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 ate almost all of a box of Café Cookies tonight. We didn’t finish them for two reasons, 1) while good cookies, they are definitely second-tier tasting compared to Somoas, Tagalongs and Do-Si-Dos and b) we had a MMC meeting tonight, so we are kind of stuffed from BBQ.
At Papa Russ’s BBQ we split the Big Platter, 1/4 chicken and pulled pork with green beans and baked beans for sides, Jalapeno corn muffins to sop up the plate. We bought a bottled water to split, but it turned out to be fru-fru fortified water with vitamins and berry flavoring. I ended up drinking that, while Donna got a cup-o-regular water to drink.
Meal Cost: $14.08
Tip: None
Spent Today: $14.08
Year to Date: $453.74
While Netflix is very, very good to us, but this week we have been stepping out on them.
We are on Netflix’s 1-at-a-time, unlimited rental plan which costs $10 a month. Now that they have added a bunch of distribution centers, there is one a mere 60 miles away, we can turn around a movie in 4 days at best, to 6 days at worst. This means we are watching at least 4 movies a month, but probably average 5, making our cost per movie in the low two dollar range.
Last Saturday we got a promotion in the mail from Movie Gallery with three coupons, one for a free rental, another for rent one, get one free and the third for rent 2 and get 1 free. Monday we went into the local Movie Gallery for the first time since our last Lost Weekend back in September. I meant to bring the 1 Free Rental coupon, but I brought the “Rent 1-Get 1″ by mistake, so we picked out 2 movies and it cost us all of $4.23. When we were checking out we hit some mystery bonus thing because the clerk gave us a receipt that included a coupon for another free rental. We used that tonight and picked out “Trust the Man” (this and “Failure to Launch,” will possibly make up for the gore, violence and F-word usage in “The Departed.”) When we take this back we will use the original Get One Free coupon and will have watched four movies at an average cost of a hair over a buck.
Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 61
 Tonight’s dessert was a fesh out of the freezer, very chilly box of Tagalongs.
Donna was having a bad morning so at noon she called me and asked if I had heated up my TV dinner yet. I said no and immediately asked, “Where are we going for lunch?” Evergreen Chinese Buffet of course. Two lunch buffets and two waters.
Meal Cost: $11.98
Tip: 2.02
Spent Today: $14.00
Year to Date: $467.74
As much as I was prepared to hate “Failure to Launch”, it wasn’t all bad. Worth the hour and a half of my time.
Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates were great as the parents, Mathew McConaughey’s two friends were good, Zooey Deschanel as SJP’s roommate was fantastic and even though the story line was predictable, you actually wanted it to turn out the way it did.
Because we did care enough for these two characters, they could have chopped off the last ten minutes, as soon as they made up while locked in the friends apartment, she unties him, they kiss, roll credits. We really didn’t need to know that both MM’s buddies found relationships too. And we most certainly didn’t need the dolphin making nice with McConaughey at the very end, to show that he was in harmony with nature and everything was just wonderful now that he and Sarah Jessica Parker were together.
Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 62
 Why, when all 10 boxes are gone, of course. We polished off a full box of Do-Si-Dos today. Most on the drive this afternoon and the rest when we got home. A half a box of Thin Mints we used as desert after our evening meal, while we watched “Trust the Man”. TTM did have it’s funny moments and it had a Hollywood over the top, never happen in a million years ending, but, and I’m sorry to have to admit this, it didn’t have the usual Hollywood predictable plot and it needed it.
I think we are down to three boxes of cookies left, so it all should be over by Tuesday.
 My longest post title yet?
We went on another Post Office Photo Safari today. We started with a longish dip in Georgia for lunch. Ever since last November’s visit to the Blue Moon in Statesboro, GA we have wanted a return trip, today was it. The small iceberg salad & crab cake were for her and the roast beef sando was for him, but we mostly shared everything between us. Donna drank water and I had sweet tea to drink. This place is now 2 for 2 in excellent meals.
Meal Cost: $22.25
Tip: $3.75
Spent Today: $26.00
Year to Date: $493.74
We hunted and hunted all over the little, and I mean little, downtown of Hilda, SC for the Post Office that the USPS web site was located at 125 Broughton Ave. We drove up and down that street several times, any further cruising and I’m sure a resident would have called the sheriff on us if we did it one more time, but it just wasn’t there. The only thing we could think of was that it was located inside the one little convenience store located at about where 125 should have been, but there weren’t any outward signs of a PO. No flag, no blue mailbox outside and no sign. For the heck of it, on Monday I may call the phone number listed and see what happens.
Hilda was our last official Post Office destination of the day, but I was lobbying for a brief stop in Windsor to retake the picture there. They used to have a rundown trailer for a Post Office, but now they have a new building. Donna doesn’t want this to turn into a project like painting the Golden Gate Bridge, i.e. once you’ve finished one end, it has been so long that you need to start all over again at the beginning. I am arguing that it won’t be like that, as I won’t actively seek out newer structures, but if I happen to pass by one during the normal course of life it should be OK to retake the image. While we were spiritedly discussing the matter, we came across something that both of us felt solidified our argument.
Back when I first started this foolishness, I mapped out a couple dozen Post Offices that were close enough to us to make nice short half day outings. Some of the bitty towns strung out along eastbound US78 made for one. Between the SMALL towns of Windsor and Elko, both with Post Offices, sat the decent sized town of Williston without one. I didn’t see the logic in that. As we drove through Williston today, what should we spy on a parallel street to our route, that’s right, a Post Office. We stopped and took a picture.
Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 62
 We went to a local book fair yesterday and picked up some used books. I snagged a couple of Spenser hardcovers for $4 a piece and a couple of early paperbacks with some retro cool cover artwork. The quote below is from one of the hardcovers, School Days, and sometimes I feel just like Spenser does.
“Why would the parents want to discourage an attempt to find their son innocent of multiple murder charges?”
Don’t know,” I said.
