Death of a Tire

Ah, the excitement of living on the edge! The tire that I plugged and put about 3 cans of fix-a-flat in to hopefully wear some tread off before having to replace it decided it didn't want to live anymore and blew out on me while going to pick up the wife from work. I had budgeted enough time to get there to pick her up on time, yet I still managed to get that toy tire they call a spare onto the car and still make it only five minutes late. Am I good or what?

The thing about dirt roads is that you get to pay more often for front end alignments than you normally would if you enjoyed the luxury of paved access. Not only do I have a fairly good tire with a puncture that won't stay fixed, but the right front tire is getting rather thin thread-wise on the left side of the wheel, thanks to the beating our washboard road inflicts on the front end. Oh, sure, they grade this road at least once every two weeks, but that washboard effect returns in no time at all, that is, if it hasn't rained all week and turned it into a mud bog. So, I have TWO tires that have to be replaced, AND a front end alignment to boot. Just one more reason we're broke all the time.

I know that the car manufacturers put that itty-bitty "space-saving" spare in there only to get you to the nearest tire store, but perhaps you've noticed how many cars are driving around on these things as though they came standard equipment. The truth of the matter is that sometimes we have to drive on these things for several weeks before we can afford to replace them, which is why I'm happy as hell that they engineer these "temporary tires" to higher standards than they will admit to. The warning labels say "Do not exceed 50 mph", and "Only use to get to the nearest service station". Yea, right. Service station? I haven't seen one of those places in years! There are gas stations, but you're lucky if they even have an air pump, much less "service" of any kind. Anyway, anything that costs anything usually has to wait till pay day, and then I get to rob peter to pay paul.

We've been "roughing it" since we received our last electric bill. In an effort to reduce the damage on the next one, we have taken drastic measures, such as washing the dishes in the sink (my generation was raised without dishwashers, so we know how it's done), actually hanging clothes outside to dry, and shutting off lights when they are not needed. I think I have every bulb in this house replaced by a fluorescent, so there's not much more I can do about that aspect of power usage. I've even given up my daily hot bathes in favor of an every-other day shower, with some touch-ups in between to keep from getting ripe. Now THAT has to save SOME money on this damn electric bill. There is one thing, however, I refuse to give up, and that's my air conditioning. Air conditioning in the South is like the life support system on a space craft. Especially if your more suited to living in Alaska to begin with. I have it turned "up" to 78, but that's as far as I go. So, we'll see if all this frugality is actually going to have any effect on our bill or not. Personally, I think it won't. They'll just jack up the "fuel charge" to ensure it's outrageous, no matter what I do, short of living in the hot, humid dark.

I really had some profound thoughts percolating around in my mind today that I wanted to post, but first I had to take care of the auto angst. Posting about it is something like taking a deep breath and letting it all out. Very cleansing. Over and done, time to move on.

Stay tuned for our next exciting episode when the wife spies me naked and the chase begins!


P.S.

Dearest Troll,

If you are reading this, I hope it provides you with your minimum daily requirements for something to bitch about, since you have this overwhelming need to complain about people who mention the bad things that happen to them that you consider so much pablum. I tried very hard to seem as though this was an Earth shattering event in my life. so that you could draw upon your inner rage and righteousness concerning my need to get a life. I do so try to accommodate you. If I have failed to whine and moan in a manner consistent with your standards, please let me know so that I can add the appropriate manner of drama to my next catastrophe which will sufficiently fuel your ire. Thank you and have a nice day.