Tire repair (an aside)

 Last summer while in Milwaukee I got TWO punctures in my right front tire.

One was a nail, one was a screw.

At first, I went to one of the big tire stores to see if they would fix them.

Even though Bridgestone says that their Run Flat Tires are repairable, these stores wanted to sell me a new tire. 

This tire did not even have 5,000 miles on it.

So I went to a small tire shop close to the house. (by the way, I think I picked up the first puncture in Houston, and drove all the way to Milwaukee with a very, very slow leak) 

This is the tire shop:

Waheed's Tire Center on Holton street.

They were fast, friendly, funny, and functional. They fixed the flat in minutes. Waheed was supervising, John did the work, and Indiana watched and made respectful comments. I paid the $20 and then gave them all tips. It made sense

The second time I went, they remembered me, of course, and again the work was expeditious. Paid, tipped, on my way hope.

That tire is still holding air almost a year and about 2,000 miles later.

So when I picked up another puncture, this one in the right rear tire, I did what everyone does in such a situation.

I went to YouTube to see if I could learn how to do this myself.

It was a little daunting to think about this at first, but as my Spiritual Advisor used to own a tire store, I asked him for advise and support. He said that I could pull a plug as good as any other tire jockey out there, so I decided to try. What was there to lose?

So I got a kit:

Same as in the video.

I found the puncture (which was not leaking, by the way):

I was tempted to just leave it in, but my SA said that it may work its way into the tire, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

So I pulled it:

It's a little control knurled screw. Very bad luck for me. It was through the tread though, and air started pouring out the second I got it out.

Then I plugged it:

and then trimmed it down to fit.

No leaks!

Then pumped up the tire.

I took my time, and was done in about an hour. It seems like a lot of that time was finding the puncture.

I took it on the freeway with no ill effect. I will keep my eye on it for a couple of weeks, then I am sure I will forget about it.