Herman by Jim Unger for September 10, 2022

Too bad the tire popped.

I hated playing cat-and-mouse with car salesmen. For some, young and old people are considered easy prey. People in between can be more of a challenge to them, but they’re potential prey, too.

I shop for cars and collect the business cards from the sales guys. I use the cards for times I might bump into a parked car. I tuck the card under the windshield wiper with a note written on it; “Sorry I backed into your car.”

Somebody who is good at kicking understands the importance of wax on wax off.

According to my late father-in-law, kicking the tires goes back to WWII. Lack of quality rubber during the war meant tires went flat if you looked at them sideways.

Old military expression about flying, “Kick the tires and light the fires.” Preflight checks were a bit lax in the old days.

If we did a pre-drive check on our cars with the same thoroughness as even a private single-engine aircraft, it would take us 15 minutes to get out of the driveway.

Tires with inner tubes were not as durable as the ones they make today.

Tires have a manufactured DATE on them! When you buy tires ask the seller to show you the date..old tires, sitting for years, will blow faster and are dangerous.

Having spent some time working in a tire factory, I got a chance to see some of the technology behind them. The tread designers told me “We can make one to squeal at 15 mph if we want.”

Lack of mechanical knowledge in today’s youth is appalling!

C’mon, honk the horn.

Hey… this car has a RADIO!

He doesn’t LOOK like a ‘kid’.

I wish they’d bring back white wall tires. The ones that were white on the whole side of the tire, not the little white striped ones they had later.

FUNNY!

Kicking tires tells the salesman he has a sucker on the line.

Today kick the lithium battery and hope it doesn’t explode.