“You don’t know shit,” Rita said, “do you?”
“No,” I said. “But it’s okay, I’m used to it.”
When I get into the paperbacks I’ll scan the cover of one. I’ve compared the Spenser books to potato chips here before, but with this week’s eating pleasure, maybe I should compare them to a box of Girl Scout Cookies: They are extremely tasty with no redeeming nutritional value and once you start eating a box you just can’t stop until they are gone. Which is exactly what happened to a box of Samoas today.
I’ve uploaded yesterday’ post Office pictures to the gallery. Look for Barnwell, Fairfax, Olar, Sycamore, Ulmer and Williston.
This morning we hit our favorite downtown breakfast spot for a veggie quesadilla, a breakfast parfait (granola on the bottom, vanilla yogurt in the middle and hot blueberries in syrup on top) with a low fat raspberry bran muffin for a kicker washed down with a bottled water.
Meal Cost: $8.75
Tip: 1.25
Spent Today: $10.00
Year to Date: $503.74
Today’s high didn’t make it into the 60’s and tonight’s low will be around 30, but I’ thinking this is the last of the “cold” weather around here for this winter. Next week we will be in the low 70’s almost every day. Some of the Bradford Pears are starting to bloom and the dogwood next to our house has buds. Even though we tried hard to talk ourselves out of it because of the chilly temps, we still ended up spending an hour or so walking in Hitchcock Woods. The weather didn’t scare a lot of people off either, we probably spotted more folks enjoying the woods this afternoon than we have in the past 6 or 7 times total.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 64
There are currently 68 photos in the Post Office gallery. That means Donna and I have driven into 68 towns in South Carolina and parked the Miata in front of their Post Office, gotten out of the car and snapped 2 to 4 pictures. Sixty-eight sounds like a lot, but it is not many when you think of how many Post Offices there are. But just how many are there?
The original number from the Postal Gallery site that started this for me was 367, but I recently got a list of SC Zip Codes from Wikipedia and they list 541 of them. I didn’t blog yesterday because I was too busy. I was gripped by my latest obsession (used without permission), I needed to find out how many Post Offices there are in South Carolina. From about 6:00PM until nearly 10:00 PM, I was at the usps.com web site using their Post Office locater. I found quite a few zip codes on that list that don’t have their own Post Office, but I also found a few towns that had more than one post office per zip code.
I now have a number to shoot for – 459. Here is the excel spreadsheet if you are interested: South Carolina Post Offices.xls I’m sure my total of photos will be somewhat less. There are approximately 20 Contract Postal Units (a CPU is a station or branch operated by a contractor, typically in a store or other place of business) and unless there is an obvious sign out front proclaiming Post Office!, I won’t be taking pictures of those. South Carolina has 3 or 4 universities that may have Post Offices that mainly serve the students and are walkup in nature, so I might not be able to get the Emperor in the photo. Plus there are 5 military bases and I’m not so sure they will let me in, especially after I explain what I want to visit their base for. I already have two Post Offices I couldn’t find, so there is bound to be several more before I finish. My guess is when we are all done there will be 425 photos posted in the web gallery.
Four hundred twenty-five photos with 20 on a page means 22 pages. Sixty-eight so far, divided by 425 total, equals 16% complete. Plus there is the time issue to take into consideration; I’m due a new Miata in 1364 days and I need to have the same car in each photo, so I will need to add a average of one new photo every 3 days until November 2010. The task seems kind of daunting now that I’ve written it all down.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 66
When I filed this year’s taxes like I have for the past several, I filed electronically. I also have what I owe or my refund automatically transfered to or from my savings account. This year our state refund was about twice what we owed Uncle Sam, so I had the state money go into savings and scheduled my payment to the IRS for April 2nd, figuring that would be enough time for the refund to get there first.
Today, in the mail, was a refund check from the State of South Carolina. What? I logged into my bank and checked to see if a refund had been deposited and I was getting double refunded. Nope. I broke out my copy of the state return and looked to see if I messed up the account number. Nope. What about the Routing Transit Number? I remember looking up on the web what my banks RTN was, maybe I mistyped it. Nope, I typed in the right RTN for Carolina First, but unfortunately I used the one for the North Carolina region, not South Carolina. Great, what is going to happen when George Bush wants his money on the 2nd of April?
I called up the toll free IRS Help Line and after about 4–5 minutes listening to classical music on hold I spoke with a very helpful lady and she told me that I messed up. There isn’t any policy to amend an electronically submitted return. When the IRS attempts to get their money, the bank will rebuff them because I don’t have an account there. In essence I will have bounced a check to the federal government. When I asked her what would happen then, she replied I would get a bill in the mail for taxes due and a $15 fee for the bouncing. That doesn’t sound to bad, I just hope it doesn’t land me on some “Let’s Audit This Bozo” list.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 68
After work today I went out into the garage and removed the cobwebs from the tandem, aired up the tires and rolled it into the sunshine. That’s right, for the first time this year, we went for a bike ride. Just cruised around a bit before ending up at the Municipal Building where we payed our water bill.
At about seven miles there came a call from the back seat to start heading home because the ischial tuberosites were starting to bother her. Mine had been letting me know I hadn’t been on a bike in a while for a few minutes already, but being a man I didn’t complain, verbally anyway.
As a reward for burning a couple hundred calories cycling, we went out to Outback and promptly consumed 4 or 5 times that many for dinner. Twin lobster tails with mashed potatoes and a salad, water to drink was what Donna had. I opted for the grilled salmon with broccoli and a salad, which I washed down with iced tea.
Meal Cost: $41.62
Tip: $6.38
Spent Today: $48.00
Year to Date: $551.74
Quirk glanced at Hawk and turned slowly and looked at me. His back was to the window now.
“Being a veteran police investigator, and a deep student of human character, I’m going to hazard a guess. You went to see Boots.”
“Incredible,” Hawk said.
“Yeah, it is,” Quirk said. “You hang him out a window.”
