 |
I remember when on the back and sides of those small U-Haul trailers there used to be in 3″ high letters, MAX SPEED 45MPH. I guess they must have improved their equipment and their renter education, because today as I cruised down the Interstate at 75 mph, I was passed like I was standing still by a pick-up pulling a U-Haul trailer and it had nary a speed warning on it. They started out as high priced LARGE chrome wheels with an additional disc on the outside. Te disc spun independently of the wheel, so when the car/truck came to a stop, the wheels looked like they were still spinning. These wheels cost a great deal of money, thousands a piece. Then came add-on spinners to place over your existing dubs, reducing the cost to a mere several hundred per wheel. Not to be left out of this craze the po’ folks demanded a low price alternative. Ever accommodating, car aftermarket manufacturers came through, we now have chrome-like plastic hub caps that are spinners, available at a Wal-Mart near you. Saw some cheapo ones on a POS green Hyundai this afternoon (one spinning, the other not, on the side we could see.) Donna summed it up perfectly, “They are like baseball cards in the spokes of a bicycle, for adults.” I got a big fat envelope in today’s mail announcing this new Mazda promo. I guess they couldn’t come up with something using zoom-zoom and because of their previous Rev-It-Up thing they have named this program R.E.V., which stands for Rewards Every Visit. I think it is something like those cards that grocery stores use, the more you buy, the more reward points you get and then you redeem those points for fabulous prizes or something. I’m totally vague on this because the fat envelope came with a cover letter and no less than three (and some of those multi-page) inserts chock full of fine print and titled Rules and Terms & Conditions. And I ain’t slogging through all that to unearth the nugget of fools gold offered. One of them is an application for a Mazda REV credit card. If you drive a Velocity Red Mazdaspeed Miata you might go for it because that looks like what is depicted on the card, but otherwise the minimum 12.99% interest should keep everyone else away. There appears to be some sort of sweepstakes involved and I might try and get in an entry, if they don’t make me fill out too big a form online. You don’t have to get the credit card to play along, but them including it in the mailing will probably get some suckers to apply thinking it will increase their odds of winning. Comet Gestation Counter: 14 days We got our Annual Notice of Policy Status from our good neighbor the State Farm agent. In the cost of insurance section it listed Universal Life — $300.00 and WMD — $30. They were right here all along, and I’ve been financing them. Went back to the Seinfeld & Superman site today and noticed something I missed the first time, a Playbill on the table with the film canisters. If you click on that you get a flash animation sing-a-long of the song “Oh Yes Wyoming!” If you though I was having problems dislodging the song from my head before, it won’t go away for about a month now, I just got through listening to it several times so I could copy down the lyrics. Oh Yes Wyoming! Oh Yes Wyoming! With the tress and the horses and the rocks and the sheep Oh Yes I’m Going! Through the plains and the trails and the streams and the hills Oh No Nebraska! Is there a plainer state I ask ya Oh Yes Wyoming! There’s no place I’d rather be roaming With the geysers and the canyons and the watering holes With the geysers and the canyons and the watering holes Oh Yes Wyoming! With the mountains and the lakes and the plentiful fish Oh Yes I’m knowing! This land will fulfill my every wish Oh No Dakota! Doesn’t interest me one i-ota Oh Yes Wyoming! There’s no place I’d rather be roaming (spoken) Hey Zeke! What is it Antelope Joe? You know I love them girls back in Wyoming I heard you like the geezers too It’s geysers and anyway that’s just a rumor I’m talking about my special girl Daisy