Don't Tread On Me

Last summer I turned in my company car.  It was a sad day when we turned in the Jeep.  We loved the room and the 4 wheel drive in the snow.  It also really helped that my former company paid for all the maintenance, gas, and insurance.  It was a pretty sweet deal, but when I chose my family over my job we had to let a lot of those perks go.  In an attempt to keep debt to a minimum I made a deal with my Dad to buy his car with cash.  It's a 2005 Nissan Altima and it's a good car.  My Dad drove a lot in that car.  By the time I bought it, he had put 130,000 miles on it.  It's in super good shape just lots of miles.  He also chose to put on tires that are 70,000 guaranteed.  Which makes total sense when you're driving as much as my Dad.  The tread on the tires looks fine, but you can tell the rubber on the tires is some seriously hard rubber .  Once you get about 15 mph, there is a dull rumbling, and as you go faster the louder the rumbling gets.  It resembles pretty loud white noise.  It's so loud it's hard to have a conversation, in the car, while driving on the highway because it's so loud.  It's gotten worse as I've been driving around town.  Preston and I are used to it.  I'm pretty sure the rumbling is what mellows Preston out in the car. 

One day I had switched cars with my brother, Jason.  He was babysitting Preston while I went to the hospital to visit my Dad.  Jason was going to drive up to the hospital in my car and then we'd switch.  While I was in my Dad's hospital room I got a call from my brother in a panic (he never panics).  I had failed to warn him about the rumbling sound and he said to me "I really hope I"m not breaking your car right now".  The sympathetic soul that I am, I started laughing.  I then explained the situation.  Jason then told me that he stopped several times to make sure that the car wasn't smoking, or the emergency brake wasn't on, or there was a flat tire.  I still laugh about that panic that was in my poor brothers voice.  Yes, I'll be replacing them soon. 

My handsome boy, relaxing to the sound of the rumbling tires and eating his first sucker

This is "Andy", good car ... bad tires

They look normal, but seriously I may be going deaf because of these bad boys.