Ok, so this is not what I wanted to do on Friday night, and especially on a cold, wet Friday night. I believe I picked up a nasty bit of metal at the stop sign on Western By-pass and Cornwallis. When I pulled out onto Cornwallis I heard a "poof", then I heard another noise once I was out on 15-501. Then I could feel the bump, bump of the flat. Luckily, I was able to get to a parking lot and not stuck on the side of the road in a big mud puddle. Then the nicest, bestest man in the world, Rick, came out and changed my tire. 2 hours we were out in the cold, wet weather, at least it wasn't snowing...
Here is the nasty piece of metal that caused it all. Sorry for the glare, I took the photo while holding the umbrella and trying to keep the camera and myself dry.
There are lessons learned from this experience. Read your car manual, this will save time when you are trying to get everything out from the back of the car to lift up the bolted down cover only to find no spare tire... it's under the car!!!!
Also, if one was up to date on the manual, one would have also known how to release the tire from the underside of the car. Note: the drawings in the manual don't necessarily match the car. One will have to hunt around for the noted spare tire release and jack placement.
And have a flashlight, a big one, not a little pen light flashlight. I would have been better off if I would have just started a fire (could have used all the stuff that I had in the back of the car.)
