thank you ladies for your words of encouragement-- i signed up at the LBS for next bike maintenance class which apparently spends 95% of its time teaching people how to fix flats -

the guy at the LBS didnt make me feel dumb at all for not managing - but he just whizzed around pushing it in like it was soft butter in like 30 seconds all up with no apparent effort-- practice I guess :-)

HOWEVER - i was so grateful for not being made to look like a dumb-girly like we get all too often with car mechanics - y'all know the non-verbals we get at times...

well, I was so grateful, I upgraded my front derailleur from tiagra to 105 to match the back - tee hee - the upgrades commence :-) just $60 this time.... but saw these FAB wheel set too... hmm... :-)

i read on the internet all over that there was little point in upgrading the FD up just one class like that, but compared to my 105 rear de-r, it felt relatively 'lumpy' so i changed out anyway - and WOW, what a difference it feels like - the tiagra worked 100% fine and was corrently adjusted but just the speed and smoothness of the shifting is definitely so much better with the 105 FD, whatever the internet reviews say-- i am thrilled to bits with it - and more importantly, my bike is no longers in bits on the floor after getting the LBS to help out--

oh-- also got a little cyclocomputer too whilst i was there :-D
just a cheapy-cheapy until i know exactly what i will be wanting later down the line with those, when i can spend the $ then...

thanks again for your support everyone!!
batsheva