I call her ol’ faithful I heard she ain’t that faithful She sure is old though Ha ha ha ha Oh Yes Wyoming! With the cabins and the camping and the bakin’ beans Oh Yes I’m Glowing! With the bison and the banjos and the wily raccoons Oh No Ohio I can hardly wait to say goodbye-oh Oh Yes Wyoming! There’s no place I’d rather be… End with m-i-n-g… Shout it out loud with me W-Y-O-M-I-N-G Oh Yes! Comet Gestation Counter: 22 days With yesterday’s post and Rick’s comment I figured I’d be right near the top of a Google search for the phrase “Oh Yes Wyoming!”, so I tried it. Not even close. The top spot was occupied by a site called mathcaddy.com, a blog that had done the same thing as I did, posted the lyrics to the song. Three months before me! Boy, not only was I disappointed in my lack of Google ranking, but I am hopelessly behind the times. He also had an MP3 of the song. I downloaded it and have uploaded it to my site so as to be kind to his bandwidth. And maybe hoping to improve my G-score, here is for your listening pleasure, “Oh Yes Wyoming!” When I transcribed the speaking part of the song, which just has Yada Yada Yada in the Flash gizmo instead of the words, I misidentified Antelope Jack as Angelo. When Mr. Mathcaddy did it he heard Zeke as Zinc. Rest assured between the two of us we’ve got it right. Comet Gestation Counter: 23 days To jail I’m going. Comet Gestation Counter: 25 days While waiting these 4 weeks for the arrival of my new front lip spoiler (almost halfway there?) I haven’t been standing still in the Miata Mod Department. Way back in February I pulled the power antenna and replaced it with a cheapo $6 thing from an auto parts store. I knew it was only a matter of time before I replaced that ugly rubber thing with something a lot nicer. That time has come. When I ran through this scenario with the ’95, I went to my local BMW dealer and got one of the masts from the Z3. It was thin, flexible, about 1 foot tall and looked very sharp back there on the fender. $40. Now that style of antenna is every where, even the new Mazda 3 has the Fubu type antenna from the factory. Something different was required this time. Into the Honda parts bin for the little stubby S2000 antenna I went. It came in the mail yesterday, but just like the BMW unit, this needs modification too. The threaded shaft that screws into the car is too short. It would probably be OK if the threading in the Mazda antenna mount started right at the top, but for whatever reason the screw doesn’t start to engage until about a 1/4 inch down. I don’t have the tools, nor the expertise to accomplish the antenna mod, but I do know who to call. Because I work in a manufacturing facility, I know several people who have access to several pieces of high dollar machinery and know how to use. This morning I asked one of them to remove the existing stud and tap the bottom so that a longer one can take it’s place. And not destroy my $20 investment. If he had the same sense of priorities I have, he’d have dropped any of that work stuff and got right on my antenna, but now I have to wait a day or so until he can get around to it. I say that half seriously, the last time I got Jim Mullan to do something for me it took about three days, but it was better than OEM looking when he got done with it. Well worth the wait. Comet Gestation Counter: 28 days For about a year now, coworker and fellow Miata owner, Russ has resisted the siren’s song sung to him by his son-in-law. But every man has his breaking point and this past weekend was it for Russ. He finally succumbed to the Darkside, literally. He bought that optioned to the max, 1998 black Boxster with only 11,000 miles on the clock that had been dangled in front of him at a very attractive price.
He got home so late from picking it up Sunday night that he didn’t have time to remove the hardtop. But he is a dedicated convertible man, so the hardtop came off Monday evening and it is stored in it’s official Porsche stand under it’s official Porsche cover in his garage.