“Nope,” Hawk said. “I put a gun to his head.”
“Jesus Chirst,” Quirk said. “Boots Podolak?”
“That sort of how he felt,” Hawk said.
You know, now that I look at that, it would be a lot better in the whole context of the book. So go read “Cold Service” by Robert B. Parker.
Pretty sad huh, came here here looking for entertaining stories of my trials and tribulations and all you get is a book quote. Better luck tomorrow.
Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 70
..and all the other smaller Internet Radio Stations. No money required, just a little bit of your computer time.
The US Copyright Office has released their new set of rates for the payment of royalties by Internet Radio — royalty rates so high that they will put Radio Paradise and every other US-based indie webcaster out of business.
What can you do? Sign the online petition and open letter to the US Congress. My signature number is #10423. Then please send an email message to your Congressmembers. You can use the suggested text, change it, or write your own message. I also suggest that you print your email (you’ll get a copy) and mail it to your Representative and Senators and, to show them that you really are a committed geek boy, call their offices. You can look up their addresses and phone numbers here.
 Responding to some primal urge buried deep in her DNA to eat protein to help awaken from winter’s hibernation and prepare for the arrival of spring, Donna decided she wanted beef for dinner. We didn’t have any in house, so off we went to Moe’s. She ordered a John Coctostan with beef and pinto beans. I opted for a Joey Bag of Doughnuts with chicken and black beans. We split a bottled water. Because we had a buy one, get one free coupon dinner was major cheap.
Meal Cost: $6.97
Tip: Zip
Spent Today: $6.97
Year to Date: $558.71
After my last Spenser book quote I realized that it might be better if you had a little background first, so here’s the setup for today’s excerpt. Spenser is hired to protect radical feminist and lesbian author Rachel Wallace. Linda Smith is the publisher’s media rep and Shirley is the morning news talk host. This takes place partway through the interview where Shirley is busy trying to goad Rachel into a sensational quote about her sexual inclination instead of actually discussing her latest book:
The guy crouching below the camera lens made a gesture with his hand, and Shirley said, “We’ll be right back with more interesting revelations from Rachel Wallace after this message.”
I whispered to Linda Smith, who stood in neat tweeds beside me, “Shirley doesn’t listen to the answers.”
A lot of them don’t,” Linda said. “They are busy looking ahead to the next question.”
“And she hasn’t read the book.”
Linda smiled and shook her head, “Almost none of them ever do. You can’t blame them. Sometimes you get several authors a week plus all the other stuff.”
“The pressure must be fearful,” I said. “To spend your working life never knowing what you are talking about.”
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 72
Although she wanted it yesterday, she got it today. Breakfast at Hardee’s. Biscuit and Gravy for Donna and I had a Sausage and Egg Biscuit. We split a small Hashrounds while I had OJ and she drank a water.
Meal Cost: $5.28
Tip: None
This Meal: $5.28
Year to Date: $563.99
 This week was our LDSW, so we were off this afternoon. Since we had breakfast out and knew we were eating dinner out, we opted to eat lunch at home. We were then going to go for a hike in Hitchcock Woods because we were unsure of this weekend’s weather and wanted to get in a little exercise to counter our huge caloric intake for this week. The immense gravitational force of our couch almost prevented the hike, she had a book, I had a book… In the end we did manage to reach escape velocity and get outside for our hike. Glad we did, as it was near perfect weather for it. A lot of other people thought it was a nice day to enjoy the woods too, we saw five folks on horseback, about twice that on foot and one red-tailed hawk gliding on thermals looking for an afternoon snack.
This evening we dined with a couple other couples at Rae’s Coastal Cafe in Augusta. Donna had the Coconut Shrimp and I had the Jerk Chicken. The food was great (as always) and may explain this place’s popularity. We got there a little after it opened and 5:30 and before we even got our salads the place was nearly full. By the time we were done eating the waiting patrons were packed two deep at the bar with spill over clogging the exit aisle.
Meal Cost: $32.28
Tip: $5.72
This Meal: $38.00
Year to Date: $601.99
On the way home from the “big city” the Emperor past through the 55k mile mark and not a single one was traveled through a food court at a mall. When they ask for a login, user billydwilliams with a password of thatsright.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 74
 Our neighbor’s kid (well she’s no longer a kid, she’s in college) has been horsing around for for quite a while and we have been to see her do a few events in the area over the years. Today Ellen was competing in the cross-country portion of the 3 day event at Jumping Branch Farm in Montmorenci, where we had seen her show jump before a few years ago. Ellen’s mom invited us this morning to watch with her and she made an excellent guide, filling us equine novices in on the intricacies of 3-day eventing.
All that spectating made us hungry, so we stopped at Maria’s Mexican Restaurant on the way home. Carrnitas for me and two tacos for her. We both had agua helada to drink. Even though I list what we ordered separate, today, like last night, we pretty much divvy up each dish between us 60% what the person orders and 40% of the other’s item.
Meal Cost: $12.65
Tip: $2.35
Spent Today: $15.00
Year to Date: $616.99
I gave the Emperor a proper bath this afternoon. It was already needing it and after driving a mile or so of dirt road to see Ellen jump fences, it was really time. While washing, I noticed that I have a nice scrape on the lower portion of the front chin spoiler. Wonder how long it has been there? It is on the driver’s side, so I would see it each day as we walked back to the car after work, but… The only reason I probably haven’t noticed it before now is that the primer showing through is white and the parking lot lines are white and it must look like their reflection in the spoiler. Because I am forever parking in the farthest out spot and as close to the curb as possible to avoid door dings, I bet I scraped it ever so gently on one of those curbs. I think I have a bit of that spray can of car color left that I can use to touch it up.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 76
 My favorite outtake from today’s Post Office Photo Safari, I like the way the raised letters toss shadows on the brick wall.
