How GroupMe Saved My Weekend

This weekend has been crazy and I made it through with the help of some great people.

On Saturday we, Laura and I, had a vendor event about 20 minutes away for our Perfectly Posh business. That went well but it was really busy. We made some sales and talked to potential customers about our products. I marked it down as a success. I even bragged about how I already had my Christmas shopping done because I finished shopping from some other local business. Yay!

Fast forward about five hours after we got home, we were out again. We made deposits at the banks, went grocery shopping, and just got the little one some ice cream because he was really good. We turn on the street to head towards our townhouse and boom -- flat tire. We are close to home which is good, but the car was not making it. At all. Period. We were on the rim. The tire tapped out of doing it's job. We pulled off calmly and tried to assemble a plan since our partner was at work and could not come help us.

Laura called one of her friends in hopes that he had his phone around him and I sent a message to our local polyamory Groupme asking if anyone was available to help get Laura and the little one to the house and help me get the tire to Walmart to be replaced. It closed in 15 minutes. Wonderful, right? It's the weekend and life is kicking us in the teeth.

Laura's friend came and someone from the Groupme came, too. We found the spare and were going to assemble it. Great. We have two men here and they are stronger. We can get the car to the house without having to get it towed because Walmart was two minutes away Awesome...

Nope.

See that? That's a wheel lock. And where's the key, you ask? Well it is at the repair shop that last had the car. We didn't know that until we needed it, of course. Fast forward about 20 minutes of tearing the car apart in hopes of us finding and it wasn't there. So Laura's friend took her and the kiddo home and V and I sat around waiting for the tow truck. It was going to be a while. I get on my phone and try to find a place that has a key that wasn't the dealership. Walmart's website said it had it so we went there. Nope. We went to O'Reilly. They had a key that definitely did not match the one I needed.

So we go back and wait for the tow truck. He gets there and needs the car backed out so it can be loaded onto the flatbed. Luckily V was with me because I have a cast on my right foot and cannot drive. V backs it out and it gets loaded onto the tow truck. Tow truck driver follows us to the townhouses and unloads the truck. I pay him and he goes on his way. I thank V and he goes home to spend time with his wife and cats.

Now to Sunday, we have a vendor event at 2 pm. We need to get the car fixed. There's nowhere that claims to have a key for us to buy and no automotive places claim to be able to take it off without the key. I really wish there was an overall master for when this kind of stuff happens. That seems like it would make sense. The local Poly group checks on us and we tell them the situation and everyone Googles DIY ways to get it off. Everyone collectively agrees on hammering a socket on and then getting it off. Laura and I are not strong enough to do that. We struggled enough last night trying to get the tire off. C tells us he is loading his car with the tools and is on his way to us!

He got it off and was a huge lifesaver. The spare was put on and we went and got the tire changed.

None of this would've happened without the help of our friends. They were all wonderful and were willing to help. Even the ones that were over an hour away who were willing to drive and help . You never realize how nice it is to have a community of friends around to help you.until you need it.