After deciding that golf was not an option that day.  As you know, it was 38 degrees and windy.  I was also suffering from the start of what has turned out to be a nasty cold.  So, I packed and chatted with Steve as we discussed my options.  I checked the web for tire repair shops within 100 miles that were open on Sunday.  I made phone calls to Jacksonville and Brunswick.  Turns out there was a shop in Brunswick that was open on Sundays called Tires Plus.  I talked with them and got directions.  They confirmed that they had NO TIRES anywhere near the size that I have on my Caddy.  They said I could find them in Jacksonville or Savannah but nothing was open on Sunday in either place.

I've got to check out and my car is still un-drivable.  I remember Terry Z telling me that Flash Foods had a compressor.  Flash Foods seems too far to drive on a flat tire though. I walk over to the office to talk with them and explain my situation.  Greta in the office tells me that she'll hold a room for me if I need it and then casually mentions that the QI has a compressor. However, Julio, the master of the compressor has not yet shown up for work.  I drink more coffee and wait for Julio. 

About 40 minutes later Julio shows and we get the compressor.  I had done some research on my tires and found that they could be filled with a max of 50 PSI.  We put 45 PSI in.  I decide to wait a bit and see if the pressure held for a hour.  If so, I can get to either Brunswick or back to Steve's in Jacksonville.  Julio promises that he'll be available in an hour if I need more air.

An hour later I checked the tire and it hasn't lost much at all.  I decide to make a run to Tires Plus in Brunswick.  I leave the Isle and stop short of the bridge to recheck the tire.  I sure as hell don't want it going flat on the bridge. The bridge check-point is good and I make it over to Tires Plus. The guy at the desk takes my info and says that it'll be about 2 hours before they can look at my car.  I take a walk over to a strip mall and browse the stores to kill some time.  I run into a group of black thugs and hang with them for a while.  Turns out they're waiting for a new tire on their beat up old Seville.  After providing them all with cigarettes so they won't kick my ass right away we shoot the shit while I pretend that I have some idea what they hell they're talking about. Luckily, their car is done and the posse roars off.  My car is next.

The first thing LaChaCha, the tire service guy "axes" me is where is the tool to remove the anti-theft lug nut so he can get the wheel off the car to check it. "Oh, it's in the trunk." I replied.  So we pop the trunk and I get out the drive only to find that it's NOT the tool for the anti-theft lug nut.  It's actually for the other regular lug nuts. I discover that I was never given the tool when I bought the car!  Lovely. LaChaCha informs me that he can get that "special" lug nut off with a "special" tool that he has.  Says he does it all the time.  I bet he does, I think.  The problem is, he continues, is that doing so destroys the lug nut. No big deal I say, just put another regular one on.  Problem #2. They don't have any.  LaChaCha and Lionel the Manager confer, a phone call is made and 4 new lug nuts are soon delivered.  This begets problem #3.  The only lug nuts that are available in Brunswick on Sunday are a different drive size than the tool I have to remove the rest of the lug nuts.  LaChaCha says no issue here.  Just go down to the local Auto Parts Store and buy a 21mm socket to go along with the 19mm you already have.  So, I have them expertly remove all 4 anti-theft lug nuts and replace them with 4 new 21mm ones that I'll soon (hopefully) have a socket for.

Moving along. The wheel in question is taken off, placed in a tub of water and the tire is found not to be leaking. Nor is the valve stem.  But, there is a leak. It's the wheel that's leaking!  Just wonderful!  After considerable stewing about I tell LaChaCha to put it back on the car, pump it to back up to 45 PSI and I'm heading North.  He does so, I pay them what they want, and take off.  But - not before finding the auto parts store and buying the required 21 mm socket so in case I have to change a tire and put on my 45 MPH donut spare that's about 14 inches smaller than the tires I'm running, I'll be able to do so.

I drive to Rock Hill, SC, just short of the North Carolina border, stopping every 2 hours or so to check the tire.  It held up pretty well, apparently that much pressure kind of sealed things up.  I spend the night in Rock Hill, get up the next morning, fill back up to 45 PSI and head for the mountains. The rest of the trip proves fairly uneventful. 

I will say LaChaCha, Lionel, and the rest of the boys at Tires Plus were pretty damned nice.  LaChaCha even introduced me to his wife when she came by to bring him food, or drugs.  I don't know which exactly.

Needless to say, the dealer will be handling all of this soon.

Krystal Meth Found