This is why I should never drive in Boston

[Lilac]

DH had knee surgery at MGH today. I was there all day and drove him home this evening. I always get a bit flustered driving in Boston -- difficulty figuring out where the heck I'm supposed to go (even with a GPS!), hoping that I don't unintentionally piss off the other drivers, etc.

I picked up DH at the hospital entrance and got a whopping one block away before disaster struck. The GPS wasn't routing quickly enough, there were snow banks everywhere and it was dark and I couldn't see roads lines very well. The GPS finally told me to make a left -- I was worried about holding up people behind me and couldn't see the oncoming traffic due to the high snow banks, so I made my left turn in a hurry and BAM!!!! right over a huge curb that was the median in the center of the road. The way they plowed the roads was such that there were HUGE snow banks everywhere, but a nice wide open, cleared intersection that I stupidly thought I could make a left turn through. Well, it turns out they cleared the road crossover section PLUS a small section of the median which happened to have curb the same color as the road. I didn't even notice it and drove right over it.

Poor DH was screaming "OW!" from the jolt (seeing as how he was a whole 2.5 hours post-op...) and I started freaking out. 10 seconds later we hear "fwap! fwap! fwap!" ... f'ing flat tire. I pulled off to the side of the road and the back right tire was sitting on the rim. Ugh. I've never actually changed a tire in my life; DH was still hopped up on narcotics and couldn't move. Not good. I started getting the spare tire stuff out of the back of the car as DH tried to talk me through it. I may or may not have had a small breakdown when a stranger walking past asked if I needed any help.  Thank god for kind strangers. He basically changed the tire for me and we were able to limp home on the donut tire. We live about an hour outside Boston and DH was not comfortable sitting in the car that long. Poor thing. He's home now and relaxing in bed.

So yeah, I'm a moron and should not be allowed to drive. And now we need to buy new tires (4 wheel drive = all tires need to have similar wear = $$$ to replace all 4 tires). DH tried to convince me that this was the "last season" on these snow tires and he was planning to replace them anyways -- to make me feel better I'm sure. So yeah, the guy who just had surgery spent most of the car trip home trying to make me feel better, instead of the other way around. ::sigh:: what a day.

[LoveTrains]

Oh no I'm so sorry!!! I have an appointment at mass eye and ear next week and I hate driving to that area.

[mcc]

Aww, that's a rough day. I had one that ended badly too. Hugs.

[bostonmichelle]

Oh no I'm sorry. I hate driving in Boston as well.

[Lilac]

Mar 5, 2015 9:27:35 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Oh no, I'm sorry Totally sounds like something I would do, right down to breaking down over a stranger's kindness. Your H is sweet for trying to make you feel better. That part of town is really hard to drive around even if you know it so don't feel bad. The giant snow piles make an already hard to navigate city seriously anxiety-inducing.

Hope your H is recovering well from surgery. ACL?

To be fair, I lost my composure far before that... lol. It was a rough night! It's pretty bad when a stranger has to tell you "Hey, calm down, we'll figure this out. Don't worry."

Yup, ACL.  His left knee had ACL and MCL done 5 years ago, so the right knee was "due" given his skiing tendencies. He seems to be doing OK so far and this recovery should be a little easier than his last.

LoveTrains -- At least Mass Eye and Ear has their "easy on/easy off" parking lot right off the highway. I had LASIK done there two years ago and was able to handle that driving just fine. All my appts were during the day though

mcc -- Hope things are going better for you today.

[noodleoo]

Oh no, that's terrible! Yeah, I hate driving in Boston as well. Especially at night! Glad you guys made it home okay and yes, I always appreciate kind strangers that are willing to help!

Actually, this is the main reason we keep our AAA membership even though our cars are relatively new and we rarely use it. It is worth it to me to be able to call for help.

Also, it is so funny, when I was buying a GPS for my H as a present many years ago, all the reviews were great for people who lived everywhere *except* Boston! It was so funny to see a bunch of 5 star reviews and then all the 1 stars were from Boston. I don't think it is their fault though, the roads in Boston suck and with all the construction, it is hard to keep the maps up to date. I actually tend to prefer Google Maps these days. It is surprisingly accurate, especially for traffic.

[mcc]

Lilac I've had ACL replacement too. That's rough. Hopefully he won't even remember given the amnesic properties of anesthesia

[dougthedogsmom]

I am so sorry, that sounds like an awful drive. It is nice to hear that someone was kind enough to help you. I hope that your husband is feeling better soon!

[liveintheville]

That sounds awful! I'm glad someone stopped to help you. "Borrow " one oh h's painkillers then you'll feel better