Yesterday evening I used Google maps and printed out how to get to nearly every Post Office in a rectangle with the lower left corner being the outskirts of northeast Columbia and the upper right corner being at Wallace because today we were going up to Chesterfield, SC to visit Donna’s cousin Laurie and her husband Ted. Depending on which route we took we could probably snag a bunch of fresh Post Offices. We took photographs of seven on the way up.
I was taking photos of the one in Chesterfield while Donna called Laurie for directions to her house. We had been there once before and I was only sure that they lived north of town, but little else. If we needed to find any of 16 Post Offices in north central South Carolina, I was ready with full color street level maps, but when we needed to know how to get to Laurie & Ted’s house for lunch, I was no help. Guess I should have printed out that map.
Because it was such a beautiful day, we took a different way home and added 5 more Post Offices to our trophy case, for a total today of thirteen. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have enough time to add them to the gallery.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 78
 All aboard the Postal Express with stops in,Elgin, Lugoff, Camden, Cassat, Bethune, McBee, Chesterfield, Ruby, Mount Croghan, Pageland, Jefferson and Kershaw.
Another outtake from yesterday. The city name is on the building, but someone wanted to make sure you knew you were at the right spot as you came up the street. I have all new the pictures, bringing the new total to 81, in the Gallery, now I just have to add a little story for each one.
Up until either last weekend or this, I could remember exactly which town the Post Office was in, without seeing the title, just by the photo. Not only that, but I could tell you how to get there. Unfortunately I have exceeded the storage limit that I can set aside for Post Office matters and still be able to remember important stuff like my name and how to tie my shoes. I can still do it for a bunch of them, but unless there is something truly unique about it, any new Post Office is apt to be confused with other ones that look like it.
This is starting to turn into something and maybe it is time to upgrade the Postal Gallery to a higher level. I may have to break down and figure out how to do that modrewrite thing so the photos have a nicer URL than http://www.mr-miata.net/galleries/sp_index.php?file=./Post%20Offices/x.jpg, maybe something like http://mr-miata.net/postal/x.jpg. If I hit the Powerball jackpot on Wednesday I might even buy it it’s own domain name, postalgallery.com & goingpostal.com is taken, but sc-post-offices.com & post-office-photos.com are open…
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 80
 If it wasn’t for the fact that today was my bi-annual dental visit for a teeth cleaning, I would barely have anything to write about. Look Ma! No cavities.
Well, anything new to write about. I’ve got the usual. I added captions to the new Post Office photos.
We went out to eat lunch. The Emperor meets the King. A junior Whopper w/o mayo for each and we split a 6 pack of Cheesy Tots and a small Sprite.
Meal Cost: $4.65
Tip: None
Spent Today: $4.65
Year to Date: $621.64
I’ve finished another Spenser book. Promised Land:
Pam Shepard said, “No. Rose, believe me, you can trust him. He is not dishonest.”
“Pam, almost everyone’s dishonest. He’s as dishonest as everyone else. I don’t want to do business with him.”
“That’s dumb,” I said. “It’s the kind of dumb smart people get because they think they’re smart.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Jane said.
“It means that if everyone’s dishonest you aren’t going to do better elsewhere. And the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know. I got one character witness. Where you going to find a gun that has that many.”
I’m kind of kicking myself. In the last Spenser book he said mentioned something like, Spenser’s Crimestoppers Tip #X, “Blah, blah, blah…” I didn’t write it down at the time and when I thought that maybe I should copy them down into a web page or something, I couldn’t find it in the book again without reading all over. No loss I figured, somebody on the big wide internet must have already done it. Turns out, nobody has. I searched. I even looked over at Bullets and Beer with no luck. So what do I do? Go back and read the book? Just wait until the next time I run across a crimestopper tip? Life is full of hard choices.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 82
 A lot of places will charge you for this kind of advice, but here you get it for free. This is a guaranteed winning entry, or double your money back, for your office NCAA March Madness Pool and I know your office pool is just like ours, there is no prize money, just the bragging rights that go with being supreme college hoops prognosticator of the year. Wink. Wink.
Round One
Florida
Purdue
Butler
Maryland
Winthrop
Oregon
UNLV
Wisconsin
Kansas
Villanova
Illinois
Southern Illinois
Duke
Pittsburgh
Indiana
UCLA
North Carolina
Michigan State
USC
Texas
George Washington
Washington State
Boston College
Georgetown
Ohio State
Xavier
Tennessee
Albany
Stanford
Texas A & M
Creighton
Memphis
Round Two
Florida
Butler
Oregon
Wisconsin
Kansas
Southern Illinois
Pittsburgh
UCLA
North Carolina
USC
Washington State
Georgetown
Ohio State
Tennessee
Texas A & M
Memphis
Regionals
Florida
Wisconsin
Kansas
Pittsburgh
North Carolina
Georgetown
Tennessee
Texas A & M
Regional Finals
Wisconsin
Kansas
North Carolina
Texas A & M
Semi Finals
Kansas
North Carolina
Final
Kansas
Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 82
 We drove a ton of BMWs today and not a single one had a manual transmission. One of the workers said they quit a couple years ago because they were burning up too many clutches…
It is probably easier to name the models I didn’t drive (6 series convertible, 5 series wagon & a 3 series 4-door), but let me list the ones I drove and the order we drove them before I forget.
- Z4 Coupe
- 335i Convertible (the new hardtop model)
- X3
- 550i Sedan
- X5
- 750 Li
- 335i Coupe
- 650i Coupe
- Z4 Roadster
Because the BMW dealer had moved a couple miles further out on Washington Rd we had a whole new loop this year. It was a mile shorter than the previous one at 14 miles and a little more suburban. It wasn’t too bad until school let out as it passed three different institutes of education. Maybe because it was a nicer day than last year, there seemed to be a lot more folks out driving today, so we didn’t do any double loops. We drove each car once for a total of 125 miles. For you math majors, I know that nine times fourteen would be 126, but a slight navigational error on the first loop brought us in a mile too soon.
