Stupidity Or A Loss Of Grey Matter

Tuesday started with a small disaster.  We awoke to a flat left rear tire on the truck.  As Mia had an appointment in Casa Grande at around 9:30 a.m. I decided to change the tire myself rather than wait for roadside assistance.  I can only say that Chevrolet does not make it particularly easy to change a tire on their Silverado’s but I managed to get it done and then got side tracked as I was doing it and forgot a very important ingredient to successfully changing a tire.   I was concerned with the tire pressure in the spare after I lowered the truck down so, using my relatively cheap Kobalt (Lowes Brand) portable 12 volt compressor, I was able to gain a couple of pounds of air pressure and I felt better about the drive up I-10.  Because I let myself get side tracked with the air pressure issue, I forgot to torque the lug nuts when I was finished.  We had hand tighten them initially but didn’t put the wrench to them for the final torque.  We left the trailer and headed into Casa Grande and we were about three miles up I-10 when the lite came on in my dead senior mind and I had to have Mia make an emergency stop on the shoulder.  I got out and torqued the bolts, very mad with myself that I would forget something so important.  Luckily for me, all the nuts were there and I was able to successfully torque them and continue on to Casa Grande with plenty of time for Mia to get to her appointment.

While Mia was at her meeting I had some time to waste so Honey and I found a Goodyear store, Purcell Tire, and dropped by to see if they could look at the tire.   They look like they do an awful lot of commercial, farm and fleet work so for a relatively small store they where super busy.  I left the tire with them and went off to find a park to walk Honey.  We strolled through a nice little park a few blocks from where Mia was and then headed over to pick her up.  We had some shopping to do and the folks at the tire store had said they would call me in a couple of hours.  We took Honey to Petsmart to get her nails done and did some shopping and visited on the 55+ resorts here in town and then had lunch.

I have not been happy with the Kobalt compressor I have so we went to Harbor Freight Tools and I found a small, 12 volt, portable unit that claims it will fill a passenger tire in 3 ½ minutes.  It is made by Pittsburgh Tools Automotive Division and looks more like what I need from my intended uses.

Stopping by Purcell Tire, we found out that the tire was repairable and they had completed the work just then.  I asked if they could possibly put the wheel/tire back on the truck and remount the spare and they told me it would be a half hour before they could do it.  I had no problem with that, having worn myself out changing the thing in the first place and at this point, I really didn’t care how much it cost me.  True to their word the truck went into the shop twenty-five minutes after we arrived and fifteen minutes later they had my paperwork at the front desk.  I stood there as the young lady filled out the paperwork on the computer with my credit card in hand, expecting to pay.  

I know that I have discussed the fact that Les Schwab Tire in the Puget Sound area is the place to go if you need tire work.  On two occasions, one an out of town experience, they have fixed flats we have experienced and remounted the wheel/tire and spare for no charge, FREE.   Here at Purcell Tire, three states from home I was totally taken back when the young lady told me there would be no charge for repairing the tire or reinstalling on the truck.  This family owned business goes above and beyond to help customers, even those from out of state.  It was very uplifting to experience this kind of customer service after such a disastrous start to the day and I will have nothing but good things to say about this company.

My old corporate chaplain still sends me his weekly messages.  This weeks handout certainly had a message for me in this whole mess. 

“Even though we can’t 

have all we want, we 

ought to be thankful

when we don’t get all

we deserve.”

St. Anonymous 

I am very thankful I didn't get all I deserved from Purcell.

We came back to the trailer, spent some time in the pool and then I did a load of laundry before calling it a day.

Hope all is well and thanks for visiting.