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Rescued by Luck




Following some disappointing experiences with rental trailers, I decided to buy my own trailer. I needed a cargo trailer and was told I would be lucky to find a good used one.


After searching the Internet for used trailers and soliciting assistance from relatives, neighbors, acquaintances and even strangers on the street, I couldn’t find one.


On a whim, I searched Craigslist and there was a cargo trailer, just the size I wanted. I called that night and was elated to hear it was still available. I traveled to the other side of town the next day and bought that trailer. 


When I arrived back home with my “new” trailer, I set about the task of informing all of the people who were helping me search. That was when my own education began. 


Was the frame twisted? Was the axle damaged? Were the tires safe and in good shape? What was the condition of the wheel bearings?


Did I just throw my money away in the toilet?


That is an issue when one tries to do something they don’t know anything about. I had just done it. Was I so buried in grief I didn’t have any sense? I certainly didn’t look at all factors involved in making a good decision. 


Fear can limit us, and I am fearful. I no longer have that person who balanced me, asked the questions to help me make good decisions. Fear can leave us stuck in our homes, but imagine how limiting it would be if we didn’t try anything simply because we didn’t know everything about anything. The Internet offers an unlimited source of information on how to do things. We now have access to instant education, including pictures and videos to help us do relatively anything. I guess it is important to not let fear blind us also.


Then there are those of us who think we can do things without knowing how. My motto is “I don’t know what I can do until I can do it and I don’t know what I can’t do until I can’t.”


So I have the trailer and a relative “in the know” asks if it has a spare tire. NO. However, that sounds like a good excursion to get me started on re-entering the world. 


I made a template so I would know the correct hole pattern to match with the lug nuts. I was waiting for a good day to go to the junkyard. I wanted it to be warm, but not scorching, and definitely before the snakes were out. 


By chance, I had a relative visit and I asked for assistance. I hoped he would be up for an outing and would go to the junkyard with me. There were also used tire ads on the Internet. We discussed the pros and cons of junkyards versus a tire shop, then decided he would call a tire shop. That conversation was quite a revelation.


  • Do you want four and a half or four and one eighth? 

  • Is it a different sized wheel?

  • Do you want “such and such number” tire?


All of which is unknown to me. I knew the answers to none of those questions. Naturally, I decided to find quick answers to the questions on the Internet, which turned out to be an informational overload. I really didn’t know anything. I didn’t even have any idea what it was that I didn’t know. 


In the end, I learned many things from multiple sources, including my relative, the Internet and the person at the tire store.

 

  • Trailer tires are different from auto tires. 

  • Trailer wheel hubs are different from auto hubs.

  • There are way too many unique sizes of each. 

  • The hub access varies in size from trailer to car. 

  • And last, but certainly not least, the size of the trailer matters.


None of this information is of much interest to most, and certainly not to me. I simply wanted to go to an auto junkyard, get a mounted tire and, easily and instantly, have a spare. Instead, I ended up with an illustration of the morass we can get ourselves into by taking a risk and attempting to re-enter the world. Trying something new can sometimes become really complicated. 


I did get a good trailer, though, and I also managed to get a good tire. 


It could’ve been much different, and that is always the chance you take upon making the decision to open the door to something new.


I was lucky, this time.


Contemplation: Is ignorance not knowing what we don’t know?


Let me know how you are doing. I care.


Sincerely,

Lynn Brooke


© 2024 Our New Chances

Photo Credit: © 2024 Rachel Gareau

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