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’.
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 We went back to the doctor’s office and they sucked more blood out of Donna’s arm. The white blood count was down some more, to 3.5 thousand cells/mcl. This is both good and bad. Good because that means the chemo is doing its job of killing fast growing cells, but bad because the white blood cells protect you from infection. Also her total blood count was down as well.
Before we left the office Donna was given a shot of Nupogen to start bringing up the white blood cells. We also got a couple of syringes of the stuff so that our plant nurse can give her a shot on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. Thursday we return to the doctor’s office or another blood test to see how the stuff is working.
Today’s wait was about 25 minutes which is not to bad in the scheme of things. While the doctor was talking about white blood counts he said something to the effect, “That is why I want to see someone one week after the first chemo session.” So whose miscommunication caused last Friday’s snafu? His to his staff? The staff to us? You can bet we are going to ask more questions when they set up the next set of appointments after chemo session #2.
 Here is (I think) a 1960 Chevy Impala from the little car show we stopped at on Saturday with my new favorite filter “cartoon” applied.
When I dropped off the Miata at the body shop last Monday they said they were allowed 5 days to fix the car (I’m guessing that is the insurance company telling them that) and they would call me Friday (4 days later) to tell me how they were doing. Friday came and went with no phone call. Monday was business day #5 with no call saying the car is ready. Today was day number six without a peep from Satcher Ford Motors’ body shop. I have been holding off calling them, but I guess tomorrow I should check in, if only to just let them know I’m still interested in getting the car back.
Filled up the Neon with gas today. Two hundred ninety five miles and it took 9.5 gallons of regular fuel, netting 31.5 MPG. Not bad.
Started up, still up.
Neon Top Transitions since 04/24/06: 0
My at-work spam count, that which is caught by the filters, has been hovering in the mid fifties, but in the last couple of days a half dozen or so of them have slipped by the filter and made it to my inbox. Various titles, from various internal spoofed email addresses and all with the same internal content.
It is of course riddled with extra characters in key words that the spam filters would catch. My favorite line is:
Receive the benefits and admiration that comes with a D:iploma!
Just how is a D:iploma different from a diploma, because I have a diploma and I don’t seem to get many benefits nor any admiration from having it.
But what worries me most, is there are probably hundreds of people out there that actually call the phone number at the bottom of the email…
Arnold and his wife were cleaning out the attic one day when he came across a ticket from the local shoe repair shop. The date stamped on the ticket showed that it was over eleven years old. They both laughed and tried to remember which of them might have forgotten to pick up a pair of shoes over a decade ago.
“Do you think the shoes will still be in the shop?” Arnold asked.
“Not very likely,” his wife said.
“It’s worth a try,” Arnold said, pocketing the ticket. He went downstairs, hopped into the car, and drove to the store.
With a straight face, he handed the ticket to the man behind the counter. The man said, “Just a minute. I’ll have to look for these.” He disappeared into the back of the shop.
Two minutes later, the man called out, “Here they are!”
“No kidding?” Arnold called back. “That’s terrific!”
The man came back to the counter, empty-handed and said, “They’ll be ready tomorrow.”
 Another photo from this past Saturday’s car show. Early 50’s Ford?
Broke down and called the body shop today. They said that they have been a little backed up in the paint booth recently, but the Miata will be ready tomorrow. Kind of reminds me of that old joke about the shoe repair ticket…
Called the body shop at 2:00 PM to make sure the Miata was ready. They were putting it back together, so they could get it washed up. The fellow said it should be ready by 5:30 (coincidentally their closing time.)
Tonight was the May meeting on the MMC and we needed to be in Augusta by 6:30. A 5:30 pick-up time would be cutting it close. About 4:00 PM we decided it wasn’t going to work out, so I called the body shop to let them know I’d just get the car tomorrow. The receptionist passed me through, but I spent the next 2 minutes on hold. I just hung up. Tried again at 4:30 with the exact same results. When I tried at 5:30, still no one picked up the phone in the body shop. Probably all frantically trying to get my car ready. To bad, I wasn’t coming.
I’ll call again tomorrow at lunch and see if anyone will answer the phone then…
Started up, still up.
Neon Top Transitions since 04/24/06: 0
The Neon is gone. I left it at the body shop and drove home in the freshly fixed up Miata. It still smells a little like paint on the interior. They did a nice enough job and they also took out the two small dings on the right rear quarter panel that I have put there over the years. As a side effect of the paint blending process, a couple of scratches disappeared as well. Spent a hour or so once I got it home putting all the junk back in the trunk (and glove box and center console…) While the Neon wasn’t a bad ride for a while, it sure is nice to get the car back.
The Nuepogen is gone. Donna had gotten one shot of it on Monday at the doctor’s office, the company nurse give her the next two on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday she went back for a blood test and the results showed that after Monday’s low White Blood Cell count of 2.5, the WBC was back in range at 4.5, but her platelets only rose from 1.0 to 1.8 and still remained a couple ticks below range. So she got neupogen dose #4. We had another oncology appointment this morning, with another blood test. The WBC was now over the top (10 is the upper limit of the range) at 11.4 and her platelets were up in the normal range too. She figured she was home free, nope, the doctor wanted her to get one more. The good news about that was, he then didn’t need to see her again until next Friday when she is scheduled for chemo treatment #2.
