Replacement Tires 2

Went over to Aiken Discount Tire this morning and had my new tire mounted and balanced, twelve-fifty, exactly 1/4 of what the charged me to do all 4 tires seven weeks ago.

I called the folks at Onlinetires.com last night and asked if they wanted their tire back. They did. They said they would let FedEx know to come pick it up at no charge to me. FedEx was a no-show today. I wonder how long this will be sitting in my garage?

Purchased Today: $12.50
Money spent since 03/03/03: $1068.16
Started down, went up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 183

Is That One Or One Set?

My replacement tire arrived from Onlinetires.com, but it was not alone.

I ordered the tire on Monday evening and specified 2 Day Shipping (for which I paid almost as much as the tire for.) Figuring they would pull and ship my order on Tuesday and I would get it on Thursday. When Tuesday passed and I didn’t get a tracking number I wasn’t too worried, they are in California and there is that pesky 3-hour time difference thing going on.

By midday on Wednesday and still no tracking number, I figured I had paid two-day shipping rates for three-day. I called and the fellow that answered the phone said he would tell shipping to email me my tracking number. It finally showed up later that day with the disclaimer that it wouldn’t be active until later that night. Now I was sure the tire wouldn’t get here until Friday.

This morning I clicked the tracking number and lo and behold they were shipping it FedEx overnight, that meant I would get it on Thursday, I was pleased (and surprised.)

This evening we I got home from work there was the tire and it brought along a companion to keep it company for the cross-country trip. I guess the new guy in the shipping department saw that the packing slip said one and figured that meant one bundle of two tires.

Had they not got my tire to me on time I might have kept the second tire as payment for aggravation, but seeing as they did right, I did right. I called their 800 number and asked them if they wanted their tire back. They did and will get a FedEx guy to come pick it up.

Downpours

The cockpit cover saves the day again. With a 40% chance of afternoon thundershowers I expected to maybe have to raise the top later in the day. At 2:20 my wife came down to my cubical and asked had I put the top up. I said no, why? She replied that it had rained, didn’t I hear it? Nope. So at her insistence we went out into the lot and shook the puddles off the cockpit cover, folded it up, put it in the trunk and put up the top. I figured that the rain was done and didn’t really think it was necessary, but it is a good thing I listened. It rained hard twice more before quitting time and both times it was harder than the last. The cover probably wouldn’t have held back that much water.

Went out near sundown to take some pictures for tomorrow’s Theme Thursday challenge. I’ve got to do a little (well maybe a lot) of photoshopping to put something together for the theme. I’ll post something tomorrow when I’m done.

Purchased Today: $0
Money spent since 03/03/03: $1055.66
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 177

Trying to cure traffic congestion by adding more capacity is like trying to cure obesity by loosening your belt.

There is an intersection on my way to work where a street with a 35-MPH limit turns onto a street with a limit of 30 and to make it “easier” for people to negotiate them they have rounded them off more. I can now take these turns and not have to slow down. This is OK in a Miata, but when bigger cars do it they still can’t keep it on the road. They either cut more off the turn and run over the persons lawn or they get their left side tires off the left side of the road. Traffic engineers will analyze this intersection and probably round the turn off more. This will encourage more speed and the cycle will repeat. What they need to do is sharpen up the radius and either put a curb on both sides of the road or better yet, a ditch.

They also need to narrow some of these streets down. The bigger road encourages bigger speeds. There is a section of road that I sometimes travel that goes from 2 lanes to four and the speed limit stays the same 35-MPH. Yet as soon as traffic hits the four lanes the speeds jump about 10 MPH over the 40-45 they were already traveling.

Wider lanes also mean less attention needs to be paid attention to lane discipline. Another bit of road I frequently travel passes through the horse/historical district of town and because of that it still has the same narrow lane width it had in the 40’s. When driving on this stretch people travel slower than they do when the road widens because they have to pay attention to whether they are on their side of the white line.

Then again if I had my way, they would only allow Miatas on the roads and all the lanes would be narrow and windy.

Plug

The Miata stayed home in the garage today. It was embarrassed to be seen in public wearing that ugly little mini-spare. We took the MSV to work with the flat tire in the trunk. I went out at lunch and had the shiny metal object removed and a plug of sticky rubber shoved in the hole. Cost five bucks. The plug will get us by until the new tire arrives from California. I sure hope it is coming because I didn’t get a tracking number today. If I don’t get one by tomorrow AM I’ll give them a call.

Purchased Today: $5
Money spent since 03/03/03: $1055.66
Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 175

Vogue

Today was haircut day for both the Bogarduses. We go to a place called Sheri’s Hair Affair because Sheri was in the bicycle club with us at one time and she does a right nice job too. It is a typical salon and the place is just littered with women’s magazines for me to look at while Donna gets her hair cut. I hunted through the stacks until I found a relatively recent one to look at, a Vogue from March 2003. I actually don’t mind looking because they are usually chock full of cheesecake. It was my turn to hop in the chair. When I sat down, there on her table in front of me, was another issue of Vogue. About that time I became conscious of the music playing in the background, Madonna singing, pause for effect, Vogue.

Shiny Metal Object

Bought $13 worth of gas and walked over to Advanced Auto and bought 4 quarts of oil for $7.48. At home I jacked up both sides of the car using my new hydraulic jack and placed the 4 jackstands under the jack points. I removed all four tires to rotate them front to back on the same side as the tread is directional. I pulled the drain plug and drained the oil straight into the recycling container. I used to have to drain into a shallower basin and then pour that into the recycler because the car was too low.

As I rolled the right rear forward to the front I noticed a bit of shiny metal imbedded in the tire. Damn. I had picked up a nail somewhere. Hustled the tire down to the local tire place and they confirmed my worse fears, the hole was too close to the side wall to patch and nobody plugs tires anymore. 2500 miles and I need a new tire.

He offered to sell me some Goodyear HP tire as that was all he had in stock in 195/50-15. I said no thanks, I’m not mixing and matching on my car. Came home and went to Onlinetires.com, the place I bought this set of four about seven weeks ago. They had them still on sale for $59, but with the 2nd day shipping charge of $47.55 it put the cost at over $100. Which is still cheaper than the other two places I checked online by about $30.

Purchased Today: $127.03
Money spent since 03/03/03: $1050.66
Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 175
118,500