♫I'mmmm soooo Tire-d!♫

(I know, enough with all the Mel Brooks, already....)

Most of this week was spent in a mixture of frustration and relief over my attempt to do what you'd think would be a simple thing: find a pair of snow tires in Buffalo.  I had trouble finding four of them last winter, so settled for two for the back. That was a massive improvement, but I'd occasionally have weird traction issues on curves and such, so I was determined to go with a full foursome this time. 

The dealer we bought from no longer sells any Smart cars, but they still ::koff:: service them. In early November, when the first signs of the white stuff were showing up, I tried to get an appointment with them, to make my purchase but also to appease  the nag screen I was getting every startup about my 10,000 mile service being overdue.  I signed up for that, for reinstalling my two rear snows from last year, and for purchasing two new snows for the front. Soonest they could get me in was the Monday after Thanksgiving.  Seeing that, I gave them an extra week to this past Monday, so they could also do the NYS inspection that's due in December.  I even stopped in the Friday before the appointment, to confirm they had all these down, and to add asking them to check my odd problem with demonic possession that occurred around Thanksgiving.

We brought them JARVIS at ass-crack o:clock this past Monday morning; Eleanor then took me to work.  I didn't hear boo for hours, putting me in an unsettled state despite having noplace I had to drive and despite being able to walk home if I had to.  Mid-afternoon, the call came: the rear snows were on, the evil spirit remained in hiding (I hadn't heard it go off since Thanksgiving, so maybe Mom has settled back in the dirt;), but, and this was the bad news, they could not find new snow tires, or indeed any new tires, for the front of the car. Worse, the original front tires were now beyond inspection pale. My choices were to suck it up or to take a loaner from them.  I did not want one of their Mercedes S-class panzers, and told them so, but they blessedly still had a gas Smart, same year and otherwise essentially identical to mine, wot I could use until they finished their game of Where's Waldo's Tires?

A co-worker gave me a ride to at day's end, and this became my Car Away From Car for the rest of the week:



The rules were simple: 150 miles a day max (not a problem unless they found the tires the next morning, as I had to be in Rochester Tuesday); no leaving the state; and no smoking in the car.  Also, an ambiguous directive about using my toll transponder:



(The service dude gave me mine back along with my garage door opener, so I'm guessing it just meant this loaner didn't have its own.  And that is the name of the old Sly Stone song, I've since learned.)

Those last two, which I didn't think would be an issue, each came close.  The Tuesday Rochester client was nervous about her hearing, so I drove her downtown in the Loaner Arranger (yes, we name everything;). She was also a heavy smoker, and even though she didn't smoke in the car, I was afraid the contact high from her just sitting there might've busted me.  I also considered breaking the New York Only rule once I found out that there are still plenty of Smart dealers in Ontario province- one in St. Catharine's, even closer to home than Rochester- that might well have the Holy Snow Tires.  Of course, these days, going to Canada makes it harder to abide by the no-smoking rule;)

But that wouldn't have been until late in the week- I was in Rochester that day and two days later, the latter being in a messy morning-commute mix of snow and slush in a loaner that didn't even have snows on the back.  It also almost got hit by a FREEKIN EEDJIT across from the federal courthouse on Tuesday, who was trying to parallel park her boat of an SUV into a space right behind the loaner.  I waved and screamed and pulled out of dry dock to give her plenty of room to drop anchor.

Wednesday was quiet due to the all the Asscloth and Sashes for Bush 41- mail canceled, federal proceedings all closed- and I just cranked out work. Thursday brought that second messy Rochester trip, which was scary the first 20 miles out and the last 20 miles back but otherwise featured barely a flake falling.  I had a foreclosure hearing there- which was my third case of the week involving clients trapped in this mess.  The first, by a hardworking client who fell behind after filing a Chapter 13 and couldn't get her bank to agree to reinstate her mortgage. The second, by a client who also fell behind after filing a Chapter 13 and went on the lam from federal marshals in connection with a transaction that might have been legal in Ontario now but still isn't here. Guess which one of those two got approved for a trial mortgage modification lowering their payment and interest rate? Gwon, guess.

By late Thursday, when I got back to my office here from the white-knuckle snow drive, I was starting to wonder whether this dealer was literally trying to reinvent the wheel.  But they called, to surrender but also to appease me even further. They'd found a pair of all-seasons for the front of JARVIS and could have them on either by the end of that day or sometime Friday.  I went along with this plan, since I would need those tires for the end of the winter anyway, and once I retrieved my own car I could visit Canada, and its many tourist attractions;), at my leisure.

I got the call round 11 yesterday morning that JARVIS was ready to go. This gave me just enough time for two accomplishments.

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First was getting my hair cut, with a stylist I've had a number of times before.  I noticed her wearing what I thought was some new hardware on the fourth left finger, and indeed she had just gotten engaged. I congratulated her, and told her that I'd proposed to my own beloved on this same day, 32 years before.

Second was working in  a workout for the first time since JARVIS went on HIAT-US.  I'd planned one for the end of the afternoon the day before, but the travel home was too long and stressful for that.  My stylist finished in just enough time for me to bop on over for a noon-hour class not far from the dealership, and there I experienced one of Life's Little Victories:

Most of the workout was good but expected: a routine run-to-row, nothing-unusual floor exercises, but one new (to me) component: a three minute plank hold. You could start on palms or elbows, got one switch from one to the other, and otherwise owed Stephanie five push-ups for every drop. (And trust me- she checks;)

I was determined to hold the damn thing- and somehow I did. I'm slower than virtually all on that floor, am older than maybe one or two, but despite shaking palm to foot at the 2:59:60 mark, I made it. Around 30 seconds left, the push-up trade sounded darned reasonable, but as one of the other coaches says, you can do anything for 30 seconds. Even cranky old me.

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From that, I got back my car, inspected, tire-d front and rear, more than I expected for a tab ($180 for putting on my own tires versus $130 for buying and mounting the new ones), but I was reunited. And it felt so good.