When one gets new sets of tyres,
Optimism it inspires
That they may provide support
For some years, as well they ought.
It can therefore drive one mad
To find one that it, has had! –
Three weeks later cost to face
Is not done with a good grace!
Potholes are to blame, they say,
And I wonder if these may,
With the tyre dealers, be
Part of a conspiracy!
I posted here about having to replace two front tyres, with much muttering and misery. On Sunday, Oscar, S-in-L’s cat, pointed out to Much Better Half that one of the new tyres had a bulge in it. (Well, he rubbed against it more than pointing – anyway, he drew it to her attention.)
During a day filled with happy little incidents like leaving J’s school bag on the pavement outside the school (it was handed in, hooray!) as a result of being distracted by a serious sibling squabble, and of having to get duplicate keys cut and buy gutter brackets and things, I took the tyre for replacement.
‘Pothole damage; not covered by guarantee,’ they announced cheerfully.
‘Oh, yes,’ I responded with heavy sarcasm. ‘Not a mark on the wall, so the pothole jumped through the valve and bashed the tyre from the inside, I imagine?’
A senior was called. ‘Typical pothole damage,’ he confirmed, nodding wisely. Before I could give my famous imitation of Vesuvius in action, he added, ‘Look,’ and pointed to a dent and crack in the hubcap exactly above the bump. ‘The edge of the pothole hits the tyre, it cracks on the inside, and you get a bulge,’ he clarified.
I let my big breath out unaccompanied by sound, and paid up. But not happily.
Later I removed a window with a rotted frame from high up in the new domicile (not yet moved into) as a pattern for a replacement. I was quite pleased with my inventiveness in doing the job single-handed. The plan I arrived at was to put it in a sling secured to the burglar bars, so that after I removed the final screws from inside I could lower it to the ground on a rope. Then I taped some large doggy-food plastic packs over the gap to keep weather out.
More pics of weekend activities to add to the top one:
R looks as if she is very close to that Crock!
The salad looks especially inviting as it is very hot here now.
I guess it is made with Apples, bananas, lychees, Nartjies, Oranges, Paw-paw and Pineapple.
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She was very close indeed!
It went down very well, even though we don’t have hot weather here now.
One fruit wrong!
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Surely not lemon or Lyme 😉
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Lemon it is, as a preservative for the banana and apple!
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The insurance companies should wake up and include pot hole damages for tyres as well Col and they can then claim it back from the municipalities, whose actual job is to see that our roads are taken care of! Luckily the cute R and J were there to cool you down. Such lovely photo’s of them and always such a treat! Love that salad. I can eat that all day and week! Loved the rhyme too. You do it so well! 😀
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At work one of the drivers discovered his new tyre had been punctured on purpose the garage said kids do it with a compass! My brother had the same problem as you it’s so expensive too.
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The kids need some of the good old-fashioned systems of dealing with such behaviour, which result in a reluctance to be seated for a while.
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Hahaha my Mum suggested worse… Something to do with the compass I think 🙂 but you’ve got to catch them at it and the police haven’t the time even though his area has been hit several times recently!
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I can imagine her solution!
If the police had some sense, they would send a junior constable to confiscate ‘for testing’ all the boys’ (this is not a girl thing) compasses, and return them the next day, saying results would come out in due course.
That would make the little so-and-sos sweat for a while.
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2 years ago I bought 4 new tyres for my old Nissan Sentra two weeks later the side wall was damaged on one rear tyre. When I complained they also said it is the condition of our roads and mainly pothole damage. When a second tyre gave in the following week I threw a tantrum and the guy said “but madam what do you expect they give you fong kong tyres” and I was under the impression that I was buying Firestones!
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Aaaaaaaaargh!
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Tyres… they don’t make them to last nowadays!
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That, or they make better quality potholes!
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They’re going for quantity over quality there, Col.
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That gets the job done!
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Great photo of little R with Mr Smiley. Such a sad tale about your tyre. You must have felt quite deflated. 😦 Well done with your window replacement inventiveness. 🙂
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Needing to get it pumped up again was a bit of a blow!
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Touché. 😀
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*puffs up*
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😀
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I hate how they always find a way to twist things so that you end up paying.
My guess would be: apple, banana, lemon, nectarine, orange, pawpaw and pear
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Unfortunately, they had a valid point.
Still one wrong!
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I’m guessing it’s the one that starts with l…
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No, the l was needed to keep the b fresh. ‘Tis another, a good example of which is distinctive at bottom left!
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Pineapple?
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Whoopee!
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In Natal you still call them potholes… in Mpumalanga you call them swimming pools….
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You mean the ones there are made more dangerous by the hippos in them!
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Potholes…you,ve never seen potholes like we have in Bulgaria. Driving up to our village is like being on a rollcoaster..you have to hang on tight or get thrown out…..yet do we ever have bumps in tyres…no!
The reason being that so many holes, so many bumps, each one knocks the other out
please Mr Man do tell me why you are moving house! lots of love P
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So I should have aimed at more holes, rather than replacing?
Reason in two words – economic necessity!
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I cant get over the photo – R is the only sweet one in it 🙂 Sorry about the tyres Col 😦
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I’m sure another croc would think that one is very sweet.
I was wheely sowwy about that, too! 🙂
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Treading a fine line with the poem
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*bitterly* The tread was still perfect, too.
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My fruit salad answer will be the same as Colline’s.
Shame about the tyre and the tiresome attitude of the tyre people.
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Is 50% a pass rate here?
The worst part is that they could prove they were right on the tyres which left me landed right with another left replacement.
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So you were left and right at the centre of the tyre place. What a position to be in. 😉
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🙂
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Please say p is papaya – my favourite fruit.
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It is probably papaya, although all of that type of fruit are generally known as pawpaws here – even though they are two different species.
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And to sue the municipality for a new tyre will cost more than the tyre!
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Aye – there’s the rub! 🙂
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Watermelon, Musk melon, Star fruit, Kiwi fruit, Tomato, Raspberry, and Yogurt.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm
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Is that your preferred version, or a guess on my one? If the latter, you have seven out of eight wrong and the other one ignored! 🙂
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7 out of 8? I’m improving!
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I totally get her no-fear face in front of that reptile. I do it all the time here with the alligators. Probably stupid of me.
Glad you have the tires sorted.
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I think there would have been quite a difference had croc so much as twitched!
Pity the tire sorting had to be at another cost!
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That’s right, the fruits . . . A, B, L, N, O, P, P
Apricot, Bilberry, Loquat, Nectarine, Olive, Pomegranate, and Purple Mangosteen.
. . . am I close?
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Despite all your best efforts not to, you got one right!
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Let’s see if I can guess correctly: Apple, banana, litchis,naartjie, orange, pear , and peach.
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Only four right, actually!
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Oh dear….very frustrating about the tyres.
As for the window….where is your new home?
Oh and the salad….apple, banana, lemon, nectarine, orange, pineapple, pear?
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It was!
The home saga will be posted about at length as soon as I can get to it!
Only one fruit wrong – I’m surprised you missed it!
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Well, I ‘liked’ although not all was to be liked.
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Well, it wasn’t boring, anyway!
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