The Quiet American

Today’s movie was The Quiet American and while this is a totally unremarkable film, it is much better than the last two movies I’ve seen in the last 2 days. Modern production values, decent acting and a plot even an imbecile like me could follow. In the opening titles it told me this book was based on a Graham Greene book. When I went to IMDB to get the above link I found out it was also a movie in 1958 with Audie Murphy in the title role. Probably won’t go back and rent the original, but I may see if I can find the book and read it.

Right now I’m reading the Michael Crichton’s Timeline. Interesting premise so far. As with all Mr. Crichton’s work, it reads pretty much like a movie for your mind. Surprise, Timeline was recently released as a movie. A friend at work thought the movie paled in comparison to the book, so maybe I won’t even bother with the DVD when it comes out.

Oil Change – 1015 miles

Went out and drove around a bit to get the car warm. Came home and put it in the garage to change the oil. Seemed like I had to unscrew the filter about 10 more turns to get it off the engine compared to the old car. While the oil drained instead of rotating the tire as I usually do, I went ahead and checked the pressure – 20psi all around, it should be 26. As I aired up, I took the time to wipe off the wheels because they were dirty (whatever tire shine stuff the dealer uses really picks up the brake dust.) Thanks go to Mazda designers for these wheels, there are no nooks and crannies that you can’t get into to clean easily with a rage. Canceling out the thanks, is an ah shit, the dip stick is black, not chrome and this makes it hard to read the level even in bright sunlight.

I Hope Tomorrow Is Better

Did hardly anything at all today. I walked to the mailbox and got the mail (in it came a jury duty summons for me for January.) This afternoon we watched Basic and after yesterday’s “Gone In 60 Seconds”, the 1974 version, I now know that even with good actors and good production values you can still end up with a movie that sucks. This thing was so convoluted that even though I think I know what happened, I’m quite sure I don’t know what happened. The highlight of the day was an evening trip to the China Palace to get the din-din.

A Cold Winter’s Day

Tried not to venture out at all today and managed to make it until 6 PM when my plans collapsed with a drive to the local Chinese place for supper. Tomorrow is supposed to be as cold, but I promised Donna a hike in the woods so that’s where I’ll be.

May try and change the oil on the car, it has 1010 miles on it as of today. I already have filters (bought a bunch for the old car and they are the same as on the new) and the oil. I will have to reuse the old crush washer from the drain bolt though, as they, unlike the filters, are a different size between generations.

Gone In 1 Hour & 38 Minutes

I’m kind of a car guy, but for what ever reason, I just don’t really appreciate car movies. I rented the Nicholas Cage Gone in 60 Seconds remake and was not thrilled at all. When a co-worker mentioned he had the 1974 original, I borrowed it from him and watched it last night. There is an hour and 38 minutes of my life I won’t be getting back. It was like an X-rated feature from the same era, some interesting, but badly lit and staged action scenes tied together with stilted dialog delivered by lousy actors. I expected John Holmes to show up at any minute.

It’s Still There

The quiet metallic noises are still coming from the short shifter. Totally unnoticeable when the top is down, but like most things like this, now that it has been pointed out you just cannot make it go away. I may take the OEM shifter into work and get them to take about an inch off of it. See if that quiets everything down.

Of course I should actually put the OEM one back in and try it first. Maybe it is not the shifter itself. Maybe there is something internal that has been “adjusted.” But I probably won’t…

Is There A Fill Line?

Finally broke down and bought some 75-90w oil to add to the shift turret. $3 a quart and if my figuring is right, that’s more than 900cc. The specs I found on Miata.net call for a complete fill to be just 90cc, so I’ll be able to fill it from empty 9 more times. I’m not sure how much I put in there and I’m not really sure where the fill to line is, but I’m thinking that the guy who fills the turret on the assembly line was picking a booger out of his nose when my car went by, because it sure seemed to take a lot of juice. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow morning if it squelches that little noise any.