Flat Tire Fiasco

647am woke up. My day was already full since I had plenty of calls yesterday while I was in bed. I knew today had to be dealt with early.

703am went to my truck to get out my gear... my truck was going to be used by someone else since i'm sick. a pink note was flapping on my windshield...

FLAT TIRE REAR D/S

my sick day was getting worse.
735am dressed, drove to mechanic and dropped off my vehicle.

747am "i have a flat, i'll be back at 8" I headed to breakfast to wait for the garage to open at 8.

804 back from breakfast, in the

garage manager's office

W: i have a flat tire

Mechanic: do you have a cranklift?

W: um, kinda.

Mechanic: well you might want to get on changing that now won't you?

W: no, my lift won't lift or hold my up-armored vehicle. Plus the spare is broken.

Mechanic: (laughing) alright mate, bring it into the mid bay.

(i think i would have shot him if that joke had continued much longer, I also mentioned to him that I had mission at 10am. OK mission was at 1045, but I wasn't going to push it)

812: two guys are taking off the flat. I decide I will include the "flat fix" part of my day in my blog... why not, it could be interesting.

815am: three guys are trying to lift my truck take off the spare and the flat.

820am: four guys are trying to take off the spare

835am: five guys are standing around as my spare still will not come off.

Garage Mgr: "this 
is what you meant when you said broken, mate?"

I knew 6 weeks ago the spare wouldn't come off. THESE SAME MECHANICS TOLD ME IT WAS BROKEN WHEN THEY INSPECTED THE TRUCK.

W: "yep"

847am: Five guys are working on getting the spare off, three guys are watching.

Their workmanship reminds me of 6 years old playing soccer... one kicks the ball and all the boys run after the ball regardless of the direction or purpose. Every time the ball moves so does the cluster of 6 year olds. Magnet ball. Magnet Mechanics.

915am: Full size spare comes off. filthy. Well I guess filthy was to be expected. It has scraped every speed bump in Kabul for the last 7 weeks... I told them it probably needed to be washed and checked before put on. I figured every speed bump and hole in Kabul had taken a pretty hard toll on it, and i didn't expect it to hold air.

918am: spare washed and rolled back... bad plug is found in the spare. its not holding air.

920am: PLAN B: Original flat is put on a machine in order to successfully plug it from the inside.

930am: Original flat is plugged. The plug is checked... it isn't holding air. the hole is too big for the plug. FML.

937am: Spare is put on the machine to try and de-plug then re-plug its hole. The Manager asks one mechanic to check the warehouse for another tire same size as mine. He mentions to me that is is a very RARE and atypical size. ...of course its rare and atypical... because my day couldn't get any better... not to mention it is a RUN FLAT. (RUN FLATs are equipped to allow the tire to support the vehicle even after a puncture, they're very expensive and make changing out a tire more difficult)

939am: guys are standing around... I ask the head mechanic what is going on with the tires. "Everything is good ma'am, we have two tires exactly the right size. 2 are coming ma'am".

WOW! wonderful! AMAZING! KBR pulls through!

945am: The manager offers to show me two recently attacked vehicles while we wait for the 2 good tires to be put on. Rocks were thrown at the trucks, windows impaired but no injuries or major damage. mostly annoying and keeps people on their toes.

950am A mechanic tells me they don't have any of my tires... none are coming. they have to replace all 4 tires. I'm stunned. the Manager comes over and confirms, "it will be a long job"

W: "I need to be out by 10am"

Manager: "not possible"

W: " 1015?"

Manager: " it will take about 2 hours"

W: (blank exasperated expression)

Phone calls start. I'm sweating.

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Finally an answer and possible help.

1008 Manager comes and relooks at the original flat. decides to replug it with a bigger plug, possibly a patch over a plug.

"i guess this is PLAN C, mate"

you think of this NOW?! how about a bigger plug QUICKLY!

MA calls me back. she couldn't answer since she was in a meeting... "no worries, we have a different truck as you are on sickhall today." W: "really? you don't need the truck...oh well...ok!"

OMG. Seriously.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

1020am: hand over my keys to the manager and leave my cell number. he offers me a ride

back. "no thanks i'll walk"

1036am: walking back... throughout the morning my body neglected to acknowledge the fact that i'm sick. it was great to be able to deal with the current situation without my stomach killing me. well. now thats over... time for the sickness. OUCH.

its even pretty stationary...so kind of them.