Its just one of those things that you put off until the very last possible second. You know you need them, but no matter what, you always convince yourself that it can wait. Just a few more miles, a couple more weeks, four more months, one more road trip…and so on and so on. Im talking about tires here folks. Its one of those large payments you shell out every so often and I was in some desperate need of some new meats on my daily driver. My Continental tires that I had gotten from the factory were far from gone. They had even surpassed the “wear bar” on the tires. I was running on pure slicks but without the grip you might associate with them. I can best describe my old tires as driving on ice 24/7. Thank God for traction control because my cars electronic stability program (ESP) was certainly working overtime indeed. It wasn’t until the “rainy” season came to the L.A. area that I grew concerned. I just took it as a sign to just slow down. However, my drive home from work through the canyons (which I frequent) while it was pouring out was a white knuckle hair raising experience. I even got a cramp in my side from being so tensed up from the situation. Every tried turning the wheel to make a turn—only to see the car not react and continue driving straight? Yes, no? Well, I did and it wasn’t fun. I almost sent my car careening off of the road, through the guard rail and over the edge to land in some millionaire’s pool. My tires were toasted, and there was no way I could continue driving the car with bald tires. I broke down though, spent the day and got some new meats. Call me cheap, whatever…it’s taken care of now.