Treading on Me

On the way home from taking the kids to school, on the interstate at 70mph, i heard it.  A low sound that just sounded "off."  Turning off the radio, and then the A/C, i heard it a bit more clearly.

Back at home, i just had a feeling, and looked closely at my passenger front tire.

Sure enough, it was about to split apart from wear.  The tread was going to come right off.  It has been 3 years on these tires, after all.

That afternoon, Sweetie went to get the kids -- the van was not moving until it went into the shop.

The next morning, back to Kevin and Louis.  Kevin was the first to come out with one of the mechanics.

Tires, i simply said, and he grinned.  "Yep, I knew when you were in here last month it wouldn't be long.  You'll need 4, right?"

While i hoped the front two would do for a while, it was not to be.  One of the back ones was also about to split; i didn't notice that until the mechanic pointed it out.

This time, i had brought Ol' Bessy, my aging, ailing laptop with me so i could pass the time.  And, of course, i was listening in on some of the chatter of the shop.  One person with a transmission going out.  Another with a noise coming from the back they were tracking down.  The whole back end needs all kinds of work, it turns out.

For all of us, it's always something.

This time, $705.16.  They also wanted to do a front end alignment, which it does need, but there is no way.  Not with company coming in next week.

Speaking of which, it's time i ordered the Doberge cake.  If you've never had one, you are missing a treat.


Today is:

Cherokee Strip Days -- Enid, Oklahoma (through Sunday)

Defy Superstition Day -- go walk under that ladder!

Dia de los Ninos Heroes -- Mexico

Eleven Days of Global Unity -- Day 3, Environment (sponsored by We, the World)

Epulum Iovis and Lectisternia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival for Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva

Feast of San Gennaro -- New York, NY, US (an 11 day street fair centered around Little Italy and its Patron Saint, Gennaro, whose feast day is the 19th; includes a Mass and parading of the Saint's statue on the final Saturday of the celebrations)

Festival of Lighting the Fires of Neith -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Fortune Cookie Day -- you might need one after that ladder stunt

Hummer/Bird Celebration -- Rockport and Fulton, TX, US (ruby-throated hummingbirds and other avians are the stars of this show; through Sunday)

Independence Day -- Venda (recognized within South Africa only)

International Chocolate Day -- as declared by the National Confectioners Association

On the Waterfront Swap Meet and Car Show -- St. Ignace, MI, US ( with a car show, truck show, toy show, and swap meet, there's something for everyone!)

National Celiac Awareness Day -- US

National Peanut Day

Newport International Boat Show -- Newport, RI, US (through Sunday)

Positive Thinking Day -- think positively that nothing bad will happen because of that ladder!

Runic Half Month Ken begins (illumination)

Snack-A-Pickle Time

St. John Chrysostrom's Day (Patron of education, epileptics, lecturers, orators, preachers; Constantinople)


Birthdays Today:

Ben Savage, 1980
Tavis Smiley, 1964
Jean Smart, 1959
Nell Carter, 1948
Jacqueline Bisset, 1944
Bela Karolyi, 1942
David Clayton-Thomas, 1941
Judith "Miss Manners" Martin, 1938
Mel Torme, 1925
Roald Dahl, 1916
Claudette Colbert, 1903
John J. Pershing, 1860
Milton Hershey, 1857
Walter Reed, 1851
Clara Schumann, 1819
Cesare Borgia, 1475


Today in History:

The temple of Jupiter on Rome's Capitoline Hill is dedicated on the ides of September, BC509
Building begins on Hadrian's Wall, 122
St. Francis of Assisi receives stigmata, 1224
Michelangelo begins work on his statue of David, 1503
Henry Hudson reached the river that would later be named after him, 1609
NYC becomes the first capital of the US, 1788
US Government takes out its first loan from NYC banks, 1789
Six teenage military cadets known as Niños Héroes die defending Chapultepec Castle in the Battle of Chapultepec, 1847
Vermont railroad worker Phineas Gage incredibly survives a 3-foot-plus iron rod being driven through his head; the reported effects on his behavior and personality stimulate thinking about the nature of the brain and its functions, 1848
Hannibal Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film, 1898
Lusitania completes her maiden voyage, arriving in NYC, 1907
The temperature (in the shade) at Al 'Aziziyah, Libya reaches a world record 57.8*C (136.04*F), 1922
Elizabeth McCombs is the first woman elected to the New Zealand Parliament, 1933
Chiang Kai-shek elected president of the Republic of China, 1943
IBM introduces the first computer disk storage unit, the RAMAC 305, 1956
Hurricane Gilbert is the strongest recorded hurricane, based on barometric pressure, in the Western Hemisphere, 1988*
Largest anti-Apartheid march in South Africa, led by Desmond Tutu, 1989
The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted, 2007
Hurricane Ike makes landfall, damaging Galveston Island, Houston, and surrounding area, 2007

*Replaced by Hurricane Wilma in 2005