I Grow Tire'd

Tuesday:

The night it all started. I had been cramming all day for my very large (and scary) research test coming up the next day… Leo got home from classes around 9pm and informed me that he had a flat tire. While I was concerned, my response was something like: “I have a test tomorrow. We can deal with this after.” And that’s exactly what we did.

While I had only a slight idea of how to change a tire, I knew Leo was much more experienced. I've personally seen him change two in the bush in the middle of Africa. (Much rougher conditions than our apartment parking garage.) It's just this was a new car and neither of us was prepared...

Wednesday:

After dropping Leo at work and before leaving for class, I snuck a peak at the damage.

And my first question via text to Leo: "What did you hit?!" I feared the tire was dead and could not be revived. It had been through an ordeal for sure and had come in contact with something fairly large and destructive. We never did determine exactly what.

4 hours later...

I got home from my test (which I was pretty sure I had failed), and got to work... We had no idea if all the necessary tools were in the car, so that was priority #1. I basically tore apart the trunk and struck gold! We had nearly everything- including the coveted lugnut key and a full-sized spare! Just no actual tire iron, and the one for my car was too big. So I picked Leo up from work and we headed to Auto Zone.

We couldn't decide, so we ended up getting a full ratchet set and also a 4-way wrench. We figured between the two, something was bound to work! And off we went back to the apartment.

With the lugnut key in place and all of them exposed, Leo excitedly got to work with the 4-way. We had no doubt whatsoever that we would be victorious, but alas- he could only get one to even BUDGE. He tried turning it hard, then turning it even harder, then jumping up and down on one end, then turning it with one eye closed.. (ok, I made up that last one). The point is: our new tools didn't stand a chance against the tire. The lugnuts were CRAZY tight.

So I went in search of help, and found one of our faithful maintenance guys not too far away. He followed me back to the garage and tried with an even bigger 4-way. But the holes on his wrench were too big as well and just slipped over the lugnuts. And again, the tire won. His advice: call a tow truck and get them to come over with an air wrench.

By this point it was about 6pm and I had been up since 6:30am (since I took Leo to work). I was still cranky from the test I surely failed, Leo hadn't even changed out of his work clothes, and we were both ready to cry. So I headed back to the apartment to google local tow trucks... I honestly didn't care how much it cost. We just needed that tire OFF. I got in touch with one in the area, confirmed they had air wrenches on the trucks and set it up. They were coming! Help was on the way!

So I left for the grocery store. I was scheduled to work the next three days and we had zero food in the house. And that was not good.

I got a few necessities at the fancy and expensive grocery store just down the street (I didn't have the strength to make it to our usual place) and was in the check-out when the tow truck driver called. He was at the gate and needed to be buzzed in. It was a glorious moment and I nearly squealed with delight! He had arrived and we were saved! But when I told him that the car was parked on the 3rd floor of our apartment parking garage (still not sure how Leo got in up there in the first place!), he suddenly became very quiet on the other end of the line... "Um, ma'am- I'm in a flatbed truck. There's no way it will fit inside the garage." Well crud. He was very polite and apologetic, but it was true. The tire had won again.

I ventured back into the fancy and expensive grocery store to find ice cream and headed home. After entering the apartment (at now 8pm), I announced to Leo that we had no choice but to sell the car.

Thursday:

I had to work, and was kept busy enough to not think about the devil tire. It was lovely. As Leo picked me up after work, he informed me that through extreme physical exertion, he did manage to get one lugnut off, but had to forgo further efforts due to the inside of the tire wrench chipping away. He had turned it so incredibly hard that the hole was now more round than hexagonal... Yes- crazy. The tire had won yet again, and now our only tool to conquer it was dead as well. (It will be returned to Auto Zone ASAP.)

Friday:  

The heavens smiled upon me and I was cancelled at work, which meant I had the day to figure out this stupid tire situation.

In a last-ditch effort, I ran to the store and got a can of Fix-a-Flat. And while I was highly skeptical, it did actually work! It inflated just long enough to get the car off the third floor and back onto solid ground OUTSIDE the garage. A small victory for the humans!  

I'm guessing the leaking goo is a bad sign?

And since it was now OUT of the parking garage, I called the tow truck to come back. He was there within two hours (during which I seriously considered making margaritas), and I thought for sure this would be the end of it.  

But no. 

Even with his high-powered air gun, the lugnuts weren't moving. He tried every trick he knew, and nothing. And apparently Volkswagens and BMW's are "special" in that you can't just break off the tops of the bolts. (I didn't even know that was an option until he ruled it out aloud.) It was at this time that I started laughing deliriously. What else COULD I do?? No point in screaming, no point in crying... laughing was the only logical option.

