It was a rough ride i.e. size matters especially in tires

It can be quite compelling how life can have its share of rough rides, you know?  If you take notice of my last blog post here on "Jaguar Julie Blog On and On ..." you might notice that my very last blog post was penned on July 26, 2010.  Perhaps you might think I was off on sabbatical or taking some sort of long-winded vacation?  Hmmm?  Nope!  That was really not the case.

On July 9th, my last unobserved birthday, my attorney served divorce papers on my ex-hubby!  Yeah, I was channeling the thought that Seth Godin infused in us Squidoo lensmasters ... we will celebrate NO more birthdays!  Make that "birthday" of yours a memorable occasion ... and don't be blowing out any birthday cake/cupcake candles.  Well, I didn't!  July 9th was just one of the first days of many included in my rough ride through the remainder of 2010 and into 2011.

You see, seriously ... my attorney was prepared to go to trial with the divorce.  I wasn't sure about that!  But, he did put a "gag order" on me.  So, I interpreted that to mean ... no more blog posts about my feelings, life, and other stuff ... possibly very random in nature.

So!  July 26th was my last blog post.  July 30th my attorney said, "go ahead and get those tires!"  And I did.  I went to Tire Kingdom on Philips Highway in beautiful Jacksonville, Florida.  I had an appointment too!  So, when I ended up waiting OVER 2 hours for two new back tires, I was a little rattled.  THEN, the guys come in to the waiting room to tell me something is wrong with my car!  You see, it wouldn't start!  Long story short, twenty minutes later, we figured out that the red button on my remote had been pushed by one of the guys working on my car.  So, we were all locked out from starting the car.  That was the beginning of my rough ride!

I drove out of Tire Kingdom that night, headed back home to finish the divorce discovery which was becoming hugely B-R-U-T-A-L ... 5 years of banking and personal financial records to be produced!  As I headed West on Philips and North on Southside, I thought, "MAN, this is one rough ride."  How about those NEW tires?  Never did I question the fact that there were two 245 Goodyear Eagle tires on the back of my car.

The bill for those two tires came to $400.  That was better than the 2 front Goodyear Eagle tires ... previously supplied by Tire Kingdom on Philips, but costing me some $550.  I've always paid just under $1000 for the 4 tires on my Mercedes-Benz 1999 SLK-230 roadster.  It's a classic, you know?

This past week, my classic M-B was at Brumos on Atlantic for 3 full days ... lots of preventative service which tabulated to nearly $2,100 in charges!  It was Brumos who told me, "Julie, you must seriously go back to your tire guy!"  It seems that on the driver back, the tire was NOT a 245, but a 215!

As of this writing, I had contacted Tire Kingdom, several different times, to resolve this issue.  My first appointment was cancelled since Brumos still had my car.  The next day I stopped by Tire Kingdom on time, only to be told that the tire had NOT been ordered ... you see, the guy had to validate that I indeed had a 215 wrong tire on my car!!!  Next, when I asked, can you then schedule me an appointment for after work and install the correct tire that I paid for in July 2010?  NOPE, he said ... I'd have to wait until the tire came in and he checked it out ... then he would set up the appointment.  Friday came and went ... NO tire.

Saturday morning I was waiting for a phone call ... "your tire should be here within one hour."  That one hour came and went; no phone call.  So, I drove to Tire Kingdom and learned the tire had just been delivered from Orlando, but it was warped.  Oh my!  The store manager was the FIRST Tire Kingdom employee who took ownership of this problem!!!  He ordered a "loaner" tire from a local store ... I waited for one of the employees to go pick it up.  I am now driving around Jacksonville, Florida, looking for a house to buy, with a 245 Sumitomo tire on my driver back.

Beep beep!  If you see me on the road today, honk please!