2001-04-03 - 11:59 p.m.

Rolling On Three Wheels

This has been a hard winter, especially this last month. The last snow that fell a few days ago has mainly melted, but some things remain behind.

The roads of Frown Town have taken a terrible beating this winter and they are pocked with potholes. Did I say potholes? I meant craters!

I don’t do that much driving, but the roads downtown are the worst, and I have to drive over them every day.

On Monday, while I was taking Lily to classes, I hit a pothole that almost made me bite my tongue. I didn't think anything of it until I was at the bank a few minutes later. I came out after making a deposit, when I noticed the front tire. The hubcap had been smashed, the tire looked nearly flat and the rim itself looked damaged.

What to do?

Luckily, there was a garage that I'd gone to many times only a few blocks away. The car managed to limp the short distance there and the guys there had a look at it.

While they were looking at the car I had the bad luck to be sharing the tiny waiting room with a guy who was smoking like a chimney, and who seemed bound and determined to have a conversation with me. Swell.

In about an hour the guys were done with my car and I had a pounding headache. The news was not good.

The wheel rim was irretrievably bent, and had to be replaced. Since I had an old car, this part was not an easy one to find. They'd put in an order for the new rim, but until they got the part I was going to have to drive on the spare.

My car has one of those undersized one-size fits all spare tires. It's not meant to be driven on for long, and you can't drive fast on it. Swell.

So ever since Monday I've been driving my car like it was made of glass, driving slow and carefully while watching the road in front of me for more potholes. Every time I hit one, I grit my teeth. I feel like every bump I hit could be the last.

It's a nerve-wracking experience, rolling along on three wheels.