I'm here to see a man about a GT-H Radial

Walsenburg Colorado -Seems simple enough; Get a punctured tire; throw on the spare, go into town to the tire repair shop and get on your way.

Reality Chimes in; Its Sunday around Noon, and near the NM/CO border, and available services are right up there with similar services in the middle east.

Here is where Mr. Sam Walton's company comes in. I'll call it "MART" to spare the innocent. You may at some point in your lifetime HAD TO go to "MART", It just so happens that this "MART" had the only "tire service" open on Sunday between Colorado Springs to Santa Fe. As with any "MART"-Experience I note the following:

Dude Where's My Food Court?

1.) Be specific in what you request, (Example: Calling ahead will not do: as they will say they have said GT-H Radial, only to find out getting to the store, I'd have to wait til monday for them to contact the nearest MART with said tire)Do whatever you have to, tear down the in store display and bring it in.

2.) MART Employees are serious about store break policies, if you happen to get in the MART at break time, expect to wait until the come back, it more accurate than the Atomic-Clock.

3.) Never, under any circumstances, assume the MART you walk in will have exactly the same food court as the MART your are used to, you will only leave hungry or forces to make unusual in-store meal purchases, and have to eat said purchase without aid of microwave or stove.

4.) as with point 2.) when using any automated MART checkouts, follow procedure, one false move or flinch and the computer will sense your urgency and give you an error.

5.) You may have to engage in diplomatic bargaining, like you would for hostages, to get the services you need, for example, explaining that area hotels are full, and the need to return home to another state is a priority, and that thank you to an innovation intrduced by henry ford in 1908, those wheels are removable and interchangeble thanks to the automated manufacturing process.

This being said, I am safely back home, with a mis-sized MART tire, and proud of it.

P.S. Guster rawks in concert, and NADA SURF is a must see.