If you know any one who would like a 99 Emerald Green Miata with the tan leather package and only 46K miles of use, I know where one is for sale. Comet Gestation Counter: 29 days On the way to Rader to postagize the Master’s Miata Club newsletter the Emperor passed through the 14K mark. Thanks to Jim Mullan I now have a Honda S2000 stubby antenna mounted on the left rear of the car. The existing stud was plated brass so it was easy to remove and then drill and tap for mounting a longer M5 x 0.8 stud. All we have laying around work was a black oxide coated stud. I would really like to find a brass one because that is what is inside the antenna and that is what the mount threads are. I suppose brass might help reception, but mainly it should prevent any galvanic corrosion. I haven’t even tested the reception yet. Maybe tomorrow on the way to work I’ll try and listen to the radio… Comet Gestation Counter: 30 days Washed the car this AM. Vacuumed the interior and in a fit of Felix Ungerism I washed the engine compartment. I used a procedure I read about in the Car Care Products section of the Miata Forum that involves Simple Green and Amorall Tire Foam. The first time I used this procedure was on the old 95 after 7 years and 100k miles. It only took me 14k to do it to this car. The reason for the cleaning process was we were off to the Sno-Cap Drive-In’s 40th Anniversary shindig. The Miata Club, along with the Corvette Club filled the lot for the first 2 hours of the whole day and half the night affair. A couple of local news crews were there and both Donna and I, in different shots, made the evening news for mere seconds. Comet Gestation Counter: 32 days I first talked of this NB Miata malady back in May and it has been here in the background ever since. It is always noticeable for the first 4 or 5 1st gear launches in the morning. I’ve tried to adjust my technique, but after 30 years of driving a clutch one way I can’t always remember to use the “new” method. After some reading on the Miata.net Forums and the flippant remark by my favorite Mazda salesman I have been revving the engine to around 1500–2000 RPM for first gear launches. It has been working pretty good (when I remember to do it), but recently it is less and less effective. I’m afraid I may have to have the Mazda TSB applied to the car where they swap out the clutch disc for a new & improved version. But frankly, I’m not too anxious to have the folks at the dealership tackle this project after my experience with the 7500 Mile Service there. Speaking of service, it is almost time for the 15,000 one. At the rate I’m going it should be about 2 weeks from now. This time I won’t let the gorillas who work there rotate my tires (see the 7500 mile service link above), I’ll just do that my self in my driveway. Oh, that reminds me, the creaking that they never totally fixed last time is finally gone. Every couple of weeks I can’t take the noise any longer so I try spraying something with white lithium grease. First I tried the hinges, but I’m not sure I can hit the right spot. Then I hit the torsion bars that hold the trunk lid up in a couple places. A couple of days ago on my third attempt I got the spot. I can’t really explain where I did it, but if you come over to my house I can point to it for you. Comet Gestation Counter: 33 days While watching Fox News this morning I could see some people on the sidewalk out the window behind the anchors. The usual suspects were there, including a couple of folks that deserved to be culled from the gene pool. Person #1 is holding up a piece of cardboard of about 12″ x 24″ and he is holding it up so his message will be broadcast all over America and possibly the world. Only trouble is that he probably wrote the message in 1″ high letters with a ball-point pen. You couldn’t tell if there was anything on the cardboard all. I didn’t get your message dummy and no one else did either. Person #2 has a cell phone in her one hand and is waving madly with the other. She has obviously called someone she knows, to tell them she is on TV, because when the camera moves or zooms the person on the other end directs her which way to move so she can still be seen waving madly. It takes them a couple of times to get it right, because we she should move to the left, she goes right first. They finally get very adept at this so she can be seen waving madly constantly in the background whenever the one anchor is talking. She even manages to duck appropriately to get underneath the LIVE banner that appears periodically in the upper right hand corner of the screen. I hope she was on her way to a Cuddle Party because she needs some attention. You need to try a little harder, like the woman near the end of this crowd scene outside the Today show during the last Republican Convention. Good Morning Katie! (2 Meg Video) Oh Yes My Shirt Is Here! Cafepress delivered today. It is long sleeved in preparation for cooler weather that is about a month and a half away. I will probably wear it around the house first because we keep the AC on real good. But first it gets washed, if you are lucky I might model it for you later this week. Comet Gestation Counter: 34 days ..for fear I might jinx it. I cringe at the opening of each game when the announcers talk of where the standings might be at the end of the evening if Team B wins and Team Y loses. I should be enjoying this run, but I can’t, I’m from New England and a long suffering fan. I just hope I’ve been cryptic enough in this post so as to not piss off the baseball gods. Now excuse me while I go out into my backyard and bury a Baby Ruth bar, while chanting ”Game 6.” |
|
|
| Log in | Posts Feed | Comments Feed | Copyright © 2013 Life of Brian - All Rights Reserved Powered by WordPress & Atahualpa |
||
