I check my tire pressure very often. Well inflated tires help save fuel and they're just safer to drive on. Lately I noticed when I drove, my car pulled to the right. Yesterday I had a look at my tires and noticed the front passenger side looked really REALLY low.

I got out my handy dandy tire pressure gauge and "WTF?! 15PSI?!?!?"

How could I let this happen? No no, this isn't normal... they were just at 45 PSI the other week... I know! I'll fill them all and then monitor that one to see if the pressure decreases again. I had a sneaking suspicion it would.

So this morning I took the car to the gas station (which is just a block away) and filled the tires so they were all a nice 55PSI (the required level for my type of tires) When I got home I noticed an odd hissing sound coming from my car. I followed it and sure enough it was coming from my front passenger side tire.

I knew it!

So I drove to Wal-mart (as much as I hate going there they are the only garage open on Sundays). I get to the automotive counter and tell the lady I need to have my tire checked for a leak. She's all "No problem, we'll page you when we're done."

So I have a seat nearby. About 15 minutes later one of the mechanics comes out and calls me over.

Mechanic: You know you have 50 pounds of air in that tire right?
Me: Yeah but about 15 minutes ago I had 55. I just filled them.
Mechanic: And you think it's leaking? What makes you think that?
Me: Well it's losing pressure pretty fast and if you get near it you can hear the sound of air escaping from it.
Mechanic: How fast is it losing pressure?
Me: Well it just lost 5 pounds during my drive across town.
Mechanic: (Begrudgingly) Well I guess we'll dunk it and see if we find anything.

About 20 minutes later I was paged up to the counter where I saw my doubting mechanic.

Mechanic: (all grumpy like) You're all done. There was a staple in the tire.
Me: Oh good so I was right then. Thank you.

He tossed my keys on the counter and handed my ticket to the cashier.

It only cost $10 to patch the leak and I'm glad to know I wasn't hearing things or making something out of nothing. I also noticed that with the properly inflated tire the car doesn't pull to the right anymore. She drives just fine again. However I could have done without the mechanic's attitude.


What a day. I'm going to take a nap.

EDIT: I woke up from my nap some 2 hours later and went to my car to go to Target (about 3 or 4 hours after I got the tire fixed) I noticed it looked low again. I got my gauge and it was down to 35PSI. I'm not sure if this was just from it leaking as it waiting to be fixed (because I'm 99% sure the mechanic didn't refill it or anything) or what but I filled it again back to 50. I just checked it again. (another 3 hours later) and it seems to be holding steady at 50 and I don't hear any sound of air leaking like I did before I got it fixed. I'll check the pressure in the morning... if it drops again I'm taking it to Honda on my lunch break or something. Fuck Wal-mart. Why do they have to be the only garage that's open on Sundays?