I got a flat tire today on the highway on my way to work. Fortunately, I did not have to appear at a hearing or deposition today.

Because it was my driver's side front tire that blew, I pulled off to the left and off the shoulder of the road before stopping in a grass/dirt area, a safe distance from the highway. As I was removing the jack and spare from the trunk, a state trooper pulled up behind me, and lit some road flares, and then explained he had to leave.

I jacked the car and removed the nuts. On my car it still takes a herculean effort to slide the tire off, and in so doing, I realized that the jack was positioned on soft ground, causing the side of it to sink unevenly during my pulling. Consequently, the jack tipped and the car came down on top of it. Moreover, without a tirethe mounting landed on the ground.

I had to dig the jack out from under the car, and when I finally got it out,I had to dig deeperto make enough room for the jack to slide upright under the car. Meanwhile a second stat trooper stopped to keep me company. I raised the front end as high as the jack allowed, but because it was placed in hole(resting on a flat stone I found for spport), the mounting wasn't high enough to allow the spare to be installed. The trooper went to his car to get a steel tool he has for breaking car windows or prying open mangled steel for car accident rescues, and I dug a hole under the mounting to give the spare enough room.

It worked, but I drove away with my suit, shirt and tie, covered in dirt and sweat. It could always have been worse.

Spoken like a true optimist

Poor Klyd. I really feel for ya. I'm glad you got it taken care of and you are ok.

I too feel for you Kly. I hate days that start out with the worst possible thing. I'd hate being all dressed up and getting dirty too. I would have never been able to change a tire. Even if I did figure it out, I'd probably not be able to tighten the lugnuts tight enough, and with my luck, the tire would fall off thus causing another series of problems. So, needless to say, it would have been a call to AAA for me.

Sorry for your horrible day.


TIS

And it could have always been much easier: Ever hear of AAA?

(TIS beat me to it)

Ah, you DONT want to use Triple A!

Me, being an idiot, ran out of gas while coming back from snowboarding one day. But, because I was coming down I was able to coast right along down (if you've ever driven I-70, you know how steep it is). Anywho, I eventually had to come to a complete stop. I get to the shoulder and call AAA, they say they will send a tow truck from Dillon (the nearest town) w/ enough gas to get me to the next station. Cool

An hour and a half later, no call, no gas, and 4 trucks from Dillon have driven past. I am soaked from snowboarding all day, the sun is, for all intents and purposes, down, and my battery is dead. I call them back. They tell me that havent been able to reach anyone in Dillon, to sit tight.

Finally, about a half hour after that, a guy pulls over an offers to push my car down to the next exit. I was confident I did not have power breaks or steering, I dont have power anything else. Well, turned out I DID have power breaks, so I ended up being pushed, coasting at around 65-70 down an incredibly steep hill, hand-breaking, and starting it all over again until the Georgetown exit. I get gas, jump my car, and am about to pull out of the gas station when my phone rings.

"Uh, Mr. Gilbert, we were able to reach a company. They'll bring you that gas to you in about an hour"

%$%^#&$%#@^%&^&$%$#$#@!!!!!!!!!!
I have a feeling that if that guy hadnt pushed me, I'd still be up there

I actually have AAA, but changing tires is one thing I'm comfortable doing with cars...today notwithstanding.

There are two reasons why I don't call AAA for flats: 1.) They usually take close to two hours to come, and I can change the tire and be where I have to be in that time. And 2.) I would feel a tad emasculated to have some guy make a special trip to do this for me. but if was raining hard, I'd call them.

My worst experience changing a tire was at 11:00PM on a Christmas night when the temperature was below 0 and the icy wind was whipping. I was parked against a guard rail, but my back was against the highway as I changed the tire - there was no place else to go.

I could feel the vibration of tractor trailers roaring by me just a couple of feet away from me. to make matters worse, to get to the spare I had to take out a bunch of Christmas presents that were crammed into my trunk.

DSC,

Wow, sounds like AA didn't do well by you then.

Since I moved so far from my work I decided it'd be great to have just in case.

My daughter who has had AAA for years now, recently called to tell me she had a flat tire and had to call AAA. Within a few minutes they were there. BUT.....she called me at work a couple hours later and said, "I have ANOTHER flat tire. Who gets two flat tires in one day?" Anyway, AAA came out again. I think you get what? 3 calls or so a year? I have never had to use them, but am glad I have them. Maybe it's different for a woman. Men have a knack for fixing, pushing cars, etc. Not me...I'm more "turn the key & go" otherwise don't ask me nutin' about nutin' when it comes to the mechanics of a car

TIS

SOME men...

