It used to be that when you learnt to drive, one of the first and mandatory lessons was on how to change a flat tyre. You’d take pride in how quickly and effectively you could get it done.

Pull off to the side of the road, make sure you’re safe, put the four-way flashers on and get to work. In all, if should take about ten minutes.

Handbrake on, getting out the jack and wheel brace, loosening the lugs, jacking it up, removing the nuts — and making sure to put them in the hubcap or keeping them safe — then swapping the wheels, putting the nuts loosely in place.

Then it was a matter of tightening the nuts opposite from opposite, lowering the jack, then tightening the nuts. Everything should be done and dusted and you’re off again, no doubt cursing your luck, trying to find something to clean your hands, and you’re on the road again. We’re not talking Formula One wheel-change fast, but it’s a question of manly pride.

Recently, there was a conversation between friends about tyres. One said he never changed a tyre, and will call a service company when he has a flat. I think that’s cheating. He’s probably the kind too who doesn’t know where the washer fluid goes under the bonnet, and has never checked his oil level once. I think it’s just basic.

I was also wondering how my driving record was. I have been trying very hard these past months not to get a speeding ticket or a parking fine. When I renewed my registration last June, I paid Dh2,200 in fines and fees. Enough, I promised. And I stuck to it too.

You can never tell these days whether there’s a fine on your traffic file, and sometimes you get a SMS, other times not. I checked last week before leaving the office. Nothing. Not a dirham. Six months of fine-free driving.

I was thinking about it on my drive home up Hessa Street on my way to Sports City, feeling very pleased with myself when FLASH! — 101km/hour in an 80 zone — and Dh600. So much for thinking and driving. Smugness will get me nowhere.

For a few days too I have taken the bus and Metro to work. The weather, as they say in the UAE now, is nice — bit of wind, some clouds and a chance of rain and the temperatures down around 23C. You know when it is winter in the UAE when you can drive home with the air-conditioning turned off — and even open the car window for a while. When I moved here first, I was warned to avoid buying a car with a sunroof or leather seats. Too hot in the summer.

I don’t even know why vehicles here have heaters — I’ve never had to turn them up. Better still if they had reinforced air-conditioning because you know that as soon as the weather is not nice, the air-conditioner is the first thing to go, and the dashboard has to come out and it’s never a cheap job.

I was thinking about this when I drove into work yesterday morning. I parked in a spot that had been free when I left the office on Thursday evening. Over the weekend, the metres have been installed, and it’s now a paid zone. That’s bad enough. No sooner had I gotten out of the car than I hear a hissing sound. Driver’s front tyre has a hole in the side.

Any one have a number for a tyre service?