Forest of the Plains

My car has needed new tires for quite a while now. I keep putting it off because I don’t enjoy car repair places and I don’t enjoy talking about something that I know nothing about. Also, I got *one* new tire last spring when that tire was leaking horribly and I didn’t realize that it was important to replace tires two tires at a time. (I now know that it makes the tires wear unevenly.) And, I hated to admit that I had messed up.

So, today I finally pulled my car into Dave’s, a local gas station/repair shop that is not actually owned by Dave. I refer to the actual owner as “the guy who isn’t Dave” because I can never remember his name. Anyway, non-Dave is really nice (I know this from the first tire experience) and I feel silly about putting the tire thing off so long.

I wasn’t sure if I needed to have 3 or 4 new tires. I didn’t know if the 1 tire would have worn unevenly over the past 9 months, or if it would be okay to just replace the 3 older ones. I made sure non-Dave knew I didn’t want to get in a pattern of replacing 1 tire and then wait a year before replacing the other 3. I need things to be as simple as possible.

Non-Dave told me that replacing the new tire “would be a waste of money”. I love it when a business person tells me that! It makes me feel like everything else I buy will be such a bargain, and I feel like I can trust their recommendations better.

Non-Dave was great and told me all kinds of information I’m sure my husband will want to know but I didn’t really get. The brand of the one new tire is no longer available (I got it at the farmer’s co-op which has closed) so non-Dave finds an available brand that has a similar tread. Non-Dave has to order my tires because my car’s tire size is not one that he normally stocks. I took notes in my PDA.

I scheduled an appointment for my car for next week. Then, non-Dave wants to know who my husband is. I tell him John’s name and where he works. Non-Dave looks puzzled and asks, “What kind of car does he drive?” “An Hyundai Elantra GT.” “I know exactly who he is!”

You gotta love living in a small town!