The hair is gone. Started to come out last night and there was lots more hair in the sink this morning. Tonight after supper we went out onto the back deck and I used my beard trimmer to cut Donna’s hair down to an 1/8 inch high. We then came back inside where I shaved her head. It may have been falling out, but it was still very thick. I used 4 Gillette Sensor3 razor blades. Now all she has is a five o’clock shadow. I didn’t want to try and make it baby bottom smooth because her scalp had taken enough of a beating getting to where I got it.
Started up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 126
Most people don’t know that back in 1912, Hellmann’s mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York.
This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.
The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day.
The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as Sinko de Mayo.
During today’s visit to the cancer center I was sharing the waiting room with a little ol’ lady. She was obviously a cancer patient because there was no hair under her butterfly festooned hat. She sat in a wheelchair and was doing a crossword puzzle. When she wheeled across the room she didn’t use her arms she just kept working the puzzle and pulled herself by moving just her feet on the ground.
Donna called me down two doors to the lab area where she was waiting on Margo the nurse to come back. She showed me her numbers and they looked pretty good, but the doctor wanted to give her one more dose of the Nuepogen. When the nurse came back in she started to load up a needle while Donna tried in vain to bargain her way out of the shot.
As Margo was about to stick Donna’s arm the nice ol’ lady wheeled herself to the lab room door with her feet and asked if she could go yet. “Nope,” replied Margo, “I have to take blood for a test.” Our lady protested, “But you said I didn’t have to.” Sorry said Margo, the doctor forgot to write in the orders, but he just told me he wants it done. To which our butterfly hatted lady said, “Catch me if you can.” With a big smile on her face and a wink took a couple of shuffle steps forward moving all of 8–10 inches.
It took a full minute before the laughter died down so that Margo was composed enough to give Donna her shot.
Forget automatic debit, forget paying online, we do things the old fashioned way — with a check. But then we throw in a twist, we ride our bicycles around town and put those checks in the drop box at the cable company, the power company and the city (for water & sewage.) We tacked on a few extra miles by exploring some of the rapidly expanding sub-divisions on the southside of town and ended up going a little over twelve miles on the tandem.
In celebration of having our Miata back we decided to go to Maurice’s BBQ for lunch. Big deal you say, BBQ, well the closest Maurice’s is in Lexington, SC about 50 miles away. It was in the upper 70s with a bright blue sky and some fluffy white clouds for contrast, a day that was tailor-made for a convertible drive. One hundred mile trip at 25 MPG and with gas at $3 a gallon we spent twelve dollars to get a $14 lunch. You can bet the trip was worth every penny.
Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 127
ASCO was recently awarded the biggest contract ever in the company’s history. Caterpillar has picked us to make a series of 4 valves that will go on every one of their diesel engines starting next January 1st. The government has tightened the diesel emission regulations and our valves will take the sooty exhaust and send it through some sort of afterburner to clean it up. The folks from Caterpillar have been in the plant for most of the week going over how and where we will build their product.
On Thursday they gave us this huge flag/banner about 9′ x 15′ in size with the Caterpillar logo on it. Early Friday morning it was given to a couple of the maintenance guys to hang from the ceiling at the end of the hall leading into the assembly area. A couple of minutes after they had finished hanging it I walked by on my way into the cafeteria. There were a couple of other people looking up at it, so I did too and this is what we saw:
I walked into the back and asked the maintenance supervisor about the TAC flag. He said, “You mean CAT?” I replied, “I thought that was what it was, but the flag was hanging backside out and upside down, so it looked like TAC. Maybe we should get it hanging right before the Caterpillar representatives come in, see it and decide maybe we weren’t really capable of assembling their valves correctly.”
 I took one last picture of Neon in the company parking lot on Friday. Tried a couple of panorama shots, but those really need a tripod to work well.
Pretty much spent the day inside because of the rain. We did venture out around noon to get a Firehouse Sub and then do the weekly grocery shopping. The sun made a brief appearance around 3 PM, but didn’t stay long.
There is a threat of a car drive after the West Wing at 9 PM, but that is dependent on the rain staying away long enough. (It did.)
Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 128
We just came back from a friend’s son’s baseball game. Donna had turtleneck under her jacket, I had two t-shirts on under mine and we sat huddled under a blanket. The temps were in the upper 50’s and it was misty, so we left after the 5th inning because we were c-c-cold.
We still rode home with the top down though (the windows and the windblocker were up, plus the temp knob was 3/4 of the way hot.)
Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 128
 Sub-Titled: That’s The Last Time Donna’ll Let Me Do That Unsupervised
It’s coming up on Mother’s Day, so if you’ve got one, better start planning a gift. It is time for us to pick out some flowers or a plant to be delivered to my Mom in Connecticut. We always used to do flowers, but somewhere along the way Mom mentioned she hated to throw away the flowers after they got all ooey. She suggested we get her a plant, something that could be transplanted and enjoyed for more than a week or so.
