Bent Wheel

As a planner and a rule follower, I always leave in plenty of time to make it to the airport for a trip.   Last Thursday on my way to DFW to fly to Phoenix, I got up 4:00 am to get ready to make it for my 7:25 am flight.

Just before I left the house at 5:00 am, I used my handy dandy phone app to check myself in for the flight.  I had plenty of time, not checking anything and had my digital boarding pass.    I was even pleased how clear traffic was as I was headed north on TX-360.

Then out of nowhere, something big, metal and blue looking was in front of me covering the whole lane.  I had no choice but to drive over it. The Chevy Aveo is not known for its high clearance.   I blew my left front tire and I headed to the shoulder of the road.   This put a kink in my orderly plans to get to the airport.

As I proceeded to change my tire on a busy highway, in the morning, in the dark, I looked around and saw that I was not alone.  I wager there were at least a dozen cars all pulling over, in the process of changing a tire, or about to as I could hear cars running over whatever I ran over.

Two nice Arlington Officers visited with me to make sure I was all right and that I had what I needed.  By the time I pulled back on to TX-360, the outside lanes of traffic were shut down by APD to give all the unfortunate motorist space to change their flats.

This whole operation cost me about a half an hour.   I parked, caught the shuttle to my terminal only to discover a long line at security with less than hour for my flight.   Oddly, for me anyway, I was not panicked. 

A nice TSA agent informed me that I could head to another checkpoint, made it through, walked to my gate as they were calling my group to board.

I probably would not have made it I left a half an hour later, because I would have been caught in the backup of all those cars.

Planning worked, but I do need a new wheel