In like a lion out like a lamb

All good things come to an end, or that's what I've always been told. However, this year though, the break came in like a lion and left like a lamb. I was excited to rest my mind and body as the final stretch was gruesome and rough. That being said, come the final few days before the break ended I was jonesin' for class to come back. It was cold and unpleasant outside and I was bored and going through the motions at home and at work. It was time to start thinking creatively and critically again, I was excited for the new semester and what it had in store for me and the rest of my peers.

This is not to say that the break wasn't enjoyable, but that is far from the case. I had fun going to parties, eating lots of food, being with family (who I don't see enough with my busy life as a CreCommer and a bartender) and relaxing.

I ate more food than I should have and probably drank more than I should have, but it was worth it. I helped out with Christmas dinner and the preparations, not a big deal as I usually help out. I even got a couple of cool gifts such as: An intervalometer (a fancy automatic timer for taking pictures on my DSLR), some more Canadian Tire money to get my Car Starter finally (still haven't gotten it, but soon hopefully), a nice blanket for my couch, a French Press which I have been using everyday thus far. And wait for it.... Cat-Opoly yes, it is exactly what you think it is. Monopoly, but in cat version. I haven't played it yet, but am looking forward to it! I also got other little things here and there.

The break wasn't all peachy though. I had car issues. Rant time. I picked up some friends and we went to a friends place for a bday/going away party. Upon arriving, I noticed that I had a flat tire. No biggie I thought, i'll just pop it off tomorrow and put some air into it at a local station. The following day, I got a ride to my car, not too far from my place but far enough, and jacked up my vehicle, popped off the tire and noticed that it was shredded on the inside. Suffice to say, I wasn't thrilled. I took my dead tire home with me and began calling all the tire shops in the city, and apparently tire shops either close early or aren't open on the weekends...I don't know why that's the case, but I digress, I managed to locate a tire way out at the McPhillips Kal Tire(I live in Osborne). I called a friend, she picked me up and we drove out there. The serviceman replaced it in 15 mins and all was well.

That is until I was driving someone home from work that evening. On the way home I noticed that my car felt uneven, so being paranoid, I pulled over and looked and noticed that I now had a second flat tire is as many days.FML.

I apologized and said she'd have to walk the rest of the way home (only a couple of blocks) and I parked my car on the side street and walked home (also only a couple of blocks). The following morning I went to my car, jacked it up, took the tire off, examined it and felt like it was just a leak that needed to be filled up, no biggie. I wheeled it to the Shell station and plugged in my Loonie to start the compressor, air came out and into the tire, the tire began to swell but wasn't filling after that. I stopped filling and heard a hiss, i found the hissing sound and realized that maybe the tread was screwed. I knew that wouldn't be a hard fix, so I wheeled my tire across the street to my apartment and began calling Canadian Tire. The man said it would take about an hour to fix and cost me roughly $35. A big relief, or so I thought.

I took a cab to Canadian Tire and somehow there was a huge influx of people wanting to retread their tires at the same time as i wanted. He said it would take 2.5-3 hrs. I decided the most logical decision would be to go see a movie at the Cineplex. The Imitation Game just came out and I had some interest in going to it, so I figured I would check it out. It was a good movie, I enjoyed it. Had a strong story line and better than average acting.

I came out of the theatre and immediately got a call from Canadian Tire, they told me my tire was screwed and unrepairable. FML X2.

My sister came to pick me and my wheel up (left the tire there) and went to my parents. My dad suggested that I return my first tire and go through MPI and do their Winter Tire Program . It was a good idea. The following morning I made a call to Kal Tire on Pembina, (much closer) and they told me that they would have to order the tires in and should be good to go the following day.

My car was still stranded on the side street where I had left it the other night BTW.

I hopped on the bus and was dropped off right across the street from the Kal Tire and brought my rim into the store. Explained my story again, which for some reason the service person didn't understand though it was pretty clear. He popped on the tire and I bussed back to Osborne, wheeled my new winter tire to my car and put it onto my car. However, I noticed a ticket on my window for illegally parking on a snow route, bastards. My car was jacked up missing a tire, how would I move it? I'm going to fight it, and I feel like I have a strong case to overturn this slight.

I took my car with 3 different tires on it back to Kal Tire to get the remaining ones sorted out. There was a new person working who clearly had no idea what was going on. It took a solid 20 minutes for her to grasp what was happening, but it all worked out in the end. Now I have 4 winter tires on, a full spare (my spare was flat before all this happened, should've mentioned that earlier) and an extra tire for the next issue that arrises.

That was my shitty weekend all wrapped up in a nice $1200 bill.