Rough day

Everything went wrong, starting last night. I was on my way to the swing dance when I got a flat tire. It was dark, wet, and I was about 3 miles from home in one direction or the dance in the other. I was stupid and didn't have a flat-fixing kit with me for Johnny. So, I walked home. At least I got to chat with Lauren and my mom during the 45 minute walk.

When I got home there was only a half hour left of the dance. I knew they'd be going out to the Dinosaur for blues afterward, and really wanted to go see didgeridoo guy, but just didn't have the energy to change the flat in the dark and ride out for only an hour or so of dancing. So I left the flat for the next morning.

Fast forward to the next morning. I get up in plenty of time to change the flat before I'm supposed to pick up my Zipcar to go shoe shopping. I change the flat, it takes me a full 40 minutes because the tire is so damn hard to get on and off. I'm panting and sweating and covered in grease, but ready to go shopping anyway. I get on Johnny, roll halfway down the driveway, and hear an awful hissing noise coming from my rear wheel. Turns out I had missed a piece of glass is the tire and it was now flat again. The really bad news is that I'm out of tubes that will fit those tires. I'm beginning to get upset at this point.

So I go back inside and look up the bus schedule. There's a bus that'll get me there just after my zipcar reservation starts, so I decide to go with that. While waiting for the bus I completely forget that I wanted to bring my iPod charger to the Apple Store to get replaced and I don't actually know how to get to the mall that has an Apple Store in it. I get on the bus, get to campus, realize what I'd forgotten, get even more frustrated with myself, and get in the car to go to the other mall that I do know how to get to so I can at least buy shoes.

As I'm turning right from the offramp toward the mall, I somehow fail to check the intersection or realize that I have a red light or something. I pull into the intersection, almost make it through, but there was a van coming and he clips the bumper of my zipcar. Now I'm having a really bad day. I pull off to the side, get his information, somehow manage to both write and not be crying yet. His van was already pretty beat up and he couldn't even tell if there was damage to his car. He really didn't seem upset at all, once he was sure that no one got hurt, which was comforting. Anyway, after I got his info, he drove off and I called Zipcar, expecting the worst. The lady on the phone was very nice and helpful, she made me give her all the details of what had happened and the other guy's information. She ketp trying to calm me down too, because at this point I was crying and shaking.

Turns out I'm liable for $500 worth of damage. The panel around the gas tank on that car (a Mazda 3) is dented and will have to be replaced, so it might reach that $500. The rear bumper has some pretty bad scratches on it too, but I'm guessing it's not that expensive to replace a bumper. Zipcar will do a thorough investigation and get the car fixed and will tell me what the repairs cost. Until then, my account is suspended so I can't use any more zipcars for at least a week. But, I do get to keep the Mazda until the end of my reservation, thankfully.

At this point I'm hungry, shaking, trying not to start crying again, and parked on the side of a busy road. Things begin to look up when I see that there's a Wendy's directly in front of me, so I go park there and order myself a burger and a frosty. That helped a lot. I figure I might as well go buy some shoes, so I go into the mall and look at every shoe store there and finally come out with a pair of pure white Nikes that should keep me standing for a 12 hour shift. They'll work for at the gym too.

Since I've still got the car for an hour I head out to Full Moon Vista and get Johnny-sized tubes and a couple of kevlar tires so that he'll be pretty much puncture-proof. I figure it's money well spent if it makes my transportation more reliable.

Now I'm wondering how I'm going to get home after I return the car, so I decide to go pick up Paris, stick him in the trunk, Mental Note: take both wheels off and a road bike can fit in the trunk of a Mazda 3, and drive back to campus to drop off the car. In my still shaken up state, I'd forgotten that Paris has Speedplay pedals. Second Mental Note: It is possible to ride relatively comfortably on Speedplays while wearing clogs.

Now it's about 3pm, and I've still got to print up an accident report form to send to zipcar and a membership application for GVCC. My roommates probably have printers, but they were both gone. So I walk the mile down to the public library and use their printers (for 20 cents a page) and walk back. I would've gotten a library card but they needed some ID with a Rochester address on it. Next time.

I spend the next hour making dinner and filling out forms. I make one of the most bizarre but oddly delicious pizzas I've ever had, managing to get very little sauce on the paperwork. I then mail off the envelopes, eat the rest of my pizza and get ready to meet Todd, the guy that runs GVCC. We go for a ride and suddenly things don't seem so bad. I'm sure I'll take that back as soon as the Zipcar bill arrives.