And getting here

Well, yipes.

Driving down to Mineola was not as easy as it normally is - my "low tire pressure" light came on. At first I ignored it, it does that - but then just outside of Greenville I heard a horrible noise.

Yeah. I had rolled over something and got a flat. I think it was a large nail; I saw the head embedded in the tire.

Fortunately, I was able to pull off (not immediately, and I probably trashed the tire, but there was nowhere safe to get off). It was at a Farm Bureau insurance place. And fortunately, there was a guy there (one of the agents) who was able to change the tire for the spare. But. My car comes with a "donut" spare, and you're not supposed to drive very far on them, or very fast. (Mineola is about 50 miles from Greenville, maybe a little more).

That was the worst 50 miles of my life - I kept envisioning the donut going flat from the pressure on it, or it blowing out. I pulled off a couple times to check to be sure it was okay. And I was fighting time - I had left a little early (I always do), but for all the times of the train to be on time!

I made it, though. I was incredibly grateful to get into Mineola and safely to the station. And I had about a half-hour to spare - not long enough to run to a tire place and see if anything could be done to fix the flat tire, so I decided that was Future Me's problem.

Later, on the train, I decided to see if I could find the name of the tire shop on line and call them ahead - and just order two new tires to be put on the rear wheels (or, if they insist, have them put the new ones on the front - it's a front-wheel-drive). So after Christmas I am doing that, and then when I get back in (thank goodness I didn't make plans to arrive on a Sunday), they can put the tires on for me and I should be good to go.

But yeah, not the kind of excitement I want on a trip.