Bungled Christmas surprise

[Monkeyleg]

I've already mentioned a couple of times in different threads that I was getting my wife a couple of accessories for her PT Cruiser: smoothie chrome wheel covers, and a chrome beltline trim kit.

She's been saying for weeks that she was just going to stay home and be a couch potato on Christmas. Which she did.

I told her my car wouldn't start, and I needed hers to go visit my folks. Fine.

So, I head out to the photo studio where I was going to do the work. Warm, good lighting, and all the tools I'll need.

Well, almost.

I had simply assumed that the lug nuts holding the existing plastic wheel covers on were the fake type that you just pop off the real lug nuts.

Wrong. They were the real lug nuts. And I didn't even think to take my floor jack out there.

So, I set out to find a gas station that had a mechanic on duty to remove the stock wheel covers.

Not a chance.

Ok, plan B. I can tell her in the morning that I need her car again, drive her to work, then get the wheel covers removed, head back to the studio, and install the new ones, along with the trim.

So, I head back to the studio to see if there's anything else I'll need. Just for the heck of it, I held one of the chrome wheel covers up to the car to see what it would look like.

Wait a minute...the wheel cover is too small! I get out a tape measure, and it's a 15" wheel cover. And the tires say "R15" on them. What the...?

I go online to look at the site I bought the wheel covers from, and look again at the photos of them on PT Cruisers. I look closely, and see the covers are the style that allows a inch or more of wheel to show around the outer edges.

That's not what I was expecting.

Plan B is off.

So, tomorrow I'll call the wheel place to see if they have chrome wheel trim to go behind the wheel covers. If not, it's time to paint the wheels.

I guess it will have to be a New Year's surprise.

Sigh...

[grampster]

Ahhh, the plans of mice and men.  Sorry to see your plans go aw ree, ML.  Look at it this way.  clusters of bad luck seem to even out with clusters of good luck.  Trouble is, you may have to wait till you're 80 years old. 

Lesson from grampster:  You can't screw up with jewelry.

[Strings]

Dick, remember Bedlamite's sig: a plan is nothing but a list of things that doesn'ty happen...

[Monkeyleg]

The end of the story (not that anybody really cares ).

The chrome hubcaps were the right size. The outer lip of the wheel is supposed to be exposed. About an inch or so.

On Wednesday, I called my best friend, and asked him if he would call after 7 pm when my wife was home, and ask if I could drive him and his wife to O'Hare today, as they were going to Las Vegas. My friend talked with my wife for awhile, my wife said she wasn't going anywhere today, and that it was up to me.

So, I left today at 8:30 am, got to the studio, and in about 3 1/2 hours pulled the old wheelcovers off, cleaned and sanded the wheels, painted them, installed the chrome trim, installed the chrome smoothie wheel covers, and gave the car a quick wash.

When I pulled up in front of the house, she was in the back yard with the dog, and couldn't see me. So, I just went in the house and watched from the window.

She just kept walking around the car over and over again. When I went out to join her, she just kept gushing about it.

There's nothing I enjoy more than surprising my wife. Especially when the route to the surprise is so devious that she never suspects a thing.

[cosine]

It sounds as if you enjoyed giving the surprise as much as your wife loved receiving it. 

Glad all turned out well in the end...

[Monkeyleg]

OK, Cosine, you asked for it. Another of my long-winded posts.

Ever since I met Debbie in 1968, I've been able to spot something in a store that I've known would please her.

Thankfully, she's never been a gold-digger. While I know she likes Mercedes and other high-end goods, she came from an across-the-tracks family, and has never asked me for one-carat diamond rings.

Her wedding ring is a 1/4 carat diamond, but set in a ring that is distinctly her style. After almost 30 years of marriage, she still gets compliments  on it. It's not the diamond, it's the style.

Her tastes have changed over the years, and I've paid close attention.

I could go out today and, within half an hour or so, find something that I know she would love as a gift. I know all of the specialty shops she browses.

That's too easy. It's a lot more fun to make her think we're not exchanging gifts, and then
come out of left field with something she wasn't expecting.

The old saying "it's not the gift, but the thought that counts" is wrong. It's the gift, but even more important is the way in which the gift is delivered.

The best gift my wife ever gave me was a bag of hot cashew nuts from a Buddy Squirrel store. I don't even remember the year--probably 1969 or 1970---but it was spontaneous, and it was exactly what I loved at the time.

[cosine]