Month: August 2025

This Is Not Spinal Tap

After dinner I decided to watch one of the 100 or so movies I own while waiting on the dishwasher to finish. I opened up Plex and went to the movie page. As I looked at the first couple of rows of movie posters, I tried to decide what kind of movie I was in for. Really couldn’t. I’ve said this before in that I’ll see the title or the poster and I’ll be able to sort of speed watch the whole movie. And once I’ve done that, I literally don’t need to watch it … I’ve just seen it.

One nice thing about Plex is that there is a shuffle button at the top and if you click it a random movie will start. I’ve used it a few times with limited success, maybe twice out of the five I got something that I would be in the mood to see. Attempt number six was a win, Plex had selected This Is Spinal Tap. I hadn’t seen it in ages and just running the movie through in my head made me want to watch it again. I didn’t recognize the background image at start up, but there were our 3 main guys looking like they’d been dipped in gold, so the movie was right (the image was for the movie’s 41st golden anniversary.)

The movie was not right. First clue was the first image you see, the logo of the production company A24, that studio was way too new to be from the 1980s. Wait a minute, Rashida Jones and Marlon Wayans getting married, I watched the trailer for this movie a way back and put the movie in my Apple TV+ queue. I did start to watch it back then too, but gave up about 20 minutes in.

Weird. I exited Plex, got back in, drilled down through the movie posters, found and clicked on This Is Spinal Tap again. It started up right where I just left off, 3 minutes into On The Rocks. What the heck, I’ll watch it again and see if I can at least get to the part where National Treasure Bill Murray shows up. I ended up watching the whole thing. It had very strong Lost in Translation vibes and with good reason, it too was directed by Sofia Coppola.

After watching the movie, I went over to the PC where the Plex sever runs on, found the .MKV file, opened it in a media player and it was the real “This Is Spinal Tap.” What the heck was going on. I scrolled back up in the directory and there was an .MKV video file for “On The Rocks” too. The file was dated in November of 2023. Did I download a copy of the movie less than 2 years ago and forget about it? I stopped pirating stuff way back in the twenty teens. Plus, I wouldn’t think so based on earlier this year’s starting and stopping watching it part way. Has someone hacked into Plex somehow on stored a copy of there? I mean I have it set up to allow me access to my movies while traveling…

I’ve deleted all the “On The Rocks” files and rescanned the library, but now when I got try and play “This Is Spinal Tap” Plex can’t seem to find it. I guess tomorrow I’ll try and uninstall Plex, clean up the registry, reboot and reinstall. Now, I really want to watch Spinal Tap.

Addendum (8/15/25): Nothing I did would let me play “This is Spinal Tap” on the PC using Plex. It wouldn’t play on on the laptop either, but it will play on either TV running Plex via the Roku box. “?” Side note, I just now stumbled on that there is a sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, coming out next month. This is where that gold image came from and since the movie came out in 1984 it also explains the 41st anniversary thing.

Evening Arrival

Evening Arrival

Last night at dusk I went out and drove around a local business park looking to take some photos of Bucky during the golden hour. Took a half dozen or so in a couple spots, but only two are post worthy. This is one and the other will show up in a few days in another post.

Oh…That’s What She Said

It happened again, see March 25th’s post, I got a ten-dollar haircut. It might have been the same stylist for all I know, but I never seem to get the same one. Of course because the haircut is every four weeks between visits and if I don’t get someone that is memorable for some reason it might be someone who has cut it before. I mean March was 5 months ago.

Today I got in the chair and the stylist said something, something, a great beard trim. And I replied, “Thanks I did it last night.” My normal buzz cut takes all of 5 minutes and I’m out of the chair. When I checked out she said, “That’ll be $10.” I tipped her five bucks because that is what she’d have gotten for the $21 Senior Haircut.

As I walked out to the car I looked down at the receipt and saw that it said: BEARD TRIM – $10. The stylist had probably said, “If any one asks, you got a great beard trim today.”

