My New Shoes

I don’t frequently buy new stuff. I buy clothes sure, but almost always second hand.

So, why oh why are these new cute flip flops now in my overloaded closet? Were they just that irresistible? Why did I even go to Kohl’s in the first place?

Well….because I did this.




I wish I had taken pictures while in the moment, but um, I wasn't very level-headed.
I am a level-headed, rational, forward-thinking person most of the time. I usually can foresee when ideas I may have are a bad idea. Friday, apparently not so much.

I had just gotten into the big city, was on my way to the 3rd place on my list. It was way back in a new neighborhood with twisty dead-end streets. It took quite some time to find the place. And when I get there….they aren’t open. They open at noon. Grrrr. So, I am leaving, trying to figure out how to get out of there. Turn left? Right? I had no clue. Ah – but wait, just over there, is a cut through where I can get on the street where I need to be. I will shave off lots of time, and save myself lots of frustration. So, I take my small little Go-cart of a car and attempt to cross a dirt path. That was apparently not quite dirt, but much more like mud.

I realize this when my front tires are about 6 inches deep. And spinning.

I kept it together. My dad raised his 2 girls to be self-sufficient. Found a piece of wood, stuck that under the worst tire. Nope, just dug them deeper. Ok. There is a storage place just up the street, oh I hope they are open already.

I gather my purse. Before I have a chance to get 10 feet from my car....a big white pick-em-up truck is turning around!!! Hallelujah!

Now, this is Texas. Please comment on where you live, if life is this easy for ditzy girls who put themselves in stupid predicaments requiring muscle and horsepower. Not that I have frequently gotten stuck in mud, I have done it before though. I have had flat tires, I have had busted hoses. I have been stuck on the side of the road more times than I should admit in my 10+++ years of driving experience. I have never, never ever had to wait more than 5 minutes before a white knight in a big truck stopped and assisted this damsel in distress. I love chivalry!!

While the pick-up is turning around, 2 guys in an El Camino stop as well. These 3 wonderful gentlemen quickly extract the poor go-cart out of the mud. Quickly and efficiently. These guys sure seemed to know exactly how to go about this, like they patrol the streets looking for stupid girls who get stuck in the mud.

I didn’t get their names, my manners were buried underneath the heaping mounds of shame piled at the top of my emotional mountain. But if for some reason, they make a habit of reading silly girls’ blogs, hey guys, thanks so much for rescuing the silly redhead in that mud hole!!

So, what do you think of my shoes? I went and bought them right away. To replace these:


So, with a determined look on my face, I took my little mud covered car all around the Big City, wearing these cute shoes and muddy jeans. Oh, what people must have thought.

I tried to find a car wash, and indeed stopped at one, but it wasn’t working, so I continued with my day. A little mud is not stopping this determined girl.

Except I never got up to a very high speed during the day. Until my ride home.

I am leaving town, get up to about 55 mph. My car starts shaking. Violently. Um…..uh oh. I keep going trying to figure out what is going on. Is it just mud caught up on things? Maybe driving will shake it all off. It is dried by now, it will just fall off as I go faster and shake the car more…. I am so smart!!!

It doesn’t help. I proceed to the next town and find a car wash. I select the under-the-hood washer option on the automatic car wash dealio. This will surely help. $6.00 later, not really. I then check my tire pressure on my front tires. Nope, that is ok. I can see mud coming out of the hubcaps from the wash. Again, optimistic idiot I am, decide to keep going, the car wash removed the mud, and the water will loosen anything that it didn’t get and I will be fine. BTW, the big city is almost 2 hours from my home. I am currently about 20 minutes into the drive.

So, back on the highway. With a 70 mph limit, my car will not permit anything over 57 mph. If I do, it shakes, and screams and I think I will flip it. Mud is periodically falling off. I hope it was mud at least, and not an alternator, or a tire or carburetor,…..

I stop in the next town, which has a tire place. And beg for their help. Shame covers me again as I am surrounded by 6 very bored tire repair worker guys who want to know what has this poor girl done to her very poor car. Oy vey. I just need an alignment check I say. So, they proceed to check it out. When they jack it up, it is obvious that I was ripped off on that $6.00 car wash. Mud everywhere. They remove the hubcaps from the front two tires. Mud falls everywhere. They take off the tires and go rinse them off while I nervously beat at the various parts and remove all the other dried mud that I can.

While it is in the air, the manager proceeds to warn me that my tires are dangerously bald. And my brakes….metal to metal….

And since I was quite cheery at this point, I give the underside a once-over and find that the tailpipe is pretty darned corroded as well. Weeee…..my 10 yo car, those 175K miles haven’t treated you nicely.

So, the guys put it all back together. Sweep my pride up with the mud that has fallen off my car and send me on way. $5 broker.

And the ride home? Blissful. I was cruising along at the posted speed limits. Because I can’t speed anymore. At least in the State of Texas. Who has a point system now. Pretty soon they won’t allow guns in restaurants. What is becoming of Texas anyhow??

Well, at least they have good ole boys who help poor damsels who are stuck in the mud.

Thanks again guys!