How to get your tire fixed

About a week and a half ago, I thought my rear driver's side tire looked low. I asked MV to check it. Two days later, I thought it still looked low and sweetly asked if he had time to check my tires. Turns out he had aired it up right after I asked, but he checked again and aired again. Diagnosis - must be a slow leak and I needed to go up to the corner tire store. Yes, we actually have a tire store that is pretty much up on the corner.

Then I drove for about a week with it looking just fine, so obviously it had fixed itself. Conveniently, since MV was out of town so there was no possible way to convince him to do it for me.

Two nights ago, he came back into town. Last night, he mentioned that my tire looked low and had I gone to the tire shop. He was not of the opinion that it fixed all by itself.

So...today I slipped out of work early and visited the tire shop. You should absolutely go to Discount Tire on 12 Mile. This is a very nice tire place. With good magazines (which I did not read - see below). And they have staffed up perfectly - cute guys who are just scruffy enough to not be intimidating, but not scruffy enough that you don't want them to kind of flirt with you a little even though you could (possibly) be their mom. Though I did feel a little embarrassed asking the cute guy where the restroom was. (Seriously, everybody pees. Really, they do. Why do I feel silly asking?) They checked my tire while I diligently read facebook my accounting text. They said it was just a little corrosion making the tire not seat right and fixed it for free. Did you hear that - FOR FREE!

The cutie guy in charge let me know that two tires were starting to crack and the others were very low on tread, but we agree that was a conversation best left for another day. 

I happily skipped to my car, then skipped back into the tire shop and said I just didn't think it was quite full enough yet. The cutie guy in charge checked it and said it could take 5 lbs more. As he pulled it over to the hose, it started to sprinkle. He used the wipers. BBBRRRRAAAPPPP!

He came back and let me know I really could use new wipers. I explained that the one on my side was new, due to the unfortunate icy window, tangled-up wipers incident. I even used hand motions, but I'm not sure he completely got it. He turned on the wipers again. BBBRRRRAAAPPPP!

"You see," he said, "they are supposed to take the water off the window, not just turn it into lines."

"But it does that on my side just fine," I replied.

BBBRRRRAAAPPPP!

"Wipers are only $8.99 and we install them for free..."

I let him change the passenger side. And magically that horrible noise is completely gone.

We went back into the tire store. I paid. I hopped into my fully-aired up, no more BBBRRRRAAAPPPP! car and turned onto 12 Mile. I reached into my purse for my sunglasses. No sunglasses. I thought about it for a minute. I mentally traced my steps (all while sitting about a few feet from the tire store because, at the intersection of 12 and Orchard, rush hour is a bitch). I suddenly knew where they had to be. I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant two down (because there was no way I was getting back to where I had come from in that traffic) and I walked back to the tire store. The cutie guy in charge saw me walk up and looked questioningly. Because (I really am hoping) it is not every day that someone drives away with a fixed tire and returns 5 minutes later on foot.

"Oh, I just need to pop into your restroom and pick up my sunglasses"

Yeah, I am just that cool.