For the last couple of year’s we have been buying and sending the Mother’s Day plant using the internet. Usually we do this together, because being a guy, I can’t always be relied upon to pick out the best gift. This year Donna let me try on my own, after all it is for my Mom. Not being much of a shopper when it comes to these sort of things, I usually pick whoever has an ad running on the front page of Yahoo. This year’s lucky recipient of our business was proflowers.com. I picked out a nice large 6″ potted Ventricosa Heather plant in a decorative tin basket for $30 (+ $10 for delivery.) When I showed Donna what I had bought she was pleased. Then she asked me what I put on the card I told her, “Happy Mother’s Day, what did you think?” She then replied, “Did you put ‘Love Brian & Donna’ on it?”
Oooops.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 130
Up until 2004 the final standings didn’t matter if you were Red Sox fan, the success of the season was measured by how well you did against the Yankees. My mom waitressed at a neighborhood bar/restaurant and every year she had a $1 a game bet with the owner/bartender Yankee fan. In both good or bad years for either team they always played there best ball against each other. Believe me it wasn’t about winning big bucks, because more often than not the season series was decided by just one game. That single dollar bill was then placed in a prominent place to be lorded over the other person all off season.
Tonight is the middle game of a three game Yankees — Red Sox series and it is on ESPN, so I’m watching as I type. While I don’t have a buck a game bet thing, I do have a manager who is a Yankees fan and we do a bit of back and forth depending on who is winning. Last night the Red Sox trounced the Yanks 14 to 3. This morning I kept my mouth shut when I walked by him in the hall, he was so expecting a taunt of some kind he actually called after me. I told him I didn’t want to say anything because tonight the FRS could be on the losing end of such a score. I guess I must be psychic because here in the 6th inning the Yankees are up 6 to 3 and are threatening to score some more.
Depending on which Tim Wakefield shows up on the mound tomorrow, the Bosox will be up 3–1 in the season series or they could be tied with two wins a piece. That is, for at least the next 10 days, when the rivalry resumes on the 22nd with a three game set at Fenway. Doesn’t get much better than this.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 132
They could have won the game.
Tonight the game is a little closer, we are down 3–2 in the seventh inning, but the FRS have so far left 13 men on base. They have been left loaded 3 times. Great catches by Yankee outfielders have pulled back home runs from over the fence. Breaks are all going New York’s way, including (bad pun and slightly offensive) Hideki Matsui’s wrist.
Thirty-nine thousand flickered by on the digital odometer during the trip home from work today.
When I picked up the car from the body shop they had washed and waxed the back part of the car (the parts they painted), but didn’t really clean the front. Sunday’s rain left behind spots on the hood of coagulated body shop dust. I have been meaning to wash the car for the past couple of days, but they have been calling for rain. The last chance of precipitation for a while past this morning, so tonight when I got home I broke out the hose and bucket.
While cleaning the car I noticed a couple of things that need addressing from the body shop. When closing the trunk the sound has been a little different. Does the latch need replacing or is it because the trunk is off align of straight by about 1 degree? There are also a couple of dust pimples in the pain on the left trailing edge of the trunk lid. There is also what looks like a milky haze in the clearcoat in a couple spots on the trunk and left fender. The kicker is what at first I thought was dirt and suntan lotion build up on the shift knob turned out to be several small scratches in the clear coating on it. Guess I’ll give them a call tomorrow.
Started down, went up, back down, back up, down again, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 136
From the trailer to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest due in theaters July 7th.
Elizabeth Swann: There will come a moment when you have the chance to do the right thing.
Jack Sparrow: I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by.
The merchandising is already starting to crank up. We were in Target the other night looking for a swim cap for Donna. She wanted to go to our health club and swim in the pool and didn’t want to frighten any other swimmers with her recently shorn pate. We found a couple different ones to choose from and opted for the more expensive silicone one over the vinyl. Right next to the sporting goods was the toy section where the end of one aisle was loaded with boxes full of “Talking Mr. Cotton’s Parrots” and skull & crossbones alarm clocks. I wandered further down the aisle and found some TDPM II action figures. There was a sword slashing Jack Sparrow that I just had to have, it was destiny, Cap’t Jack was $7.99, exactly what the swim cap cost…
In other movie news: This September you will be able to step back to 1977 and relive the greatest movie of all time the way it was presented back then. That’s right, just in time for winter solstice gift giving season, the Star Wars Trilogy as they were originally run in the movie theaters arrive as “bonus” material on 2-disc DVD sets of each title.
Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 136
A tourist walks into a curio shop in San Francisco. Looking around at everything, he notices a very lifelike life-sized bronze statue of a rat.
It has no price tag, but is so striking that he decides he must have it.
He takes it to the owner and asks, “How much for the bronze rat?”
The owner replies, “$12 for the rat and $100 for the story”.
The tourist gives the man $12 and says, “I’ll just take the rat, you can keep the story.”
As he walks down the street carrying his bronze rat, he notices that a few real rats have crawled out of the alleys and sewers and begun following him down the street.
This is disconcerting, and he begins walking faster. But within a couple of blocks, the herd of rats behind him has grown to hundreds, and they begin squealing. He begins to trot toward the Bay, looking around to see that the rats now number in the MILLIONS, and are squealing and coming toward him faster and faster.
