Wednesday, January 20, 2010

When it Rains it Pours!


So, around 8:30 this morning I got a text from Casey that his car died on the highway on his way to DTS! He was in the far left lane going around 65 mph, and he was able to coast across all of the lanes of traffic and exit! That was a blessing, at least. I would hate for him to get stuck on the highway and possibly hit! His dad came to his rescue, but Casey's car wouldn't start back up, so they called a tow truck and Casey's mom came to pick up Casey's dad and Casey was able to drive his dad's car to school and later work.

So, my day went on, and it wasn't a bad one. But then, it started to hail hard around 4:45 and my car was out in the parking lot! I was scared it was going to be all ding-ed up, but it was fine. Then, I talked to Casey around 5:30 this afternoon. He had some terrible news. The timer belt on his car broke, causing valves on the engine to bend and break off! (I think I'm relaying this correctly, but I'm sure I don't have all the technical stuff down, haha). The point is, he needs a new ENGINE! Seriously?! It will cost over $3,000! SOOO, since his car is already kind of a piece, has over 100,000 miles, and is 8 years old, we're not going to pay that much money on that car. We're just going to get a new one. When I say new, I really mean new to us. Casey loves Dave Ramsey, and well, Dave Ramsey is pretty much against new cars. I won't go off on that right now, but I will say that my car was bought brand new and I have never had a problem with it - minus a couple verrry minor things.

Anyway, so I stayed really late after work, and didn't leave til around 6pm. I was only a few yards from my school when... BAM!!! I blew out my tire! Or at least I thought I blew it out! It was loud and I could see a black strip of what I thought was part of my tire swinging around in my passenger side mirror. I pulled off to the side and called Casey. Obviously he didn't answer because he never does on Wednesday nights because of the youth service. I texted him and said "emergency" because it was dark outside and people were passing me and not helping me. What's scarier? Being there in the dark without anyone stopping to help? Or actually having someone--a stranger--stop and help? Eventually a nice man, from Puerto Rico I later found out, stopped to help. I called several friends and told them where I was just to be safe. Casey also called back and I told him I had a man changing my tire. He was so busy I don't think he worried at all, lol. To my surprise, he called me back like 30 minutes later to see if I was safe. I could've already been off in the ditch by then, but anyway....

My tire didn't blow out. I ran over a bungie-type cord that truckers or just anybody uses to tie things down with. The big metal hook thing stuck into my car and the black cord was swinging around and that's what I saw in my mirror. It was leaking air so fast I could hear it LOUDLY. It sounded like air coming out of a balloon - it was that loud. I tried to drive to Walmart, but it went allll the way flat and I was afraid I was going to ruin the rim.

So, the nice man changed my tire. It took him a really long time though. He asked me how many flats I'd  had because my donut tire was pretty worn out as well! Haha! I told him I've had that car since I was 16 and have probably had about 10 flats. :) One of my lug nuts was busted and he couldn't get it off for a while. He eventually did, and I had to drive home on only 4! My goodness. I went slowly.

So, I'm home now, and I'm safe. But I AM WORN OUT. My mom is coming over soon to bring me Chick-fil-a and watch Criminal Minds with me. I think I'll go to bed kind of early after that....

When it rains it pours!!!!!

4 comments:

Beverly said...

SO sorry, Lauren. That's just kind of how life goes some days. I'm SO happy that someone nice came along to help and that you are safe!! Look on the bright side, you or Casey could have been hurt, and you were not. God is SO good!! Praise Him!

Anonymous said...

First of all, you have to go through the bad days to really really appreciate the good days.

Second, when you have car trouble, after you call your husband, you are supposed to call your father in law. I am very disappointed in you.

Third, thank goodness yours is only a tire!!!!

Remember, you have Stephanie status!!!

jordanandrachel said...

sounds like the kind of 'junk' that happens to us! all the expensive 'unexpected' stuff comes at one time. I hope you guys find a good solution for your car troubles=)
Jordan said he is waiting to sell his truck though...sorry!

Ginni said...

Oh no! Sounds like a crazy couple of days with the cars. I am glad that yall were okay!