I nearly made it home, but to avoid damaging the rim, I pulled off to the side of the road. I can do this! I'll change the tire myself!... but I couldn't find the spare. Instead, I found the jack, and then a plastic bag that had a series of diagrams on the outside depicting the supposed location of the spare. (The bag itself was apparently supposed to be used to carry the old tire away.) There were lots of dots and pictures of screwdrivers. Um, I don't have a screwdriver handy.

A phone repair technician was working on a house a few doors down, so came to see if I needed assistance. He couldn't find the spare either. Meanwhile, I was standing around in my yoga clothes, the sun decided it was August not November, and my tummy started grumbling.

I recalled that we were no longer AAA members, but didn't know why, and wasn't sure if we were actually members somewhere else. A few years ago, my husband had found an eco-conscious company and switched our business there, but when we had a problem and needed assistance, it took something like 3 hours to get help. We went back to AAA shortly thereafter.

So why did we switch away from AAA? They were reliable. They provided discounts on hotels, et al.

Unfortunately, my husband didn't pick up the phone. I left a voicemail. I started to walk home, cursing myself for not knowing who - if anyone - provides our roadside assistance.

Thankfully, the phone rang just a few minutes into my walk. Turns out our auto insurance company - Progressive - also provides roadside assistance. Whew!

The tow-truck guy explained that my spare was underneath my second row of seats, and that it would require quite a bit of work to access it. It was clearly easier for both of us to just tow the car to the tire place. Minutes later we were at the tire place, and about an hour later I became the proud owner of a brand-new tire. Hooray!

But, in the meantime, I had "earned" three more hours of not working. "Forced relaxation!" my mom quipped. Well, not exactly. But at least everything turned out fine. (And I got a burrito from a place close to the tire shop. Yum!)

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Disclaimer: I mention AAA and Progressive for the purposes of this story - neither paid me to mention them, nor will I receive compensation/commission for doing so.