It’s Tuesday evening and I’m sitting in the courtyard of the senior circle of St. Albans listening to bells of the National Cathedral chime away. It’s a glorious 78 degrees and some of the SPS class of 09’ is playing badminton. 
After a crazy trip up to DC things have calmed down and made for a spectacular time.
I began my journey to DC last Wednesday afternoon. It was great driving weather until I hot Knoxville where I met with tornados and torrential down pours. It really only screwed with driving for about an hour, it seemed once I turned up I-81 the weather cleared. After vowing to get at least out of Tennessee on the first leg of the journey, that’s @7 hours plus, I found a hotel with my trusty iPhone in the hamlet of Bristol, Va. I got in, got to sleep, and was able to take off in the morning ahead of schedule, or so I thought.
About 15 minutes into the ride I noticed my BRAND NEW tires pulling heavily to the left and after about a minute of, “This can’t be happening” a car pulled up next to me and mimed, “your tire is flat”. I pulled off the highway as soon as safely possible and was able to park in an industrial park. The was a “Wide Load” crew resting and they were nice enough to offer help fill up my tire with air. The air left nearly as quickly as it was put in.
So I’m in nowhere Virginia with a flat tire, I’m screwed. I called AAA; they were as helpful as blind man in a scavenger hunt. So I turned to the love of my life, my iPhone, or iLeen, as I call her. I did a Google search for tire/auto shops and with the help of the iPhone’s GPS feature found a shop 4 miles away. The search results connect automatically to a phone number. I called; spoke to a helpful woman named Sara, and after changing to the spare tire made my way to Main Street USA in rural Virginia. Mel, the shop manager, and Sara were a breath of fresh air. They checked my tire and rim and realized that I needed a new tire because the last place did not replace the air valve. They were quick, efficient, and soooo helpful. They made a potentially horrible situation almost pleasant. I was fixed and on my way in less than 45 minutes.
After a crazy trip up to DC things have calmed down and made for a spectacular time.
I began my journey to DC last Wednesday afternoon. It was great driving weather until I hot Knoxville where I met with tornados and torrential down pours. It really only screwed with driving for about an hour, it seemed once I turned up I-81 the weather cleared. After vowing to get at least out of Tennessee on the first leg of the journey, that’s @7 hours plus, I found a hotel with my trusty iPhone in the hamlet of Bristol, Va. I got in, got to sleep, and was able to take off in the morning ahead of schedule, or so I thought.
About 15 minutes into the ride I noticed my BRAND NEW tires pulling heavily to the left and after about a minute of, “This can’t be happening” a car pulled up next to me and mimed, “your tire is flat”. I pulled off the highway as soon as safely possible and was able to park in an industrial park. The was a “Wide Load” crew resting and they were nice enough to offer help fill up my tire with air. The air left nearly as quickly as it was put in.
So I’m in nowhere Virginia with a flat tire, I’m screwed. I called AAA; they were as helpful as blind man in a scavenger hunt. So I turned to the love of my life, my iPhone, or iLeen, as I call her. I did a Google search for tire/auto shops and with the help of the iPhone’s GPS feature found a shop 4 miles away. The search results connect automatically to a phone number. I called; spoke to a helpful woman named Sara, and after changing to the spare tire made my way to Main Street USA in rural Virginia. Mel, the shop manager, and Sara were a breath of fresh air. They checked my tire and rim and realized that I needed a new tire because the last place did not replace the air valve. They were quick, efficient, and soooo helpful. They made a potentially horrible situation almost pleasant. I was fixed and on my way in less than 45 minutes.
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