Um... you've got something "shiny" in your tire...

Today was a decent day... just seemed to take extra time to get anything done.

Packing last minute stuff and getting the house closed down.  The scoots are strapped down in their cargo trailer, and we are ready to roll.

We went out for lunch - nothing fancy... I wanted left over pizza to have with us on the road.  Pizza Hut wasn't busy, but it took a long time to get our meal.  I wanted to try their "pizza cookie," essentially a small pizza-size chocolate chip cookie.  Yeah, it took a long time to come out.

We went to the grocery store.  I could hear the radios (in my head), sending "blockers" out to get their carts in front of us.  When it came time to check out, I picked the shortest line - only one guy in front of us.  That guy moved in extra-slow-motion, getting the stuff out of his cart.  Then, after the young lady at the cash register had everything rung up, he decided to pull out his wallet.  He ran his card... nothing.  Ran it again... nothing.  "There must be something wrong with your machine," he said, "I have plenty of money on this card."  Ran it again... more nothing.  The young lady tried his card on her maching... "There you go," she said... then, nothing.  He just stood there and stared at the credit card machine.

Yes, all the lines that were longer than this one had moved faster.  The young lady finally called over the manager.  He looked at the card and said, "This is a Wal-Mart gift card - you are at HEB."

"Oh," the old guy said, "They look the same."  He pulled out another card; didn't look anything remotely close to the same.  The girl finally got his few items bagged up.

I said to her, "Is it OK if I use my gas card to charge this stuff?"

It was a joke.  She didn't get it.  She rang up our few items and we went to the truck.  The same "blockers" who had their carts clogging the aisles in the stores had now moved to the parking lot.

On to Wal-Mart.  No, the guy wasn't there trying to use his HEB gift card.  ;-)

Back home.  Getting the last few things done around the house, Mike and MJ came by to say goodbye.  We were outside visiting, when Mike said, "You probably don't want to hear this... (that is generally true when people say that), but you have something shiny in your tire."

A close look showed that there was a nail in the tire.  At 5:30 in the afternoon on a holiday Monday.  We did our hugs goodbye, and I called Wal-Mart to see how late their tire center is open.  No answer.  I hopped in the truck and headed there.  Yep, our bridge was out.  While waiting for the bridge, I took this sunset photo...

What else do you have to do while waiting for the bridge to come back in?  I called Wally World again while waiting... no answer.  I tried once more - an answer!  The woman transferred me to Auto & Tire.  Well, she tried.  Six times.  Seventh time was a charm... I asked how late I could get a tire looked at... "We do tire work until 7:00."

"I'm on my way."

The young lady (I'm beginning to notice that all the people working in stores are young these days) in Tire & Auto, filled out a work order.  I visited with the tire guy.  Apparently, they have a rule that they can't pull something out of your tire.  I pulled out some pliers and pulled out the nail... no "hiss."

"How do you fix a tire without pulling out the offending nail?  Um, nevermind.  I'd still like to have you pull that tire off and check to make sure there is no leak."

They did.  It wasn't.  The nail went in at an angle.  I paid, and there were no "blockers" in the parking lot.  Back home, put the hurricane shutters down, and positioned the cargo trailer for an "easy out" in the morning.

We be ready.