FLAT TIRE - COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE

I was down this morning because a sinus infection kept me from spending the day on the roller coasters of King's Island. 

A three hour nap after lunch was ended by a phone call from Caleb: "I lost a tire."

That was his description of having a complete blowout of the front driver's side tire while driving 75 mph down the interstate, boxed in by other vehicles to where he had no choice but to steer into the median! 

Again, I am left thankful that worse did not happen. He easily could have been spending the night in the hospital. 

Anyway, we found out his vehicle's insurance does not include roadside assistance, so he renewed efforts to track down his car's spare. (And learned that spare tires are often cleverly hidden.)

I was making my way towards him in the minivan while he was jacking his car up and swapping the tire out, but he was over an hour away. 

At one point he called to say that the spare was on but it used different lug nuts and they were impossible to tighten completely. 

Caleb tightened them as best he could and then started to inch his way toward the next available exit, less than two miles up. When the tire started to shake, he pulled off the highway again, this time on the shoulder opposite the median. He had made about 20 feet of progress.

A few minutes later I arrived to discover that he had put the lug nuts on upside down. THAT is why they were impossible to tighten. (I can't mock him for it - I remember doing the exact same thing the first time I ever changed a tire.) 

But he was right on the other matter: They WERE a different size than the regular lug nuts and more deeply set in the rim, making it impossible to use the tire iron effectively.

Fortunately, Caleb keeps a tool kit in his car - he just hadn't thought of it. There was a basic ratchet set inside that did the job perfectly.

All five nuts got tightened completely and we eventually drove off to put some air in the spare and continue with the evening plans. 

I always figure there's a lesson in these sorts of headaches. But I am too headachy to figure it out tonight.