What is this crazy layout? Of course, many readers will not have noticed the change in graphics to the main web site because they are receiving new posts via email (and you're missing out on other articles that aren't posted to the email list if you don't visit now and then), and will wonder what the heck I'm talking about.
Two weeks ago, I flattened the tire on my car while driving to work. This was caused by an errant bolt that poked its way through the rubber of my passenger-side rear tire. The picture pretty much tells the story.
I was pulling around the corner of 322 and 30 toward Thorndale on the way to work when I heard a mysterious popping sound. It sounded the same as when you run over a rock and it shoots out from under your tire, but louder. I suppose this is when the bolt punctured my tire.
I didn't begin to suspect that there was a problem until I heard the telltale click-click-click of the bolt smacking the pavement, changing pace as I accelerated and decelerated. When I got out of the car in the parking lot at work, I noticed the bolt and the faint hissing sound.
Thankfully, Berta was off work that day, and was able to bring lunch while I changed the rather flat tire that afternoon in the hot sun. It wasn't a difficult job, but it was the first time I had to change a tire on this car. It's nice when the car comes with its own custom-fitted jack, because then you don't have to borrow one, like I had to do before.
In no time, the full-sized spare was on and I was as dirty as a mechanic.
My reluctance to have the tire repaired may partially have led me to buy the new car, a 2004 Pontiac Vibe, while I was on vacation last week. It's pretty nice, and remedies all of the problems I had with the Vitara (not this Vitara, funny). No strange noises. No trouble getting the key out of the lock. Air-conditioning. CD player. Hopefully less emissions problems. And a few interesting new things, too, like all-wheel drive, a back seat that folds down utterly flat, a front passenger seat that turns into a table, and a 110 volt AC outlet in the dash, perfect for plugging in my notebook to recharge.
Anyway, I had taken some pictures of the tire/bolt, and was messing with these new filters I found from Jasc. I applied a watercolor effect to the photo, and what you see on the site is the result of that effect. Pretty neat, eh? Didn't even realize what you were looking at did you?
Unfortunately, I'm planning a change to the comment engine on this site (not a PageCat change), and comments will be broken for a little while until I write the new page for them.
