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The saga of the flat tire, part 2
AAA guy showed up at PacMed... it only took like 15 mins from the time I called AAA! Go them! He was already working on the car when I got out to the parking lot... trying to fill the tire up with air, but we found it was leaking air through this huge gash. (By huge I mean like... 3/4 of an inch long).
He saw that I had a spare tire and I told him we'd had problems with it in the past, but he filled it with air and checked the gauge and said "How about this -- it's more of a pain to tow the car, so why don't we put the spare on, and I'll follow you down to Sears Auto, so if anything happens I can get the car?" I agreed, and off we went.
Got to Sears Auto okay. I told the guys at the counter what was up and they were like "okay," and so this one guy came out and checked the tires (he said the front two were great and the back two were awful, including the one that blew out). So after talking a bit I decided to just buy two new tires for the back. Now, here's what bugs me - I don't know crap about cars, so I let him talk me into having them also check the steering and alignment, etc. Overall the two tires, alignment and whatnot, parts and labor, cost me $250.
I don't feel particularly ripped off since I had figured on spending about $50-$100 per tire, but Eli thinks I was. Does anyone really know? The tires themselves cost $70 each, they're some sort of Michelin... Agility? Yeah.
Anyway, I gave 'em the keys and walked down the street to the Sears/OfficeMax/Starbucks plaza thingy. Despite it being in the middle of the industrial area, it was really quite nice! I ate lunch at starbucks and I shopped around OfficeMax for a while and picked up a few random things. Was fun, even. Went into Sears for a minute or two, and by then it had been an hour and change, so I walked back, and the car was ready, and yay! And I drove back up the hill to work and found street parking and here I am.
The odd thing is the way people acted the entire time... the AAA people on the phone were super-friendly, the tow truck guy was really nice, and even the tire guy did not seem like a tire guy - he looked more like he should have been working at a Gap or an art museum or something. I'm not kidding, it was really kind of strange. He asked about Eli's "Honk if you passed P-Chem" bumper sticker, and tried to make conversation and stuff. It was kind of weird. And even the cashier at OfficeMax was all friendly like "ahh, another southpaw! We lefties have to stick together," or something. I don't know, it's sort of weird, since I felt like I must be giving off a super-grumpy "flat tire" aura all day, yet people were super-friendly in return.
I guess that's good.
Now I'm gonna buckle down and do a ton of work since I lost half a day.
He saw that I had a spare tire and I told him we'd had problems with it in the past, but he filled it with air and checked the gauge and said "How about this -- it's more of a pain to tow the car, so why don't we put the spare on, and I'll follow you down to Sears Auto, so if anything happens I can get the car?" I agreed, and off we went.
Got to Sears Auto okay. I told the guys at the counter what was up and they were like "okay," and so this one guy came out and checked the tires (he said the front two were great and the back two were awful, including the one that blew out). So after talking a bit I decided to just buy two new tires for the back. Now, here's what bugs me - I don't know crap about cars, so I let him talk me into having them also check the steering and alignment, etc. Overall the two tires, alignment and whatnot, parts and labor, cost me $250.
I don't feel particularly ripped off since I had figured on spending about $50-$100 per tire, but Eli thinks I was. Does anyone really know? The tires themselves cost $70 each, they're some sort of Michelin... Agility? Yeah.
Anyway, I gave 'em the keys and walked down the street to the Sears/OfficeMax/Starbucks plaza thingy. Despite it being in the middle of the industrial area, it was really quite nice! I ate lunch at starbucks and I shopped around OfficeMax for a while and picked up a few random things. Was fun, even. Went into Sears for a minute or two, and by then it had been an hour and change, so I walked back, and the car was ready, and yay! And I drove back up the hill to work and found street parking and here I am.
The odd thing is the way people acted the entire time... the AAA people on the phone were super-friendly, the tow truck guy was really nice, and even the tire guy did not seem like a tire guy - he looked more like he should have been working at a Gap or an art museum or something. I'm not kidding, it was really kind of strange. He asked about Eli's "Honk if you passed P-Chem" bumper sticker, and tried to make conversation and stuff. It was kind of weird. And even the cashier at OfficeMax was all friendly like "ahh, another southpaw! We lefties have to stick together," or something. I don't know, it's sort of weird, since I felt like I must be giving off a super-grumpy "flat tire" aura all day, yet people were super-friendly in return.
I guess that's good.
Now I'm gonna buckle down and do a ton of work since I lost half a day.
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BTW: here is the link to your tires. $70 seems like a reasonable price, and unless you're going to be dealing with lots of snow they should be just fine.
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TEH suck. I've been thinking of dusting off my Lunch Money deck and bringing it in to play at workm during, well, lunch time. Would you be interested?
:)
It's Match Game '73, only thirty years on
...how good is she?...
Dancin' Deanna is so good at DDR that she even AAAs her blank.
dum dum dumma dum-da-dum (etc.)
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I also thought you were talking about DDR at first. *grin* I was like, "she met up with some guy who AAA'd something?"
Re: Clarification
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I should write down the mileage of the last alignment in the car's maintenance book.
(I'm still kind of fuming about my not walking out at Firestone's $3 wheel balancing weights.)
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Have you considered the possibility that your entire life is actually just some strange sitcom, possibly airing in Japan?
Er, nevermind. Anyway, I also tend to have some sort of good customer service karma whenever I need help. Don't think about it too much or else it might go away.
Re: It's Match Game '73, only thirty years on
Brett Somers: Capture the flag with stuff.
Richard Dawson: Legend of Maxx Heavy Reverse Invisible.
Gary Burghoff: Puzzle Pirates.
Betty White: The King County Metro system.
Marcia Wallace: Her Extra Stage.
Charles Nelson Reilly: What the hell are you all talking about!?
Re: It's Match Game '73, only thirty years on
The order of this is bass-ackwards, but never mind
Frank: Her favourite minor-league baseball team.
Gene: That's a rotten answer.
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mmm, Domo
Actually...
I had the X-One's on my old car. My new one came with MX4's which I haven't replaced yet.
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Also, it is accepted practice to at least check the alignment and stuff when you change tires over. Whether or not they had to do anything to it is another story.
I'm glad you have new tires. I do not want either of you to die because your tire blows out on I5.
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^_^