Tyre Repair Skills

Apparently, kind strangers still exist in the world. That’s really quite comforting, especially since I recently spun off the road after running over a piece of metal and I’m not overly sure about the ins and outs of changing a tyre. Anyway, it’s all good now. A nice guy named Doug stopped and helped me change it, after he changed his OWN tyre (he’d run over the same piece of metal).

So now I’m thinking I need some sort of skill to pay it forward in the future. Roadside mechanic services are not my calling, and that’s fine. There are sufficient tyre repair shops. Preston, at least, has several. If someone breaks down by the side of the road, they can surely push it, like… a few meters, and they’d find somewhere to fix up their tyres as good as new. As for me, when I ran over that metal slice on a remote country road, I was lucky there was someone to help me. But it’s not that uncommon a skill. I’ve taken stock of my actual skills and it’s not looking promising. I can make an origami rose. That might be nice for lifting someone’s spirits, but that’s all. I can make a fairly decent chocolate brownie, but that requires prep time.

I guess car repairs and servicing is just such a useful skill in everyday life; that, and medical stuff. I guess I could do a first-aid course, but I don’t like blood, so I could just be making a situation worse. So I guess I’m learning how to change tires. If I’m going to pay some kindness forward, I might as well do it in the same way as it was originally doled out to me. And it’ll be useful for the future. There may still be car service centres near Preston, but I’ll at least be able to save them some time by doing my own tires. Ad hopefully, in the future, someone else’s tires. I’ll have to keep a look out for sharp pieces of metal on the road, and people in need.

-Stewart