Flat

On Tuesday I noticed that the driver's side rear tire was flat on the car. Hoping for an easy fix I took the tire to a local garage only to be told that a belt was broken and air was leaking out through cracks around the bulge created by the broken belt.

I didn't think to ask the mechanic what causes such things but wouldn't be surprised to learn that driving over curbs or through pot holes could be responsible. The car is insanely long and it's easy to cut corners short and drive over curbs.

After reading advice about how important it is to have all 4 tires the same diameter on an all wheel drive car I asked myself, "How often do I have the car in AWD?" The answer is almost never. Maybe once every 5 years. So, I fell back to replacing 2 out of the 4.

My experience with buying tires is that I can do my research, pick the tire I want and then end up buying something the salesman says is as good or better. Probably because they don't have that exact tire in the size needed for my car.

This time I hope to get the tire I want. I started at consumerreports.org and chose a tire based on their ratings. Then I went to tirerack.com and ordered 2 of THOSE tires ($108 each). The shipping cost is $35 but, if that's what it takes to get a better, safer tire then I think it's money well spent.

Energy Crisis

On Sunday I took the scenic route to Home Depot on the cycle and ran out of gas. I knew I was near the bottom of the tank but had planned to use the reserve to get to the nearest gas station. Imagine my dismay to find the fuel selector already set on 'reserve'. Yes, I am a twit.

A good Samaritan offered me some of his gas but Kevie arrived right before I poured the gas from his can. Cruising range on the bike, including the reserve, is 207 miles.

Replaced the bent front brake handle this weekend.

On the House

We're noticing considerable soot around the registers so the heat exchanger in our oil furnace must be cracked. The house was built in the mid/late 70's and the original furnace doesn't owe us anything. Will consider a gas conversion not only because of possible fuel savings but I much prefer to cook with gas and running a gas line to the house gets us closer to a gas range. I plugged in a CO detector we had in the closet so we'll know if it gets really bad.

We had a visit from Ben Franklin Plumbing on Saturday ($347) to fix a pinhole leak in the hot water discharge line. And they replaced the bathroom tub faucet which had developed a hole. The plumber told us that our problems stem from bad water quality, notably iron in the water. The last owner installed a water softener as a condition of selling the house and we've recently tried to stay on top of keeping it charged with chemicals. Hopefully this will address the quality issue.