Not A Lot Of Bugs, But A Big Surprise

Big Bug SlayerLast night was the 10th or 12th Master’s Miata Club Bug Splat that Donna and I have organized and while it won’t go down in history as a very buggy event, I predict it will be the most remembered.

We start at the south end of Whiskey Road in Aiken at the Red Bowl and finish up on the south end of Martintown Road in North Augusta at a Sonic. Both ends of the trip are definitely “in town”, but in between I try and get as rural as possible, both to avoid traffic and to increase insect impact chances.

Usually there are about 6 cars that show up, including us, so I printed out 8 maps in a fit of optimism. I should printed at least one more. We had nine cars run the route, including some brand new members, some hardly ever seen members and a previous member couple who had also previously won the Biggest Bug Trophy. But no worries, the maps are usually not used at all because Donna and I in the Emperor lead the train of cars along the route.

About half way through the trip, in the middle of a 3 mile section of a very backroad road I had to slow way down as there was a stopped vehicle in our travel lane. The 9 Miatas that started at about a 1/4 mile long line quickly tightened up because of the obstruction. As I got closer I could see that it was a PT Cruiser convertible with its top down. There was a man standing on the back seat facing the side of the road. At first I thought he was looking for a stray dog or something, so I checked the oncoming lane and proceeded to pass. As I started around I realized I was wrong, he was letting loose a mighty stream of urine out onto the side of the road.

Yes, you read that right, while his wife, girlfriend, possibly date sat in the passenger seat he decided to stand in the back of a PT Cruiser convertible and relieve himself.

The Church Of Orphan Black

The Church now has two acolytes, the Accounting Manager and the Payroll Clerk of the Valve Store(TM). Both have finished watching all of season one and have asked for their own copy of the show so they can re-watch it. In trying to grow my little religion I have had the digital copies of season one placed in the hands of six other folks at work for a while now, but none of them has actually watched any of it except for the clip of the first 3 minutes of the first episode.

The two that are hooked are female, the six that are not are male. Are the guys not watching it because of the female protagonist? Did the ladies dig it because of her?

Having run out of men to try and convert and with my previous success with the ladies, this afternoon and gave a set of DVDs to a woman who works in engineering department out back in the same offices as I do.

As I handed Cathy her the discs I thought to myself, maybe it has nothing to do with the sex of my prospective converts but the media applied. So if she comes back on Monday having watched all 10 episodes and loves it, I’ll have to try and pass along the DVDs to one of my hesitant male prospects.

Fantasty Football Time Again

As Commissioner of the Valve Store’s ™ Fantasy Football League my duties are legion, one of which is confirming a date for Draft Day, which this year was akin to herding house cats. With that done, next up is picking the order of draft. Unlike the NFL it is not really worst gets first pick, but more like the worst team last year get to draw a piece of paper with a number from 1 to 12 on it which will represent the order.

Tonight when I got home I emailed everyone:

This year’s draft order will be chosen tomorrow, Wednesday, July 31st at 12:40 in the Engineering Conference Room. It will be hosted by Pat Sajak with the numbers being drawn by Vanna White and televised on the Ocho (ESPN8.) Draft Order Numbers will be drawn in the reverse order of last year’s final standings:

1 – Keith Gregory – Team Gregory
2 – Mike Lenio – SC Bone Crushers
3 – Tom Schelfaut – SC SWAG
4 – Kevin Falcon – Swamp Rats SR
5 – Mark Turner – Team TURNER
6 – Gregory Morgan – North Augusta Meatheads
7 – Evan Lenio – Aiken Ball Busters
8 – Bob Royer – Spoiled Rich Guys In Tights
9 – Brian Bogardus – Purple Whales
10 – Robert Arnone – May the Odds Be Evr in My Favor
11 – Bob Smyth – Team Argyle Pilgrims
12 – Brian Montgomery – Multiple Scorgasms

Team owner attendance is not mandatory, but you are welcome to audit the event in person. With written notice to the EZEFFL Office, 24 hours prior to the event, showing credible evidence that Pat and/or Vanna have “liked” an opposing team on Facebook or tweeted negatively towards your organization, you may be allowed to draw for your own number.

This is being sent to your home email address, but because not everyone checks their home email often enough I am also copying your work email. Because there are probably one or two of you who check neither with any regularity, I will be telepathically implanting this message in your dreams tonight at 3:14AM

Ugly Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

Behold!
01-pininfarina-alfa

From AutoBlog: Take a good look at the picture of the Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta concept by Pininfarina, because the production Spider that will be a joint development with the coming Mazda MX-5 Miata isn’t expected to look anything like it. According to a report in Autocar, designers at Fiat\’s Centro Stile couldn’t figure out how to translate the concept to a production car.

To which I say good thing, so even if it did look sort of like this, later in the same article there was this: …but won’t have any body panels in common with the Mazda.

Maybe next year, if they regrow the passenger foot well and lower the door height to allow comfortable elbow resting again, a 2015 Miata might be in the cards.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1244