getting screwed...

Ever since we purchased our used Suburban with all it's fancy dancy gadgets we've had issues! I would have to say the most common issue is the tires. The darn check tire pressure light has lit up on several occasions. I cannot tell you how many times we have had the 'burb in for service only to be told there was nothing wrong. We eventually sought out a second opinion, seeing that the tires on the vehicle were bad for having so little mileage on them they determined there was indeed a problem & put four brand new tires on! WOO HOO! We were happy about that! No more service calls! YAY! So when the check tire pressure light came on the other day I started thinking are we having trouble again?! I mean we now have good tires on the 'burb. So I made my hubby fill the tires up with air just to make sure.Everything was good to go that is until we were on our way to MOPS the next morning. That darn light lit up AGAIN! ugh! Now I was getting worried. I checked the tires & they did not seem low but what do I know!? I decided I better call my hubby to see what he wants me to do. He told me to take it to a tire place & have them check it out. Just what I wanted to do with four little one's! It had to be done so off we went. I was so worried I was going to have a blow out or better yet a flat! When I finally pulled into Firestone I found the root of the problem, a screw! Yes, I must have ran over a screw! I hoped & prayed that it could be fixed so I did not have to buy yet another tire! The nice man at Firestone said he could fix it! YAY! The bad part was that they were backed up & it would take him over an hour & a half just to get to me. It was now lunch time & I was not prepared for this! I had no choice & decided to make the most of it. I loaded the tribe up in their quad stroller & took them on a little "adventure". The closest restaurant, Wendy's, was about ten blocks away so there I was, out in the heat, pushing them. I made sure they each had their sunglasses on & slathered on plenty of sun block so we did not get fried. I searched in my stash of clothes for some hats but could only find one. SO Avery ended up wanting the hat! It was SO darn hot out I wish I had a hat too! LOL! By the time we got to Wendy's I was DRENCHED! I think I needed at least an hour just to cool off! LOL! I could not get in the door!I was trying & trying but their stroller was just not going to fit with just me clearing one door at a time. They had two sets of doors with a VERY small area in between. I have taken them MANY places & entered many building but this doorway was SO friggin small! Luckily another patron came to my rescue & held the doors open for me! I do not know how any handicapped person could ever get a wheelchair in their let alone another mom with a stroller! CRAZY! We never eat at Wendy's so I had to look over the menu & see what they would eat. Chicken nuggets & fries should do it & maybe four mini frosty's. It was hot out & they were actually being really good so this would be their treat AFTER lunch. Well they did not like the food so they ended up with just the frosty! The worst part was that I totally forgot how thick a Frosty is because it never thawed out enough for them to drink them. They had such a hard time sucking through the straws! {Bad idea mommy} I think in Avery's frustration she ended up squeezing the cup & spilled it everywhere! Her shirt was now brown from the chocolate! I was NOT a happy camper! (= Our afternoon lunch turned into a fiasco. They almost got heat exhaustion from the LONG walk in the heat! I just wanted our "burb back so we could go home to our air conditioned house! It was definitely turning into a LONG day! And to think this "adventure" stemmed from just...





getting screwed...

blow out...