Concerned, even scared, he runs to the edge of the Bay, and throws the bronze rat as far out into the water as he can. Amazingly, the millions of rats all jump into the Bay after it and are all drowned.
The man walks back to the curio shop.
“Ah ha,” says the owner, “you have come back for the story?”
“No,” says the man, “I came back to see if you have a bronze [insert current villainous group here].”
Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 136
We kind of thought the first session of chemo went too smoothly.
Started out emotionally bad on Friday when there was a chance of not getting the scheduled second session. We were so excited by how high Donna’s white blood cell count was last week after the neupogn shots, but as it turns out now they are saying it was some sort of anomaly and it was probably only 1/2 of the 11.9 the test showed. This Friday it was 3.5 (4.1–10 is the normal range) and her total blood count was 1500 (the low border for administering chemo.) I’m not sure how long this doctor has been practicing, but he seemed genuinely flustered by Donna’s tears, at the possibility of not getting the chemo. You see she has geared herself up for doing this in a certain time frame and does not want to have to extend it for any reason. Eventually, she got her poisons.
Saturday morning we went back to to the cancer center to get a shot of neulasta (the long lasting version of neupogen) and in the early afternoon we made a grocery shopping trip which were just about all the excitement that Donna could stand. Most of the rest of the day consisted of laying around on the couch with a heating pad on her midsection to soothe the painful stomach and a wet washcloth on her head to ease the headache. By late evening she could not stay comfortable in any position on the couch or bed, but did seem to feel better when standing. So we took a slow walk around our mile long block and then we went for a nice little 25 mile top down drive. Both were nice, but temporary relief from the discomfort, so when we got home, Donna showered, took a compazine and we went to bed.
Sunday morning started early and badly. Donna felt horrible and couldn’t get comfortable at all. I think if we had a gun in the house she might have asked to be put out of her misery. Finally around 8 o’clock she felt good enough to have a craving for a pecan waffle and some scattered and smothered hash browns from Waffle house. While I was gone she tried to vomit, but had nothing to throw up. By the time I got back she told me to stay away as just the smell of the food was making her sick. I got her to take one of the Zofran samples and in about 15 minutes she sat down at the table and managed to eat a quarter of the waffle and about the same of the potatoes. By lunch the stomach issues had been quieted to a dull roar, but then the bone aches from the neulasta kicked in. Poor girl. I think because her blood count was low to begin with for this chemo, she got hit with the side effects a little harder.
Because of that too, instead of trying to be a hero, Donna is going to only work 5 hour days this week instead of putting in a whole eight, hopefully this will help dealing with the upsets and aches of cancer treatment. Let’s all see if she can do it.
Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 137
I’m not a fan of Barry Bonds, but I sure hope he hits #714 soon, so they will stop interupting baseball games on ESPN to watch him bat.
Last Friday, May12th, the body shop guy said he needs a couple of hours to fix my laundry list of complaints. I told him that the Miata is my only car, so I would need a loaner. He said he’d call me back and let me know when he could arrange for a car. When he called me back he asked if the 29th was OK. With my always nearly empty social calendar, I instantly agreed. Later when I went to mark it on my calendar I realized that that day was the Monday of Memorial Day Weekend. It was too late to call back then and change it, so I waited until to today. When I told him of the conflict, he replied, “Well just bring it in the next day.”
Why did it take so long to reserve a loaner? Why was it 17 days in the future? If in the end he just goes bring it in one day later?
Were they hoping I would just give up?
Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 138
I have kept my hair very short for maybe 8 or 9 years. I would have no trouble passing the haircut regulations of any military service. This is done for two reasons, one it is easy to take care of and two it diminishes the noticeability of the thinning hair. Consequentially I haven’t needed a comb for nearly a decade, but I have continued to carry one. I carried it for my wife. We drive in a convertible so every time we’d stop she would ask for the comb to realign her tousled locks. Somewhere along the line she stopped asking to borrow my comb and started to ask for “her” comb.
Now that Donna doesn’t have any hair I felt safe stopping carrying a comb. It does feels weird though because I’ve had a little black comb in the same pocket as my wallet since I was probably 12 or so. Now every time I pull out my wallet I notice there is no comb and start looking for it on the floor near me to see if I dropped it.
Captain Jack Sparrow came to work with me on Monday. Posing is limited and standing on its own is hampered by the built-in sword slashing action mechanism, but this doll action figure is not too bad for eight bucks. Definitely not McFarlane caliber, but he wasn’t making them…
Jack couldn’t stand up too well on his own to begin with, but with the angle of the monitor top it became near impossible. I decided to get him some help, a little double stick tape to plant his feet on and everything was just fine.
