Woman power!

If you get annoyed by shameless demonstrations of pride, this post is not for you but I just can't help myself today! Although I'm sharing the credit with an awesome female sale representative at the hardware store across the street (McGuckins). This store has saved my life (ok maybe just my bucks) a few times already.

I LOVE MCGUCKINS, THANK YOU MCGUCKINS!

So I have this awesome stroller that we bought used before William was born. It is one of the most useful things I've owned as a mother (of toddlers). It's been used A LOT, and abused... just as much. So what must happen, happened and the wheels started wearing out... a lot, like you could see the inner tube through the worn tire and the axle of the tire was all wiggly. I wasn't too worried about the worn tire, I knew I could order a new one, but the axle worried me a little more.

I could have done without the stroller but I didn't want to, so I looked online on the official website for replacement parts. Unfortunately the stroller is an older model and they don't make it anymore, so the replacement wheels were out of stock (and they cost something like $50 per wheel and I needed 2 so it wouldn't have been worth the price anyway). So I disassembled the wheels and looked at them, it looked like a small piece of hardware that was keeping the axle inside the wheel was broken but other than that everything looked fine. So I took the wheels to our nearest bike store, thinking they'd have the solution. The first guy I talked to told me he couldn't do anything and suggested another bike store. I went there, the guy looked at it for a little bit and said he could fix it but he had to replace the whole axle and it would cost something like $150! Haha, really? So I left and decided to go bug the people at McGuckins again. They've always been super helpful but I felt bad bugging them again (I was there with a broken tricycle pedal a couple of weeks ago and they helped me find the right washer I needed, it cost me 50 cents! but the guy struggled to put it in, and then the boys broke it right after he put it in! so he had to do it again!)

Anyways I got there, and the guys at the hardware isle weren't sure what kind of piece I needed so they sent me to the key shop. At the key shop, I talked to another guy who looked at the axle and the tire and said he had no idea what he could do. I was starting to be annoyed because it looked so easy to fix if I just had the right hardware. So I went back to the hardware isle so I could find the hardware myself and put it in myself. This time there was a woman there (sale person). I showed her the axle, told her I needed a piece of hardware with the right diameter that would keep it in place inside the wheel. She went straight to the right drawer, got me the piece and I immediately knew it was the right one (a $3.99 ball bearing people!) Haaa! WOMAN POWER!

Back at home, I got my ikea tool-box out, struggled a little bit to remove the broken hardware stuck in the wheel, put the bearing in, a push-nut to keep everything snug and I was done in less than 10minutes.

the broken hardware and the receipt for the new hardware (worth $150? yeah right)

my almost brand new stroller wheel

Now I'm waiting for the replacement tire I ordered (the rubber part, I can't make rubber sadly), and my stroller will be as good as new. Hurray!

I know what you're thinking, give it a week and it will break again... well we'll see, I will give myself a little whipping if it does... maybe.