Kayaking Adventure on a Gorgeous Afternoon

We've had nothing but rain this Spring. June was all wet and foggy as well. It's finally starting to turn around. Perhaps in honor of the Independence Day, warm, sunny, totally gorgeous weather continues for the second day today. This is what summer should look like!

Perfect weather to be on the water! I decided to go kayaking and packed my photo camera and my new video camera, hoping to paddle slowly this time, think about ideas for my blog, and gather some new and exciting visual material.

Be careful what you wish for!

You can see the aforementioned visual material right here! But if you think you already know what happened... well... read on.

Let's start by saying that it's not even my car! This ageing Lexus belongs to my girlfriend, and we have been looking to get rid of it for some time now. Even picked and test-drove a new car. A few weeks ago, one tire started loosing air. We filled it a few times, but eventually found it completely deflated and the car sitting on its rim in the garage, much like what you see in this photo. It's not every single day that I change tires or do any other work on cars, and so it was kind of fun to get down and dirty and work with the tools again.

Spare tires aren't designed for driving on them for more than a couple dozen miles. But not everything in this life is exactly how it's supposed to be. Eventually, after the spare had a few too many miles on it, I started insisting that my girlfriend takes my---much safer to drive---car to work. And I got stuck with the Lexus, with its spare tire, but avoided driving it.

Today though, I just could not resist! After all, the boathouse in Newton is literally five minutes away. Less than a mile from my exit off of route 95, I started hearing a strange noise, which kept getting louder and didn't inspire any confidence. I exited immediately, and pulled into an empty parking lot nearby.

I am at NTB on Needham St. in Newton right now, writing this on a paper notepad, waiting to get both tires replaced. Neither could be repaired: too much side wall damage... I am pretty lucky this place is open on the 4th of July weekend. Everything else is closed. Ask me how I know this!

From the parking lot near route 95, I looked up AAA Web site on my blackberry to find their phone number. Called them and signed up for a membership. The AAA guy was nice and helpful and even found a service place, Sullivan Tire, which was open on the holiday weekend. Nice! A tow truck showed up 40 minutes later and took me there... the place was closed. It was dead. Everything around it was dead. It's the holiday weekend. It's the 5th of July, for crying out loud! And the nice AAA guy actually told me he called Sullivan Tire and spoke to them?!

I called AAA again and spoke to a woman this time---she sounded like I might get lucky! She could not find a single place that was open, in Newton, Waltham, or anywhere else. Apparently, she called 6 places, and suggested I take the broken Lexus home. As we were driving away from the dead Sullivan Tire, the tow truck driver suggested NTB. I called them and they answered right away!

The heralded AAA, the stalwart of the American auto service, and all things automotive, totally fell flat on its face. Smack! But they did take my money. I guess they are good at something after all.

Who saved the day? A Puerto-Rican tow truck driver, who knew exactly where to go and who is saving money to get a hair transplant. He is also looking for a car and liked the Lexus. I owe him a call.

Kayaking? I actually still have the time to hit the river today, and can also break in the two brand new shiny tires! Nah... I am good. Maybe next time, if it's not raining. And we definitely need to get that new car asap now. I am glad we settled on a Mini Cooper: they come with run-flat tires!