When I came in this morning Jack was flat on his back. Apparently drank too much rum on Monday night. Or I need some better double stick tape.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 140
Forgot to mention that we went for a small bike ride yesterday. We took the tandem out, cruised some neighborhoods and ended up going about 8–1/2 miles at about 3/4 speed. Donna was feeling pretty good when I got home from work and we didn’t want to burn up all her energy. The tandem is perfect for her right now, she can get in some needed exercise and not have to worry about that whole steering, shifting, braking stuff.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 142
Sat down in front of the computer last night to listen to the ballgame only to find out the FRS had the night off for a travel day. They must be riding their bicycles to need a day to get from Baltimore to Phillidelphia… So I thought I might listen to the Rangers and Yankees game and root for Texas, but that was an afternoon game, so it was long over. So I left the computer and picked up a book. Forgot all about blogging until just as we were climbing into bed my wife asked, “How come you didn’t blog tonight?” (She reads nightly to see if anything interesting happened to me when she wasn’t looking.)
For Thurday:
Started down, went up, back down, up again, down again, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 146
 We went out this evening to buy a few things, I needed some new tan work socks and some quarter high sneaker socks. Donna wanted a couple of bits of garden art to replace her rapidly deteriorating 3 wooden flower flairs and some bird seed to fill up the feeders in the backyard. We figured our best bet to get all the items we needed was Target. First we went to the guys section for my socks and then headed across the back of the store to the garden section. We just happened to pass right by the toy section…
We did manage to get some bird seed, but we will have to wait until tomorrow or Sunday for the garden art. Target’s selection was slim to the point of being threadbare, so a trip to Lowes and Home Depot is called for.
How are we going to pay for all this shopping we are doing you ask, here is how, I’ll sell my domain name. According to LeapFish, mr-miata.net is worth a base value of $291, but its estimated actual value is $14,114. Try it and see how big an internet magnate you might be: LeapFish.com.
Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 146
 Today the MMC held it’s 3rd annual TSD road Rally and Dona and I came in first. The first year we came in 3rd and last year we finished out of the money, but this year we knocked ‘em dead.
There were 14 teams that started and we were #13 out of the gate. When Donna and I arrived at the finish we were the 4th car in. We knew that there a few cars that probably got lost, we had seen a few going the other way as we did the run, but 6 cars had fallen off the course. Turns out it was worse than that because the 3 that were at the finish ahead of us had only made it there by opening their emergency envelopes…
I guess this must have been harder than it looked to us because only one other team besides us finished with an intact envelope before the cutoff time. Four other teams didn’t open the envelope, but came in after the time allowed. Everyone who made it in cleanly got to pick something from the prize table, the top two teams also got a little cash prize to go along with their T-shirt or hat. We got a crisp piece of paper with a portrait of Andrew Jackson and the second place team snagged an Alexander Hamilton.
Started down, went up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 150
The only thing besides the weekly grocery shopping trip to interrupt hanging out on the couch all day was an early morning tandem ride. We went another 8 or so miles, but this time included a stop for breakfast. Because we were too early for a muffin at the New Moon Cafe and the only true bagel place in town folded their tent we ended up at the ABC. We both had a bagel and judged their quality to be just about half way between a store bought one and one from the defunct Best Bagels.
There was an older gentleman a couple people ahead of us that got one too, but we didn’t ask him how he liked his. We sat outside in the patio area and watched as that same gentleman got back in his car to leave. He reopened hid drivers door and poured the contents of a nearly full old Atlanta Bread Company coffee cup onto the ground in the parking lot. We marveled as to why he wouldn’t have just gone back inside the shop and thrown it out. After the cup was empty he got back out of the car and did head back inside. Now we really wondered why he didn’t just throw it away in the store. Then with a flash of realization it dawned on us what he was doing, when he ordered his bagel he didnt get a drink, now he was refilling and old ABC cup with fresh coffee.
Because we did get out on the roads early we encountered very little automobile traffic. On the way home from breakfast there were a few more cars out, probably on their way to early services at church. I am always amazed at these good Christians on their way to worship the deity of their choice are the least courteous drivers on the road. This morning we were on a section of very lightly traveled 4-lane road when a nicely dressed person in a pickup squeezed by us as close as he could. I’m guessing he was a catholic, because after he accidentally ran us over and killed us all he had to do was to go to confession and be absolved from his sins. That way his conscience would have been clear as he sat down to watch the Braves on TV later that afternoon.
Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 151
NBC’s news magazine show, Dateline, just happened to be doing a show on possible damage if a major earthquake hit several US cities, when after that show ends the network would be airing 10.5: APOCALYPSE the story of major earthquakes hitting the country.
Donna’s stomach is feeling a lot better now. Took about 10 days this time as opposed to just 3 after chemo #1. She is still only going to do 5 hours days at work, because she tires easier than the last chemo too. But because she is feeling better she wanted to go back to her usual chores, one of which is mowing the lawn. I told her no, but she could help by doing the FOD walkdown prior to my mowing, picking up all the broken branches and stray pieces of paper that have ended up on the lawn.
FOD stands for Foreign Object Damage and is a left over from our Naval Aviation days. On shore duty every morning after after mustering in the whole squadron would go out on the ramp behind the hanger and walk in a wide row down the flight line picking up any detritus laying around. On the ship before flight ops the air boss would call for a FOD walkdown and everyone on the flightdeck would gather in a line on the bow and slowly walk all the way to the fantail cleaning every square inch of the deck. You would be surprised just how much damage a 1/4 long #10–32 screw can cause when ingested by a jet engine.
