effigy

My rear tire went flat this morning in the mid-40s drizzle. My first thought was "I better call my coworker in case I'm late," but after glancing at my cell phone's clock as I pulled the hand pump and spare tube from my trunk bag, I figured I would have time. I made it to work just in time and upon reading my e-mail I discovered that the coworker I was planning to call is not going to be in today... due to car trouble

jpdesjar

way to be self sufficient
easier to fix the flat than to call and explain

unixpro

Heh. That's pretty good. Did the other guy try to call you?

CliftonGK1

I was waiting to read something about the co-worker being just up the road with a flat tire on his car.

noisebeam

When reporting that you are late due to a mechanical problem with your vehicle, there is never a need to describe the vehicle type as a bicycle.

"Hi boss, I will be several minutes late due a flat tire."

Al

effigy

Nope. He's more of the over-seer type. If I did call, I would have wound up contacting his back-up. That was the first flat I've had since fall (and during my commute) and I'm quite sure I'm the culprit, as I exchanged the studded tires this weekend. Now my bike rolls--Neat!

P.S. I Unix and I still have so much to learn...

Blindrage

Almost any form of Unix is the most stable OS out there. I am about to get much deeper into the depths of both Unix and ficon in general with the new job I start on the 9th. You guys will be able to blame me when your Fabric OS does not do what it should at that point.

Artkansas 

Great story. I had a similar incident.

I used to work at a company out in the desert that had a very strict on-time policy. I'd ride 15 minutes ahead of schedule to allow for flats or to give myself cool-down time on most days.

I was one of 4 animators at that company. Our Art Director pedaled a comfort bike on the weekend, but did not ride to work. He was suspicious of a bicyclists' ability to commute consistently.

Well, two of the animators lived about 9-10 miles away and rode bicycles; myself and another fellow who had worked his way through school as a bike messenger in Boston. The other two lived within a mile and drove.

One day, the AD came in to the office that I shared with one of the drivers, looking for him. Half an hour later the AD returned. Neither of the drivers made it in, but both of the bicyclists did. I looked at him and commented that maybe he should only hire bicyclists who lived far away. He never said another word about bicycle commuters.