flat tire.

Department Christmas party this morning. Drove up to Goodlettsville and had a fun time with everyone having brunch. It was casual, so I got to wear jeans. :) Some people wore pajamas as a joke on one of our managers. I got up early to make my cinnamon coffee cake so it was still hot when I took it to the party. Unfortunately there was so much food there and about three other dishes that looked just like mine, only a small piece of mine was eaten. So I'll be eating coffee cake for the next several days.

Decided to make a grocery trip today since our managers didn't make us go back to work. I needed a few essentials and thought I'd use my $5 off $30 coupon to get some ground beef and chicken breasts (you read that right, I bought meat!). I wanted to get some diet Coke, but Kroger's 2 liters were $1.89. No way am I paying that much. I went to Walmart where they were 99 cents. When I walked out to my car, I noticed my rear left tire was flat. Like really flat. I put the gauge on it and it wouldn't give me a reading.

The brochures on my Liberty Mutual roadside assistance sounded like they would send someone to my assistance if I called, but Midas was right across the street. So I carefully (and slowly) drove 0.2 miles to Midas. They fixed me up for $27 (with tax).

Now I know what you're thinking: "You were at a Walmart!" Yeah, yeah. And according to Walmart's website, they fix tires for $10. But this particular WM did not have a tire center. The closest one was 4.0 miles down Nolensville, a drive I do not think I could have made with a very flat tire. I suppose I could have thrown my spare on and made the trek, but I had need-to-be-refrigerated groceries in my trunk and even though I am capable of putting on a spare (I've done it ... in a skirt, no less) it would have taken some time and I've got room in my budget to move around $17.

The experience still sucked, though. I mean you leave your house expecting to take 15 min. to pick up a couple of things at the store and it turns into an hour and you spend twice as much money as you planned. I'm just glad my tire didn't blow when I was driving 70 mph between Nashville and Goodlettsville this morning. For being bad timing, it was pretty good timing. Well, hooray for a long weekend.