Horst Happenings....: What A Saturday, Wal-Mart T&L No More

Sunday, March 30, 2008

What A Saturday, Wal-Mart T&L No More

Here I am, Back to my same old energy wasting ways. I am no longer green. You can see this because the print in the blog is now black again. Apparently there are not enough eco-friendly, green loving, quality of life conscious blog readers that read and enjoy my blog. I only got one response to my "GOING GREEN" post. They said they liked the regular posting better. In fact they said they liked blue better. I think I'll switch to a shade of blue for awhile.

This was a spur of the moment decision. I will search CSS code for a better shade later.

Now, to the doings from yesterday. Uhhh, that would be Saturday. I woke up bright and early. My agenda included getting the oil changed, washing the truck, rotating the tires, and getting the groceries procured. Upon later reflection these plans seemed rather optimistic.

First, I head out of the house on my way to get my tires rotated at Wal-Mart Tire & Lube (T&L). When I get there the man tells me that there will be about a 2 hour wait. Since I had other plans I tell him I'll leave and come back later. Away I go to my next destination.

I get to Genie Car Wash and get in line for an oil change. They get right on it and have ready within 30 minutes. Genie is great. You get a free car wash with each oil change. I'm certainly up for free. After I pay for the oil change I head back to Wal-Mart T&L. BIG MISTAKE!

Back at Wal-Mart T&L I pull up to the line again. The guy acts like he never saw me before. I reminded him that I was the tire rotation from earlier. (Now this is where it starts to go downhill!) I didn't really like the attitude or his way of talking to me. Anyway, I start giving him the information for the truck. Then he announces that he needs to look at the tires to see if they are OK. He pokes around on the tires, mutters to himself, and tells me they don't look good. They are worn on the edges. Now I think to myself, "That's why I want the tires rotated." He wants to look at the other tires. Then announces that this must be done because, "...it's my job and my family on the line." OK! He looks at the other tire on the front and said it doesn't look good either. Now he wants to get the "tire man". I suppose the tire man is a super hero of some sort; you know like Superman or The Tick or whoever. Anyway Tire Man comes over and he joins in on the chorus of doom and gloom. By now I am learning among other things that the tires are no good, they have dry rot, the tread will peel off if I drive 60 0r 70 mph, the side of the truck will be ruined, I will die, there are chunks missing from the tires, it's their job and their families on the line. I suppose they plan on sending their family with me somewhere next time I plan on driving 60 or 70 mph. ???

I tell them the tires have only 22K miles and 2 years on them. They can't have dry rot. They proceed to show me the tell tale evidence of dry rot. I tell the two men that if the tires have dry rot I will return to the dealer; after all, they only have 22K miles and 2 years on them. I am told that the dealer won't cover it. I begin to see what they see-$$$$$. I believe they want to sell new tires not a rotation. I move on and leave Wal-Mart T&L. In fact, I instructed my daughter not to take her car there for any automotive work.

I now take the truck to the dealer who performs the requested work and does a fine job on top of it. While at Allen Samuel's Chevrolet I discuss the problem of Wal-Mart T&L with the director of the service department. He came out and personally inspected the tires and listened to the dire reports had received earlier. He announced that tires "do not" have dry rot. The wear on the outer edges are evidence that the tires need to be rotated. DUHHH! Why couldn't Wal-Mart T&L figure that out. He said that the small chunks missing are from gravel, glass, and the softer rubber used in these tires. As mentioned earlier they performed the rotation, balance, and alignment. The only down side was I was without the truck until 4:30 PM.

I then go to the grocery store, HEB, and start on the groceries. I forget to go to the pharmacy and pick up my prescription. I go one night with out the prescription. I woke up this morning and was relieved. I was still the same person with no apparent ill effects of missing my medicine last night. No the medicine isn't for that. I take Metformin for my blood sugar. It was 115 mg/dl this morning. Not bad for missing my dosage last night.