We were supposed to have tacos at home for supper tonight, but we ended up at Chili’s for ribs because of some FOD. Because it is only the two of us we only do half the meat of the usual dinner kit. I split a pound of hamburger in half, one part went into the freezer in a plastic bag and the other went into the pan. We had a half a pack of the powdered seasoning mix left from last time, so I used that instead of the new one. After I got everything mixed up in the pan and it was simmering nicely I noticed what looked like a big piece of red pepper. And a few pieces of green pepper or plant matter. WTF? Was it something in the meat? Something left in the 1/2 pack of seasoning mix? Nothing had gotten near the pan, so thinking better safe than sorry, we tossed it all in the trash and went out to eat.
Started up, went down, went up, back down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 155
Donna and I went to the local mall and did some shopping, a couple of shirts and a denim skirt for her, no action figures for me. After we were done in the mall she had one more thing she wanted to buy some place else, an ice cream cone. As we left J.C. Penny’s we noticed a ’95 M Edition Miata, that pretty Merlot color with the BBS mesh wheels, right near the entrance with its top down. Inside was a woman talking on her cell phone. I guess she wanted to finish her conversation while her driver was inside shopping. We walked all the the way out to the far end of the lot and got in our car, as we pulled out of the lot I could see that she was still on the phone.
A mile or so down the road we stopped to get that treat. The girl made a cone for Donna and filled a cup for me, then we went back outside, wandered over to a picnic table and sat down. A couple minutes later, what should pull into the ice cream shop’s parking area, but that same Miata. The woman was still talking on her cell phone. They parked and the man driving slowly walked around the back of the car giving the woman a few seconds to get out. When she didn’t, he opened the door then reached in and undid her seat belt all the while she is talking. At first I thought because of the way he was helping her she might be handicapped, but no, she finally stood on her own power and sauntered over towards the shop yakking away while he closed the door behind her. He managed to get half her attention with a question to which she nodded back at him. He headed into the store while she tried out a couple chairs looking for just the right one all the while with her cell phone glued to her ear.
A couple minutes later the man returned with what looked like two small sundaes. He placed hers down on the the arm of the chair she was in, sat down and started to enjoy his ice cream. At one point I think she braced the phone between shoulder and cheek to sneak a spoonful, but maybe not. By now Donna and I were finished, so we walked back to our car which took us right by the couple. As we passed I could see her sundae was untouched and his was half gone. When we got by, I asked Donna should I give him an MMC newsletter. She just shook her head no.
I started our Miata and he looked over, recognizing the sound perhaps, and gave us a thumbs up sign. I responded with a friendly wave and backed out of the spot. As we turned right out of the lot onto the main road, he was still looking and she was still talking on the cell phone. Maybe I should have given him the newsletter, because it seems like he could use some company that might actually involve him in the conversation.
Started up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 158
When we first moved to Aiken in 1989 to shop in an enclosed mall you had to drive to Augusta, but they were building one here that did open a couple years later. It took more than ten years past that to get the mainstay of mall-dom, GAP, to open up a store in it.
When they did open the store did a huge business, but it trailed of rather quickly. Last year after maybe 3 years of doing business they shut the doors. Don’t worry they told us, we are going to remodel and open up as a GAP Outlet. The “outlet” has been open for a few months and they really most have expected a huge swing in shoppers. There is one central cashier station at the back of the store and they have the nylon strap equivalent of velvet ropes in front of it that is two 15′ sections folded on each other, probably hold a dozen shoppers.
Admititly it was a Tuesday, but Donna and I plus another couple were the only shoppers in the store. We were outnumbered 3 to 1 by sales associates who mostly stood around behind the cashier’s station loudly trying to one up each other with retail job interview stories. Maybe the Saturday before Christmas they might get a dozen shoppers in the whole store, never mind checking out at the same time.
We don’t get the Miata on an Interstate much and the last few times we did it showed some tire shimmy at 60MPH and again around 80 or so. Rotating the tires didn’t eliminate it totally, but did change its feel and speed of appearance. Seeing as we are doing a road trip this weekend that will encompass a good chunk of interstate I went to a different LTS and had the tires balanced. The Miata is fairly sensitive to balance issues because of the light weight wheel/tire combination and taught suspension. I’ll let you know how they did.
When I had the ticket written up I left a big hint that the torque spec for my lug nuts was 75 ft/lbs. I had tried that tact with the last place, but they didn’t get the hint (which is one of the reasons I’m at some place new.) These guys did good on this account as I checked when I got home in the driveway and the lug nuts were easily removable with the regular lug wrench. I then retorqued them back down to 75 ft/lbs.
They did made a weak attempt to sell me some new tires before balancing. The Toyos are nearly worn out, but I think I have another month on them. They were installed in October of 2004 when the car had a touch over 16,000 and we are fast approaching 40,000. That would mean I would get a respectable 25k miles on the set with this weekend’s trip and another 30 days of local travel.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 160
Spring is gone and summer is here. Today it was in the lower 90’s and there was a rumble of thunder this afternoon. There is more of the same expected for the next 10 days according to the Weather Channel, but local wisdom says it should be expected for the next 100 days.
