Free chicken has a hidden price.

Allow me to tell you about my day.

First of all, I slept until about 11:30, which is very unusual for me. I've been dealing with some minor sickness/swine flu over the weekend. I cooked Cassie lunch and sent her on to work. I then realized that KFC was giving away chicken. FREE chicken! It was then that I called Phil and made plans to drive to Louisville. I know that sounds weird but you have to understand that I rarely drive more than a few miles a day.

After showering I set off first to my workplace to grab a few items that needed to be returned to Office Depot. I figured I make that stop since I was already going to be in Louisville. Next stop was to pick up Phil, oh wait, I had to get gas first...then Phil. About 8 miles outside of the Mount some guy pulls up next to us and, with both hands flat, moves them up and down. Then he pointed at my rear passenger tire. Phil flung his head out the window and with a resounding "whoa", I knew we had some trouble in our future. My main dilemma was that KFC was only about 200 yards away. Knowing that I had to remedy mire tire situation, we pulled into a nearby gas station.

Apparently the going rate for compressed air is 75 cents. You'll thank me for that info someday. So, I never carry any money on me, and if I do it's all very large bills. At this point I decide to go inside and use the ATM and then get some change from the attendant. Well, the ATM is out of service and they don't take debit cards. We got back in the Jeep and went to the next gas station up. The ATM there worked and I bought some Lifesaver mints that Cassie really likes so that I could get some change for the air machine. The tire seemed to be holding air quite well. Problem solved? Let's find out.

When we left the gas station we went to KFC. After all that was the main purpose of our/my trip. The grilled chicken is amazing, however, that is not that focus of this post and I intend to finish my story. At the time we left KFC the tire still looked like it was in great shape. I thought about heading back home. I decided that the journey was not complete without going the Depot (I love office supplies, btw).

We made it to OD without any problems at all. We were even entertained by an aggressively driven, white Pontiac. They were working so hard to get through traffic and we ended up passing them when we turned in to the store. While in the store, I returned my items and purchased another large quantity CD binder. Side note: Phil's wallet fell out of the Jeep when we left/got there. The outcome of that story was pending until about 7:30 tonight. Said outcome is the successful recovery of the wallet and the loss of his only dollar.

I thought it would be a good idea to take the interstate route home. Bad idea. There's this thing called rush hour. Yeah, not cool. The ramp to get onto I-265 south from I-64 east was about a mile long and the Jeep wasn't having it. Just so you know, the tire is still in good shape. I rerouted and drove past I-265 with plans to get off at the Shelbyville exit and come around on the other side of the Mount.

About 20 miles later we were on route 55 towards Taylorsville. Phil noticed that the tire was getting low again. Like, really low. Lucky for us there was a gas station about 100 yards away. The air was 75 cents there too. After filling the tire up again we noticed/heard that there was leakage. The valve stem had sprung a leak on one side and if you pushed it hard enough the other way it stopped.
Phil: "We need some tape."
Me: "I don't have tape."
Phil: "I'll hold it while you look for something"

Bandaids. That's right...bandaids. I drove all the way back to the GreenHill shop (about 15 miles) before it got bad enough to worry about.

That's really all of the story. I did get the valve stem fixed for free at Walmart. "Free? Oh, okay. Thanks"