Adventures in Driving

I had quite the experience earlier today. In fact, I had it twice.

On my drive to school, something poked a hole in one of the tires of my car. I ended up stopping at a gas station in Lake Mills and using the air pump there to re-inflate it. I had to stop at a gas station in Cottage Grove to re-inflate the tire again. In this way, I was able to make it to school...about twenty minutes after class had started. (And by that point, the parking lots were filling up, so I had to park in one of the far lots.)

When I came out in the afternoon, I was surprised to find that there was still some air left in the tire. (I think what happened was that the leak was pinned against the ground, and so was partially-sealed over the course of the day.) I was able to make it to a gas station that was (thankfully) across the street from campus. Re-inflating the tire with the air pump there, I was able to get to Cottage Grove, and from there to Lake Mills, and from there, home. (My reasoning was that this strategy worked heading in, so it should work going in the reverse direction.)

When I got home, we called a local shop, and they patched the tire up. Now, the car is sitting in the driveway, ready to go.

One thing that has occurred to me through all of this is a simple fact: it could have been worse. There are more ways than I care to think about that things could have gone wrong, but didn't. (It also helps that I saw these three guys pushing a van through an intersection, and into the parking lot of the gas station I was heading to. I don't have whatever problems they're having!)

I made it home, the car is okay, the problem has been dealt with, and no one was hurt. Looking back, I would say that, under the circumstances, this was a pretty good day.