When the sun was getting low in the sky and the temperature had dropped to the lower 80’s, Donna and I hopped on the tandem and went for a little 9 mile ride around town. By the time we got home it was pretty well dark. Might take the high powered headlights of one of the commuting bikes, along with a flashing tail light, and put it on the tandem for these evening rides.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 162
Rest easy Mark, we resisted the “Call of the Rat Toe.” We came into Concord on US601 and even though we were 5–6 miles east of Lowes Motor Speedway the traffic was as thick as mosquitos on a summer’s eve. Descretion being the better part of valor we just rolled north into Kannapolis.
After a few false moves we found our motel. I couldn’t beleive that we could find a room this close to the big race on such short notice, but maybe I know why now, it is only a couple short steps up from a dump. But hey, there is wireless broadband internet, the water pressure is great, the AC blows cold air and after manually hitting the power button, the remote control works the TV just fine, so what else do you want for $80.
At the front desk there was a schedule for the Kannapolis Intimidators, class A farm team for the Chicago White Sox, and they were home. We found a local pizza place for dinner, Flyin Buffalo and went to a baseball game, sort of.
Parking was a buck and General Admission was to be $4 each, but some guy was giving away complimentary General Admission tickets just outside the gate. He assured Donna there was no catch, so we took them and got in for free. About 10 minutes before gametime the grounds crew put the tarp on the field. The PA announcer said the game would be delayed a few minutes as there was a storm system headed our way. Donna and I immediately made our way to one of several covered picnic areas, even though it wasn’t raining yet, to avoid the rush later. After about a half hour and no rain we decided to just go ahead and leave as our tickets were free. Before we made it to the exit they started to take the tarp up, so we got some seats to watch some baseball. We made it through two whole innings before our long day caught up to us and we headed for the exit again.
Started down, went up, back down, up again, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 165
Breakfast was just about what we expected, I had a bowl of Raisin Bran with what milk I could get out of a mostly frozen jug and Donna ate a biscuit with sausage gravy. Plus we each ate one of those half dollar sized powdered doughnuts that come in packs of 10 for fifty cents. We stopped a few miles down the road and bought some fruit at a grocery store.
Donna had the official North Carolina Travel book out and we were going to stop in a couple small towns to see some of the “points of interest” in them. Trouble was all we really had were descriptions of the sites, no directions. There was a covered bridge near Asheboro, one of only two remaining in NC, that we actually found some signs to, but gave up finding after traveling 10 miles on two-lane roads with nothing to show for it. Next site we couldn’t find was a antique carousel inn Burlington. It was located in a city park at the center of town, but we never saw a sign for downtown.
Side Note: Berries & Cream Dr. Pepper tastes a lot like cough syrup.
Traffic was amazing light until we got to Richmond when we needed it the least. A miscommunicated routing request sent the driver several miles out of the way causing a delay in getting into our hotel room.
We had a nice visit with Sally over DQ Blizzards and got the inside dish on Africa and the whole Pitt-Jolie birthing extravaganza. Tomorrow morning we will have breakfast with her and her “Tug Boat Captain” daughter Claire before visiting Donna’s Cousin Sue and family.
Started up, went down, back up, back down, up again, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 169
Breakfast was at the “River City Diner” that was attached to the Holiday Inn. Could be a chain restaurant and seeing as most big towns have a river running thru it, it would fit right in nearly anywhere. The waiters wore bowling shirts and the waitresses wore something with very short sleeves and a collar that were left over from Rizzo’s closet. All shiny chrome and vinyl, the only thing missing were the classic diner shape and little jukeboxes in the booths. The food was diner plentiful, I ordered pancakes with 2 eggs scrambled and the flapjacks were as big as Frisbees and the eggs must have been from ostrich-sized chickens.
After saying so long to Sally and “little” Claire we were off to the west side of Richmond to visit Donna’s cousin Sue and family. Susie and Alex live in a tree lined planned community that is the picture next to the term suburb in the central Virginia encyclopedia. They have three beautiful girls and whenever we pop in for a visit (approximately every half decade) we bring gifts for them. This time it was t-shirts with Aiken and horses on them, three different designs for three different ages. When kids are little they will put on anything mom pops over their heads, but at some age they will develope a style sense of their own making clothing a risky gift, so who knows they might put them on and never want to take them off or the only use they’ll get is to wipe up spilled Pepsi. The only daughter home was the oldest, 13 or 14 and she hung out in the kitchen with us adults as we discussed Donna’s breast cancer which then segued into medical insurance. Maybe there was nothing on MTV or she just wanted to hang with the grown-ups. I just hope in 2055 or so she thinks back to that “aunt” who had breast cancer, was cured because they caught it early and starts getting yearly mammograms herself.
We didn’t leave there until about 10:30, so we hopped on I-95 and started south. Donna drove for 60 miles then I did a 60 mile shift before we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for lunch where we both ate too much again. After lunch, I continued south on I-95 until we could take the monotonous snapping of tires over concrete expansion joints no more. We jumped onto the back roads and made our way over to the town founded by Fred and Lamont in 1977 after they quit the junk business, Sanford, North Carolina.
