A Dixie Carpetbagger

Sorry for the lack of writing, my schedule has (once again) been wrecked.  Had to change a tire on one of the vehicles, and that ate up some time.  I hope (and pray) I never get a flat on the road, because there’s no way I’ll ever get it changed before starvation sets in.

I’m being dead serious here– I had to break out a “cheater bar” (length of metal pipe) and a mallet (8 pounds of hand-crafted oak) to break the lug nuts free… good luck doing that with just the little tire tool the manufacturer provides.  I now know why my dad always complained about pneumatic tire tools in the hands of novices, and I have now joined in the chorus.*

The there’s the jack.  You break the lug nuts free, jack the car up enough to get the flat off… then you have to jack the car up another 4 inches to get the spare on.  This is actually as far as the jack goes, so if you parked the flat on a high spot, and the jack is in a low spot, you’ll need to dig out for the spare.  Don’t ask me how I know this…

Oh, and don’t forget to block your car.  With what, the manual won’t tell you.  Are you supposed to cut down a tree and cut chocks?  Carry bricks in the spare tire well?  Use a passenger?  Heck, there’s enough room in the spare tire well for a full set of four chocks… why not just include them?

If I ever get a flat on the road, I’m calling a wrecker and letting them handle it… it’ll be worth every penny.

*CLANG!  CLANG!  Son of a banjo picker!  CLANG!  Fricken’ nut!  CLANG!  Give a man a pneumatic tool… CLANG!  … and he’ll overtighten everything!  CLANG!  CLANG!  CLANG!