Have yourself a Big O Valentines Day!
I like Valentines
Day but spending it at Big O Tire is a bit unromantic, even for me. I
got up early, did chores and changed the tire on my trailer and
waited for Big O to open. I wanted to get through Wickenburg early in
hopes of avoiding the Gold Rush Day's congestion.
They were swamped.
The soonest they could get to my trailer would be the afternoon. The
man at the front desk had me drop my trailer out back in an alley. He
yelled at “Earl” to help me get parked in the ridiculously tight
spot and unhook. Earl directed me back: One hand waving me on, the
other around a can of soda and a cigarette hanging out the side of
his mouth. Earl is quite the multi-taster if nothing else.
I put the hub cap
inside the trailer door and told them the damaged tire was in the
back of the trailer. They would call me when it was ready to pick up.
If I was thinking,
I would have brought my laundry in. As it was...I did a little
grocery shopping at Safeway. Did you know they have a Pop-Tart
cereal? I kid you not. I looked over the brightly colored boxes of
Frosted Strawberry and Frosted Brown Sugar and Cinnamon. What will
they think of next? As much as I like Pop-Tarts – I eat them more
as a dessert. I passed them over for a much healthier
breakfast serial: Frosted Mini Wheats.
Safeway was packed
and smelled like a giant floral shop. Apparently everyone in
Wickenburg buys
their Valentines gifts at the grocery store. A
mountain of a man in a long white beard clutched a dozen red roses in
his bear like paws. He stood in line at the checkout looking somewhat
out of place. He looked nervous. Was he afraid she wouldn't like
them? “She will love them.” He seemed to relax a little. Love is
a complicated thing....or maybe humans make it so.
Dave was correct:
Tractor Supply does have fenders for tandem trailers. I'm fairly
certain it will fit, but will measure to make sure. They aren't as
expensive as I figured they would be. Things were looking up.
Downtown
Wickenburg traffic was horrific. There was barely enough room to pass
parked vehicles let alone those coming at each other. I was stopped
in traffic. A white extended cab pickup was coming toward me. I saw
it coming before he got to me and rolled up my window. Our driver
side mirrors collided. He rolled down his window and asked if I was
OK and apologized. I said it was all good (mirrors are breakaway) and
not to worry about it. There was nothing he could have done
different.
I still had
several hours to kill. I drove back to Aguila and pulled out my
laptop. I called the State in regards to my retirement distribution
and got a one-time withdrawal initiated. Keeping my fingers crossed
it all goes through by next week. I remain dumbfounded at how hard it
is to gain access to your own money. I am relying on some kid named
Eric to determine whether I eat Ramon Noodles in my trailer for the
next several weeks or get to dine on Quesadillas at the Coyote Den in
Aguila.
Patty felt about
as ambitious as I did. We decided to have a late lunch at the Coyote
Den and wait for Big O to call. I couldn't decide between a tostada
or a quesadillas. A man in the booth behind us spoke up: The guys in
our shop always get the quesadillas. I ordered the quesadillas and
asked if doing so qualified me to work in his shop.
“Absolutely...your hired.” Sweet. I have a backup if the Dollar
Store isn't hiring. I didn't ask what kind of shop it was. Hopefully
it has nothing to do with Converters or Tires. I'm pretty much over
those.
Big-O called. My
trailer is finished. I started to go in to pay when Patty stopped me.
She noticed they hadn't put my spare back. I looked inside the
trailer for it. The blown tire was where I left it – but no spare.
I went inside to ask where my spare was. The guy acted like I'd done
something wrong: “If you mentioned anything about a spare, I didn't
hear you. We were busy.” Ok...so I'm asking now – where is my
spare? He seemed to doubt I had a spare. I explained further. Yes, I
have a spare. How do you think I got here without a spare? I changed
out the damaged tire with the spare...drove in here for new
tires...now I want my spare back. It's a brand new tire! I can't
believe I'm having this conversation. Do you normally keep peoples
spares when they come in? The light finally comes on and he goes in
search of my spare. He finds said spare. He assigns Earl's brother Ed
to attach the spare to my trailer. For a guy working in a tire shop,
Ed isn't too handy with a lug wrench. There's a good chance if the
Dollar Store and the quesadilla thing doesn't pan out – I'll be
sporting a Big O uniform.
Getting out of the
parking lot was an ordeal in itself. I had to back out at an angle
before pulling forward onto the road. I really wish the Big O guy
would have stayed in his office counting the spares they'd made off
with. Patty was doing a fine job directing me. The Big O guy, not so
much. He twirls his hands one way and the other...then says to turn
right...no, your other right. I roll my eyes, pretend he's not there
and focus on Patty.
I do not have it
in me to navigate a 33 foot trailer through traffic circles and
narrow streets at this time. I turned right off the circle
onto N. 93 to 71. Traffic coming into Wickenburg was stop and go for
5 miles. We were practically the only ones heading north. I don't
care if I never see the city limits of Wickenburg for the remainder
of my Snowbirding adventure.
Patty built a
Bon-Fire from the wood she collected earlier. I made us each a
Margarita. Dave joined us with a Gator-aid and a burrito. He's on his
own for a couple days until Cindy gets back from a shoot in Queens
Creek. He said it's his duty to take over for Cindy whose routine it
is to snuggle on the couch with their three dogs in the evenings. To
some it might seem like an odd way to spend Valentines. To me, it
makes perfect sense. Love isn't about flowers or chocolate. It's not
about buying gifts and cards one day out of the year. It's about
spending time around a campfire with friends. It's about trusting and
feeling secure enough in your relationship to leave that special
someone in the care of others. Love is curling up in a recliner with
two weenie dogs and a mini ausi on your lap and watching team roping
videos until you drift off to sleep.
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| Tools necessary for changing a tire |
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