The driver was as nice as could be, and simply asked: "Who put the tire on in the first place?" And then a little lightbulb went off over my head and I had a brilliant idea: call the dealership! We have been taking it back for oil changes and tire rotations and they were most definitely the people responsible for those ridiculously tightened lugnuts! So I called them up.

At first, they transferred me around and were a bit wishy-washy. But as soon as I got the head honcho of the service department on the phone: I laid it out for him. Basically, his guys had put the tire on too tight and caused this situation. All I wanted was for them to pay for the tow to the nearest Discount Tire. He tried to convince me to tow it all the way back to them, and I said absolutely not. First off, they are nowhere close to us. Second, they did this and were no longer trustworthy in my opinion. And third, I knew we'd be replacing the tire and didn't want to pay dealer prices. In the end he agreed, and I called my tow truck friend for a THIRD TIME. 

The GTI looked so sad. With all the flashing lights, it was like a car ambulance.  :(

But once secured, it took all of five minutes to drive the 1.1 miles to Discount Tire. (Yes- it was THAT CLOSE.)

I climbed down from the tow truck (yes! I got to ride along!), nearly hugged every single one of the employees, warned them that the tire contained fix-a-flat, and then watched as they easily removed it within about three seconds...  As suspected, it could not be saved. So we ended up paying for a new tire, BUT we will get that $85 back for the tow. Score.

A flat tire that took 3 1/2 days to fix. That's normal, right?

Though it was an ordeal, I have found multiple “silver linings” that occurred throughout. I like to think of them as the cherry on top: 

1)      He got the car home and wasn’t stranded on the side of the road.

2)      No one was hurt.

3)      We have a second car and were only slightly inconvenienced in the grand scheme of things.

4)      We learned that all the tools we need ARE inside the car.

5)      The weather has been amazing! Dealing with this during ice, snow or even rain would have been much worse.

6)      While chauffeuring Leo to and from work, I got to see some super duper cute private school kids in their super duper cute private school uniforms.

7)      I ended up not only passing my scary research test, but actually doing pretty well!

8)      I was cancelled on Friday, which gave me time to deal with this.

9)      I got to ride in a tow truck.

Cha-Ching.

I love saving money. Absolutely LOVE it. It's almost a game for me-- A game in which every single tiny penny counts. And the prize for winning the game? More money in our savings (aka: travel) account!

Just last month, I finally used up an AT&T gift card I'd been hanging onto... It literally had $.25 on it. But there was NO WAY I was throwing it away without cashing in its full value. We have this little basket on our kitchen counter, and it mostly collects coins and wine corks and half-used gift cards... After a card is semi-used, I grab a sharpie and write the remaining amount on it. (An excellent technique I picked up from my parents.) And Leo made fun of me on more than one occasion when he would come across that boldly-written $.25. But eventually, I successfully lowered our phone bill by a whole quarter! I win.

And last week, when we bought our beautiful new Ninja blender, we paid less than half price for the little bundle of joy! See, last year when we got our fancy new pots and pans, we got a $50 Bed Bath & Beyond gift card to sweeten the deal. It has ridden around in my wallet for a YEAR waiting for the perfect (necessary) item to pop up. Enter Ninja. Along with a 20% off in-store coupon, the Ninja was that much more fun to bring home. I win again.

My two rules: 1) never make a big purchase without getting an amazing deal. And 2) don't buy crap you don't need. Our old blender had been around for about 7 years, and had actually started bleeding oil every time we fired it up. We mopped up the oil and tried to nurse it back to health for many, many months before finally throwing in the towel and going shopping for the Ninja.

I got a random email the other day from Dave Ramsey's people. Not sure how I got on that list, but I think I may have found a new friend... I don't appreciate how he seems to charge for all of his advice, but from what I can tell: the man knows what he's talking about. I don't think I'm willing to pay for advice on how to save money at this point, but we'll see. I sometimes conduct spontaneous google searches on the subject and get all kinds of fun new pieces of advice for free.

Please don't judge me.

I'm also thinking about beginning to dabble in the world of coupons? But I'm torn. Coupons require using paper and printing paper and wasting paper. Saving money while filling up landfills... Still pondering the pros and cons of that one.

Take a flying leap.

Honda has a new set of commercials out. And they annoy me.

They're all about "leaplists"- which first off, I've never even heard of. I think they made them up. Apparently one is supposed to make a"list" before taking big steps in life? I was unaware.

