Tyre calamities!

 Day 13

Keith had an appointment at the respiratory clinic today, and I have to admit I was surprised it was still taking place.

We set off at about 10.15am and whilst we were driving on the A43 I felt like I'd driven over something hard. I couldn't see anything in the road when I glanced in my rear view mirror, but immediately I sensed something was wrong with the front tyre on the driver's side. Luckily, we were very near to the Shell garage in Moulton, so I pulled up outside and we both got out to take a look. To our dismay, the tyre was as flat as a pancake and all pleated where I'd been forced to drive on it.

We hurriedly called Sophie to come and pick us up and take Keith to the hospital, and I drove the car over to the other side of the road so Keith wouldn't be changing the tyre later with traffic driving past. Sophie came as soon as she could, and we managed to get Keith to the hospital in time for his appointment at 11am. We dropped him off and went to get some petrol for Sophie's car on the way home. 

Back home Sophie resumed her work while I set off back to Northampton to pick up Keith. Unfortunately, he hadn't taken his phone with him, and I had enormous difficulty finding a space in the car parks. He had said he would wait in the cafe but I was hoping he'd come outside to meet me!

After circling two car parks I attempted to park on the road outside the hospital but when I reached the meter, it was coins only, and I had no cash on me at all! I made one last visit to the small car park opposite the entrance and, at last, found a space! I dashed inside to find Keith waiting for me and said that next time, he needed to take his phone with him!

We returned home, had some lunch and before we knew it, it was time to collect Mike from work. I'd already asked if he could help Keith change the tyre so he was forewarned! We decided to take my Dad's car and as we were getting in, Paul dashed out and said that he thought my Dad's tyres looked defective! Could the day get any better? Keith had a quick look, and when we got to the golf club we both examined them. They did look a little cracked so when we get the tyre fitter out to do mine, we'll ask his opinion. As we were looking at the tyres, Mike's manager drove up and asked what we were doing! He didn't recognise us, and as the car was different from mine, he was suspicious!

As soon as Mike came out of work we sped off to change the tyre on my car. However, when the spare was on, that looked a bit flat as well! We couldn't believe it! We went back home, collected the air pressure machine from Sophie's car and headed back to pump it up a bit. I was very glad to finally get home!

Luckily, we have arranged an appointment for Thursday to have two new tyres fitted to my car, and in the meantime, we'll use Sophie's car to take Mike to work.

Dinner tonight was a delicious paella. I'd prepared all the veggies for Sophie while Keith had chopped up the chicken, so she was very pleased we'd helped out. After we'd eaten we watched an alarming programme about the Great Plague in the 1600s. Apparently, the bacteria still exist today, which we didn't know about! Scary!