Changing a Tire in Downtown Boston

My wife had a flat tire on her mini-van (yes, I refuse to say I own a mini-van as I do not have a vehicle). The car was parked along Dartmouth Street in the city, a fairly busy street. The flat tire was on the side of the street.

Well, here I am to save the day!!!! I have changed many flat tires in my lifetime (my father made me change all four tires on our car before I was able to get a drivers license). My wife keeps telling me . . . "Steve, we belong to AAA, let's call and get them to do it!" I am thinking, geez, this is only a flat tire and will have to wait probably for hours and then look silly that i did not change the tire myself.

As I started changing the tire, it was a little scary as cars were zipping by . . . I got the van jacked up, lugnuts off and gave a small tug to get tire off. I reviewed the owner's manual to make sure there was not something special I had to do (yes, this is a rarity as I dont like even asking for directions), and it says in the instructions that I must take the hubcap off to remove a hidden lugnut (little did I know, must be a anti-thief thing). Well, I try and try to get the hubcap off . . . it is not coming off, after awhile (okay 10 minutes of frustration and re-reading the owners manual), i decide to call the dealership. I do and here is how the call goes:

service person: how can I help you

me: I have a flat tire and cannot get the hubcap off per instructions

service person: hmmm

me: yep

Service person: well did you take the lugnuts off?

me: yep

Service person: you sure, how many lugnuts did you remove?

me: yep, I am sure, I have five removed

service person: well, just take off the tire

me: I tried and the instructions state that I needed to remove the hubcap and then one more hidden lugnut

service person: do you have five lugnuts?

me: yep

service person; that is all there is

me: but the instructions

service person: sir, I dont care what the instructions says, there are only five lugnuts so just take off the tire

me: you sure, but the instructions . . .

service person; don't go by the instructions

me: okay, then instructions are wrong

service person: I am just telling you how to take off the tire

me: thanks


So, I go and give a huge pull and sure enough tire comes off . . .

Moral of the story:   Call AAA

Six Flags New England - A Thrill or no Thrill

Posted By James(10 years old):
Well, if you think going to six flags might be fun or magic like disneyworld . . .  your wrong . . . its scary . . . its heart popping adventure (!-!) more for teens

 Best Rides:

Cyclone
Buzz Saw
Pandimonium
Batman

Scariest Rides
mind earres
Bizarro
Scream


Must pay extra to be able to jump in line is worth the money!!!!!

South End Titans versus Everett Eagles

South End Titans defeated Everett Eagles this morning with the score of 34 to 0.   Joey Brink played an outstanding game with a 45 TD run on a toss around the end.   In total, he had 80 yards rushing on 4 carries.  He also recovered two fumbles and had a TD saving tackle before the end of the half (he chased him down to the 10 yard line and was 10 yard behind him and was still able to catch him).

South End Titans record is now 4 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie

Codzilla - Fun or Boring?

On Columbus day, I decided to take my 10 and 9 year old boys to Codzilla, something I have been promising them all summer, and so happened Columbus Day was the last trips of the season.

It was nice in that it was not crowded, we were able to sit in the front of Codzilla.   A side note, Codzilla is a large speed boat that probably seats 50 people, it has a monster-looking painting on the sides.   I thought codzilla was meant to signify Cape Cod in some way with Godzilla.  However, come to find out, Codzilla is after a Killer Cod fish . . . as you depart to Boston Harbor on the boat, the crew of Codzilla begin a story about a giant Cod Fish and better watch out, yada yada yada . . . Fairly boring to me.

Once we made it out to Deer Island (no deer just water treatment plant), the story ends and the crew sits down . . . so is something going to happen??????    Well, sort of . . . yes, gets going . . . good turns, boat does a 360 degree turn, more turns . . . get a little wet (water is cold, definitely bring jacket).     Finally, the boats begins to return to Long Wharf (did you know the wharf was at one point, was 1.3 miles long?), and goes extremely fast on its return (somebody had a hot date), so fast that you get that water eyes because of the wind in the face.

Rating 5 out of 10, would be lower but the boys seemed to enjoy it . . . not the thrill I thought it was going to be.

South End Titans versus West Lynn Rams

As an Assistant Coach for the South End/Roxbury Titans, we were all disappointed in losing 12 to 8 to the Rams on last Sunday.    The team played well, but surrounded two long TD runs.   Our offensive drove several times deep into enemy territory but stalled.  At the end of the game, the titans were driving at the 20 yard line when the time ended.     Our record is now 3 wins, 1 loss, and 1 tie.

It has been an interesting season, especially given that the initial Head Coach was suspended from the team.  There seemed to be a disagreement between the President of the Squad and the Head Coach.

Next Sunday we play at Everett.

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This Blog is a multi-generational view into happenings in Boston and/or current events.