The News From Here

Lest Friday slip away I will you bring up to speed with “The News From Here” . Yesterday afternoon I had an eye exam appointment. I should preface this with “I had been suspecting I had a tire problem developing.” I was keeping a close watch on the driver’s side rear tire. It had had a flat with it a while back and it had been run on flat about 30’ plus it was OLD. Like 13 years old so naturally my attention was pretty well focused on it as the most likely for a problem. The tremble I felt seemed to be more in the body of the car as opposed to the steering wheel. All made perfect sense and in most cases would have been spot on. I had already decided that today (Friday) I would go to the tire shop and get it checked out and be expecting to buy a tire. All that to say it was the passenger side rear tire tread decided that it had resided too long attached to the tire belts. I was able to get it slowed WAY down to about 15 mph while I looked for a side street. I had the flashers going and my arm out the window waving the get the attention of the vehicles behind me. Finally a side street that I could get to and the thumping and banging grew a lot louder – it was TIME. The failed tire held air in spite of one belt being totally ruptured and flapping against the inner fender while the next belt was separating from everything without waiting. Did I mention I was expecting something tire related to happen- I had loaded my small hydraulic into the trunk and the mini spare was laying close to it. I arrived at the eye clinic about 4 minutes late and checked in then immediately went to wash my hands. When I returned and filled out the FIRST TWO PAGES and turned them in I was advised “here is the second set to fill out.” I said “I’m not a new patient.” That’s good so now you will only have three more pages to fill out as per Tri West. Tri West now handles the subcontract providers for VA. Why Yes I’ve been dealing with them for some time now. They seem to be very nice people unfortunately they are new to the business. Duh – It’s a brand new company with a brand new role and a brand new occupation therefore ALL the employees are brand new and all the rules are brand new. SO the voluminous paperwork was not because I was new but everyone between me and the clinic was brand new. Oh Joy again. After all that I was really ready to laugh and joke with all the employees and doctors. A new axiom for me “When I want to scream and yell at anyone who is really annoying I try to make them laugh or at least smile indulgently. The more times I make that happen the less irritated I am and sooner or later they usually get the idea and go along with it. Often they actually participate. OK now the exam is over and the results are in- “I have healthy eyes, not brand new eyes but healthy. Cataracts the same as last year but a new prescription is called for. Whaa Whoo! It’s mid afternoon & August in central Arizona and my eyes are dilated and I’m driving home on a toy spare tire into the western sun. A stop along the way to determine if I needed to tire shop online when I got home seemed a smart thing to do. Nope, we had a deal but I wasn’t ready to sit and wait as they were really busy. I was told to be there before 8:00 AM and park in a certain spot and my tire man would set the #1 Top Hat on the old Ford. That’s just what I did too. At 8:20 I was headed home with two new tires on the FRONT and my older tires on the back and had a little folding change from $200. I should have gone STRAIGHT home. I should have NOT stopped at a garage sale. I should have NOT bought a two wheeled trailer frame. Well maybe it wasn’t too bad a call but now I’m back in the tire market. The trailer frame doesn’t have ANY tires on it and the old lady wants to out of her back yard. I also discovered in my market research that used tires aren’t cheap anymore and 15” used tires are getting hard to find. I have the wheels in the back of the Scout and have been to at least 12 used tire shops and keep getting hit with $50-$75 for pair of tires that I’m not sure I want to go far on. At this point getting two tires the exact same diameter on the trailer is my goal BUT I don’t want to spend $75 just to get the sucker home about 2 miles and THEN have to replace them so I can actually use the trailer after building a bed and fenders for it or sell it. Yeah, Yeah it would seem like I’m scrambling over $50. It’s actually the principal of the thing, it’s a business deal. Another $50 will contribute to the decision of how or if I rebuild the trailer. Maybe just try to resell the frame quickly. I’m sure you can see that at this financial level each and every decision is critical. Smile, chuckle, moan or groan just don’t just sit there and shake your head in amazement.
You are being subjected to this as a result of my company wanting to take me to eat before they leave in the morning. They did and I got home with an over full tummy of good Mexican food and decided that I was about done for the day or would be if I sat here and keyed in the activities that had demanded that I prepare an adult beverage and cool off in the comfort of Crusty’s Cavern. Bud & Mo have gone out to try to see Bud (Sr) who had treatments again today and may or may not feel like visiting. Regardless they have to leave in the morning – it’s a long drive for them to have to be at work early Monday morning. I have enjoyed having someone to share the morning ritual of coffee and conversation and getting to know them better.
So in conclusion of this work week I declare it has been interesting and fun. I still need a pair of REALLY cheap tires quick.