What's that rumbling sound?!?

Yesterday, I spent the better part of the day cursing Vulcan and his damned rubber.

On Sunday, I had a tire go out on me on the freeway as I drove home from running an errand. Rather exciting, having to contend with a flat while driving ~60mph on a potentially icy road. Thankfully I managed to get the car stopped on the shoulder, and went about putting on the spare. I did have two people stop and offer to help, but by the time they stopped I already had the job half done. There wasn't any point in having them freeze along with me, so I thanked them for their time and sent them on their way. With the spare on, I limped the car home.

Yesterday, I went out to take care of the tire. On the way, the car started handling very strangely. I pulled off the road to discover that the spare tire had gone flat. After saying a few choice words, I limped the car to the nearest gas station to try to re-inflate the sucker. In the end, I had to pull it off and re-seat it by banging it on a metal post to get it to hold air. After putting the tire back on the car, I managed to get to Discount Tire without any further problems.

Once there, I filled out the paperwork and waited. And waited. Then, for a change, I waited. Apparently early afternoon on a Monday is the time to get your tires taken care of. After a bit, an employee came out to tell me that the tire couldn't be patched; it had run flat too long and shredded the interior of the tire. This meant that I had to pony up for a new tire - after all, most cars don't work too well with only three tires.

He checked for used tires. Nothing. He checked other stores. Nothing. In the end, I ended up paying $56 for a tire. The upside is that the car is now mostly functional; the downside is that I am completely and utterly broke for the next two weeks.

See, this is why I prefer cycling. A busted tire would put me out $10, tops, and would be much easier and less time consuming to repair. But I live in Michigan. Cycling in three feet of snow isn't feasible, even if you're a penguin.