First off, I'm not big on making lists regarding life experiences. Name something awesome: I want to do it. It's that easy! Why write it all down and limit it to just one list? Name a country: let's go! Name a hobby: I'll try it! Name a food: bon appetit! I'm not promising I'll enjoy it all... but hey, why not give it a shot?

The scenarios I've seen depicted thus far are 1) getting married and 2) having babies. And while I can sorta kinda maybe see (if I squint really hard) the idea of the baby one, it still annoys me. It's like they're saying you're no longer allowed to live once you procreate.

 

And the marriage one? The fact that they even thought to create that one makes me sad. Let me tell you something: If you marrying someone will end all other exciting times in your life from that point on, so much so that you're forced to get it all out of your system and fulfill all your desires before you walk down the aisle: YOU'RE MARRYING THE WRONG PERSON.

 

I'd love to see some commercials about all the amazing things you can do WITH your new spouse or kids. C'mon Honda. Get it together.

Back in the Saddle Again!

Well folks, it's official: I'll be headed down to Nicaragua this summer! For a week in June, I'll be volunteering at a clinic in the southern part of the country... and I am PSYCHED!

See that giant (and apparently quite beautiful) lake at the bottom of the country? Just to the left of it is where I'll be!

I'm going with FIMRC (Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children). They have sites all over the world that operate year-round and specialize in pediatrics. (A refreshing change from my full-grown patients at work!) It sounds like I'll be doing clinic work, outreach into the villages and lots of general health education.

Unfortunately, Leo won't be able to accompany me on this one. He'll be much too busy studying, teaching and keeping the Keebs in line... but one of these days!

And as an added bonus- on the way back north, I'll be stopping in El Salvador to visit my dear friend, Carolyn. She lives and works there and I will able to meet up with her for a few days of Central American exploration!

I honestly don't know how to explain how excited I am about this! I've been itching for quite awhile now to get back out there... and this opportunity dropped right into my lap! One of my absolute favorite things in the world is experiencing new and exciting places while trying to do some good along the way. I can't envision a day when that will ever change.

The Taxes Two-Step

About a week and a half ago, we received the last of our tax documents in the mail and within minutes, I got to work! With me being in school, and Leo working for only half the year, I knew we’d be getting something back, but I was curious to find out just how much. Also, this was the first year that I knew we wouldn’t be eligible for a 1040EZ, so I was curious to see just how that would go as well. And surprisingly, it went very well! Every income document, all the tuition payments and itemized education expenses, scouring the internet to make sure we got every tiny credit and deduction known to man… I think they should make me an honorary CPA just because I’m that awesome.

I waited a few days to think it over and make sure no little surprises popped up in the meantime, and then hit the submit button on Wednesday night! After a short happy dance, we headed out for what has become our traditional “Taxes-are-Submitted-Chinese-Dinner!” (It all began last year because we were starving as we left the tax office…) There’s a little place down the street that is Leo’s favorite, and we hadn’t been in quite awhile. As we walked in, the wait staff acted like we were long lost relatives who had finally come home… “You two! How are you?! We never see you anymore!” As Leo put it: That’s customer service!

However… By the time we got home, I had an email waiting for me from H&R Block. Our return had been rejected. (Say what?!) Last year, Leo didn’t have his SS# yet, so he had to get a Tax ID# in order to file. And now that he has a SS# and everything he’s earned this year is filed under it, the IRS is confused. After trying twice more to send it in, and being rejected both times… I began to worry. We could always go old school- print it out and mail it. But that would take 5-7 weeks and there was still a possibility that it would be rejected. More internet research led me to people who have been in the same situation who did just that and ended up in a bit of a pickle. Ugh.

So last night, we headed back to our friendly H&R Block office down the street and consulted a professional. It was more than a little frustrating to sit there and watch him put all the same numbers in all the same blanks that I had ALREADY DONE at home, but when all was said and done, he did manage to find us more of a refund. In fact, the extra he found was pretty much exactly the same fee we had to pay them.

I feel like Leo also learned a lot more about the process this year. (I told him next year it’s all on him!) I was explaining how once we’re both out of school, the refunds will drop dramatically, and he came up with the simple solution of staying in school forever. And when our kind tax preparer mentioned that having babies will bump the refund back up again, Leo made the very accurate statement of: “Too bad that refund won’t come close to paying for the kid.” So logical… and true.  :)

One thing that kinda shocked me was how impressed the tax guy was with our detailed receipts. He was so fascinated that we had everything and they were so organized. (with appropriate expenses highlighted!) Apparently most people just come in and guess? I found that interesting.

It definitely wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be… (when immigration is involved, it never is) But the taxes are officially filed and the refund will be arriving shortly.  Done and Done.

