Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Tire Killing Curb

Chunk torn out of tire by curb, along with slightly bent wheel lip.



This is the curb that killed my tire. Coming down, into the parking lot, from above, turning right, then angling farther right, to get into the one non disabled parking lot, you just cannot see that the curb is even there.

I am getting a used tire, not even the same brand, but at least the same size, today for $30. I also have to have it re-aligned and the front end checked for damage, to axle and steering rod on that side, which will cost, even if nothing is wrong, about $125. I'm getting that done tomorrow. I hope very much nothing has been damaged except the alignment and the tire. The wheel lip is bent but hopefully it is usable.

Because of the male cats fright pee attack, I have to somehow get that stench out of the car, too, before it is baked in. Ideas?

I went and got the used tire. It's over five years old and the tread is extremely different than the tread on the other three. It's worn on the edges. Probably should have not spent that kind of money on that old of a tire. The car drives horribly now. I don't know if it's just me needing to adjust to the feel of having a tire with different tread on it, or something more ominous. Driving with different tread tires can feel like you're heading in several different directions. Maybe that's all it is, but it does not feel like its' driving normally and it is shifting to beat the band.

That happens sometimes too, but usually in a head wind, when its sweeping in more air on the intake or when climbing a hill, since it's an automatic four cylinder tiny motor. I hope nothing serious is broken. The good thing is when I backed out to take it to have the tire put on, there was no jerking or clunking when I put it in reverse today.

I have an appointment tomorrow for re alignment and for a check of underneath components that may have been affected. This will cost me over a hundred dollars. Hopefully there not be anything wrong with that front axle or the steering rods.

I cancelled the doctor's appointment. Had to. And I am cancelling cat fixing appointments also for tomorrow. Have to. Some things you can't do much about.

This experience hasn't taught me much I guess, except how dependent I am on a car and how difficult it is financially to be dependent on a car.

I did live without a car for decades in Corvallis. I would really not want to do that again, as you have no freedom to go anywhere or do anything other than walk a small area of one town. Relying on bus service is ok for some things. But even the far superior bus service in Corvallis, compared to Albany, came with time constraints. To use the bus for all transportation involved a lot of waiting and transfers. HOwever, this time can be put to good use. Like reading. Sometimes, when the buses were behind, they would just skip a route, too, and you could sit there waiting forever, not even knowing. That was years ago.

To shop, using the city bus, meant a lot of trips, since it is difficult to transport a lot of bags, if walking to a bus stop, and the amount of baggage allowed on the bus was limited also. Getting a pet to the vet required finding someone willing with a car. This was not easy. So, do I want to go back to living without a car? I don't. If I lived in Corvallis, it would be easier to live again without a car. Not so easy in Albany. People live that way here, mostly low income folks, but most do have friends with cars I think.

You have to do a lot of begging, to get rides to get things you might need, and begging for rides like I used to do, boy, that was tough and hard on self esteem.

I am lucky to have a car now. Means I can travel if I want. Means I can do the work I do, which is actually the only use this current car has ever had. I hope to, before it dies, use it for recreation, like a camping trip or a trip to the coast. I have not been to the coast for a decade.

It's a Toyota, and to have over 120K on it, having had no trouble with it so far, that's really good.

I remember when my last old car quit. I lived on the outskirts of Corvallis. The well was bad where I lived, so I relied on filling water jugs and I did laundry in town. When my car broke, my laundry piled up and I got a little desperate for water on a couple occasions. It was a long long walk to a laundrymat, nearly four miles, and so I took to hitchhiking with my laundry. I know it's dangerous. It was a much simpler life. I quit answering the phone, since I could not work the cat trapping without a car. I walked more, too.

In the end, I got the Scion, from my dad's estate funds, and was thrilled. I am still thrilled with the Scion. Probably the Scion makers never envisioned it being used as I have used it. Makes me smile to think of their possible reactions, if they knew.

5 comments:

  1. I but wish I did have ideas about cat pee. Maybe a place like Pet Smart would have something formulated for it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. baking soda - dampen, let dry, then vacum off. its a great odor lifter.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well hell Jody, it never rains but it pours. My tom cat (any cat) pee be gone solution is this:-

    Get 4 tablets of biological washing powder and dissolve in one pint of warm water (scale this up as needed, but it needs to be very strong) - soak the areas where the pee is and KEEP IT SOAKED for about 3 days - I mean REALLY wet, keep rewetting it, don't let it dry out or the enzymes in the washing powder will quit working. Once the pee smell has gone, rinse, rinse, rinse. I've borrowed a wet & dry vax to deal with the rinsing bit, but it is possible to rinse and just mop up the water (takes ages though) then let the whole lot dry, in sunlight if you can. I've used this method for years and it's dealt with some full on tom cat pee stench (with added reeking stud tail aroma too - yum!)in the house and in my car and it's way, way cheaper than the special cat-pee-be-gone type products (works better too, greater variety of enzymes in the washing powder)

    Hope it works!

    ReplyDelete
  4. PS: If you have trouble getting the dampness out of the surfaces where the pee was, after using the washing powder, this helps - One bag of silica gel cat litter crystals in a laundry net bag, left over the wet area will draw out the moisture - might take a while (2 weeks was longest I've known) Once the crystals smell damp you can dry them out on a radiator or in sunlight. They are reusable too!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great ideas Everycat. I spent yesterday cleaning the car, scrubbing it down, using vinegar and water, which does not penetrate well, but this was a job just so I can get the car realigned today. Most of these mechanics refuse to work on my car due to the smell of male cat and quite derisive about it. And yet they'll have no problem working on farm vehicles drenched in the smell of manure or chemicals, and all sorts of ok "male" smells that are disgusting. Well anyhow. It smells much better but I will try your method after I get the car back.

    ReplyDelete

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