Yesterday, Tuesday the 30th of January is one of those days I'd like to forget.

My day started at 5:30 a.m. in the northeastern Atlanta area. I needed to get up early and get on the road, for two reasons:

1. If you don't get up early enough you won't beat the Atlanta traffic, as in you either leave before 6 a.m. or wait till 9 a.m.
2. I needed to get home around 2-3 to finalize a proposal for a major project.

Why was I driving back from Atlanta instead of flying? Well I had been to Savannah and a few other stops earlier on this trip, so driving was the best option.

Everything started fine, out-the-door and on-the-road before 6 a.m. I cruised through downtown Atlanta and was entering the Macon area around 7 a.m. Then just as I got on I-475 there was a big bang. My right, rear tire blew out. I was in the center lane doing around 75 mph. Luckily there was little traffic around me and I was able to safely make it to the shoulder. Picture of the offending tire below:

For the next three hours I dealt with this ordeal. When I take long trips I always rent a car, so I needed to contact Hertz roadside assistance. They told me to stay with the vehicle and they would send somebody to take care of things. And then I was not to continue my trip in my car, I should take it to the nearest Hertz location and exchange it. So I wait, and wait.....and wait. Almost two hours later I am back on the road heading to the Macon airport to see the Hertz man.

I've seen some small airports before, like the one in Pellston, MI, but I think the Macon airport is the smallest I've ever been in. The Hertz man tells me that I don't have a full tank and that I need to go fill it up since they'll charge me something like $6 a gallon. I told him no thanks, I'm not wasting any more time today.

I swap cars, moving from a nice four-door luxury model to a Dodge Neon (that's all they had available). Back on the road at last and only 3 hours behind.

One of the reasons I hate to travel during business hours is that something always seems to come up when you're traveling. Yesterday was no exception. Around 11:30 I had to stop if Tifton, GA to use the wifi at the local Starbucks. To say the wifi was slow and unreliable would be an understatement. Attempting to modify WordPress themes with bad wifi is not fun. A stop that should have taken 10 minutes took almost an hour.

Back on the road at last.....four hours behind.

But wait, I didn't have any cash on me and I forgot that I didn't have a SunPass for the toll on the Florida Turnpike. One more stop at an ATM to get some cash. Now I am hitting early rush-hour traffic in the Orlando area, great.

In the end I arrive home around 5:30 p.m. twelve hours after I left. The trip should have taken 7-8 hours....not 12.