UPDATE: Friday, Aug 2, 2024 · 11:28:37 PM +00:00 · tonyahky
FINAL UPDATE
Well, after sitting and waiting for hours for the technicians to finish replacing my tires, I am finally back home. Thanks to everyone for their well-wishes, advice, and comments. One thing this diary shows is that we are truly a community, we are UNITED, and we look out for and care about our own. That is what being a Democrat is all about!
I would like to thank the few people who decided to send a little bit to my paypal—I had to dip into the money I was going to use to pay my lot rent, water bill, and music therapy for my daughter. (We had to skip her session today.) At least now I will be able to cover the late fees I will have when I pay this stuff on my next payday. ( I won’t get evicted or have my water shut off—I will just pay a lot more.) I did not really expect it—it just shows again that the people in this community are some of the best of the best.
This experience has taught me just how toxic things are starting to get—and I will wager it will get worse as we get closer to the election.
UPDATE: Friday, Aug 2, 2024 · 1:04:12 PM +00:00 · tonyahky
UPDATE 2
Some people in the comments and in messages have asked to contribute money to help replace the tires. I just finished calling around to some of the local tire shops, and the best price I got was about $700. They can get me in at 2 pm today. If anyone wants to help that would be very helpful since paying for this now will put me behind on the rent and utilities for this month. However, I can pull it off. Just with some late fees, of course. My PayPal is tonyahky at gmx dot com. Or alternately, donate to Kamala Harris or another Democrat in memory of my poor tires. I have to work till noon today. Everybody have good day.
This is just a brief diary—I just wanted to remind people to be careful if you live in a very red area, and you are known to be a Democrat. Yesterday morning I went out to my vehicle, and when I turned the engine on, I got a warning to check ALL FOUR of my tires. According to the sensors, they were all down to about 18 or 20 pounds of pressure. I went to the gas station, and aired up my tires, and went to work.
When I got off work, they were low once more, and I had to air them up again before I could get back home. This morning, they were low again. Somehow, I managed to miraculously get a small leak in all four tires at the same time—or somebody has vandalized my vehicle. I did have a Biden bumper sticker on my van, though I took it off the other day after Harris announced. I am waiting for a Harris sicker, but now I don’t know if it is safe to put it on my vehicle.
Vandalism because of my bumper sticker is really the only reason I can think of that somebody might have targeted my vehicle. I don’t have any problems with my neighbors. This could have also potentially happened in the parking garage at work—though if it did, it was done in broad daylight!
I just had to replace a tire the other day, though I don’t think the hole on that one was due to vandalism. I hope the holes can be patched—otherwise, I am going to have to replace all four tires. Which I can’t afford right now, but luckily, I have one of those little portable tire pumps I can haul around with me till I can save the money to get them fixed. I am not sure if I should file a police report, since the cops around here are likely MAGA types too, and all I might end up doing is making my car insurance premiums go up. In any case, nobody living close to me has any cameras anyway. It looks like a security camera for the driveway is something else I am going to have to try and get—and if you live in an area where you think you could be targeted for something like this, you should probably get one too!
Anyway, I just wanted to share my little experience and warn people to watch out! Still, I am not going to let this stop me from canvassing and making phone calls for the Harris campaign! It just pisses me off and makes me want to see Trump and the Republicans lose that much more!
UPDATE
Wow, I did not think this would get on the recommended list—thanks!
I went to Big O Tires, and unfortunately, the holes are all in the sides, so I am going to have to replace all my tires. The technician said it was almost certainly vandalism because all the holes were nearly identical, and likely made with some sort of small round object. I got them to give me an estimate, but I am also going to call some places tomorrow to see if I can get a better price. Of course, this throws my budget all out of whack this month—I’ll have to rob Peter to pay Paul in order to scrape by. My daughter will have to miss a couple of her music therapy sessions.
I have access to a program through my work called Purchasing Power that lets you buy stuff off their site and have a little bit at a time taken out of your paycheck—I found a small security camera I can put in the front window to monitor the driveway.
I don’t know how long I can get away with refilling the tires every 8-10 hours—I am going to see if I can get them done over the weekend. I drive 20 miles each way to my main job, and I don’t feel comfortable driving on those tires in that condition for long, especially since part of the trip is on the interstate.
Thanks to everyone for all of your suggestions, advice, and for sharing your stories—isn’t it a shame that normal people have to live in fear of being terrorized for something as simple as a bumper sticker?
I hope the shithead who did this realizes that all he has done is make me all the more committed to helping Democrats win!
