Happy Birthday

Google – 12
Avril Lavigne – 26
Gwyneth Paltrow – 38
Me – 55
Don Cornelius – 74
Jayne Meadows – 90

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 845

112,000 Rain Drops

Diet 7-UP was on sale at Walgreen’s starting this morning so we hightailed it over there to pick some up. The price of four 12 packs for $11 with a bonus of a $2 coupon for use on your next visit was about as good as it gets. We managed to make it to the store with the top down, but had to put it up to go inside, which we expected because for the first time in about a month we are going to get some rain. There were only three on the shelf, which we expected and why we hustled over there early on a Sunday, but the the guy running the place offered to check in the back, he came out with one, which we didn’t expect. On the way home the Emperor passed the 112,000 mile point, which I expected, because we went the long way home just for that reason.

We started yesterday morning with a 4 mile foray into Hitchcock Woods. They were having a “Festival of the Woods” with lots of programs, events and demonstrations. We would have liked to have seen the raptor demonstration, but knew we wouldn’t stay long enough for it because it didn’t start ’til after noon. So we just opted to hike in from one end and end up at the Show Ring where all the action was, just to see what we could see. As we got close to the ring we came across a few folks horseback riding. I thought maybe I’d snap a photo or two of them, but my camera wouldn’t come on. My first guess as to why was that the battery was dead. That guess was confirmed wrong when I opened the battery door, the battery wasn’t there. It was home still plugged into the charger. Oops.

We ended up yesterday with a 2.9 mile walk around Phinizy Swamp in Augusta with the MMC. The staff of the Swamp offer a full moon walk a few times a year, but we had the place to ourselves because we are special and one of the docents is a club member. Even though it was not the actual night of the full moon and we were stuck with just a waning gibbous with 95% of the visible disk illuminated we all had a great time. Because it was still pretty dark we thought we saw silhouettes of several types of egrets, maybe an owl and possibly an alligator. We did see a small possum as we had to use a flashlights beam to shoo him away from the boardwalk we were both were on.

Because we were a few minutes early for the Club meet up, Donna and I roamed the deteriorating parking lot of the deserted Regency Mall and grabbed 3 geocaches.

Started down, went up, went down, back up, back down, up again, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 843

How Much For A Professional Portrait?

How much would you pay for a professional portrait? Twenty five dollars?

I’ve been having some lower back pain and after the GP tossed a few things at it with no success, he passed me off to a specialist. I saw him Monday and after a couple of x-rays, his thoughts are arthritis. To get a better idea of what is going on, he suggested an MRI to ensure I didn’t have any soft tissue issues. This afternoon I spent 40 minutes relaxing on a table listening to electronic tribal drums. When I was done I asked the tech if I could get a picture of a random slice of me. After all you have seen a slice of my wife, inside my duodenum and colon already, why not add a high res image of my spine? She replied, “I’d have to charge you $25 for a picture.” I declined, but she did say if the doctor asked for a picture it wouldn’t cost anything, so if I asked through him… My follow up visit with the doctor is on the 28th, so stay tuned.

We were at Target this evening buy some odds and ends, so I picked up a new mouse for the laptop. Fool me once same on you, fool me twice shame on me. Fool me three times ain’t gonna happen, I was not going for another Microsoft Wireless 400. Brought home a shiny red Logitech M305 for $20.

Started up, went down, went up, back down, back up, down again, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 838

Letter To The Editor

As my boss and were discussing the finer points of my soon to be released Manufacturing Procedure covering the Turned Parts Department documentation he asked if I was excited about finally being published. To which I replied I was published all over the internet, but if that didn’t count, I just happen to have a copy of a letter to editor published in the local paper here in this file folder. Way back before blogging I needed different ways to get my words out and in 1993 most of them were used up doing the Aiken Bicycle Club newsletter, but occasionally some of them leaked out of different holes.

Editor,

After reading the recent article about how The Chronicle was not going to be running the current story line of the comic strip “For Better or Worse,” I was angered. I wanted to scream, “Homophobia!” I was going to write to tell you that if any comic strip could be trusted to handle a sensitive issue like homosexuality correctly it would be this one. I wanted to tell you to at least run it temporarily on the editorial pages like some papers do for “Doonesbury.”

But while reading the comics page I saw something that worried me even more than high school teen-agers struggling with their sexual orientation.

Charlie Brown hit a home run to win a baseball game. That lovable loser is no more. Charles Schultz must have fallen prey to pressure from special-interest groups and child psychologists. I can only wonder at what kind of force was applied to Mr. Schultz to get him to turn Charlie Brown into a hero in the ninth inning instead of his usual goat.

What’s next? No more kite tangled in trees? Will the little red-haired girl send him a valentine next year? I hope not. Charlie Brown, the failure, teaches kids a valuable lesson also: that not everyone is a champion. For every winner, there is a loser who played the game to the best of his ability, too.

Brian Bogardus

Here is a copy of the Peanuts strip to which I referred:

And here is one from the For Better or Worse series:

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 833

Hyundai Is My New Favorite Car Company

At least styling wise. A fellow at work has a new Tucson and IMHO is the best looking of of all the Cute Utes. I have already professed my love for the new Sonata and now I’m really liking the look of the new 2011 Elantra.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 832

Mus Musculus Mortus

This one lasted nearly 4 months which is a darn sight better than the 6 week life span of its predecessor, but this evening the laptop’s Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 400 died. I’m guessing from the same malady that befell the first one back in April, it just quit working. The light was still functioning, but no amount of shaking or moving would get the cursor to follow suit and the button transceiver in the laptop’s USB post was quite hot to the touch.

It was the Emperor’s day off. Donna and I went for a 15 mile (actually 14.92) bike this morning. We threatened to drive to Walmart and buy a new mouse, but in the end we just stayed home and watched the last five episodes of Series 1 of New Street Law.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 830

Breakfast At Home

Not home, home, but the Home Cafe in Washington, GA. Six Miatas with 11 persons onboard made the drive to dine at the spot the locals eat at. From the Bogardus table we can recommend the hash browns and the pancakes, but the biscuit with sausage gravy was unexciting. We didn’t order any breakfast meat because we had cheated on the way to the rendezvous point in Evans, GA, we stopped for an appetizer at the Golden Arches. Sausage McMuffin for me and a breakfast burrito for Donna.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 830