Only Me!

I've said it before and I will say it again, these things only happen to me! I swear. It is as if someone is writing a comedy about my life, only they forgot to add the laugh track and commercial breaks. (Thankfully it's only a comedy and not a drama! I can handle small, silly hiccups, it's the big, serious stuff that scares me.)

A few weeks back both Josh and I had to bring our cars in for service. It was obviously not ideal that both cars needed work at the same time, but we figured out our schedules so we could drive each other to and from work. Things like that used to be a lot easier when I took the T to work! That said, I love my super short commute and driving beats the T any day of the week.

My car was scheduled to go in first. On the big day, Josh and I got up early and dropped off my car at the dealer. The plan was for Josh to follow me, drop me off at work, pick me up at the end of the day, and take me back to the dealer. Luckily we don't work too far apart!

After successfully dropping my car off and getting the wonderful news that I was still under warranty (score!) and the service would only take a few hours (double score!), we made our way in the rain back to Josh's car. That was when the day took a turn for the worse. Right there in the parking lot of the car dealership, Josh had the worst flat tire either one of us had ever seen.

Being the all around handyman that he is, Josh immediately got to work changing his tire. Of course he had a spare in his trunk (like I would even know where mine was), a jack (again no clue on that), and an air pump (yeah, no way for me). After working away for what felt like forever (the rain just wouldn't quit) he looked up defeated. The tire was stuck.

A technician from the dealership came out to help. He quickly realized that in fact the tire was stuck. Somehow the tire had rusted onto the car and the only way to get it off was to put it up on the car lift. While the technician said he would be happy to work on the tire for him, Josh decided that he wanted to take his car to his own mechanic. I stayed out of it.

After pumping enough air in the tire for him to drive, Josh dropped me off at work and went on to see his mechanic. They of course informed Josh that the tire that was flat was not on the only tire that had been rusted onto the car. (not cool) They also looked at his engine (remember that service appointment he had? Good thing! Because a valve, or a hose, or some other official sounding thing was not working properly) and offered to fix it  for the low, low price of more than we had intended to spend that day. (double not cool) They did, however, promise to fix everything that day. (Hey, look at that! A silver lining!) Josh left his car with the mechanic and got a ride into work with a friend who lived nearby. Oh did I mention that all of this happened before 9:00am?

Sometime around 3:00pm it hit me. Both Josh and I were at our respective workplaces without cars or ways to get home. Sure, I could walk to my parent's house and Josh could probably catch a ride home with a friend, but that would not solve our larger issue of not having our cars. My car was done first but I had no way to get there. Josh had a few ways to get to his car, but it was not done. (quite the pickle!)

On a whim I decided to call my Aunt who lived right near the car dealership and not too far from my office. She was not supposed to be home, but thankfully she was. Being the best Aunt on the planet, she agreed to rescue me and bring me to pick up my car. Then I could go and pick up Josh from work. It was the perfect plan.

When I finally got back in my car (all fixed and clean too!) I called Josh to tell him I was on my way. The phone went straight to voice mail because he was calling me at the exact same time (that happens to us too many times to count. we must have a weird 6th sense thing going on) to tell me that his car was done and he was getting a ride to pick it up from another good friend of ours. Finally! Something went our way.

It was a crazy unfortunate accident of a day that I hope we never have to repeat it. But I am extremely grateful for my Aunt (always) and so many of our friends who work with Josh and are always willing to lend him a hand. They all made this horrible chaotic day much, much better. Them and the fact that we currently have 2 perfectly functioning and beautifully running (fingers crossed) cars!

I told you this was a comedy without a laugh track.

File Under: Only Me!