Changed a flat

This afternoon/evening as I went out to our pickup to try to go get Shelley's purse and phone that she had left in another car, I noticed that the right-rear tire was looking a bit flat. Upon getting my head closer to the tire to get a closer look, I heard a definite "psssssss..." sound. Well, there went any hopes of catching the owners of the car before they flew out for three weeks in Hawaii. (Hope to catch them on the phone within the next few days to see where Shelley's belongings might be.)

This being Petersburg, there are no AAA services. We let our membership lapse over a year ago since there's no point in it. That also means that when there's a flat, we have to change the tire ourselves (or pay some exorbitant price). In all my years of driving, I have NEVER changed tires on my own. That certainly changed today.

First I had to figure out where the jack and wrench were located, then I had to figure out how to get them out of where they were stored. That was accomplished with just a couple of injuries. (Whenever I work on mechanical things or constructions, I inevitably end up with several injuries. I have no talent -- or interest -- when it comes to these things.) Elise lowered the spare to the ground. Meanwhile I was raising the jack to get it placed under the axle, as instructed. Then came the work. The lug wrench used to turn the jack had a plastic thing on the end. It worked fine for a while but as it became more difficult to turn, the plastic began to strip off. The wrench didn't fit all the way into the slot because of the plastic. Elise and I worked with it and worked with it until the car was raised enough for the wheel to be able to come off. But the spare had perhaps an inch more tread on it. Which meant that the car had to be raised more. But it wouldn't. I finally took some pliers and began to rip off the plastic, which by now was coming apart. Finally the wrench fit all the way into the slot and it would turn, except that it was still really difficult and not getting any easier.

Elise had to go to work, so Shelley came out to help. Shelley held the wrench in place while I used both arms to muscle the turns. The car finally was raised up high enough for the spare to be able to slip onto the bolts. From there the rest was easy and it was all completed in a few more minutes.

Shelley and I went out to see if we could find the car and her belongings, but we weren't able to locate them.

I'm happy that I was able to change the tire, but I still would rather have someone else who does this more often do it for me.

Update: In going to the front door just now to lock it, I found Shelley's purse. I wonder if it was there all this time.