Flat tire on the way to work today.
1 day missed work. $54 (after taxes).
Taxi home (It was 5 a.m. Who would you have called?) $28, plus tip.
Tow. I shudder. $50? $75?
Rim and tire. $150?
We’ll call it a week’s pay.
Now would be a good time to start talking about unions, and minimum wage increases, and single payer health care, (because somewhere in the middle of all this I have to come up with a health insurance premium) and generally what it takes to get by in the world for people like me.
ETA: Yay! No new rim, and the spare is a full-size one that will work. So, maybe three days’ pay! Yay!
The nice highway patrol guy offered to put the spare on for me, but I refused. It was 19 below, and dark, and on a highway. I counted 6 vehicles driving by in the 45 minutes I waited there. I got lucky.
4 comments
Comments feed for this article
January 14, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Susie from Philly
FYI for the future: In many states, you can call AAA and join over the phone when you put in the service call. It’s almost always cheaper than paying for road service without it.
January 14, 2009 at 7:37 pm
sallyjo
But I live in this semi-closed economy. I’m behind on my storage space rental, so if I need my car towed, I call the people I have my storage space with. In return, because I always go to them, I can sometimes get my car fixed in an emergency.
One hand scratching the other person’s mirror, or something.
January 15, 2009 at 10:19 pm
lella
So, actually you ended up not needing the emergency tow and all the rest? Gee, I hope that was the case. That was a bad bad place and time. Nice Highway Patrol guy.
Unions, Reagan, Iran Contra, the sharp downward turn of the middle class to be traced that far back.. sure we can talk about that.
January 18, 2009 at 9:29 am
sallyjo
I took the tow, and the day off.
I keep getting lessons thrown in my face, kind of like pies. They don’t taste much like banana cream, though.