It’s been said the time to change from winter to summer tires is when the temperature hits 7Celcius or 44 Fahrenheit. But you know what they say about weather, it never works on your schedule.
For the past two weeks, I’ve made plans to change my tires, but the weather was going up and down like a teeter-totter and I cancelled my scheduled appointments.
The second time I did it, the guy at the service centre where I have my tires changed said to just call him when I wanted to do it. He didn’t even ask me to schedule a date. I don’t know whether he was tired of my cancellations or was just being understanding.
So here’s where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.
My wife and I were scheduled to be guests of someone I know at the Toronto Maple Leafs home game against the Florida Panthers on April 3. We were going to be sitting in the Platinum Section, which is fairly close to the ice.
We were told by our host to be at the game by 7, half an hour before puck drop, and would go immediately to the Platinum Lounge for some drinks and snacks. We were also told that after the first period we would have supper at the Platinum Lounge. Now there is only 15 minutes for the intermission, and the type of food served at the Platinum Lounge is not scarfed down in 15 minutes, which explains why the Platinum Section is usually empty for the first 10 minutes of the first and second periods.
My wife was concerned the night before the game because there was talk of a snow/ice storm the day of the game. I told our host we might not make it because of the weather, even though we planned to drive to the Go Station and take the public train to the game.
Sure enough, there was a storm. It started off with a snowstorm, then turned to rain and then to ice.
My wife would not be coming home from work until 5:30, and upon arriving she told me the roads were a mess and she was worried about the drive to the train station. I concurred and notified our host. He understood and told me to email the tickets to his son. I’m not a technical guy but eventually figured it out. I asked him to ask his father for a rain check. Actually, it was more like a snow/rain/ice check.
My wife made an omelette, but I must admit I just didn’t devour it like I would a steak at the hockey game.
The Leafs beat the Panthers 3-2. It was quite the game. I watched it from my man cave and munched on some chips.
The next day the sun was shining and you would have never known there was a storm the day before.
So now I have to book my winter tire change again.
As an aside, my mother likes to change her voice message on the phone on a routine basis. On her current voice message, she says “enjoy the day, spring is on its way.”
I called her to say she should change the message to say, “enjoy the day, spring hopefully is on its way.”
Even though spring has actually started.
Perry Lefko is the Content Manager of The Car Magazine. He can be reached at [email protected]. Feel free to forward any story suggestions or comments.