And I'm not referring to diapers or a hair do! On our way to Tampa we had a tire BLOW out on the BURB! We are all safe & sound now but here is what happened... We left for Tampa on Saturday morning at approximately 915 am. Of course the babies did not eat all their breakfast so we brought along their leftovers for them to eat on the way. Other than that things were pretty good. Brendan was loving having his Grandma sitting next to HIM. He just loves being able to look at her & touch her. It is very funny to watch. He really does love her most! It was kind of chilly out when we left. I decided to take a different course then the one my mom's TOM TOM, a navigational device, told me. Little did I know that this was a BIG mistake! It kept telling me to turn around then it started giving me some CRAZY directions. Like heading WAY N of the lake to get to another road up North to cross the State. AND then I noticed the trip time, 5 1/2 HOURS! Whoa! This was only suppose to be a 3 1/2 hour trip!! I started to get concerned so I called Michael to make sure I was not completely lost. He is like an Atlas of Florida. He knows all the back roads of Florida. Literally! He basically told me that I screwed up & should have just followed the directions the TOM TOM gave me from the beginning. I would now be traveling on some 2 lane roads through sugar cane fields, cow pastures, small towns, etc. He told me that it will be a LONG ride. YIKES! I should have realized then that our trip was DOOMED! We were making pretty good time even with the change of scenery. The babies behaved, YAY! We finally made it to I-75 and were almost home free when we heard this LOUD pop sound. Next thing I know the warning device in the BURB goes off saying "check tire pressure". This has happened quite frequently & we take it in to be checked & they say they could not find anything wrong. After hearing the loud pop I figured it's better to be safe than sorry & I pulled over to the side of the road. We were in the middle of NOWHERE and there I was checking the tires. Yep, we had a blow out. My left rear tire was completely flat & missing half of it's tread. After looking at that tire I thanked the Lord that he kept us safe when it blew. ANYTHING could have happened & we were all in one peace safe on the side of the road. Now to find out exactly where we were. I had NO idea where on I-75 we were. Note to self: Alway's pay attention to the mile markers as you are driving. I searched on the GPS for my coordinates. I know these digits mean a lot from working for the police dept. If you know your coordinates they can give the police a location to come to. Well, that is how it is suppose to work. I called 911, gave her my coordinates & she had no idea what I was talking about. Boy, I must have been in the middle of no where for them not to know that! I looked in my rear view mirror & saw a call box about 50 yards behind me. YAY! Now I had to walk there to find out what mile marker it was. Why did I not pay attention to that sign when we passed it!? On my way there a nice gentlemen stopped to help. He reminded me of my Great Uncle. I was SO happy to see that good samaritan. He told me what city I was in, Punta Gorda, and offered to help change my tire. I just could not have him get out in traffic & change my tire. I know how dangerous it is to change a tire on an interstate & would feel terrible if something happened to him. Especially while changing my tire! So I called 911 again, AAA, as well as FHP, Florida Highway Patrol, to get anyone to come help us! They all told me that someone would be on their way soon. 1 hour later we were still on the side of the road waiting. During this time we had one other good samaritan stop. A nice YOUNGER guy offered to change the tire. I figured it would be safer for him to change it than the older guy so now to get the spare down from under the trunk & to find the jack. Well, let me tell you we removed EVERYTHING from the BURB looking for the jack & tools to remove the spare only to find that we did not have the tools! They sold us a vehicle with no tools! Oh, it gets even better! In order to get the spare down you need a "special" key crank. We did not have that either. Remember this was SUPPOSE to just be a 3 1/2 hour trip & I was not anticipating any of this! Well, the babies ate through almost all of our food! Now we were in the middle of no where with 4 hungry babies! A trucker who did not have a load stopped to help us. He was a Godsend! Not only did he have many tools he even had a box of crackers that he shared with us. FOOD! YAY! Now if we could just get that darn spare tire down! He tried EVERY tool he had & none of them worked! We were doomed! The trooper never showed up, the AAA guy came but he did not have the correct tool either. I figured if I could get a driver of a Suburban to help us we could just use their "tool" & we would be set. That sounds easy, right? I would stand by the road & try to flag down a Suburban. DOo you know how many Suburban's drove by us, MANY! Not one driver stopped! I said to myself right then the next time I see a person in the same type of vehicle I'm driving, STRANDED, with children, in need, on the side of the road, I am going to stop. You never know, they could be in a situation just like I was! All the while my 2 good samaritans worked away at the guide below to try & get that spare tire down. God love em'! Our last hope was another AAA Tow truck that they dispatched to come help us. Hopefully he could solve our dilemma. It ended up taking a tool from the AAA Tow truck driver & one from the Trucker to FINALLY get the spare tire down & changed. 2 1/2 hours later... We were as good as new, well, sort of, just tired & a little worried that we may not ever make it to Tampa. I drove EXTRA cautious & we made it to the shower just a few minutes late. Everyone was wonderful, the food was yummy & the mommy to be looked FABULOUS! I never want to experience a road trip like this again, better yet I hope I never have to endure another...


blow out...