6,5,4,3,2,1,0

5 accidents/stalls along the major hwy I was driving today
4 children
3 unexpected hours in downtown Vancouver
2 flat tires
1 broken lug nut
= CRAZY!

today did not go as planned, that is for sure!
We were headed to the Aquarium for the Home School Science class. I thought this post would be about that. Instead after sitting for traffic for 1.5 hours (about 45 minutes longer that is typical), we made it through the headache that was traffic today only to get a flat tire (10 minutes from our destination).

Once I parked and sat there for a minute, I took action - I figured out where the spare tire was and how to get it off the bottom of the van. I had got out the tools, loosened the lug nuts, and was jacking up the vehicle, when a nice guy came to my rescue. He helped me get the tire all put on and the lug nuts tightened up. The problem was that he felt it wasn't safe because the lug nuts didn't seem to fit on properly. In trying to tighten them, one of the lug nuts broke. At the time, I didn't understand the significance of this. Since I didn't know enough to determine if it was or wasn't safe, I decided the best option was to come up with a way to get the old tire fixed and then put it back on, instead of the spare.

Now you may have looked at the title of this post, and looked at the numbers there at the top and thought that I forgot a couple. I didn't. This is where the 0 comes in:

0 charged cell phones in my possession

Awesome! (dripping with sarcasm) and pretty typical really. I think I am going to get better at keeping it charged! Luckily, one guy shared his cell with me. And we pulled over beside Vancouver Community College, which had some pay phones.
Oh, here's another 0 for you:

0 cab companies in Vancouver that offer rides to 5 passengers in one vehicle (even the mini-vans are converted to handicap vans, so they don't seat more than 4 passengers besides the driver).

If you do the math, you will see that I could have taken a cab by myself and sent my 4 children in the other one. Or split them up ... maybe me and the older two and send Ophelia and Kellan in a cab by themselves?? Obviously, I didn't choose that option and we had to find another way to solve this problem. It is a good thing we did, because that lug nut was not going to come off - so had I gone and fixed the tire (which was unfixable apparently, and just had to be replaced in the end) and come back, I wouldn't have been able to put it on, I would just a have a good tire in my trunk and an unsafe spare still attached to my vehicle, which was parked in street parking for which I was paying $2.50 an hour (what a rip-off that is!!). Instead after talking with Mike, calling cab companies, finding phone numbers for tow trucks, I called my dad. Sometimes he comes into Vancouver on business, I wondered if he would be that day. My next call would have been to Mike's sister(s), even if it was just to come get my kids and leave me to deal with the van.

Anyway, my dad saved the day - he called BCAA (the auto association which provides roadside assistance), got me a membership so they would come out right away and help me. The guy got there after a half an hour and he said the spare was fine. Did you read that right? Yes, the spare was fine! I hung around 3 hours only to be told that I had done it right in the first place and that I could drive on it just the way I had put it on! The good news is that he pumped up all my tires to the same tire pressure and said he noticed that the air was low on the right front tire and to keep an eye on it, in case I may have driven over the nail with the front tire and got a puncture before getting it lodged irreparably in the rear tire. I am VERY glad that he pumped it up. I was on the road about 15 minutes when the tire pressure light which he had reset went on again. I was on the road about 25 minutes when the steering wheel started pulling a bit to the right. I got off at the next exit where I knew there was a Canadian Tire and got it checked out.

Long story short, I now have 2 new tires (thank goodness for warranties), one spare still on (because I didn't have time for him to remove the brakes and get the bolt and broken lug nut separated from the inside), and we made it home safe and sound. Seriously, it wasn't the worst day EVER. But it was up there in terms of what I have experienced with 4 children on my own! for sure!

And here is where the 6 comes in. I love when you are having a terrible day and you notice that people are just doing nice things for you. 6 stands for the 6 people who went out of their way to be kind and nice to me/us today in that 3 hours downtown with my 4 babies in tow.
One let me use his cell.
One stopped to help me put on the new tire.
One helped me find a pay phone (which is much harder than you might think) and watched to make sure I found it, giving me the thumbs up when I did!
One wouldn't let me buy five $4 hot dogs from his over priced stand, instead directing me to the much better priced cafeteria up the elevator (which he walked us to).
One saw my utterly bored children lying on the benches at the college while I was next to them on the pay phone and offered them (after he checked with me first) some gummy candies - don't worry it was safe, we had been watching him and his friends devouring them for a few minutes before he offered.
One asked me (as we sat in ikea eating the 50 cent hot dogs while waiting for the tires to be fixed at Canadian Tire at about hour 5 of our adventure) if my children were always this good and always this happy. Maybe you don't understand why he is on my list of 6 people who were nice to me to day, but that was about the best thing I could have heard at that moment!
And finally, one who (I am pretty sure) moved my paperwork and my van in front of the line up of others so that we could get out of there as fast as possible, and 6 also stands for the 6 people who were in line who didn't complain, they simply smiled and let it happen (and my children were seriously being angels ... it is not like they were moving us along because we were being crazy and obnoxious, not today anyway!).

I am glad to be home, I am glad to have BCAA now, and I am glad that I had this chance to spend the day with my kids playing at the fountain beside Vancouver Community College, looking at totem poles, playing rhyming games in the car, and eating hot dogs at IKEA. And I am glad I had a chance to notice how genuinely nice people are. Turns out it was a pretty good day!