Oops :-(

Let me open by pointing out that I have been driving on the atypical side of the car and on the atypical side of the road, in a foreign country with intense traffic, illogical road systems, and minimal signage for seven months, and while I have gotten lost a few times, I have never had an accident or hit any of the hundreds of motorcycles that have tried to kill themselves on my car.  The only thing I have done is bump the curb between the Starbucks and the international school and rip a hole in the front left tire of my car.  This is the hardest one to judge, because I am now sitting on the right hand side of the car which I am not used to.  My tire incident caused us to realize that we needed new tires for the car, and, more importantly, new brake pads, so it wasn't so bad.

What's a little worse is that yesterday I bumped a different curb with my new, front left tire and ripped a hole in it.  This was at the gas station where I had gone to fill up before taking Elena downtown for a doctor's appointment.  Luckily, Elena was at home with Young who was getting her ready, but, yet again, Young was waiting for me and I couldn't go anywhere.

There are, however, certain advantages to flattening your tire at a gas station.  Even though I was really upset and flustered, I was at least stopped next to the gas pump, so I got a full tank while I called one of my embassy friends to see if she could help me get downtown for the appointment.  Luckily, she answered the phone even though she was at a meeting.  She was ready to come and get me, but in another stroke of luck, she was sitting with a mutual friend of ours who has a car and driver and whose husband is out of town, so both the car and the driver were just hanging out at her house.  They sent him to rescue me and get me downtown.

By the time he came, I had rolled over to a little shack in the back corner of the gas station that was surrounded by tires.  I didn't see anyone around, but I figured that was the best place to be with a flat.  My friend's driver is Thai, so he helped me find someone and get my spare tire put on.  The service cost me 50 baht, which is about $1.50.  Then I drove my car home slowly, and the driver followed in my friend's car.

I had sent Young a text with a picture of the tire so that she would understand what was going on.

She was very sympathetic.  When I called Jeff to tell him what had happened, he was less sympathetic and more incredulous.  You did it again??  He moved past it though, and met me and Elena at the medical unit for hugs.  At that point though, Elena needed them more than I did since she got a shot.

In one more we live in such a small community type twist, our next door neighbor was also at the med unit.  She was planning to find a taxi to get home.  I said, no need, I have a car and a driver today.  The car's owner is a mutual friend, so she was more than happy for me to give my neighbor a ride home.

It all ended up working out, because I live in a fabulous and supportive community.  My lesson learned is that I can't let my focus drift even at my local gas station.  Even though things are starting to feel familiar, I have to stay vigilant about my driving, especially that darn front left tire.