07 November 2023

Car tyres sorted (hopefully)

My car is 16 years old, and I think it sometimes feels its age. I think it has tired feet. I suppose I have had to regularly re-inflate tyres since I’ve had it, but I have the impression it has been getting worse. And that is bad. Not only is it a pain to have to check your pressure all the time, and top it up, but also, sometimes you might forget, and drive around with slightly floppy tyres. That makes your car a lot less efficient! And I really don't want to be wasteful with fossil fuels.

Initially I was just relying on petrol stations for topping up the pressure, but after a while I didn't want that anymore. I bought a foot pump. And it got a lot of use! So much so that it started to falter. The metal rods that move in and out started to wear out so much they were getting rough, so the whole pump would snag. It was time for another solution!

I then bought an electric pump. That's a lot quicker! Although at some point I accidentally pulled off the plug. Luckily I managed to solder that back together. But I had had to bring it out so often I figured I needed to tackle the problem at the cause. 

Detached (half) plug

One day during lunch, people were talking about having one’s tyres resealed at a local business. Then I decided I needed to act. It was also reading week, so my diary was quite flexible. I could just go there and wait for the work to be done without having to worry too much about making it to my next engagement. So the next morning I rocked up there.

It was busy, but they had a lot of tyre fitters in action, so it didn't take too long. They were a bit surprised I wanted all of them sealed. I suppose most people maintain their cars better. Oh dear. And I had come prepared, and had brought my laptop. I just did a fair bit of dissertation topic allocation in the waiting room! Time well spent.

In the waiting room


I really hope this will sort me out now for the foreseeable future! I hope to drive around as efficiently as I can, and not have to spend too much time on the parking lot with a pump buzzing away. I will find out!


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