Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Funny Business

We have an extra set of summer tires. Funny how in Norway, rather than referring to winter tires, they call normal tires "summer." We picked them up from storage, and have been driving around with them in the back of the car for a few days. They are mounted on nice BMW rims- as are the snow tires. In Mpls I was too cheap to buy new rims for the Blizzaks- but here, you will even see luxury cars driving around on black steel rimmed wheels with studded tires. Our winter tires are not studded- I fail to see the need for them, and I hate what they do to the road. Anyway, the point of this rambling entry is that it is time to switch wheels.

I called last week and was told to call back this week. I found out that all studded tires needed to be off the road by Tuesday, or something like that, so there was a rush on switching wheels at all the tire shops. Today Lise took the car in after work, and the first place suggested she come back in two weeks. The guy said she could drive around on them all summer if she wanted to. That is easy for him to say- he sells tires, and it is a waste of rubber to use soft, swiss cheesy winter tires in the summer. Eventually she found a shop that swapped wheels, but the shop monkey told her to check the lug nuts after 30 or 40km. I have never heard such rubbish, but hopefully it is an indication that they didn't overtighten the wheels and warp the rotors.

Strangest of all is my observation how obsessive Norwegians are about their tires... then I turn around and post this. I think I am fitting in just fine.

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