Sturgeon’s Law Ninety percent of everything is crap.
Derived from a quote by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, who once said, “Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That’s because 90% of everything is crud.” Oddly, when Sturgeon’s Law is cited, the final word is almost invariably changed to ‘crap’.
|
The folks at Taylor Hyundai do a really nice little thing when ever you bring them your car in for service, before they give it back they vacuum the interior and wash the exterior. The Purple Whale looked really good each time we walked by it on our 3 daily walks during breaks, but the 30% chance of rain predicted for the CSRA today fell 100% on it later this afternoon.
#1
When I called to set up the service appointment for the Purple Whale I had to emphasize that I wanted just the manufacturer’s recommended service. The dealer has its own “recommendations” which include everything Hyundai calls for plus, balancing all 4 wheels, lube hinges and steering stops, multi-point inspection OEM recommended and somethings called BG Battery Service, BG Oil & Fuel Service Additives and BG Transmission Fluid Exchange Synthetic, that are mostly snake oil and jack up the cost considerably. I ask the service adviser how much my 30k service is going to cost me and he replies, “$237,” and he proceeds to read me back what I’m going to get for my money. I almost stop him because I’m looking at the dealer’s web site and he is reading the same thing I’m looking at, but I’m glad I don’t. As he gets to the bottom of the list he adds, “Because we are seeing a lot of problems from ethanol in the gas we put in…” I stop him there and say, “I don’t want that. How much is the service without it?” After a brief pause, “$206.”
So when we get to the Service Desk at Taylor Hyundai over in Augusta yesterday to pick up the car I am fully expecting to have to battle to get that extra $31 worth of worthless additive off the bill. The key and my invoice are right on top and I can see the total right there — $174.83. WTF?
#2
When I got home from work there was an email from Crutchfield, the Emperor’s New Radio that was supposed to ship on June 15th, shipped today.
I drove the Emperor and Donna drove the Purple Whale to Augusta this morning. We both came back in the Miata. We left the Sonata at the Whale Doctor for it’s 30,000 mile service.
On the way over driving the Interstate I set the Miata’s cruise control to 75 and that was fine for the first half of the trip. Then for no reason it surged a few MPH up and coasted back down. Then surged back up again and coasted down again. Then it seemed fine, but it was kind rainy, so I shut it off for the rest of the trip. On the way back I tried again and this time it wouldn’t engage. The on/off switch would turn on and light,but when I tried to set the speed the cruise light would flash on and right back off, with out engaging the cruise control.
So what do these two things have in common? I don’t know, but maybe a search of the Miata.net garage will tell me.
Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1226
There were 5 people for the MMC breakfast and after eating Donna and I drove over to the Club’s Tech Day just to see if we could pop the non-working radio out of the dash. Donna was hoping to have someone magically heal it by laying on of hands, didn’t happen. Turns out, between two of us, Rudy and I, we could only get the right half of the head unit loose from its mounting. The left side would not budge. Of course we only had the bent into U shaped coat hanger pieces to work with, yeah, that’s it, we didn’t have the proper tools. I did manage to get an additional blood blister on my left hand when I pinched the web between the thumb and forefinger cutting the coat hanger.
After scouring the interwebs for hours looking for solutions to my radio issue I settled on buying a new aftermarket radio. Because we like to be able to walk away from the Miata in a shopping center parking lot with top down and not have to worry any, I was looking for the least flashy looking head unit. I found it, a Jensen MP1524. It’s a veritable wallflower, but it has an inner beauty that includes all the modern bells and whistles. The downside is that the unit isn’t even shipping from the manufacturer yet. Crutchfield lists it as not being available until 6/15, so now we wait.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1224
We took the afternoon off work today and on the way home we ran a couple errands. Paid the water bill and stood in line for a long time at the Post Office so I could mail back the no longer needed GROM AUX-IN Adapter. Because of the time of day and our unusual route home we ran smack into some nearly standstill type traffic on Whiskey Road. I zipped a quick left in a … continue reading
The only radio we listen to in the Miata is from RadioParadise.com. OK, occasionally on a Saturday morning I’ll tune to an NPR station to catch some classic Click & Clack, but 99.9% is an MP3 ripped from an internet stream and burned to a CD. Ten of those CDs sit inside a cartridge housed inside a Sony Disc Changer that is tucked into one corner of the trunk. It has been that way for … continue reading
late April…
As part of the kitchen remodel that spread out over nearly the whole house we needed some new living room curtains. We shopped online and found some we like at Lowes. We went to the store and they had them on the shelf, but only in the 84″ length and we needed 95″. To make sure these were what we wanted we bought one panel in 84″ to take home and hang.
We like … continue reading
|
|