As I Tread Softly Through Life

Tires, Tips, Temperature, and Tempest

Before I took my trip in June to Carmel Valley, I stopped by Mike Carys' tire place to check on a vibration that I could feel at around 75 mph.
That's cruising speed on the freeway, and I wanted to make the ride smoother. He had the tires balanced, and I took it out for a test. A little improvement, but still the vibration was there. He suggested we rotate the rear tires to the front and that helped a bit more. The newer tires were now on the back, but according to Mike, that's better when driving in bad weather. Even though the Buick is front wheel drive, when putting on the brakes in snow, ice and rain, low tread on the back can cause the rear to lose it's grip and the car will be hard to control.

Mike Cary's tire store
It made sense to me and I took my trip with the Dunlop tires, ( Purchased in 1999), on the front. My plan was to squeeze as many miles out of those tires as I could before buying new ones. I did get about 3 more months out of them, and then a couple of weeks ago, I noticed the steering was feeling heavy and there was a woggle in the front end at low speed. I googled my problem and eventually found out that old tires will deform when the belts begin to separate.

Time to re-tire.

They have, really fast, service

"James", the tire guy and the Buick 9/4/08
With the new tires, the Buick drives like the well engineered car it is. I look forward to winning the lottery so I can buy gas for a nice, long, smooth trip. Thanks Mike and James.

Here Is A Handy Tip

My neighbor, Jo Anna, forwards e-mails to me that she receives from her friends. Some are funny and some are enlightening. One of them had this tip that you might find useful if you need to open and re-seal an envelope. Not just for snooping, but in case you forgot to put something in a letter that you already sealed. Put it in the freezer for a few minutes and it should open right up, and re-seal like, "new".

Scene from Karl Rove's puppet show
Sara Palin Rap
This is really funny! I was going to write about how uncomfortable John McCain looked with Karl Roves' hand up his ass, but this is soooo much better. Watch This.

I love this weather in Redding.

It's a lovely day on my balcony 9/4/08

Hard Hearted Hannah

Hannah, off the Florida coast.

Relatively appropriate song for today;
Hard Hearted Hannah
Performed by Ella Fitzgerald w/ intro by Jack Webb

Peace begins within