[Loch-Ruadh] Home

[Sluggy]

I made it home from Lughnasadh safely, though not without a bit of
adventure. The duct tape holding the valve stem together held, but the
air found another way out and the camper blew out the tire shortly after
I got on the interstate (just past the construction).

The tire-turned-flail managed to take out the entire plastic fenderwell,
thus allowing the marauding bits of tire to also take out a cabinet door
from the inside and spread bits of fenderwell, tire and cabinet contents
on the floor of the camper. It also managed to send at least one whole
roll of toilet paper, an undetermined number of paper napkins and at
least one blue plastic Wal-Mart sack, the former contents of which have
not been determined, out the resulting hole and onto the highway. It
would otherwise have been humorous to see this violent purge in the
mirror labeled "Objects are closer than they appear".

The humor rolls on, for the lug wrench in the truck did not fit the
lugnuts of the blown tire, though they did fit the ones holding the
spare. I tried a pipe wrench that was handy, but eventually found a 10"
adjustable wrench that, combined with the rubber mallet that I nearly
left behind in Gwenllian's camp, I was able to remove the wheel. Luckily
for the story, the spare was flat.

I dropped the camper, went to the next exit (Hwy 47) and bought the
ubiquitous Fix-A-Flat (two cans, just in case) and returned. It worked
well, so I took it to the same place and aired the tire up to full
pressure (Fix-A-Flat inflates to 35 psi; those little tires need 55-60
psi). Back on the road shortly before 8:00...

On the good news side, my new trailer dolly thingy worked its wonders
allowing me to park the camper in my driveway rather than at the storage
place. If I can satisfy some security issues, we can save about $35 per
month in storage rental by keeping it at home.

Sluggy!

--

Aulon: JOAN!

Joan: Wh-- why are you looking at me like that?

Aulon: Because there's an arrow in your leg!

Joan: What? Oh... well that's hardly a reason for you to stop
climbing, is it? ...You! Take this arrow out of my leg!