So I'm coming home last night on the Taconic...
Why was I coming home last night on the Taconic? Well, I was in Philmont, NY appearing for a not-guilty-plead speeding ticket I received on the Taconic in October. I call my appearance successful as I was able to plead guilty at a speed 10 mph lower than the one I was supposedly clocked at (which I maintained was faster than my actual speed, though I admit I was speeding).
Anyways! Before I left, one of the officers told me that my front right tire was extremely low on air and I might want to fill it at a local gas station before heading home. I thanked him and though I stopped at a local gas station, I did not see an air-providing device. So I thought, gee, I made it here on the tire. Surely I can make it home on the tire.
Alas, 2 miles down the Taconic I was proven wrong. Oh so wrong.
My front right tire blew, or at least went flat enough to constitute being undriveable. I pulled off the road onto a grassy area, no problem. I learned I could not get any cell reception. I learned that apparently my trunk takes on water and that water likes to collect in my spare tire well and freeze, thus freezing the tire in.
Wonderful.
Thankfully an extremely nice gentleman who lives very nearby, name is Dan, showed up to assist me in changing my tire. With his help (and his flashlight), we were able to successfully change my front right tire. Apparently he's helped other people on this stretch of the Taconic before with similar tire problems. (He even knew that AAA wouldn't have come - the only help you can get is by calling the state police and having them call the one garage that has a lone tow truck that will come tow your car to that garage. Splendid, eh?) Dan was extremely nice, even refusing any proferred compensation. (I owe someone in this world a big favor in return. I won't forget.)
In any case, I now know how to put the spare tire on my 1998 Buick Park Avenue.
As it is, my car now has 4 new tires after a stop at the tire store this morning. Town Fair Tire in Bridgeport, CT. Excellent place. They even managed to bang out the dent in my spare and reinflate it so I can use it again. (I put 110 miles on that spare getting home last night! When I got home, it was incredibly flat and I couldn't manage to inflate it before going to Town Fair. So I drove over there on my flat spare, nerves tensed the entire way.)
Thus endeth the tale.