I am incapable of controlling my finances. Seriously. Even when I
*try*, something terrible (and terribly expensive) always happens.
Like today; I got out of my Friday afternoon meeting (which is like a
professional development seminar), with a whole thirty minutes before
I had to head over to Eviljob, so I tear off campus to this chi-chi
bullshit trendy shopping centre just off campus, cos there is a pita
store in there, and I can greek-pita it en route to Eviljob, where the
side of campus our department is on has only two food service places
(we've been promised more shortly with the construction nearby), and
both suck -- one is fried *everything*, and the other more often than
not is just plain shitty; one of those places that could even fuck up
a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So until the two new buildings
(and courtyard) are finished, I'm happier heading off-campus. Unless I
just want coffee -- right on the outskirts of what will be our new
commons/courtyard area on this end is a really nice coffeehouse. So
yay.
butsoanyway.
So I park in front of Ye Olde Pita Hovel and put money in the meter,
then I look at my back tire, and...it's practically fucking flat. How
could I be so oblivious as to not have noticed before? Argh. So I
decide to play it safe (in case my tire is in the process of
deflating), and start heading towards Eviljob and phoning around to
nearby tire stores to see if anyone has a tire in my size, and/or does
the nitrogen in the tire thing. Can you believe that NO ONE does
nitrogen besides my dealership and a local warehouse store place? How
dumb could I have been, 'cos now I cannot even add a can of
Fix-A-Flat. BWAAH!
By the time I got to Eviljob, I managed to decide that I have probably
trashed my tire driving on it, and needed new tires anyway, seeing as
how I have never bought tires for this car, and Meg just put a new set
on hers, so I am coming due soon anyway. Sometimes it seems that this
is all never-ending. Grr. I mean, it is not like I could just get one
tire, that would be ridiculous, 'cos tires are supposed to be worn out
evenly as part of some huge international tire conspiracy -- that's
why we pay to have them rotated. Tire Mafia Bastards. Only some Carlos
The Jackal-type Tire Mafia Bastard would try to convince a girl that
$200/tire is a really good 'sale' price. Fuckers. One place was all,
'oh, we have *such* a better deal than the other Tire Mafia Bastards!
$168 per tire if you buy four!', so I asked him to please, please,
pretty please check that they are in stock, and he phones me back to
tell me that the $168 tires are 'rated wrong' (WTF?) for my car, but
they have another tire that is both the right size *and* rating for
almost $100 more per tire. At least I got bait-and-switched over the
phone. Hmph.
Argh. So before I head in to Eviljob tomorrow, I have to stop at the
nearest tire store and pay out money that I am trying to save. Sigh. I
know that I should count my blessings, I mean, at least I did not have
a blow out on the freeway, but still... Grr.
3 comments:
get new rear tires anyway, you don't need a full set--you're not driving in ice and snow are ya?
Argh! What are you driving? I drive a light truck, replace my tires every two years (front one year, rear the other) and it is $75 a tire. I now know I will stick to light trucks...
I drive a Mustang (it takes P225 75R16w, or somesuch), and I was kicking myself Saturday morning because I have known for at least a year that I *should* replace the damned things; they came with the car in 2004, I mean! Yes, I know -- four years on a set of tires is really good, as well as pushing it.
Now, in fairness, I do not drive all nutso-like on them, unlike some sisters I could mention, who can curb their car when there's not even curbs *around*, and who has some kind of pothole radar. Sisters like those run through a set of tires in something more like a year and a half. Plus I rotate my tires whenever the dealership tells me to, which sure seems like it's every 3,000 - 5,000 miles, when I get my oil changed. I had a lot of tread left and all. I think my rear tire just got depressed about the economy and committed suicide.
I found a small tire place that has like, some kind of Korean Tire Weirdness, and they gave me a really good deal -- they are some kind of generic tire, or something. Kind of like the off-label Hello Kitty stuff being named 'Hello Katty'? Yeah, that. I got a set of Mikelins, or Boogyear, or Muniroyal. :-D
And I am putting REGULAR AIR in them now. No more nitrogen. Feh. Plus, I think the nitrogen in the tires is some kind of code 'twixt automotive-types; it means 'this girl will fall for anything'.
I need to do that super-smart thing with the replacing the tires every two years! I would have not thought of that!
I think that, generally, automotive repair places screw women over completely. That's why they all are telling me psychotic prices (except for the Korean Tire Company); if I were a guy, it would be priced normally. seriously. Some day they will have an expose, like Black Like Me, or something. $5 tires for men, $500 tires for women. Plus, calling one of the tire-selling guys a smarmy bastard probably didn't help, but I was under a great deal of stress, I was hungry, getting a headache, and really could not understand why he felt it necessary to tell me that I had 'just missed a really good sale' on the very tires I was calling about if he wasn't planning on OFFERING that sale to me. Smarmy bastard.
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