flat.tire.

I had to buy a new tire today. It sucked, but was my own fault, so I can't really complain. It had some sort of slow leak since last fall, and while I kept meaning to take it in, the best I apparently could do was to fill it up when it got low. So on monday, when we got back to my parents from pennsylvania, I checked all the tires, added air to the low one, and set off on my way home. I stopped at the new balance outlet since they were having a sale and I needed some running shorts, and when I came out thirty minutes later, I had a flat tire. The amusing part was that it wasn't the slow leak tire, it was the other front one. This is where I'm happy to have aaa. In theory, I could have changed the tire myself. Usually, it's something I would have insisted on doing. But I was tired, and it was darkish, so I decided to get my money's worth out of my annual membership. The guy came within thirty minutes, and put the spare on in less than five, and I was home shorty after. Luckily, I have a full size spare tire, so I didn't have to drive with a donut. Today I zipped over to my tire place to have both tires fixed. The flat one had a rim leak which was fixed with some cleaning, spray stuff, and $15. The slow leak tire was a sadder story. Since it had been leaking for so long, there were apparently times when I drove on a flattish tire. Not so flat that it would be noticeable or cause rim damage, but flat enough that I wore out part of the side- the part that wasn't supposed to be rolling on the road but was. So it was thin and likely to cause bad problems while driving in the future, so I had to shell out the big bucks for a brand-spanking new tire. I guess I learned a valuable lesson today.