Tyre rotation worked

 Yay, driving the cat around it no longer has that vibration on the front end - so I'm declaring success. I suspect that the tyre that was repaired wasn't balanced, and the small amount of extra weight from the patch / plug / whatever was enough to put the wheel slightly off.

That one is now the spare, which kind of mucked up my rotation pattern. But the old spare (which was brand new) is now the front left which is the wheel that tends to wear out the fastest. Not ideal, but I might leave it there for the next rotation so that it wears down to match the others.

So far, looking good!

Aaaandd... first flat tyre

 Got back to the bike after work getting ready to go home and found the front tyre was flat.

   -_-

Rather than pulling the wheel apart straight away, I figured I'd have a go at just pumping some air into it. If it was a small hole with a slow leak, then I might be able to just ride home. Or ride part way, pump some more air in, ride some more, repeat as needed. Fortunately I made it home using this method without needing to pull the wheel apart - which was nice because it was raining, and I don't think the patches will hold if the rubber is wet when applied.

This reinforces my idea that part of the repair kit needs to be a spare tube. Flat tyre? Swap out the tube, pump it up, patch the tube with the hole at home where it's easier and can get a better seal.

I know I've read about loads of riders who totally hate the slime, but I haven't seen too many giving the reasons why. The most common ones I've seen are that it can make a mess if it gets out of the tube (such as when doing larger repairs), it makes a patch not stick when you get a puncture larger than the slime can handle and it gums up the valve so you can't get air in.

The first two are easily solved with the spare tube, the last one may be fixable or may also just be a new tube solution. Either way, at the moment I'll keep using the slime as it seemed to work great on the old bike and see how it goes.

But not planning on going over to tubeless tyres. I prefer a tube that can be easily patched or swapped out.

First flat

 So I didn't ride in the last few days and I was walking past my bike in the shed, checked the wheels as I walked past and the front tyre was flat.

Dang!

No biggie, at home, so a good chance to see if I can change a tyre on the side of the road if I need to!

The good news is that I can change a tyre with the simple tools that I carry, and the bike pump I've got can put enough pressure in there to get me home. So if this happens on the ride to/from work, it won't totally stop me. Took just under 30 minutes to do the change, though if I was really smart, I'd just carry a spare tube and patch the holy one at home.

Edit: turns out the patch was no good. An hour later and the tyre was dead flat again. I think I know where I may have gone wrong, so I'll have another go at it.

Edit Monday morning: second attempt was still holding pressure in the morning, yes! I'll pull out the compressor this arvo and put it to full pressure.

Back home

Back at home again, so much warmer!

Been back about a week or so, didn't have much to write about. I've finally gotten around to ordering bits to repair the bass guitar. We picked it up off the side of the road in  ... uh ... 2016? A while back anyway. Missing a few bits but the body and neck seem straight. It has one string on it and when I tested it, it seemed to be working.

Spent about $22 so far, so that's not too bad an investment. Until I get these bits on, I won't know for sure if the guitar is good or not. If it isn't, I'll re-assess and decide if I want to put more money into it or just walk away.

I'm trying to sell the acoustic guitar, so if that sells, that'll cover some of the cost and also free up a guitar stand (reducing required expenses).

Fingers crossed!

Car window

The drivers side window wasn't winding all the way down, and every indication was that it was getting caught on something.

So when I finally had the time, I pulled the door trim off and had a look. As suspected, the bottom edge of the glass was catching on a cable that had come loose.

Once I had that cable re-secured, the window was able to move freely again. Most annoying thing was that I didn't take a phot while the door trim was off. D'Oh!

Australian Computer Resellers – ripoff merchants

Dammit! Tried a new computer shop out today and got majorly ripped off. The guy there had no idea what he was talking about and most of the systems that he was selling were way overpriced.

I have no idea why the hell I bought the stuff. If I thought about it for three seconds I would have told him to stick it but I was in a hurry and not paying attention.

Paid over three hundred dollars for bits that shouldn’t have been over $200 if they were new. And these are retarded refurbished parts.

Caveat Emptor – and I wasn’t aware.

So damned angry right now. If the place wasn’t so damn far out of the way I’d march back there and demand a refund. As it is I’d end up losing too much time.

Gah! Oh well, serves me right for shopping in a hurry. Memo to self – take a list, take your time!

If you live in Perth and are planning on going to Australian Computer Resellers – DON’T! They’ll just rip you off.

Two hundred and second

Wow, just noticed that I'd hit the 200-post mark. I had thought about doing something special for the 200th post when I was up to 193 or something, then forgot about it.

Oh well, never mind.

The car is on thin ice at the moment. I paid $2,250 for it and I've already had to do about $2,000 worth of repairs. I know my brother has spent masses of money on his car (same make and model, different year) so depending on what the mechanic says today (it's been running rough over the weekend) I'll see if it is worth the effort of keeping it or getting another one.

The annoying thing is that all the mechanics I've taken it to all say "oh, it's in great condition, nothing wrong with it". And then a week later something else needs fixing.

Having said that, if I do go looking for yet another car, I'll be making a list and sticking to it this time:

• It must be a manual, preferably five speed.
• Ute is preferred, but sedan is cheaper and more useful.
• It must be old, so that I can do maintenance myself.
• It needs to have a towball on the back.

And I'll be writing that down and damned sticking to it this time!

In other news, Hasoly has completed her required hours and now needs to go do the Hazards Perception Test and she'll have her license and be able to drive on her own.