one! Huh!
Post a Comment