It Was Right In My Wheelhouse
And I didn’t feel like writing all about it. But if you go to the Outback in Aiken, SC and Todd is your waiter…run.
Month: November 2016
MMC At The Gap
OK, this past weekend Donna and I were supposed to lead 5 cars up to western North Carolina to enjoy some twisty roads and one really, really twisty one. Well, I’ve got to stop watching the news and reading the news on the internet, because I convinced myself that the Alabama gas pipeline’s second accident, earlier in the week, would cause shortages stranding us in the mountains. So Donna and I didn’t lead a group to NC, we handed them our maps and wished them well.
Of course the shortages never materialized and we probably missed an epic weekend of Miata fun. I sent an email to all the folks who went last night, asking for a few words about the trip, but as of yet I have no replies back so I have no idea of what they did. Well, that’s not exactly true, I know they drove through the famous Deals Gap at around 9:30 AM on Saturday morning. Killboy caught them in the act:
Wax On, Wax Off
The CBTNL needs a washing and my plan is to do it tomorrow evening. I’d like to throw a coat of wax on it too, but I’ve got a small problem, my fancy matte stripes. Everything I’ve read is don’t get wax on the matte finish, it”l make it shiny. That’s all well and good if the whole car is matte. Or your whole hood. Or even a couple of accents. But I’ve got 4 straight lines that run the length of the entire car I have to wax right up to, but not over! I was not to good about coloring in between to lines growing up, so this will be a daunting task.
No way I was going to mask the stripes off every time I want to wax the car. But the word tape keyed an idea, why not apply a 1″ gloss vinyl stripe along each side of the matte blue stripe? That would would be enough of a buffer and if I got wax on shiny vinyl, so what. Above is a mock up using my Windows 10 profile picture. The dark blue is nice and the white ain’t bad, but I’m partial to the black. I even did a little experiment, I laid a stretch of black electrical tape on all 4 sides on the trunk. Nice.
When I put the electrical tape away I noticed that I still had the sample of matte blue vinyl that was tested on the trunk lid awhile back. I had stuck it to the cabinet door in the garage. So I took some masking tape and covered half of the sample square. I then squirted some of the Ice Liquid Wax I’ve been using recently on the unprotected half. Let it sit for a second then wiped it off with one side of a micro fiber cloth and buffed it with the other. When I peeled off the masking tape, I couldn’t see a difference. I’ll have to try it on a not so noticeable spot on the car in daylight, but maybe this wax won’t be an issue.
I still like the black accents though, maybe that will be one of my Christmas gifts…
Politics as Unusual
Usually every 4 years around this time we here at Life of Brian headquarters announce our endorsement for President of the United States of America. Usually it is a third party candidate based on the car they drive or their stance on marijuana legalization. This year we have no one who falls into the correct automobile category, but we do have one that is head and shoulders above anyone now, or anyone previously, on the “Cannabis is OK” front. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson would be perfect for our endorsement, except for his seeming propensity for firing up a doobie before giving interviews, policy statements or town hall meetings.
So this year we will will take the unusual stance of not endorsing anyone for President. You are on your own on this one.