Unwelcome Saturday Adventures

Earlier in the week, we had trouble with our TV's. We called COX, and got an appointment set up for 10AM-12PM on Saturday. We figured that he'd either A) take one look at the same problem happening on our 2 TV's and figure out that it was a problem with their equipment, and then leave and go climb a pole to jiggle wires, or B) not show up at all (this is COX we're talking about, after all).

We absolutely did not expect him to show up at 5 minutes to noon, and then be there 2 hours. There were multiple problems - he eventually got them all figured out and fixed, but he also more or less set up camp in our living room.

Around 1PM, my wife went out to check the mail. When she came back, there was more good news... I had a flat tire (I had picked up a nail).

In Owasso, all the tire places close at 1PM on Saturday, and reopen on Monday. Joy.

I've always had good luck with tires. So much so, that the last time I had anything to do with a tire change was probably somewhere around age 11, "helping" my dad change a tire. When you're a city boy, "helping" dad means that you stand behind him and watch over his shoulder.

I called a friend who had changed tires before. I knew how to do it, I just wanted someone with a little experience to be there in case I did something stupid. My pal Scruffy came over to lend a hand. We got the flat tire off, and got the donut spare tire on. The donut was 6 years old and had never been used. Therefore, it was also flat.

So, we put the flat tire in my wife's trunk. This was about the time that the cable guy was finally leaving. Scruffy, my wife and I headed to Firestone in Tulsa, so they could patch the tire.

They couldn't patch the tire. The nail was too close to the sidewall. Also, after looking at the treads on the tire we brought in (we were close to EOL on those tires anyway), the Firestone guy recommended we replace all the tires, not just the dead one. Grand. We should have aired up the spare and brought my car. Too late for that. By then it was 3PM, and we still hadn't had lunch (thanks, Cable Guy!).

We ate, went home and aired up my spare. Then we called it a day (so much for that "shoppin' date" we had planned!). Sunday, we got the tires replaced.

Glass is half full - I picked up a new skill this past weekend!

Glass is half empty - er... I'd better leave this one alone.