New Tires, Haircuts and Life in Central Florida

On our way to Key West today - it's a 7 1/2 hour drive so I'm writing from the road. The last few days have been eventful - well, at least eventful for Central Florida...

*Cole took the CRV to see a friend in Tampa on Tuesday and when I came out Wednesday morning to check on the car, the rear passenger side tire was almost flat. The screw that caused the flat was clearly visible. There was a PepBoys just up the road so neighbor Jeff helped us pump up the tire enough to get it there. I was very optimistic that after a quick visit to the shop, the tire would be repaired and I could continue my repacking of the car in preparation for our departure on Thursday. Kyle, the service manager called me into the garage to break the bad news. What looked like a decking screw because of the star shaped indention in the head had entered the tire at an angle and cut the interior belt. This not only meant a new tire, but preferably 4 new tires because the CRV is all wheel drive. I don't know if it's because I was rested or still in a coma from all the southern food but I took this unexpected twist in stride. After some quick web searches and a call to Costco to discover existing tire warranties don't pass on to new owners (#bummer) and to get a price on 4 replacement tires, I was able to negotiate with Kyle to get the tires at PepBoys at the Costco price + road hazard insurance. So, now we have 4 Continental Cross Contact LX's for the rest of our journey!

To finish the day Cole decided he wanted to get his hair cut. He had dreadlocks about a year ago and has been concerned the chemicals they use damaged his hair. He felt the only way to be sure was to get a buzz and start fresh, so that's what we did. We found a great barber in Belleview, Fla. and Cole went from shaggy to shaved whiled I hung out with the barber's 5 year old son and watched him played some brutal DC comics based fighting game on PlayStation.

*Please note that I do not consider Cole responsible for the flat tire, we could have picked up that screw at several points along the way.