The snow is melting rapidly here. It's warm and raining. So, when I parked my van outside the preschool, I parked by a rain gutter. That rain gutter was spewing water.. which softened the ice I was on.
As I parked, I noticed my van going forward. Odd. It was in park.. what was going on?
What was happening was that my car was being sucked into weak ice. Dragged below into the mud that lay beneath. I tried to get out, but was was just spitting sludge up against the building.
I sat there and panicked for a bit. Not sure what to do. I used to have a sticker on my window for road side assistance, but it mysteriously disappeared. My husband canceled the "onstar" a few months back (dang him).
So, I called my dealership. Because I never throw anything away, I still had the book in the van with my agent's name in it. I called the main number and the receptionist forwarded me to the repair section (I'm sure there is a proper name for it, but it escapes me!!) I tell them what was going on and he says he'll call me back. I'm sure he was laughing his arse off!
He calls back and gives me the number to road side assistance. I call and that lady sends out help, but tells me it would be a 75 minute wait. Did I have a warm place to go? Was there a "Tim Horton's" near by?
I told her, I guess I could sit inside, not sure though and no, I was no where near any restaurant. I wasn't sure about turning on the van, because I was so deep down into the hole, I didn't know if it was safe at that point.
Bless her heart, took pity and put a rush on the order. I sat in the van and waited. I felt my left foot start to freeze up and I just sat there.. like an idiot.
The tow truck driver came just over an hour later. He was a nice fellow, who had a smirk of laughter on his face.. he wasn't smug, just I really did get the van in a pickle!!!
He assured me that this has been happening a lot.. (I didn't believe him!)
He looks at the van, and then turns to me and says.. "you know you back wheel is flat, eh?" Ugh.. yeah. Monday is not my day apparently. Actually, my friend, not 45 minutes earlier, pulled up beside me, while I was stuck in the hole. She burst out laughing when she saw my almost flat back tire.
It takes the man a good 20 minutes or so to get the van out. He tried to pull it out, but it wasn't budging. That tire wasn't going to move, if a building fell on it. So, he takes out his jack and raises the car way up high... I'm thinking... great, he's gonna tip the van over.
He took out a bunch of wood.. starts piling it under the van like... takes it out, tries another position. A neighbor comes up and finds some wood in his garage... so they fill the hole with all this wood... slowly move the van on top of it.. and drive backwards.
My van is free.
woohooo.
And because my van is still low mileage, it's still covered under road side assistance. woohppeee! I didn't have to pay a dime. Which was good, because I didn't have any money on me at all!!!
My friend and I decided that our parking spot behind the preschool just wasn't a good option for us anymore. We are parking elsewhere now. Away from rain gutters. Off of ice and flowing water.
We are now parking behind a church. The good lord will look down upon us and watch over our vans. I hope he watches over my back tire as well. I went to fill it up, and I had no clue!! I got air into it, but not sure how much... there is this thing called a tired gauge that if you use it will tell you -- but unless someone shows you, it's absolutely useless. My friend has one in her car that her husband insisted she have. Problem is, she doesn't know how to use it either!!!
Now, I bet if I still had "onstar" they would have told me how to use it!! LOLOL I also wonder if I had to wait just as long as well? Or would "onstar" automatically come on and say "hello, this is onstar, we've noticed you've got yourself into a pickle
:)
And .. the topic of my post.. "never leave home without it"
And that would be my camera. Because that would have been a GREAT photo to share. Because this is what life is like in the Spring time: big puddles, melting snow, melting ice.
And if I was really clued into it - I would have remembered my cellphone had a camera... yeah...
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