True! I use to absolutely hate shoveling out my car if I slid into a snowbank backing out of my driveway. Yea, I know, but I remember it happening. Although I doubt AAA would have helped me out there.

TIS

Gotta love airlines... I gotta pick a buddy up at the airport in a couple hours so I'm checking the flight status. It says "Status: Departed Gate Early [by 5 minutes!], taxiing to runway (Departed Gate - Takeoff delayed due to taxiing time)" -- so far it's over 30 minutes delayed, but it "departed early" (so it looks good for their stats)!

My husband had a 1991 Dodge Stealth with over 200,000 miles on it, which he passed on to my daughter for her 16th birthday. During it's last 25,000 or so miles, we had LOTS of occasions to use AAA. I actually found them to be fairly efficient.

Back on a poker kick again...

In a couple of weeks, it will be decided by lottery whether I get to work in US or go back home in a year! It doesn't matter if you graduate with an advanced degree and a company files for your work permit, you have to be lucky too

The back of my legs hurt.

varicose veins

Nope pulled muscle.

sure it's not a pulled vein?

Good luck, svsg.

It's always annoyed me how Americans say "I could give a fuck" or "I could care less". Surely they mean they couldn't give a fuck, or they couldn't care less?

(To "give a fuck" means "to care". But the expression means you don't care.)

I hope it doesn't start to affect and infect us fickle Brits, who, in our tendency for modesty and gross self-deprecation, are constantly stood with our noses pressed against the windows of shops we deem to be above us.

I hope it doesn't start to affect and infect us fickle Brits, who, in our tendency for modesty and gross self-deprecation, are constantly stood with our noses pressed against the windows of shops we deem to be above us. [/quote]


To be honest it probably will happen

Thanks Klyd!

Hopefully it's not as lucky as winning the Super Lotto... Are there odds? Who can we bribe to make sure you stay? Of course that's assuming you want to stay. Maybe I'm confused and it's really a lottery to determine who has to remain banished?

What are your goals svsg? Are you hoping to stay here permanently?

Every year 20000 new working visas are given for people who have graduated with a Masters or phD from US universities. And 65000 working visas for all others. Last year was the first time the 65000 quota received more applications (in fact almost twice) and they had to pick people using a lottery. This year, even the 20000 quota has received more than that number. They aren't saying how many, but it will be a lottery. Since I have done my masters degree here in US and a company is willing to sponsor my visa, I come under that 20K limit. I hope there aren't more than 30K graduates this year. I will know only when they announce it. The odds of making it should not be too bad, but again who knows!


Haha, this is a scary question. I never have a good answer for this. I'll be working in my field and as I said in FCM, I'll pursue a film degree part time, provided I am allowed to stay here.

I don't know. Everyday life in US is way more comfortable than in India. My phone always works, there is power throughout the day, fuel is cheap, no scarcity of water, roads are good, no corruption in everyday life, etc. etc. so many good things to say about US life. But there are bigger things. My parents are back home and old. I don't feel too good leaving them alone there. Moreover with the ever changing global political situation, one can never be sure of.... you know what. And then staying permanently in US is not an easy thing. It will depend heavily on the policies of each government and the vagaries of the INS rules every year. For all you know someone who crossed the border illegally might be given citizenship and the guy who spends years trying to immigrate legally might not be given. So many variables make it truly indeterminate for me now. I may get some clarity next year or so.

Apparantly some think otherwise

http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=373325&page=2&fpart=5

svsg, your post gave me an idea of how the government can raise revenue and provide an equitable means of determining who gets working visas.

The government can produce a show to air in prime time where applicants (preferably in groups because of the numbers) can take the stage and perform, and the viewing audience can call in to vote who gets eliminated each week until we have the 20,000.
Do you have any talents?

Talents? Lottery is a great system

Work sucks.

Lottery? -- Nope! Talents? Nope

You need skills

Napoleon Dynamite: No, but who would? I don't even have any good skills.
Pedro: What do you mean?
Napoleon Dynamite: You know, like nunchuku skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills

I can walk up vertical planes.