Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Flat tires!!!

So everyone knows my background with Firestone some years ago...so everyone knows i've seen my fair share of flat tires, never bothered me....but of course they was never "MINE"!!  Imagine my surprise when i walk outside of the motorhome and walla....car is leaning...i know all too well that look.  I search back into my memory banks how to deal with this tragic situation....i tell myself not to panic, things go wrong when you panic.  Slowly memory recall sets in, and within hours i have the tire changed over to the spare.  Now the fun bit, lets find a tyre shop.....ask the campground host and go into town on his directions, all the while setting myself up for the big scam.  Drive into what looks like a wrecking yard, got greeted by pitbulls and a stray cat, after a while two mexicans come out of the trailer and ask if i need help, "yes" i say, keeping a cool demeanor.  They take the flat from me...put it on the tyre machine and remove the valve stem.....i know i'm in trouble.....i says to the younger chaloopa "ummm..shouldn't you find out where its leaking from first before takin it off the rim?"  "se", he puts the valve stem back in, gives it some air and dunks it in the tank......we see bubbles right away and he goes to remove the tire from the tank....."sir,i say, should'nt you check the whole tyre in case there is more than one hole?"...."se" says he....luckily only one hole...i'm very nervous.  Removes the tyre and stares at the tyre for a long time, next thing older chaloopa comes over, stares at the tyre as well.  Then turns to me and says....wait for it....."senore, tyre cannot be saved!".....OOOHHH REEEAALLLY!, says i!  Of course these little chaloopas do not know my background, the little hole is clearly repairable and i let them know it with lots of technical garb that i barely understand.  Both stare at me in disbelief....i ask them to repair it....please i say.  Young chaloopa reaches into a drawer, i'm ready to duck for cover in case its a gun, he draws out an old cord style repair device...i look at him and ask what he gonna do with that, he says he gonna stick my tyre with some gooiy cord and tyre be fixed, i say no no, patch from inside please...he say he no not how!!!  Older chaloopa says take some time and be more expensive, i say i don't care, but something tells me to move to a different tactic.  I go out on a limb and ask them if i can pay them and repair the tyre myself!!!??  What a dumb way of getting a tyre fixed, but i don't think they know how to repair a tyre properly....older chaloopa says yes go ahead senore.  Whoa..!!  okay i look around and everything i need is there, but on top shelve and very dusty, like never been used, so i start doing a tyre repair on my own tyre....George would be proud of me!!, what blew me away is the chaloopas wanted to watch and explain what i was doing every step....ohhh great, i pay to do my own tyre repair and have to give lesson at the same time.....welcome to southern states i say to myself, things are done a little backwards....but all is good, pay them for my job well done, $12.00 american pesos, and off i go.......fast forward four weeks later and i come out of the motorhome and look at the car....its leaning....no, not what you think....leaning the other way this time.......ohh god, here we go again......I guess i know what kinda work to look for when i get home.....TYRE REPAIR ANYBODY???

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

lmao...and you are so patient at the best of times. can't believe you paid to repair your own tire, but then again, if you look at it as tool/shop rental I guess it's easier to swallow.

me, I'd be tempted to bill them for a lesson ;o)