I need to consult Earl on this one….

So as you may have read yesterday I didn’t stop to help a guy late at night on a deserted side road and I felt bad about it but concluded it was the right decision. Having Bing and Baz confirm that carries a lot of weight because one is getting an advanced degree in Theology and the other is freaking Superman. Well last night after closing down my computer at work I went out into the parking log to find a flat front tire. It was about 20* with winds up around 25 MPH so I threw on a toque and some gloves and set about putting on the little donut spare so I could get the other tire fixed. I got that done and headed over to Sears.

When I walked into Sears with the flat tire in my hands the guy behind the counter said “Looks like we go another Oil Change.” Stupid joke that I bet he uses 20 times a day but he made me laugh. Well done Sears-Auto-Behind-the-counter-Guy! The tire will take about 30-45 minutes so I got in the car and slowly went to the other side of the shopping monstrosity to Best Buy. Put the finishing touches on a blockbuster deal with Mark in our Basketball league and browsed flat screen TVs that I can’t afford. Back in the car and heading back to Sears I feel the little donut tire go flat and here the rim grinding on the ground.

I get out of the car and start the trek across a huge mall parking lot in the freezing wind and then into the far side of the mall. After about 15 minutes of walking I made it to Sears and picked up the tire for the 25 minute trek back to the car. You get a lot of strange looks carrying an old tire through a mall. I had to switch hands every 10 steps and the workout I did at lunch didn’t have the same positive affect now as it had earlier in the day. I made it through the mall and into the large parking lot and the Mall Parking Security guy in his SUV passed me about 10 times as I walked with the tire. Right towards the end with the car in sight I found a Best Buy shopping cart and pushed the tire in the cart the rest of the way.

Back at the car I jacked up the car, swaying now in the wind gusts that were sending debris everywhere, and got the flat donut off. I put the fixed tire back on and finally got into my car to drive the 30 hour home. Only one person offered to help me and that was in my work parking lot as I was bolting up the donut. Nobody else said a word to me as I carried this tire. I don’t really believe in Karma but the Earl Hickey might be on to something.