There was a Sagebrush right across the street from the hotel, so that is where we went for a late dinner. This is the fourth different Sagebrush I have dined at and they are now batting .500. Rock Hill, SC and Monroe, NC are winners, every time I’ve been there I have wanted to go back. The one that lasted a year and a half in Aiken was awful all three times we went. Sanford, NC now joins them in the losers column. Our waiter had to be asked to bring us the usual bucket of peanuts that are their equivalent of the chips and salsa at a Mexican eatery. Our salads arrived 3 or so minutes after our main course. My blue cheese dressing was the worst I ever had and that is saying something. The steak was good, except the cook was a little heavy handed with the grilling spices. Plus I think whoever cooked up the Bunkhouse Beans mistook the teaspoon abbreviation for tablespoon, because those bad boys were peppery. I didn’t say anything because this is the first time I’ve had them and for all I know that is their signature way of doing beans…
Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 171
As Glenda the Good Witch told Dorothy, “There’s no place like home.”
US1 runs through Sanford, NC and Aiken, SC too, so we decided to just follow it home. This caused Donna to remember that 42 years ago when her family moved from NJ to New Orleans the traveled down via US1 in a station wagon. They drove straight thru with Mom and Dad splitting the driving, figuring it was easy to remember what roads to take by picking one and sticking with it. They folded the back seat flat and the 4 kids rode down in the back of the wagon with their sleeping bags. No minivan with child seats, seat belts or DVD players, just sleeping bags and some kiddie books. I then shared that my mom and one of her male friends took 2 weeks to travel the whole length of US1 from Fort Kent, Maine to Key West, Florida. She asked how old I was thinking that perhaps in some weird coincidence her family and my mom had crossed paths, maybe saying hello at a gas station or sat in adjoining booths at a roadside diner. No such thing happened though as my parents were still together when I was nine. Mom and Leo did their trip some 4 or 5 years after the Morrisons, because I was in my early teens when my mom and he were an item. Kind of strange that our parents passed through Aiken long before Donna and I lived here.
Around Camden, SC we actually got tired of the back roads and feeling the pull of home, jumped on I-20 to speed up the trip. This is also about the time the car started to make a loud rattling noise. It seemed to happen when shifting between 2nd and 3rd, but was entirely restricted to just then. It would occur between 2500 to 3000 RPM. I suspected it was somehow exhaust related, but wasn’t really sure. It didn’t sound life threatening, so the plan was to get home and take a look underneath the car. We made a detour into Columbia for lunch. Donna wanted spaghetti and meatballs and we remembered a restaurant in downtown called The Old Spaghetti Factory. We drove around where we thought it was, did I mention that the last time we ate there was 8 or 9 years ago? We finally gave up and asked someone. They remembered it, but was sure they had closed some time ago. We ended up at Subway where Donna got her meatballs, just in a sub, not on a pile of pasta.
With all the city driving the noise was getting a lot louder and a lot more frequent. We decided to head a few miles back and stop in at the Mazda dealer in Columbia. They were open and said they would get a technician to look at it. We retired to the waiting room with thoughts of possible expensive repairs floating in our heads. About 45 minutes later the service adviser came over and said it was fixed, they found that a bolt had come loose on an exhaust hanger up near the front of the car. When I asked how much we owed them, he replied, “Nothing.” Cool. We thanked him and finished the trip home in quiet.
At home the Emperor got a well deserved bath. I want it to look good because tomorrow we go back to the body shop for them to fix their errors when they repaired it earlier this month.
Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 173
Dropped the Miata off at the body shop today after work. They gave us a loaner car, a tan Ford Taurus. It has the required rear trunk lid spoiler for that go fast look and rear drum brakes for that stop slow feel.
When I first pointed out my list of flaws to the body shop manager he told me he needed the car for a couple of hours. Tonight when he handed me the keys and I told him I would see him tomorrow around the same time, just the way he said, “I should have it ready for you.”, led both Donna and I to expect the Miata not to be ready then. Sigh.
Almost forgot, on Saturday, about 5 miles past Burlington, NC the Emperor glided past the 40,000 mile mark.
Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 175
Surprise, surprise, the Miata wasn’t ready. I called at 3:30 to see if I could return the Taurus and pick up my car. I was told, “I have a man working on it. We hope to have it ready for you tomorrow.” I almost believed him.
We didn’t even get 8 miles in tonight.
I charged up the big battery for the bicycle lights this afternoon, took the lights off of my commuting bike and mounted them on the tandem. The battery charger said the battery was fully charged when we left the house and 8:30PM in the fast fading twilight. After about 5 miles the headlight was looking a little dim, so we turned around and headed home the most direct way possible. We just barely made it back with the headlight still burning.
We haven’t used those lights in about 5 years, so the battery was really dead. I wonder if after a second full charge it will last a little longer?
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We went back to the doctor’s office and they sucked more blood out of Donna’s arm. The white blood count was down some more, to 3.5 thousand cells/mcl. This is both good and bad. Good because that means the chemo is doing its job of killing fast growing cells, but bad because the white blood cells protect you from infection. Also her total blood count was down as well.
