I should have bought new tires about a year ago. But did I? No.

Well, today I paid the price for my sloth.

I was driving to work this morning when the car started vibrating. I was under no illusion that it wasn?t a flat tire, but I was, I thought, ready to deal with it. I pulled over to the shoulder and inspected the tire. It was absolutely flat. Throwing open the trunk, I found the spare tire, a tire iron, a jack handle, and? that was all. No jack. Crap!

I remembered that I had a can of tire gunk, so I rummaged through the emergency bag until I found it. Perfect! Now, I figured, I could at least limp home on a gunked-up tire. I set about emptying the can of gunk into the tire. I watched as the can emptied its contents into the tire, waiting for signs of inflation. Nothing. The pressure in the can died, and the tire was still completely flat.

As it turns out, a chunk of the sidewall about the size of a child’s fist blew itself out. No amount of gunk would fix that. Defeated, I called the Auto Club, which sent a truck out with a jack, and got me in enough shape to slink back to home base.

The irony of it all is that I had gotten up this morning with the clear thought ?Today is the day I will finally buy new tires?. Silly me, I thought it was just a conscious decision, not a prophecy.