I am a firm believer in learning from others. So, here is your chance to learn from mine.

So we got hit with snow this last weekend. I knew it was coming so planned to just drive my 4WD Suburban instead of my Saturn. Simple plan. Good plan. So I am driving down the road to rescue a friend's car that she had to abandon the day before.

Here's where the mistakes show up.

Half way there I realize my vehicle crate is still in my car. My tire repair kit, my air pump, my tow strap, my first aid kit, my tools & spare parts. *LESSON 1* Make sure your Get Home Kit is in the right vehicle (or have one in each). Then I get there and find that her tire is flat. So I change it and put on her spare. Her spare is almost flat! *LESSON 2* Check your spare tire. (Yes, this was hers, and I could not have known SHE would have a flat spare, but I realized that I had not checked my own!). A lot of running around, and she's finally back on the road.

*LESSON 3* If you have friends that know you can get out and rescue them with your 4WD, be prepared to either go get them, or be willing to say "no". (Or, I suppose, you could always just ignore their calls and texts.)

Hope that has some value to someone.

There's nothing like learning things the hard way. Good examples of why you should test and drill, and take the opportunity when real life throws you a curve ball to learn from it. To me, the trick isn't to have a "perfect response" every time, but rather to learn how to not make the same mistakes again the next time.

What steps have you taken to prevent these mistakes next time?

Thanks for sharing the lessons!

I did go bang on the spare in my truck, but still need to check it with a gauge and need to check the car's spare. And while I am into simple and only carry one milk crate with all my stuff, I'm thinking it might be worth while making up one for each vehicle. (Normally the truck is only used for towing so moving it all between vehicles is infrequent and thus not that big of a deal - *IF* I remember!)

I think remembering is the big issue, especially as we age. For the past few years, I've been trying to establish habits so that if and when my memory starts to fade, the habits will make it easier to continue as normal.

Err, ahh, I mean, think of habits as training. Developing good habits is just as important, as you'll fall back to the habits and training during an event. If it's an infrequent task, like transferring the milk crate from one vehicle to another, then develop another solution. Like, always carry a bag with you in your vehicle, or have a crate for each vehicle.

See? No memory loss here, not sure why I even mentioned it.

What was I talking about?