Highlights: The 335i Coupe with enough horsepower to achieve earth orbit if you could get a ramp of the right angle. The 5 series sedan and the X5 had a HUD speed display that hovered just above and in front of the hood on the driver’s side.
Lowlights: I-Drive and the abrupt throttle response from the drive by wire system. (I’m sure both of these would turn into highlights or at least invisible if I had more than 14 miles to figure them out.)
My navigator missed a turn call out on the first loop, but I had my own oops moment when we got in the X5. The rep got us in the car, I got it started and he reset the odometer and marked down the mileage. He then asked if I had any questions and being as this was our fifth loop and I’d driven aN X5 last year, I said, “Nope.” I hit the window up button, bzzzzzzzit. He walked away and I grabbed the shifter and pulled back to put it in drive, it didn’t move and nothing happened. Pushed it forward with the same result. Pushed a button on the side and then tried to move the shifter, still nothing. Bzzzzzzzit, I hit the down button for the window. “Excuse me,” I say, “Just how do I put this thing in drive?” The nice rep leans in the window and points at the button I pushed earlier and said, “Hold that in while pulling back.” “Ahhh,” I said, “I tried each separately, but didn’t try the combination.”
Even though we knew there would be food at the BMW dealer, we weren’t sure what and Donna wanted a fish sandwich, so we stopped at McDonald’s before heading over to drive cars. Fillet-O-Fish for her and a Southern Chicken Sandwich for me. We split a small drink and fries.
Meal Cost: $6.61
Tip: None
Spent Today: $6.61
Year to Date: $628.25
Turns out he food that was available was good, so we had half sandwiches and wraps with some pasta salad at the end of the day that we called dinner. The brownies were so awesome I ate two.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 84
 Donna and I took 129 pictures at the BMW Ultimate Drive yesterday and would have taken more, if the battery didn’t give out. I don’t know if it was fully charged or not, but it will be for the 29th when we go to Columbia to do it again. Tonight I sat down to separate the wheat from the chaff. I’m going to whittle it down to 24 because that is how many photos I put on a gallery page. I’m almost there. Maybe by tomorrow I’ll have them posted and on Sunday I’ll have some words to go with the pictures.
Of course that depends on whether or not we got on a Postal Safari or not. Right now we are taking the weekend off because Donna caught a bit of a bug and has felt like crap all day. We were supposed to go to Road Atlanta to watch the POS Racing Team take on the world in the NASA Time Trials there, but we scratched those plans when she felt poorly enough that she asked for Chicken Noodle Soup with Saltines for supper tonight. I kidded here that she had a reaction to that “New Car Smell” in the nine BMWs.
Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 85
 Donna felt good enough to go out to eat lunch and grocery shop. Chick-Fil-A Sandwich combo meal for me and a Kiddie 4 Nugget meal combo for her. Because we had a coupon the Kiddie Meal was free.
Meal Cost: $5.08
Tip: None
Spent On This Meal: $5.08
After the shopping she was still feeling alright, but didn’t really want to go to Anderson as we had planned, so she asked me to cancel the room reservation. When I went to the Holiday Inn site to cancel, there was some red lettering at the bottom of the page warning me that even if I canceled I would not be getting my money back. Ooops, I guess when I made the reservation I selected a room with a low rate that was non-refundable. So we packed a change of clothes, our tooth brushes and got in the car. Of course we packed some Post Office maps too. We hit 4 towns on the way up, we will do the 4 in Anderson in the morning and will try and get 4 more on the way home tomorrow.
The mural above was on a building right next door to the Post Office in Donalds. Clever use of perspective. And the tree as utility hook-up is genius.
Right next door to our hotel in Anderson is a place called Buffalo’s Southwest Cafe, where we have eaten before, which was calling our name for dinner. We split the Navajo Chops (two 6oz pork chops topped with bourbon, roasted apples and brown sugar butter, served with loaded mashed potatoes and steamed veggies) and a large dinner salad. Water for her and iced tea for me.
Meal Cost: $18.76
Tip: $2.74
Spent on This Meal: $21.50
Spent Today: $26.58
Year to Date: $654.83
It is unseasonably cold here this weekend, not news to most on the east coast, so the top will be up in the dozen or so photos in the Post Office Gallery that we take, but unlike those in the northeast there will not be any snow in the background.
Started up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 85
 I started the morning with a Cinnamon Bun, then well fortified, Donna and I started our quest for the four Post Offices of Anderson. The first one was a little hard to find as it was in a shopping center hidden behind a line of businesses. We knew we were in the right block and looking on the right side, but we couldn’t see it. Good thing it was early on a Sunday and traffic was light or we might have given up. We did find it finally by trying to turn around and stumbling onto to parking lot of the shopping center. After that, the other three became progressively easier.
When we left Anderson we took our usual route home, down the two lane, very scenic SC81. This took us by another 5 small town post offices that I gladly photographed for my growing gallery. There are now 94 Post Offices there, which is maybe 20% of the state’s total. So over this two day weekend there have been 13 new photos added in the gallery, but I still have no way of highlighting the new additions. There is no option for sorting the images in any other way than filename. Because I have used the zip code as the file name I’m kind of stuck. I might have to rename the files and put a large number in front of the first file and decrement as I add new files.
Lunch was at a Blimpies. Blimpie Best for me and a Meatball Sub for her. We made one a combo so we split a bag of Ruffles and a small Sprite.
Meal Cost: $10.77
Tip Jar: 23¢
Spent Today: $11.00
Year to Date: $665.83
Before settling down on the couch to watch March Madness on TV for the rest of the day we went out and took a nice long walk in the Hitchcock Woods. I hope I don’t jinx it by posting it here on the big ol’ internet, but I’m at the top of the charts in the office pool having missed just 2 of the 16 second round games. If you are remotely interested, I listed my winners in a post the other day and I have gone back and crossed out the losers.
Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 86
 I am stuck all week for full mornings in a class on GD&T which they swear is an intermediate level course, yet uses the same book and covers the same ground as the one I went through in 2004. It’s only use might be as a refresher course, but we don’t really use GD&T to its real potential. And if we did we wouldn’t need a refresher course. Usually I would say that lousy time spent training is better than a good time working, but this is the exception to the rule.
I have started to rename the photos in the Post Office Gallery so that the newest ones will display first. This might take a while to complete, maybe if we take a weekend off from taking pictures of them I can get it ready for the next batch of new ones. I really need a different gallery software that will allow viewing of files by different tags: zip code or town name or date taken… I know you can do that on Flickr (and I may post them there too), but I like the idea of having total control of how they are presented. I’m taking suggestions.
Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 88
Turns out I may be able to avoid bouncing a “check” to the IRS after all. The other day I told my tale of woe to one of our accountant s who does taxes on the side and she recommended that just mail in a payment using Form 1040-V. This way when the payment gets there they will credit my account, so that when the attempt at an electronic transfer fails the money would already be there. I might just avoid the penalty that way. I figure, what the heck it is worth a shot.
While hunting around on the IRS website looking for the forms I stumbled on a page about Pay Taxes by Electronic Funds Withdrawal and there near the bottom is a procedure for canceling a payment in cases sort of like mine:
Taxpayers can call the Treasury Financial Agent, Customer Service, at 1–888-353‑4537, toll-free, to cancel a payment or to report problems such as bank closures, lost or stolen bank account numbers, closed bank accounts or unauthorized transactions. Customer Service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Dude, the solution is just a phone call away. I’d better get on it so I can mail Uncle Sam a real check…
Started down, went up, went down, up again, down again, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 92
Went to see Mr. Doctor today to go over my latest lipid profile. Ooops, looks like I did a little back sliding in the last 6 months. My total number was up by 30 points and the bad stuff was up by 20. Not only that, my triglycerides were up a chunk as well. (latest numbers on top)
| |
Chol |
HDL |
LDL |
Trig |
| Goal |
<200 |
>31 |
<100 |
30–150 |
| 03/05/07 |
195 |
39 |
123 |
167 |
| 09/19/06 |
167 |
37 |
103 |
135 |
| 04/06/06 |
168 |
37 |
106 |
126 |
| 12/08/05 |
182 |
35 |
120 |
137 |
| 07/28/05 |
177 |
30 |
113 |
169 |
| 06/17/05 |
164 |
31 |
85 |
238 |
| 05/06/05 |
174 |
27 |
108 |
194 |
| 01/10/05 |
176 |
33 |
110 |
167 |
| 09/21/04 |
209 |
24 |
131 |
271 |
There are a few reasons for this: 1) I was a real slug this winter, once the weather turned cold I stopped roller blading altogether. B) Even though my appointment was today the blood was drawn in mid Girl Scout Cookie binging. iii) My weight is up by about 5 pounds since September [see 1 & B for explanation.] Doc wants me to double up on the Red Yeast Rice and come back in 4 months.
Of course 2 heaping plates full at the Chinese Buffet at lunch is probably not helping matters either. Lunch buffet with water to drink for both of us.
Meal Cost: $11.98
Tip: $1.02
Spent Today: $13.00
Year to Date: $678.83
It is officially spring. Not just because the vernal equinox has passed and not because the Bradford Pear trees blooms are turning to leaves and the dogwoods are flowering, but because we rode to work with the top down at 6 o’clock in the morning and didn’t feel cold. Oh yeah, another sign that it is spring is the pine pollen whipping around the company parking lot doing it’s middle east dessert sandstorm impression.
Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 92
This is our early to work week, so we can get tomorrow afternoon off. The down side to these hours, besides having to get up an hour early, is we are up an hour early. This morning Donna didn’t want her usual breakfast, she wanted some Biscuit and Gravy from Hardee’s, but Hardee’s is open until 6 o’clock and by that time we should be on our way to work not ordering breakfast at a “fast food” place.
To make up for not eating out for breakfast we ate out for dinner. Maria’s Mexican Restaurant again, but this time we didn’t bother with the tacos, we just split an order of Carrnitas. I had iced tead and she had water.
Meal Cost: $11.88
Tip: $2.12
Spent Today: $14.00
Year to Date: $692.83
Tonight and tomorrow will separate the men from the boys in the office Tourney Pool. Right now I’m leading the pack to win bragging rights, but the Sweet Sixteen is right about where I start to drop from the top levels to the mid-pack where I usually am.
Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 92
 In what I’m sure is a futile effort, I California Dusted off the Miata and cleaned the tables and chairs on screened porch of pine pollen. We hope to have breakfast out there tomorrow, we’ll just have to see how much of the pollen returns. Because the ASCO parking lot is surrounded by pine trees we usually have a good indication when the pollen is done, because all the currently yellowy branch ends become plain tan, and at today’s morning walk there was still plenty of yellow.
Finished up the GD&T training this morning , handed in my test and didn’t even wait for it to graded. Who cares, not like it matters, I’m not getting college credit for it. I probably will get a certificate for my cube wall though.
We had the afternoon off and I spent it trying to use the Gallery software to use for the post office picture. I installed it and a couple hours later uninstalled it. I did monkey with the look a little, but there is so much crap displayed that I didn’t want, I tired of trying to root out in the files were they were so I could disable them.
As predicted yesterday, I fell from the top spot of the office pool. I correctly picked only half of last night’s winners and fell into a 5-way tie for third. Go Florida, Wisconsin, North Carolina & Georgetown.
Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 92
 We went for a nice long walk in Hitchcock Woods this morning and boy was it crowded. We saw 4 people on horses and three people walking their dogs. One of our favorite pastimes while walking is to make up elaborate histories of people who have trails named after them. Mrs. Knox, Mr. Fletcher, Willie Barton, etc. This “lane” is named for the great Civil War General Beauregard Nimrod who died in 1864 while either defending Aiken from the vile northern aggressors or from friendly fire after berating the beloved company mess sergeant because he felt his grits were undercooked.
