erikscottberg.com

Today I went to get my tire fixed at Discount Tire. My family and I have been customers for years. At the risk of sounding like a commercial, I’ve had pretty positive experiences with them during that time.

Today was no exception.

The Honda I’m driving was recently handed down to me from my mom. She’s also been using Discount Tire. Back in 2003 she bought some Michelin tires for the car.

I showed the worker the paperwork on that purchase and even though I wasn’t the original owner, he passed the warranty on to me. That means that instead of spending over $100 for a new tire, it only cost me about $20 (which is the warranty for the new tire).

Now I just need to avoid those potholes….

On my way into the church today I met an unfortunate setback. As I turned onto Harlem from 151st street, my front passenger tire hit one of the largest potholes I’ve ever seen. Actually, I barely saw it because it came up so quickly as I turned the corner. I really didn’t have time to react and I nailed it pretty good. There was a huge bang and within seconds I realized that my tire had gone flat.

I pulled over and checked my tire. It wasn’t pretty.

So I proceeded to pull out my spare and change the flat. Once the spare was on, I was quite proud of how fast and smooth the change went. I hopped in the car and started down the road.

I got about 20 feet.

That’s when I realized that my spare was flat, too. Fortunately, I was able to get a hold of our church Business Administrator, who drove me to a nearby gas station to fill up the spare and then back to my car again. The spare held and now my car waits for a replacement tire.

The bang of my tire hitting that pothole has been ringing in my head all day. Not fun.

Bethany left me with the boys today so she could host a baby shower for her sister. Overall, it was a good day, though lunch was a bit messy. Bethany left some frozen meals for me to make the boys. It was a gourmet meal of chicken nuggets, corn, mac and cheese, and chocolate pudding.

Piece of cake, right?

Well, instead of separating dessert, I just heated it up and gave it to Kent without thinking of what he might do with it. Instantly, he shoved his hand into the chocolate dessert and ignored everything else on his plate.

Everything else, that is, until he realized he could dip his chicken nuggets in the pudding.

I know it’s disgusting, but hey, that’s what happens when you leave the kids with dad…that and pudding mustaches.

We have a new baby in our house: a 42-inch plasma TV. I’ve been dreaming of this day for a long, long time. Through a series of amazing circumstances, last night I went to the store to pick up our new family member at over 58% off the retail price. Half of this discount was due to the current sales for the Superbowl, but the other half came in the form of gift cards we had received from many long months of earning points on our credit card. The remaining 42% will be covered by our savings account until Uncle Sam gives us a fat check as a part of the Economic Stimulus plan (if it passes, of course).

Right now we have our new baby safely set on our dresser in the bedroom until we get an entertainment stand that will properly house it on a permanent basis. (I don’t trust it on the floor downstairs where it’s siblings can knock it around.)

My inner nerd has died and gone to heaven.