Today started out slowly, as usual. It just seems impossible to get going most days, but the self-cooked breakfast was a treat. Eggs cooked in butter, raisin toast with butter, just like back home. Ahhh, worth the wait.
Once that was out of the way, the search for tires began, and didn’t really take us that long. We took a cab down to the main “auto row” here, and started asking for prices, and also for “rag” tires. It took a little bit of “how do you say this and that”, but they do have them here in town now instead of only out at the border (an hour away), and because of this new worldwide phenomenon known as Black Friday, things were on sale. I found tires with three sidewall plys, and five on the tread, installed and balanced for under 400 buks.
The first place I looked was the cheapest and best, but we took a bus out to Price Smart, Panamas’ equivalent to Costco, just for shits and giggles. It was good to get out of town for a change of scenery, although the store itself looked exactly like any Costco in Canada, only half the size.
Oversize containers of this and that with way too much packaging, sample tables in the isles, too few cashiers, and a restaurant. You have to have a restaurant. If it weren’t for the Panama flag and local shoppers, you’d never know the difference.
We found the same tires there and, to my surprise, they were more expensive. The promotion the first store said they had going was indeed a better deal, much closer, large and therefor reputable, and so I’ll be taking my business there.
Along the way we found a good oil filter wrench I’ll need every 5000 km anyways, and once we were back home, we got to it pulling the tires off the car for transport by cab in the morning, and, at long last, doing the oil change.
No pics, but the oil went into a tin turkey pan, then put the new oil in the car, and poured the old oil into the same container. There was some grunge – bits of rubber grommet and God knows what else – good riddance. Where the used oil goes from here, I’ll never know. They don’t recycle anything here that I know of. Sad, really.
There were a lot of other little things ticked off our list today, not worth mentioning, but definitely getting down to the nitty gritty now. A good feeling.
We even got out to a show this evening. A poorly thought out new James Bond movie Spectra or something, froze our asses off even though we brought jackets, and had a few laughs counting the plot flaws… “oh yeah, that could happen”, “true story”, “yes, planes can fly with 4 foot wings, can’t they?” LOL
Now, morning, I’m waiting a little bit before trying to flag down a cab that will take 4 tires to the shop, and here comes Cass, looking for coffee, so off I go.
Without bothering with another page here, I came home with some new tires. Yayy. It didn’t take long to realize the balance weights were the same ones from before. He said he balanced them, I decided at the time it wasn’t worth the argument, and now that they’re home, 
it sort of ticks me off.
Y’see, this ain’t my first rodeo, but you can still get thrown. The reason I didn’t drive in is because I didn’t want to give them the chance to take my car hostage on their hoist, and sure enough, when I got there, he wanted to know why I didn’t bring the car, and don’t you think you’ll need an alignment (and whatever else they could find such as a missing wheel cylinder… see?). Then you’re in for an argument with half a dozen of them, while you remain the lone white guy with limited understanding of Spanish.
You take a chance down here that they’re going to do what they say. If you find they haven’t, you’re really better off to go elsewhere and WATCH them do as you ask. I thought they would be reputable. I was wrong. It’s not worth it to bother arguing. There are tons of tire shops around, and they balance a tire for two buks.
Getting the brake line flared was simple enough (I think they all want to see the car when I’m done), then around the corner for the wheel cylinder. Would you believe they only had the one and not the other, but it was the right part. Again, no use getting upset. The other one will be there by 10 tomorrow. I was happy enough to see the RIGHT part.
There were a few other things today worth mentioning, but I’ll put them in a regular post instead of this saga.