From Ask Yahoo:
The American Heritage Dictionary offers two distinct definitions of a nimrod — either a hunter, or a person regarded as silly or foolish. The dictionary goes on to explain that the second meaning probably originated with the cartoon character Bugs Bunny. The wily Bugs used the term in its original sense to refer to dithering hunter Elmer Fudd, whom he called a “poor little Nimrod.” Over time, however, the “hunter” meaning got dropped, and the “dithering” connotation stuck.
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 94
We were going to eat our usual bagel at the Atlanta Bread Company, then it changed to Waffle House, but because we had some time to spare before our trip to the Columbia Airport we opted to dine at the local IHOP. Pigs in a Blanket for me and Eggs Benedict for her. I had OJ and Donna stuck with water.
Meal Cost: $15.44
Tip: $2.56
Spent Today: $18.00
Year to Date: $710.83
We weren’t flying anywhere from Columbia, but we were escorting a women who was. She works for ASCO in Florham Park, NJ and is contemplating making the same move Donna and I made 18 years ago, i.e. transferring down to the Aiken plant. She has been been here since Thursday interviewing and looking at houses. The job here, I think, is pretty much hers for the asking, all she has to decide is if she wants to make the leap.
After dropping Joan off at rental return lot at CAE we heading around to the other side of the airport to take a photo of the Columbia AMF (Air Mail Facility.) We of course had a line up of other Post Offices in the vacinity to take photos of as well, ten total, truth be told. Two others in West Columbia, the one in Cayce, three in downtown Columbia and the three we didn’t get in Lexington the other week.
Normal temps this time of year is lower seventies, but today broke an all time record as we hit the 90 mark. It was already almost 80 by the time we started picture taking and the pine pollen was so thick it looked like a yellow fog. As we drove, we could look at the other cars around us and see pollen rooster tails behind them!
 <— Incredible Simulation of the atmospheric conditions around midday in the SC midlands.
Plan B became forget the Columbia and Cayce POs and get the 2 West Columbia ones and because Lexington was on the way home, we’d get those three as well. This worked out nicely because when the day started there were 94 POs in the gallery and this would make a nice even 100. Plan B hit a major snag when the 900 block of North Lake Drive in Lexington held nothing other than a Shell gas station and a Hardee’s. Crap, looks like we would finish the day one shy of the century mark.
In the beginning of this quest I was skeptical of taking pictures of the Postal Service’s Contract Postal Units (AKA CPUs), figuring they wouldn’t have any signage marking them as Post Offices, but so far, of the 4 we passed, all had a big sign out front and had posed to have their portraits taken. Plan C was born. Aiken has a CPU, maybe, just maybe, that would be 100. Sure enough, after covering most of the western side of the state on Post Office safaris, photo number one hundred was taken just a little over a mile from number one.
On the way to the airport this morning, somewhere close to Couchton, the Emperor passed by the 56,000 mile mark.
Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 95
 Apparently there is a big difference. I have the address of the missing Lexington post office in the master spreadsheet as 929 N Lake DR STE B. When I wrote about not being able to find it yesterday I put North Lake Dr in the post. The reason we couldn’t find it was because I had made a map of 929 S Lake Dr and that was where we were looking.
It bothered me that I couldn’t find the place, so tonight I went to the Hardee’s web site and search for Lexington locations and there was one at 917 South Lake Dr. I then went to the Postal Service site and repeated the search and it was then I realized that there was a difference between north and south — about 2–1/2 miles.
Two garden salads (Blue Cheese for me, Italian for her) and a 14″ 5-topping pie (sausage, pepperoni, green peppers, onions and banana pepper rings) at Ferrando’s in the alley on the way home from work. Water for both to drink. As usual we have half the pizza left for dinner another night at home or maybe lunch one day instead of a microwaved packaged meal.
Meal Cost: $20.56
Tip: $3.44
Spent Today: $24.00
Year to Date: $734.83
Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 96
Inspired by of all things, a WordPress plug-in, I have resumed my search for intelligent life in outer space. I reinstalled the BOINC software again, and have attached myself to the SETI@Home project again.
As a rule my PC sits here running 24/7 and although my wife thinks its more, I spent about 4 hours in front of it each day. The other 20 hours it idles, except for a few milliseconds when it checks for new SPAM every half hour. I have a love hate relationship with the SETI@Home project. I love the whole ide of it, but hate the fact that I always seem to have trouble reliably connecting to their servers to keep me in work units. (As is the case right now after rejoining 3/27/2007 10:02:59 PM||Access to reference site succeeded — project servers may be temporarily down.)
So as to not waste my previously wasted CPU cycles I also signed up to help out with Climateprediction.net which is trying to produce a forecast of the climate in the 21st century and Rosetta@home which is trying to determine the 3-dimensional shapes of proteins.
Anyway, my SETI@Home credit stands right now at 68,853.20. If I ever get connected, download some work and crunch some numbers, that total will go up and you will be able to follow the progress, along with everyone else, over there in the sidebar. Of course if I do discover a signal from intelligent life on another planet, I’ll probably blog about it here.
And it goes without saying that if I ever discover a WordPress plug-in that monitors the search for intelligent life on this planet I’ll add it to the sidebar as well.
Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 97
 One Biscuit n’ Gravy for her and one Sausage n’ Egg Biscuit for him with a water to drink.
Meal Cost: $2.74
Tip: None
Spent Today: $2.74
Year to Date: $737.57
I’m charging up the camera tonight so hopefully the battery will make it through the whole afternoon tomorrow.
Alright, what is the gimmick with all the offers I’m getting for 1.99% or 2.99% on balance transfers ’til the balance is paid off. I’ve got a pretty big balance on one card that is at 15 or 18% and I’ve been tempted to give one of these offers a go, but I’m sure I’m missing something that will come back and bite me.
