I woke up to another flat tire the other morning. I’m always getting flats with my current car. I broke rims, too, in the past – with my current car. I have a portable pump for this reason, how many of you have a portable pump? I get good use out of it too. I am on the second one! The car has outlasted the pumps.

I know I need tires and that is part of the problem, but I’ve been putting it off because any day now I’m due for scheduled service – you know, Schedule A or Schedule B. I don’t know which one, or I would bring the car in early and just get it all done. But I have to wait for the car to tell me which service I need I can’t ask my mechanic, because they do things the old fashioned way, which I like. They basically write your bill on the back of a paper bag. Well, not exactly and I was surprised to see they accept Apple Pay, but they aren’t the type to keep notes or any computer records. And in a way, I like that.

It’s a little bit of what’s left of the old days. Their garage is sort of like Wally’s on the Andy Griffith Show. When I need service, I bring the car early, before the garage is even open, and I leave the keys with the gas station attendant and when the owner/mechanic gets in, he calls me and I tell him what the problem is.

Years ago, I had a Camaro, that was new, yet was always in the shop. The gas station was down the block, so I would bring it or have it towed in late at night and leave it in the back of the station, in the morning, Mike, the owner would call me and we would go from there.

For years I leased cars and there really weren’t problems. I’m noticing a common denominator now. The cars I owned were always in the shop – the leased cars, never. Of course the leased cars were turned in every three years.

Both gas station owners complained about my cars but both wanted them. One owner bought my Camaro years ago and this current one always asks to buy my current car. Go figure.

I am going to go back to leasing cars when I get rid of my current one. There’s a lesson there.