Week 107: An Alignment

Week 107: January 12th-18th, 2025

Apparently, when you get new tires, they do not automatically align your wheels after putting the new tires on. This, to me, seems like a very silly thing. If my wheels must be aligned for safe driving and ensuring an even wear and tear on said new tires, why would a tire shop not ALSO align the wheels when they put new tires on?

I did some Googling, and apparently, if your wheel alignment is fine, any new tires you get installed will be fine. However, prior to getting new tires, I guess my alignment was not fine... so I did need the additional service (and cost!) of a wheel alignment.

My thinking here is this: even if they have to charge an additional fee for a wheel alignment, because its (stupidly) an additional service, they should at least offer it at the time of any tire installation... From a business perspective, offering to align wheels seems like an easy upsell, and would be a good way to bring in more revenue on each purchase. But what do I know? I'm just a girl... with apparently mis-aligned wheels.

Anyway, after much complaining and saying, "That is so stupid, why wouldn't they just align the wheels while they're putting the tires on?", I finally got my wheels aligned after many reminders from my car-enthusiast boyfriend. I decided to try to find a Groupon, since the hill I'm dying on is the one that says wheel alignment should be a more commonly offered service... Thankfully, I found a Groupon for Helix Auto Center in La Mesa with good reviews. A four wheel alignment was only around $80, instead of the estimated $100-$140.

The outside of Helix Auto Center

I went inside, where some dingy couches and a TV playing CSI: Miami made up a small waiting room by the front desk. The alignment was supposedly going to take an hour, so after handing them my keys, I left and walked up the block to kill some time. Maybe there would be a fun treat to buy. I ended up just getting an iced matcha at the only evidence of life on the block: Starbucks.

The fever-dream Starbucks

Not sure what it is about La Mesa on Saturday mornings, but the Starbucks on the corner felt a little like a fever dream, almost like when you stop for coffee on a long road trip and the freshly built, shiny Starbucks building stands out against the dry landscape.

There were absolutely no other pedestrians on my walk to Starbucks, and only one other person inside. I get my iced matcha with oat milk and at least one pump of brown sugar syrup. Its delicious, and I haven't had it in ages, so it was a nice treat. I walked back down the block and returned to the waiting room at Helix Auto Center.

I only had to wait about 20 minutes, which was good because my phone battery was very quickly depleting as I scrolled through Instagram to pass the time. The guy at the counter just confirmed my Groupon on my phone, handed me the keys, and sent me on my way. I wish I asked just how mis-aligned my wheels were, especially since the service only took about half the estimated hour, but he wasn't very talkative. Not in an unfriendly way, just in a "very busy, I have more tires to align" way.

Bonus #1: In other car related news, my friend Cole had a momentous achievement of hitting 80,085 miles on his car. In elementary and middle school (and apparently also post-grad), this only means one thing: BOOBS!

BOOBS

Bonus #2: This week I got a notification from my beloved Candy Crush app to check out my "Candy Unwrapped." Apparently, I passed 1,516 levels in 2024. This makes sense, because I am currently on level 10,604 and have had the same account since my first iPod Touch back in 2011 or something. I have never once spent real money on any extra lives or boosters, which is one of my greatest achievements and evidence of self-control.

Truly, I think I can do better than these numbers. This is amateur hour!

Bonus #3: While doom-scrolling through the news surrounding the impending catastrophic inauguration and the climate crisis causing half the country to freeze and Los Angeles to catch on fire, I found a small source of joy amongst the chaos. On an OverheardLA Instagram post, this comment made me smile:

Truly the most LA thing I've seen

Sometimes all we can do in times like these is keep our wheels aligned, continue crushing candy, and stay informed. See you next week!