Tire Troubles

Some days nothing goes right, and some days unusual things happen. You may remember that we had a flat tire in the dark Friday night. Sunday we looked for the hole that caused it as we drove into the city and wow, not huge but very deep, no wonder it bent the rim like that. It had not been there the week before so no wonder he hit it. We drive the road so often we know where most of the holes are. Spring is the worst time for potholes but we have flats fairly often, especially when driving after dark or on unfamiliar roads.  Garry started carrying extra things for tires the first spring we were here after hitting so many potholes (sometimes there are so many you can't miss them) and having so many flat tires.

Here's what he carries in the car for tire problems- a spare tire (sometimes two if we are going to Kiev), a jack, a lug wrench, a big hammer and a little compressor that plugs into the cigarette lighter. Garry had pounded out the big dent in the rim from our flat tire Friday night, that's why he carries a hammer in the car so he can re-inflate flat tires with the compressor. That tire wouldn't blow back up so he put the spare with the slow leak that did inflate instead, and made it home safely, thankfully. In March we had a flat in almost the same place on the highway while driving with Ray (from Steinbach) who had come earlier than the rest of the building team, he was amazed to watch Garry jump out of the car in the dark and bang the rim back in shape before the tire deflated.

Garry had problems getting the tires fixed on Saturday in the city, he was gone for hours. His plan was to buy two tires and drop them off at a shino-montage (where they fix tires but don't normally sell them).  He was driving in the city, after buying the tires when someone flashed their lights and blew their horn at him to tell him one of the his tires was going flat. He stopped and pumped it back up to drive further and find a shino-montage. While he was inflating the tire, someone walking past stopped to talk to him, it was the Ukrainian gentleman who drives for the Mennonite center and has been at the farm several times recently. He was happy to go with Garry to show him a nearby shino to get it fixed. Garry went for a walk while the new tires were put on the rims.

The idea was that the new tires would be put on the old rims from the worn tires and put on the front of the car and the ones currently on the front would go on the back. However, when Garry got back, this had not happened. The shini guy could only get one of the damaged rims straightened out with his rim machine, so only one new tire had been put on a rim. Garry still needed to buy a rim before all the tire moving could take place so he came home with bad tires still on the car for Sunday driving.

When Garry went outside Sunday morning to drive over to the barn for milking I heard the sound of the little pump, another flat tire, the one he had put on Friday night with the slow leak, so no big surprise. The car made it through Sunday without having another flat, driving to Dnepro and back. Monday morning and he had to drive into Zap and pick up Maria for the week of teaching- I can't remember if he had to pump up a tire or not (I think he did- but I just asked him and he thinks not, but he's not sure either). It's Tuesday morning and Garry didn't make it over for morning chores because the other front tire was flat and wouldn't pump up with the little compressor, he tried for 15 minutes before coming back to bed. He jacked it up after it was daylight and got it inflated then.

So while I was teaching English at 8 am this morning he was out at the highway, visiting the little shino-montage just across the highway to get that tire fixed because the shop is only open in the mornings. He says now he is buying two more new tires so they will all be replaced for the winter and of course, a rim. Just as soon as he has time to get to town and do it.