Oh dear, leave it!

When my nephew Grant was little, he came up with this phrase, "Oh dear, leave it!" We figure out that he heard us say, "I can't believe it!" and sort of made it his own. So we say it all the time. I can't believe it! Oh dear, leave it!

I had one of those experiences last Friday. Oh dear, leave it! I was pulling out of the parking garage at Mason and I heard a strange pop, but didn't think much of it. I was mostly just excited that it wasn't raining anymore and I was planning a little weekend get-away to Tappahannock, Virginia (LONG story that I'm still trying to figure out). I popped open my sunroof and drove along Braddock Road.

Suddenly, my super-sensitive nose smelled something burning. I looked around but didn't see anything, until i noticed smoke pouring in through my sunroof. Um, weird.

So I pulled over. I found smoke coming out of the bottom back of my car, and I popped the trunk, with smoke billowing out of my trunk. I was just about to call Triple A (um, hello... wouldn't 911 have been more apropos?), when a car pulled up and asked if I needed help. Um, yes.

The guy popped out--turns out he's an Alexandria fireman (wearing his fire station polo shirt), and he pulled out my spare tire, which was on fire.... he quickly stomped on it and put it out with a canvas bag I had in the trunk. Then he figured out the cause: live speaker wires. Apparently the previous owners of my car had installed a sound system, then removed it before selling the car to me. Only they left the live wires there carefully tucked away under the spare tire. We even found some duct tape in my fancy Eddie Bauer Car Emergency Care Kit (yes, I bought it 2 1/2 years ago on sale for $20, regularly $75, and I've never opened it). The fireman was impressed that I had tape. And he kept repeating, over and over again, "You are so lucky."

Thank goodness for no more rain... so I could open my sunroof.

Thank goodness for my sensitive nose, sniffing out smoke before the flames reached my gas tank. My car reeks like burned rubber, but I have a car!

Thank goodness that the man who stopped was a fireman. And the same thing had happened to him on the New Jersey Turnpike. WHO DOES THIS HAPPEN TO?

Thank goodness that all I need to do is replace my spare tire and remove the wires. Yes there is a small hole in the panel under my spare tire, but I think it should be ok.

Oh dear, leave it!