Today I learned how to change a tire.
We are currently on the way to SCCUR in CSU Channel Islands and while I am staying in a hotel by myself my family has decided to stay in their own AirBnB near Port Huenememe. As always we were late and honestly even at the beginning of the trip the car felt weird — my dad was constantly swerving. I thought nothing of it and 2 hours out of the 6 passes when suddenly, and it’s my mom who is driving now, starts swerving uncontrollably. I shouted, or at least talked as loudly as my slightly timid self does, because I honestly felt unsafe. As she parked up on the shoulder, my dad checked the tire and sure enough it was a puncture.
At first I was just shocked. And honestly, kind of angry. Going along with family was so much harder than just going alone, and it was always my family. Why was getting out of the house so difficult? Why did ust getting to the conference feel harder than presenting actual research? In these thoughts I sat there for a minute or two, and my dad seeing this grew frustrated at my inaction. And in my head I got frustrated back, thinking “You are the one who is making this difficult for me.” But honestly, he was right. Why was I blaming him? Why was I just living in my own bubble, pretending my family was separate from me?
It’s this sentiment that pushed my hand to type into YouTube, “how to change tire Toyota Sienna 2011.” AirPods in, the world around me blurred I was focused on the video, learning where the car’s jack was, how to retrieve the spare tire from underneath the car, and more. In the background my dad was still frustrated at my inaction.
Honestly, myself from a year ago would have shouted back. I would have argued for my inaction, but I can feel a tranquility in myself. A sort of “head down and let’s work” vibe. And so we did. We pulled the spare tire from under the car (side note SINCE WHEN IS THERE A TIRE THERE), we began using all our might taking off lug nuts, and learned how to use a jack. Credit to my twin brother too, who was this messenger watching the Youtube video telling me what to do.
It’s kinda funny how people see this as engineering. Like if we take this objectively, all I did was move one screw to remove the tire, loosen six lug nuts, align a metal object (jack), and tighten those same nuts again. But still, my mother, grandmother, and father all looked on saying “this is what he does at robotics.” THIS IN FACT NOT WHAT WE DO AT ROBOTICS. But I get what they mean. Building rockets, robots, and god knows what else has given me this confidence in my ability to solve problems. To be resourceful and understand what needs to be done.
I actually have to go check on the status of this very tire right now, but just some thoughts I have. You know this whole trip I have been trying to write, and yet I have written the most just after this event. I guess inspired writing is real after all.