What kind of rims? Aluminum ones can get bent slightly and tires develop slow leaks.

Steel rims on older cars can get rust which needs to be wire brushed off, sometimes they can get cracks. Could be bad valve or poor repair.

I've also had flat tire jags where I've had five or six in a row.

sucks. AAA are as useless as tits on a bull imho

I think aluminum rims. Maybe I should get all new wheels--if I size up isn't that supposed to improve handling? Don't wanna put silk purses on the sow, though.

Rims can be expensive. Larger tires, on the same rims, will improve handling, but I doubt you drive in a way that you'd notice any difference.
Larger tires will be heavier which will degrade the ride quality. They would likely offer more rolling resistance, which decreases mileage, also.

Maybe what you need is better (read, more expensive) tires. There's a reason $150 tires cost more than $60 tires, besides greed. Sometimes the more expensive tires are cheaper in the long run, also.
That said, price alone is not a guarantee of a better tire. Places like Consumer Reports, often available at the library, can tell you what to watch for.

Yeah, I think I got crappy tires because I tried to economize. I've already printed out the list of recommended tires from CR, and am going to try to shop around to see if I can get some for a good deal.

Ditto at our workshop.

Toys, LCD TV with built in DVD player, with an assortment of kid friendly DVDS, trashy girlie magazines, Tea/Coffee facilities, as well as everything for the men folk.

http://www.tirerack.com/

ships directly to your mechanic

I scoped that site out already. But I'm a little concerned--one, won't my local tire places be pissed that I bought tires someplace else, and two--if something happens to a tire (like what happened this weekend); it's not as if I can just roll in there and ask for help or replacement.

lol! That happened to me the other day Cloud! My car stopped in the left hand lane of a busy intersection. That was fantastic. I also forgot my cell phone that day. I ran to a pay phone that did not work, with my car still in the middle of the street. I ran some more and found some kids in a parking lot holding cell phones and paid them 50 cents to make a call to my husband. So the car sat there for about 30 minutes and then it luckily started and I was able to drive it out of the intersection. It was the fuel pump that went out.....

I got that fixed but then was stranded in my work parking lot because of the transmission. I have been lucky to figure out that it is just the dipstick that needs replacing because the car won't go anywhere or hesitates with air in the line. So now I get stuck and have to adjust the dipstick when it gets out of whack while driving. A new one has to be ordered from alb. I am hoping it is just the dipstick. It seems to be so, because every time I adjust it, the car works perfectly again. Maybe there is a sensor? Dunno.

About your tire, yes I would go local and get the warranty in case they fix it and it needs to be repaired quickly on their dime.

http://www.nokiantires.com/en/DEFAULT.ASPX

Worth every penny. Get dedicated snows and summer tires.

I went to visit Rhoda's grave this morning. First, they had the plot under her mother's name...her mother is very much alive. Apparently, that was a clerical error. Then I found the site...an unmarked plot in the middle of calf-high grass.

She deserves better than that.

I'm sorry to hear that, Syc. I hope you straightened them out.

Sorry that it was a more difficult experience for you than it should have been.
How long has it been now - perhaps the family are saving for a stone?

Rhoda died 18 months ago...Christmastime 2006.

I'm not sure what the situation is. Her family did pretty well financially, though they didn't have money out the wazoo. And I only know a little of what happened in the last year of her life: a mini-stroke, a leg amputation and the death of her dad three weeks before her own...he's buried in a Vets' Cemetery about 10 miles away from her.

I am almost certain that no malicious intent is involved. But it just killed me to see the grave in that state. If you put someone in the ground like that, they deserve to be noted. To see her grave like that made it seem like she was alone and forgotten. I believe that she's in Heaven, but her physical remains are still here on Earth...and they deserve to be respected.

The situation ate at me until about mid-afternoon...then I decided to go back out there.

I went over to a Wal-Mart near the cemetery and bought some fake Black-Eyed Susans and a vase. She liked the flowers because they reminded her of home...they're the state flower of Maryland. I then attached a few small momentos that I brought with me from St. Louis.

Before:

http://thebosque.us/images/06092008.jpg

After:

http://thebosque.us/images/060922008.jpg

http://thebosque.us/images/060932008.jpg

That's better.

I'm not sure who Rhoda is, and I'm sorry for your grief, but . . . I wouldn't mind being buried in that field. Even without a marker.

Cemetery mixups are more common than you might think. My mom was buried in the wrong grave, and we eventually dug her up, cremated her, and moved her remains.

Rhoda is my ex-fiance who passed away in December 2006. We split up in March 2005.