Our adventure began about 2 weeks ago when we found that a tire sensor was telling us that the pressure in the tire was low and we needed to put more air in it. So, we went down the highway to the Discount Tire place on the Augusta /Hallowell border. They put more air in it and said that it was fixed. So we took them at their word and drove around and around and around to the Archives, the grocery store, to church and anywhere else we wanted to go. The light came back on and so we went back down to the tire store and asked what they thought was the problem. They stood there, scratched their heads and said, don’t know but will put more air in it for you. Which they did and then they said, Well, you do have a screw in the tire in a non repairable position. Ouch! So they proceeded to tell us of their tires they have on hand and how much it would cost. We thanked them and off we went home with one tire full of air to last us for a day or so until we could find a good price on tires.
We called Sears and their system captures your phone number and immediately calls you back. Bill asked about tires and apparently you have to order these particular tires over the internet and have them delivered to the local Sears. The price was wonderful and Bill was leaning heavily towards Sears but he happened to ask a simple question about alignment and then he was told about other fees like delivery fee, service fee , balancing fee etc.etc. and by the time they were finished we were looking at over $100 per tire. You have to be careful when you shop these days. Ask lots of questions to make sure that you are getting what you think the advertisements say.
The next place we went to is newly opened up. While Bill was putting the salesperson through his paces, I went over to Christopher and Banks to check out the clothing there. Went over to the tire store to see how the process was shaping up, and re-discovered that I do not like the smell of tire stores. They had tires just like the ones we have on the car right now – the ones that did not hold up too good after 30,000 miles. The salesman wrote up a whole sheet of prices for Bill and we left there pretty discouraged. The next place we went to looks a lot like it is part of the Checker Auto Parts chain in Prescott. The salesman was pretty happy that we were there and he told us that the other store that we visited near Christopher and Banks is only one of 2 stores in Maine and if we bought from them, that we would have to be living close by in order to take advantage of their services. His store was part of a chain throughout Maine and would be ready to service your needs any time, any day. In fact, he could knock off $10.00 per tire to beat the other guy that we had just visited. He inspected our tires and said, Oh, you have a nail or something in your tire. In fact, if we had him put new tires on our car right then, he would cut the price an extra $5.00 per tire because he had a worker who was just standing around and he was having to pay this worker’s wages whether he is working or not. I really think that this tire store man was anxious to sell us tires, any way he could. His price was now $15 less than the other guy.
We went home and Bill took out the newspapers and began to look through them for tire sales. Found a couple but the prices were way higher than what we had been offered. So he called Wal Mart of all places. The Walmart here in Augusta does not have an automobile fixing place but the one in Waterville does, so we decided to go to Waterville.
In the meantime, Bill tried to access the Family Search office in SLC to begin to do our reports for the end of the week but it must not be working right because The Website says that we do not have the authorization to continue on this site. So there is no report from us this week. We packed up the shuttle and took off for the Fed Ex place. In the hurry to get out, I left my cell phone in the office so I will really have a quiet weekend.
We decided to go to the Walmart in Waterville and off we went. They put new tires on the car, found that one of the sensors was not working properly , found that the tires had worn on the outside edge from not being inflated sufficiently but they did not find a screw in the tire that was causing the slow leak.
So that is the tale of how we got new tires for the car. It makes sense doesn’t it – now that the heart of the Winter season with its snow and terrible weather is over – we get tires that are going to be wonderful and help us stay on track on the snowy road etc. etc. but we came through this winter on our Arizona tires slipping and sliding all over the place.
We are in for another adventure this weekend. I was hoping that we would go early in the morning to Topsham to look around and explore the place before going to conference at 6pm. Bill decided that he wanted to do the same thing he has done all our married life – go to the leadership meeting at 3 – 5pm and have someone pick me up and take me to the evening session at 6pm. So I guess I don’t get to go to Topsham to explore another part of Maine but I get to be driven to conference and then home. On Sunday we have to drive 1 ½ hours to some high school auditorium for the Sunday session.
Talked to the kids last night and Ethan has another meet this weekend. Must be nice to be young and have a social life.
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