This day is off to a wonderful start.

I went to the tire shop this morning to get the right front tire patched -- about a $10 job.

Instead, I had to replace both front tires because they had steel showing through on the insides of each one, a $108 job. What's worse, I didn't have that much cash on me because I wasn't expecting that big of a production, and the tire shop didn't take Visa cards, and the wheels were already off the Escort, so I had to walk a half mile to the nearest gas station so I could get a cash advance, complete with higher interest rates and miscellaneous fees. It probably put me over my credit limit.

Maybe next time Mom will listen to me when I tell her we need to get the wheels aligned, or at least the tires rotated, instead of believing I am an idiot who doesn't know what he's talking about and brushing me off.

I doubt it, though.