Hindsight wisdom is no wisdom
I have an SUV and drive it myself. I have had the habit of checking the air in the tires every Monday. However, I had been traveling a bit too often, and it's slipped my memory as to when I last filled the air.
Last week, I went to a place about 20 km from my house. On the way back, a warning was shown on the dashboard indicating low air in the rear right tire. I thought it was alright to drive slowly to the nearest petrol bunk and fill the air.
There, the attendant said it was a puncture, and we got assistance and set it right. I went back home. Another mistake I made was not checking the air for the other three tires.
The following day, I went to the airport to drop off my daughter. On the way back, the front left tire pressure had suddenly dropped, which I observed while driving, so I parked the car under a nearby tree and called for assistance.
Help arrived, and the attendant showed me that the tire had a massive cut above the mouth and said the tire needed to be replaced. He then changed the damaged tire with a spare. I went back home.
I went to the tire shop to replace the damaged tire and have the wheel balancing done. There, the attendant noticed that the first tire that had gotten punctured earlier (rear right) also needed to be replaced and showed me a hairline crack running along the side of the wheel.
I had to replace both tires. We did the wheel balancing, and I came home poorer by ₹26,000!
All because I didn't fill up the air at the right time, I remember the old story: "For want of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of the shoe, the soldier was lost. For want of the soldier, the battle itself was lost." It all starts with very small things.
We realize this and normally say, "If only..." But that doesn't help.
People often go to the clinic for a check-up, and the doctor recommends blood tests. The results might show that the person has been diabetic for quite some time.
Please make it a habit to take blood tests and other tests every year and make a financial assessment of your income and expenses every month.
Understanding the problem at an early stage is very important to take corrective measures and progress well.
Best wishes,
S. Ramkumar