Called to set up my six month follow up urologist appointment and was informed that the doctor I’ve been seeing is opening up his own separate practice. I was more than welcome to stay with the group, but would see a different doctor. Or I could choose to stay with my current doctor. They couldn’t give me his new number because they didn’t have it yet (so the receptionist said.) So what happened? My guy has only been there a couple years and he took over the patients from my previous doctor when he retired. He didn’t get along with the other two in the group? Did he do something the other two didn’t approve of? Get caught with his finger in the wrong cookie jar? Are the other two that difficult to get along with that they caused the retirement and now the split?
Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 98
 Just got back from Columbia where we participated in our second BMW Ultimate Drive of the year. The weather today was the opposite of what we had 2 weeks ago. In Augusta it was sunny and bordering on hot, but today was cloudy and bordering on cold with a little rain tossed in.
Today’s loop was only 10 miles and Donna and I took it a little easier this time, we only made 10 laps in 8 different cars. There always seemed to be a lot of cars just sitting there not being driven, I think the gloomy weather was keeping the crowds away. Here is a rundown of what we drove/rode today:
- 530xi Sport Wagon
- 2 laps in a 335i Convertible (w/folding hardtop)
- 750 Li
- 2 laps in a 650i Convertible
- X3
- 328xi Sedan
- 335i Sedan
- 335i Coupe
While as friendly as the Southern Fleet Crew in Augusta, these folks seemed a little less organized than them. Might have just been an off day, the rain probably and they were a bit burnt out. The day before in Charleston they had a mob, 207 different drivers.
Taylor BMW in Augusta won in the refreshment category as well. All they had here was water, soft drinks and Subway sandwiches. In Augusta they had a couple kinds of sandwiches, wraps, pasta salad, cookies and brownies to go with the drinks.
Like last time we had lunch before we drove over. Don’t ever get the Southwest Chicken Salad at Hardee’s — yuk. We shared that, a small drink and a small order of curly fries.
Meal Cost: $7.39
Tip: None
Spent on this Meal: $7.39
Year to Date: $744.96
After driving, our plan was to drive home and have linguine & clam sauce, but it was rush hour and I-20 was backed up, so we got off an exit and headed into Columbia against traffic flow. We’ve missed placed our Columbia city map and I’ve misplaced my memories of how to get around, so boy did we get around. Hopelessly lost we stumbled onto Five Points which has plenty of eateries, so we stopped and ate at a place called Yesterdays. Eeeh, I’m sure there is some place better right around the corner, but we didn’t know any better. Lasagna and salad for me and Donna had black bean chili and a salad. The usual water and tea to wash it down with.
Meal Cost: $16.49
Tip: $3.51
Spent On This Meal: $20.00
Year to Date: $764.96
To top the day off, we caught the elusive 4th Post Office in Lexington, the Pastime CPU [29072–2117]. As luck would have it, the PO was in the same shopping center as an ice cream place. We had desert and finished the drive home.
Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 99
 I posted 24 pictures out of the 74 that Donna and I took at yesterday’s BMW Ultimate Drive. They are posted on page 2 of the 2007 gallery. To the left is one of the 50 that didn’t make the cut. So far I’ve got just titles on them, but I hope to add captions over the weekend to both yesterday’s event and from the Augusta event a fortnight ago.
We are already thinking about next year. The crew that was in Columbia had just come from Charleston and said it was a blast and the food was good, so we may head down there in 2008. We are also thinking of helping out by ferrying the cars to the next city. There are 19 numbered cars in the fleet, a crew X5 plus the support van and they have just 5 crew members, so they need at least 16 people to help get the cars to the next city. When you drive the cars depends on the distance to the next location. Short hops can be done right after the event or early the next morning. For these you drive to the next location, they feed you and put you on a bus back to where you started. Long hauls are started the morning after the event and you may get two meals out of it and a longer bus ride home. Might be fun to drive in a 21 vehicle caravan.
But why wait until next year, the Southern Fleet will be in Columbus, GA (about 250 miles away) in 3 weeks on Saturday April 21st…
Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 100
 We started the day with breakfast at our favorite place, no not Hardee’s, but the New Moon Cafe. We got there just after they opened and had to wait in a line 6 deep, but as always the food was worth it. We both had a Cranberry Pecan Muffin and we split a bottled water. We also bought two Everything Bagels for our Sunday breakfast.
Meal Cost: $5.53
Tip Jar: $1.00
Spent This Meal: $6.53
Year to Date: $771.49
After eating we went over to Hitchcock Woods and took a hike. Not only did we want to take a walk in the woods, but we wanted to go watch a bit of the 91st Annual Horse Show (even though our neighbor wasn’t participating.) After buying some note cards and becoming “Friends of the Woods” it was time to hike back to the car.
Once home, we ate lunch and did a couple loads of clothes, before semi-dressing up for dinner out with the Master’s Miata Club Dinner Out Auxiliary. It was member Patti’s birthday so we went to a little fancier place than usual, Calvert’s. We were there at 5:30 specifically so we could take advantage of the “Sunset Dinner for Two.” We both eat for $28.95 and that includes salad, entree and desert. I had salad with Blue Cheese dressing and the London Broil (mmmm) with steamed veggies and twice baked potato. Washed down with a glass of Pinot Noir. Donna had Creamy Vinaigrette on her salad and then the Seafood Crepe with Sprite to drink. The b-day girl got a special Chocolate Roulade desert with a candle in it, while the rest of us were served Chocolate Bread Pudding. Donna took one bite and didn’t like it, so I sacrificed for the cause and ate both deserts.
Meal Cost: $40.50
Tip: $6.50
Spent Meal: $47.00
Year to Date: $818.49
The other two couples live over in Augusta, so they had a shorter drive home, too bad for them. When we left for our 35 mile drive the temperature was 70, the sun was setting and the full moon was rising. We pulled into our driveway at almost full dark. This is why convertibles were invented.
Started down, went up, back down, up again, down again, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 104
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