Where the Heart is

Who knew that it was so hard to find a wheel rim on a Saturday?

As I related in the previous post, the trailer wheel tried to take an unscheduled trip to China. So this morning's task was to replace destroyed rim and wheel. So with complete confidence I called the Goodyear Tire store just 5 minutes from us. Well, my self assurance was quickly dashed with a curt, "we don't sell rims." Mmmm... well surely this is the exception that proves the rule. So, bucking up my confidence I called the next place... and the next... and the next.

My confidence was starting to fray just a little. I could tell because I was starting to cry and mutter under my breath things like... well this is a family post, so I won't write down what I was muttering.

Heather rode to my rescue however. She did a Google search and started giving phone numbers to call (as if I hadn't called every tire store in the greater Miami area already). But she was stepping up to the plate and I was thankful. So I called, and called. And called. I would say that I know know how a salesman feels with rejection... but I was trying to buy!

But finally, a hit! Someone had rims and wheels! So off we go with the trailer to get our new wheel just 30 minutes away. When we arrive we find a warehouse. We go in and, "no rims, They would be at our other store." Their other store was back where we had just come from.

So Heather and I go back to the car and used our google skills to see if there was some place we had missed. Ah ha! Just the second call I got someone who said enthusiastically "I've got the tires... but good luck getting a rim on the weekend."

Ok... I admit it. I gave up. It just wasn't going to happen and I could take only so much rejection. It was time to change strategies. I had been trying to replace the spare tire. But what if we went without a spare tire? How about we just put two new tires on and hoped for the best? This is not what I would call my greatest inspiration and idea, but it was the best I could come up with at the time. So I suggested this plan to Heather and thought that the tire store with the enthusiastic salesman would be the place to go.

We drove on down to the Ace Tire Store. The gentleman at the counter asked who I had talked to and I said I didn't know, but he was enthusiastic. Oh, that would be Brian. Brian had us written up for two new tires on the trailer in no time. I would like to say that they got the tires on in a flash, but it took awhile. But new tires I did get.

As I was getting ready to go S. J., the gentleman who changed my tires, said if I got a rim he could mount one of the old tires on it. One of S J's really good friends (or brother-in-law or cousin ... not sure. He apparently knows everyone in Miam.) owns a trailer repair place that would definitely have rims. They would close in just 50 minutes so we'd better hurry. (Psst ... ya wanna buy some rims ... cheap???)

But, but, but... I had changed my plans! I didn't need a spare tire! Heather wisely went for the brother-in-law solution. So off we went.

It turns out the the trailer repair place was a large, grungy building with a small counter in front. Customers would come in with a trailer part that was broken and the people behind the counter would take the part and go into the mysterious, and apparently bottomless, back. A few minutes later they would reappear holding either a perfect match for the part or something that might work or something that looked sorta like the part.

The customer before me fell into the latter category. The part he brought in was small made out of metal 1/8 inch thick. What was brought back out was the same shape, but twice as large and metal at least 1/4 thick. The clerk and the customer conferred rapidly in hushed tones about how the bolt holes did not match up and the part would not fit on the trailer, but perhaps something could be done. Perhaps the bolts could be changed, or perhaps a welding shop could modify the trailer. At least that is what I think they might have been saying, but I couldn't be certain because the whole thing was in spanish. Everything was in Spanish, except my own conversation.

But get the rim I did. A matching one, too! We raced back to Ace Tire and SJ mounted the wheel on the rim, as good as his word.

And then we drove off, another exciting day in paradise having begun.Read more