Well, I tried it once, thinking it can’t be that difficult after watching men do it. The first thing is to undo the lug nuts. That was the end of my tire changing project. I called AAA.

Love power tools. Think I need to go buy something pink.

Thanks Frank! I especially like the stomping part.

Sometimes it’s not smart to do something just because we can. A Japanese exchange student who lived with during her English program at UCSB and I were driving back from Universal Studios (ugh, but she wanted to go) on the busiest part of the freeway going through the San Fernando Valley at 10PM on way back up to my place in Santa Barbara. We were in the fast lane, traffic all going 70 MPG (another ugh) and bumper to bumper (LA people drive like nuts) when up ahead a flatbed truck lost its load of railroad ties on the road. Cars blew tires and spun-out as soon as they hit the massive ties, then they hit other cars and pile-up ensued, one crash after another. I couldn’t slam on brakes or would be hit from behind, There was no pull-off at the left, just a concrete berm, and speeding cars on the right. The railroad ties were right ahead no way to avoid. “Hold on Miyuki” we hit them at 70MPH and the front tires blew—but I was driving a new Volvo and it remained as steady as can be. Then we were near a tiny spot to pull off the fast lane, but still inches from all the cars that were still hitting rails and spinning around. A car of teenaged boys stopped and went to Miyuki’s window and I motioned them to come around to mine next to the barrier. “Kids, no I don’t want your help, thank you. I’d like your mother not to get a call tonight so please stay in your car with the seat belts on in case it gets hit, too.” A battalion of Fire Trucks, police cars, tow trucks, ambulances (thankfully no major injuries) came and shut the freeway down and began to detangle everything. Miyuki sat bolt upright snapping photos of the brightly lit-up, steaming metallic sculpture. “Ah, like Universal Studio.” The tow truck driver said that if we’d been in anything other than a Volvo probably would have flipped because of the angle and speed at which we hit. I let them replace the two tires and drove slowly back to Santa Barbara. With Miyuki it was always one exciting day after another. We still email back and forth 18 years later, and have visited too. She lives in Kyoto. Her father, brothers, and husband went to Harvard Medical school. She has two little girls and a very hectic life. She says ‘Santa Barbara” and that life she had for 6 months with us is always like her dream. “Nothing like that ever again.” And to think I almost said no…that wasn’t up to housing and entertaining another student. Jane, “we don’t all have to be good at everything” impossible too.

Yes, and I learned about the beauty of keeping extra fuses in the glovebox from having a Volvo that just stopped in the fast land once because that particular model had electrical problems and would blow fuses and then the fuel injector system wouldn’t work. Nice. All that was required to fix it was a tiny el cheapo fuse.