One of Those Days

There it was again. The funny light that sent us to the owner's manual to find out what it meant when it first came on shortly before the Yaris' first scheduled maintenance. It turns out to be a warning light that one of the tires is under-inflated. While I check the air pressure on Billie at least twice a week, I will admit to being much more lax when it comes to auto tires. I just use the eyeball method.

When the light came on that first time, a couple of years ago now, I looked and the tires looked fine. When I took it to the dealer the service tech said sometimes a big swing in temperature can cause it to come on. When I picked it up the light was off and it didn't come on again until right before we left for Kansas a few weeks ago. As luck would have it, once again the car was scheduled for its routine maintenance. And, once again the tires all looked fine. And, once again when I picked the car up the light was off and it remained off all the way to Kansas and back.

The light remained off until about a week ago. This time the car was not scheduled for service, but the tires all looked good. Last Thursday evening, the evening of the first snow, I mentioned to Heather that if any of the tires were low it was the right rear. She looked at them and thought they all looked the same. I reminded her I had said, "If."

Our first snow wasn't  much of a snow, but as usual it put the whole area into a tizzy. I took this photo on my way to work while passing Tower Grove Park.

Yesterday I drove to work again and when I came out after work I thought thr left rear tire looked perhaps a little lower, but I knew I might just be imagining it. When I got home it looked pretty much the same. You might be asking yourself, why didn't I just check the tire pressure. I thought about it, but the gauge I use to check the Symba's tire often lets out as much air as I put in. Not a problem with Symba's tire, just a few pumps on the floor pump and all is well eventually, but it seemed to me it could be a problem with the Yaris' tires. In my defense, the plan for today was to get a new gauge and check all the tires and then take appropriate action.

When I came out to begin my errands you know what I found. I'm sure I don't even need to tell you, do I? Yep, the left rear tire was flat. While Heather called roadside assistance I headed to the computer to read the local news and to feel sorry for myself while kicking myself for not having done something sooner.

One of the lead local news stories was about a fire in a dentist's office. It seems this dentist collected sports memorabilia. His office was filled with irreplaceable items like the official scorecard from Sept. 29, 1963, the last game played by Cardinals great Stan Musial. If you wish you can read the article about the fire by clicking here.

Needless to say, I felt a little small for being upset by a little thing like a flat tire after reading about the dentist's loss.

In a little over an hour the spare was on and I was ready to roll.

By the time roadside assistance got the tire changed out it was too late to take it to the shop I like to use. They close down early on Saturdays. I'm off work Monday and I'll take it in then. If one was to have a flat tire this one couldn't have been more convenient. It happened in front of my home, we have roadside assistance, and I can get the tire looked after Monday without burning a vacation day or a Saturday morning.

I was still determined to get a new tire gauge before another day passed. There is an AutoZone near Maplewood Scooter Company. I figured it only made sense to head that direction and combine getting the tire gauge with a nice visit with Mike talking about scooters and motorcycles.


I had no idea my usual route would take me right by the burned out dentist's office. Some days it is difficult to imagine that life isn't somehow all connected.

This turned out to be one of those days.