Poor Virgil, he gets a flat far from home, only to discover he wasn't prepared to have a flat. You just never know.

True story: It's pushing 12:30am Sunday and I'm a faint 3 miles from slipping under the covers after anchoring the 11pm news. I usually rarely see a car at that hour on Route 1 in Old Lyme, that's why "Virgil's" maroon sedan just stood right out there. I knew something was wrong. Trunk debris was tossed on the side of the road like road kill, but his car was on the other side of the road...with the passenger side front jacked-up in the air. No flashers, no markers, this driver didn't even have a flashlight.
Flat Tire Lesson #1 - keep a working flashlight in the car

I had to stop and at the least get some light on the situation. So, I pulled my little Jetta behind him, flicked on the flashers....dragged a spotlight beam out of the trunk and plugged it into the cigar lighter. First problem solved, light! The second problem was to get the scissor jack higher because Virgil didn't have the collapsible crank to turn the jack efficiently up or down. McGiver lesson #1 find a substitute and don't stray far from the car; in this case a medium screwdriver did the trick.
Flat Tire Lesson #2 - make sure you have the manufacturers supplied jack & tools.

Virgil pulled out of the trunk the "donut" spare tire that came with his wife's car. It was nearly deflated. Luckily, I had a portable mini compressor in my trunk, the kind that's powered through your cigar lighter. It took a few minutes to inflate the tire, but at least it works!
Flat Tire Lesson #3 - check to make sure your spare tire is good.

Virgil started to tighten the 5 lugs without "seating" the tire properly on the hub. When you mount the tire, align the studs evenly through the holes in your wheel....with even pressure on the top and bottom of the tire (your foot or knee works wonderfully on the lower part of the tire) as you hand thread the lugs. Then, using your lug wrench, evenly tighten the lugs in opposite positions. DO NOT TIGHTEN IN A CLOCKWISE OR COUNTERCLOCKWISE DIRECTION! It's bound not to seat evenly.
Flat Tire Lesson #4 - make sure the tire is square against the hub and the lugs are tight.

Once we jacked the car down...and packed the car, Virgil was happily on his way home. I hope he made it...and thankfully gets the tire he shredded replaced!

Here's a helpful how to link :http://www.ehow.com/how_112618_fix-flat-tire.html

Flat's aren't fun no matter when they happen because, you just never know.