New Tires for the Gangsta Chick Car

Well, I'm back to work while I left my husband on Water Island to hopefully complete the multi-project we've now renamed "Multi-Project T and that stands for Trouble". New doors, windows, Kitchen Cabinets, .........and specifically, new tires for the Gangsta' Chick Car. Lots of work in a house where there's not one square, plumb or level wall, door or window frame in the house. But, you CAN overcome! You CAN adapt! With creativity, ingeniuity and lots of cursing, you can get 'er done!

Thought I would share at least one funny story that happened over the past 2 months. Now.....this is Water Island humor.....so, not sure if everyone is going to understand or even think its funny....but, here goes.

The "Gangsta Chick Car" is actually a Suzuki Grand Vitara which we "won" via the US Marshall online auction. Apparently this vehicle had wings at some moment of spectacular glory and then was seized at the conclusion of the commission of a crime (yes, I prefer to believe the VEHICLE was the criminal versus the "victim" / human being who was at the helm during the test flight). The car has now fully assimilated into our family - or it has fully assimilated US into it's new surroundings.

In addition to all the critical home improvement materials, we also crammed in 5 new tires for the Gangsta Chick Car into the 20 ft. container. These knobby, grippy tires were to replace the balled, innards sticking out, gonna-go-flat-any-moment -and-leave-you-stuck-on-a-road-with-no-spare tires. Swap out tires on STT? No problem. Swap out tires on Water Island? .......how many tires can you fit in a 12ft dinghy?

The day finally came to haul the extra concrete blocks laying under the house up the hill, get out the jack, and the lug wrench. One by one, the old tires came off. The brake fluid and other unidentifiable black gunk was caked on the rims about 1/2 inch thick. No way we're putting those in our dinghy without cleaning them first.

My husband "R" dragged out and started the pressure washer while our friend "P" rolled the tires- one by one - to the side of the yard. By the time P got tire # five rolling toward the tire washing site, he was rollin' tires like he'd rolled tires every day of his life. Almost there.....the tire starts wobbling......going faster......P going faster....running now for the tire......DIVING for the tire.....oh oh oh oh !!!!.......NO! Tire rolled off the side of the cliff. When it hit that first rock it was like a torpedo, a cannon, ....it wanted to FLY! Our RIM was on that tire!

R tied a long rope off the truck and started down one side of the cliff. P tied rope off Lookout Post and down other side of the cliff. When each was at the bitter end of their ropes, one of them spotted it........TIRE HO! Resting down between rocks and crashing surf but still holding onto tierra firma. This is the southwest edge of Water Island. Would have been better if the darn thing had gone into the water. Retrieval would have been easier to snag a floating tire than get a hard bottom dinghy 'round the point without loosing dinghy and R & P on the rocks.

From my vantage, all I could see were foaming seas, spindrift, crashing waves and glimpses of the starboard side of the dinghy swinging out then under, out then under the cliff. No sign of P or R. But, lots and lots of shouting from down below over the roar of the surf. Then! Sound of the motor! Binoculars in hand.....YES! Two men and a tire in a dinghy heading for home!

Pressure wash the last tire and load up the dinghy. How many tires can you fit in a dinghy? 10. How many tires can you fit in a dinghy with 2 men and a long haul to the tire store on this side of Frenchtown? 6 - 3 new tires, 3 old tires with rims. 2 trips.