Baby It's Cold Outside

This weekend Sheila and I ventured outside to put up lights and decorations outside and to get our Christmas Tree for inside. The past few years, I have always gone up north to a tree farm to cut down our tree. That was a day after Thanksgiving tradition. This year, since we were up in SD for Thanksgiving, we decided to go the easy route and drive 2 blocks to the pre-cut tree lot right at the entrance to our neighborhood. Well, it cost about twice as much as the cut-your-own tree farm tree, but it was alot easier to find a good tree without worrying about missing branches or squirrels.

So yesterday was the day to get the lights up outside and get the tree home. Today was the day to get the tree into the house and get lights and ornaments on it. We finally got it up and all decorated and were ready to sit down and relax when Sheila decided to go to the grocery store. She gave me a small list of items to do while she was gone and I swear, I was actually going to finish them! Well 10 minutes after she left, she called me from the store telling me that the front tire on the car was completely flat. So, I had to go be her knight in shining armor and change the tire for her while she was shopping.

I arrived at the grocery store to find the tire was beyond flat. I think it was inverted somehow up through the bottom of the rim. Not good. So I got out the spare tire and the other tools to start the job. I got the jack in place and was ready to loosen the lug bolts and not a single one of them would budge. I nearly gave myself a heart attack trying to loosen them. Some random guy tried to help and he couldn't move them either. It appeared that the bolts were literally frozen. I guess that happens when you have an alloy (lug bolt) connected to steel. They were locked up tighter than OJ Simpson!

I went in and found Sheila shopping and we had to call AAA. I spent the next hour and a half sitting in the car in the parking lot waiting for the roadside assistance to arrive. He finally arrived, thankfully 45 minutes ahead of schedule, and went to work. He had the same problem but was finally able to get them all loose. He had to use a t shaped tire iron and use his foot and his arm to get enough leverage on the bolts. Once that was done, 5 minutes later I was on my way home. Now, I get to take the tire/wheel into to the tire shop to see if they can be saved. I'm pretty sure the tire is toast, I just hope the rim isn't bent.

Anyways, its been a fun, extremely cold weekend. Tomorrow Sheila leaves again for a few days for work, this time to Nashville. At least Bailey is here to keep me company!