A bit skewed, in my opinion.

In the last week, a video has popped up on the internet:

And I have a few opinions to share on the matter-- I personally jumped off that bridge back in 2009 and it was one of the coolest, most thrilling experiences of my life so far.

Aaaaaamazing.

They have about 50,000 jumps a year and have been in operation for over 10 years. So far, the cord has broken ONCE. And as for the "croc-infested river" below? Ha! Yes, there are probably a few crocodiles, but that's a crazy fast moving river underneath one of the most gigantic waterfalls in the world! I doubt it's a hot spot for crocodiles to hang out. They prefer quiet water where they can be lazy in peace. And the commotion of her and her long, bulky bungee cord hitting the water would've scared them all off anyway!

What's the rate of car accidents in the United States nowadays? 1 in 70? 1 in 100? Different organizations give different numbers... But either way- it's WAY higher than any bungee jump in Africa. A bungee jump that is optional. (Kinda like driving a car...)

I would jump again tomorrow given the chance. Life's too short to sit around being bored.

ps- I can no longer say I returned from the Peace Corps "last year." And that makes me sad. :(

A tropical venture.

I know it's been awhile since we got back, but with Christmas and New Years and all, there's been a bit of a delay with blogging. In a word- Puerto Rico was phenomenal. We managed to maintain the perfect balance of exploration and relaxation and got to see just enough of the island to make us want to come back many, many times in the years to come.

After landing in San Juan (and sitting on the runway for 30 minutes because there were no gates available), we finally made it into a taxi and headed toward our hotel in the old part of the city. Apparently there was a huge concert going on that night, so traffic was an absolute nightmare- and our taxi driver (a fiesty Puerto Rican woman) took every opportunity to scream at nearby police officers through the van's open windows. She was upset about the fact that they had blocked off an entire lane of the road for the concert. During the drive, there were multiple incidents of road rage- including honking at nearly every car we saw, almost running over a few innocent tourists, and continually barking orders to anyone who dared to defy her. While honking, she loved to scream things like: "See?! My horn is LOUDER!"  What should been a 15 minute ride turned into over an hour... and Leo and I exchanged several skeptical glances along the way, but we did finally arrive safely! We kissed the ground, dropped off luggage, and headed out- exhausted and starving.

That first day was spent exploring the old city, including the amazing El Morro. It's an enormous fort that was built in the 1500's, and we spent hours wandering around it, finding every passageway imaginable. It's been attacked over and over throughout the years, and has never fallen. Definitely cool.

The next day we set out early to pick up our rental car and head to the eastern part of the island. And the rental car ended up being an adventure in itself… We got a little Suzuki from Allied Car Rental, and in short: I do NOT recommend that company. (I have said such on Trip Advisor.) The car was covered in dents and scratches, had only one hubcap, no floor mats and a keyless remote that was worthless. We paid extra for a GPS that didn’t even work, AND they overcharged us all around! Unfortunately, it was too late to find another option by the time we figured all this out, so we sucked it up and made our way east to El Yunque Rainforest.

We hiked, explored and enjoyed the unbelievable beauty of the area for hours… 

Soooo gorgeous! Of course, there was one very minor traffic incident on the windy, narrow road as we came around a sharp corner. Basically, our mirror smacked the mirror of another guy, but there was no damage to ours…It was a tense few minutes of my very broken Spanish trying to communicate with him and his very broken English, but finally we agreed that we were both in the wrong. So we merrily continued on our way. No police assistance necessary. 

 After the rainforest, we continued further east to Fajardo, where we met up with our guides for a nighttime bioluminescent bay adventure! There are several bays around Puerto Rico that have particular types of algae that glow in the moonlight. So we hopped into kayaks to go out and see them close up. While we don’t have any pictures of ourselves on the water, these stock photos I found will give you an idea of what it’s like.

 Anything that touches the water glows. Our kayaks, the oars, our hands and feet as we splashed around… it was AMAZING. And we also discovered that we’re kind of awesome when it comes to kayaking. Our guides, during our pre-trip meeting, joked that many divorces take place on the water, and that fighting with each other due to the kayak doing its own thing is never the answer. But we rocked it! Several members of the group capsized on the way back to shore, trying to navigate through the extremely narrow channels lined by trees in complete darkness… but we made it without incident. It was an incredible night.

The final days on the island were spent lazing about on beaches, wandering the streets of the old city, mastering the public bus system ($.50 each way!) and thoroughly having a wonderful, wonderful time. 4 ½ days was WAY too short to see and do it all… but hey, there’s always next time!