I did know that I'd probably be okay because this isn't the first time. Every other occurrence was just slightly low, no big deal per the guy filling the tires for me.
One of the guys at work offered to take a look at the pressure for me. (Believe it or not, I do own a pressure gauge!) and all the tires were at 30 psi, which is 5psi low. He assured me there was no leak and that the tires weren't dangerous. He even said I could wait till the weekend to take care of it.
Every other time it's been low, I've taken it to a local auto shop and they've done it for free, but I always feel guilty about this because I don't use them and really don't plan on ever using them. I decided I have a pressure gauge and YouTube. How hard could it be to do it myself?
The guys at work assured me that if I could put wiper blades on my car, that I could fill the tires easily. Another coworker told me about a air machine that was free and you can set your PSI and the machine will stop when your tires reach that inflation. That sounded promising.
I watched a couple of YouTube videos--both had women doing it--and reassured that it looked easy, I headed out on errands on Saturday. First stop, the tire store with the free air machine.
I got there around 8am and expected it to be empty and still closed. It was not. It was open, the parking lot was full, and some person who was shopping had parked directly in front of the air machine. :-( Feeling super uncomfortable about it, I backed into the handicapped spot which was next to it. I figured I was right there and if someone who needed the spot showed up, I would move immediately. I still felt uncomfortable.
The machine was easy to set. Just bumped up the plus button to 35 PSI and dragged the hose to my car. It took longer than I expected before it beeped and stopped, but when I double checked with my gauge, it was dead accurate.
I proceeded to fill the other three tires and discovered (on the last tire) that a valve cap was missing. Another person was waiting for the air when I finished, so I handed him the hose and left.
It was actually as easy as everyone claimed! I was feeling damn proud of myself, and as I drove, I could tell how much better the tires felt. It made that much of a difference.
And when I got home, I found a package of universal tire valve caps and ordered them so I can replace the missing valve cap.
Mission accomplished!
