trouble on the 405

i got a late start home last night -- arrival time somewhere around midnight. hit l.a. around 8:30. and something hit my tire around that time too. i thought i just hit something. something i couldn't see in the road. i felt my car go up and over it quickly. and then my steering went weird -- this is all going fairly fast as you do when on the la freeways. and then my steering would barely go at all and something was burning.

so many things were lucky. that i blew out a front tire instead or a back. that all the cars let me get over and on to the closest offramp. that the exit was in a decent neighborhood. that driving as far as i did didn't ruin the rim. that AAA would honor my dad's card (note to self: get own card). that a lit am/pm minimart was right there. i might have a guardian angel.

turns out it wasn't just me. there were at least six of us that blew tires in that section all at about the same time. definitely the work of the Axis of Evil (keep your eyes peeled for a presidential address on this, i am sure. or at the very least something from tom ridge). some guy pulled in right after me with a blown tire, too. three more on the 405 itself and then as the AAA guy was leaving he got yet another call of another woman who'd been able to pull off same as me.

but without another spare tire and with it being dark and with me still needing to drive three more hours i had to turn around. this morning i will get another new tire for the front, and oldish right tire will be delegated to spare and i will be on my merry way.

i really must be a ditz, though, when it comes to car repair as the AAA guy (Oscar) rolled his eyes at me I swear to god a minimum of five times. "cut me some slack here, Oscar," i said. "i'm a little rattled."

and it's not that getting a flat is so rattling. but doing so in the fast lane and it being dark and being somewhere unfamiliar and trying to figure out if i should just keep driving north was a recipe for Rattle a la Mode. Or a la Mar.

"do NOT drive without getting a spare," said Oscar. and my dad. so it was turnaround city.

this morning i showed off the flat to my dad and aunt. i thought maybe it wasn't so bad — maybe it could be fixed?

"uh, mar," says aunt stella, "this goes all the way through and it's in the tread. this is bad."

so much for that.

so the mystery remains: what caused so many flats? and is it cleared up for my drive home? i think through that stretch of the 405 i'll be driving right lane all the way.