When I got my last set of tires, extra was paid for their warranty. And a good thing, too. I had to replace one of the tires and it didn’t cost me anything.

But what that means now is that I had one good tire and three bald tires. First thing Saturday morning, I headed to Discount Tire. Although it was still chilly, their front door was propped open with a heater/blower running. They had a water line break, and it flooded the garage and part of the customer waiting area.

It didn’t appear to slow them down much, and I was quickly charged for my three marginal tires. I settled in to wait. Not for long, they had me come out to the service area and showed me my bent rim. It wasn’t all that bent, but I kinda knew there was a problem from the way the car drove. The dude highly recommended aluminum rims, the cheapest they had were only a few dollars more then the steel replacements.

But the problem was you can’t just buy one rim; my old steel rim used a hubcap; aluminum rims do not use hubcaps. So I brought out the plastic and added 4 rims to my purchase; he upgraded me from the cheapest aluminum to the next best for the same price.

But wait! There’s more! A few minutes later he came out and told me they didn’t have those rims either, so he showed me a couple that were on display, and told me to pick one. I’d already paid, so he just gave me the upgrade. I didn’t really like either of them, but whatever; the car is 11 years old, it’s all good.

He mentioned that aluminum rims give a much better ride. I thought he was blowing smoke, but I really can tell the difference. Of course, if I really had two bent rims the difference would be obvious with any new set.

Overall, I’m pleased with the purchase, but did NOT want to spend $800 on my ride. And I don’t particularly like the red line.  But whateves, it rides better.

Add these to the stereo I just installed, and it’s the closest I’ll get to a newer car!

I listen to a lot of audio books on my drive.  My previous setup consisted of the stock stereo and a digital-to-tape cassette.  I had to turn it up loud to hear over the rhythmic screech as the cassette labored to produce sound from an MP3 player.

This of course shocked me.  She never takes the lets-just-talk-it-out position, she’s SIX.  And she certainly didn’t get this enlightened approach from me!

We had briefly discussed getting a new car, something much smaller and more fuel efficient.  The problem is I use that Blazer to haul the occasional siding or 2x4s; maybe a load of sod, so I wasn’t certain how that would work out.  Perhaps a Scion xB or Honda Fit would work for that, if I tied a red ribbon on the back of the load.

Well, she did call.  From the dealer.

I told her no, lets talk about it, perhaps visit some other dealers to see what we liked.  Instead, she drove home in a brand spanking new 2009 Toyota Corolla XLE.

I don’t know, do you think it’s a good sign that an unexpected storm blew up and knocked out the power at the dealership?  She came home with the car, but not all the paperwork has been done.

While I am glad we won’t have to worry about fixing the Blazer, I sure did like not having any monthly payments on our vehicles.

-sigh-