Interstates Suck Part Two

Interstates Suck Bumper Sticker

Yesterday’s post I lamented the situation of having to drive on the Interstate around here and said I should go ahead and buy an apt bumper sticker that I created on CafePress. It wasn’t until today that I remembered that I already had one in a drawer…

Interstates Suck

After yesterday’s hour-and-forty-five-minute Uber ride back from PDX Wraps and today’s hour-and-fifteen-minute trip back, I think it is time to pony up the $5.24 on this bumper sticker. This is also why, on the way home from picking up Bucky in Sherwood, I didn’t take one home. It probably took me a little more than the 1.25 hours to get back home, but it was worth it just not to have to creep along in three lanes of traffic. Either way, I think the results were worth that hassle.

New Side Stripes

Yesterday I mentioned I was a belt and suspenders guy with the backup house key options. What would be a way to add a third option to that saying? Asking because I went to Lowes today and bought a digital deadbolt that I’ll install tomorrow.

Several Senior Key Moments All In A Row

Not my proudest moments. When I left the house to head off to the DMV for my scheduled appointment, I locked the door behind me. Only when I got to the car did I realize the keys weren’t in my pocket. Crap. I was so worried about having all my paperwork in hand that I forgot to grab them off the hook by the door. Not a big deal, I have a Hide-A-Key outside just for such an event. I retrieved the key and slid it into the lock; it would not turn. Huh? I must have put the wrong key in my Hide-A-Key thing. It could have been the old Klamath Falls key, or a relative’s house key, or, hell, maybe even an old key from Aiken days.

Being a belt and suspenders kind of guy, my neighbor across the street has a copy as a contingency plan. I texted her, “Are you home?” No reply. Now, I’m starting to think I’m going to miss my appointment. Thirty seconds later I hear a beep and watch her car go by; she was on her way home from the store. I walk over and get her backup key. I open my door, grab the keys for Bucky, lock up, and return the backup key to her. I still had plenty of time to make it to the DMV on time.

After doing all the paperwork to get Bucky street legal, I drove the short distance to PDX Wraps to drop him off for the side stripe and dark windshield banner. After we ironed out the size and placement details, it was time to order up an Uber for the ride home. As I left the shop to go outside and wait for my ride, I realized I still had the car keys in my pocket, so I went back in and said, “Oh, you might need these.”

The 45-minute Uber ride was going to end up taking about an hour and 45 minutes because of some sort of traffic snafu. In the 2 years I’ve lived here and in all the times I’ve dealt with I-5 and I-84, it has never been that backed up. About halfway home creeping along, I realized that those car keys also held the house key. DOH!

So, I texted my neighbor again, admitting that I’m brain-dead and I’ll be needing that key again. This time the no response was a lot longer; I didn’t hear from her even after I was dropped off in front of my locked house. I walked over, and her car was there, but she didn’t answer the knock. Okay, now what? I called a locksmith. He said, “I’m finishing up a job, and then I’m 45 minutes away. Hang tight.”

About 20 minutes later I got a text; my neighbor was back, so I went over and got my spare key again. After unlocking the house door, I returned them across the street again because obviously I’m going to need her to keep them. I called the locksmith back, hoping he wasn’t already on the way because then I’d be out a couple hundred bucks. At last something went my way; he hadn’t finished up that job yet, so I dodged a monetary bullet.

I got in the other Miata and headed to Lowe’s to get the correct key to stash in my Hide-A-Key. Belt and suspenders.

Bucky’s Big Day Out

I’m finally going to get him registered and get the title in my name versus the Bring-A-Trailer seller. Hard to believe, but I won the auction for the car nearly 7 months ago. I’ve even decided to try and get a personalized plate. You get six letters, so I’ve asked for BUC KEY or BUC KIE with the state’s base license plate that features a tree in the center. Odds are probably kind of slim though; the mascot of Oregon State University is a beaver…the only saving grace is the mascot’s name is Bennie.

After the DMV I’m dropping him off at my friend’s at PDX Wraps to have some side stripes put on like I mocked up back in July. Here is the proof they sent me today. We’ll see when I get there. When I mocked up my stripe on it sat a little higher; theirs shows it lower, and I’m wondering how well the thinness of the stripe at the back end of the door will hold up.

Side Stripe Design Proof

I’m also going to get them to put a 4″ or so dark black tint along the top of the windshield. Even though I spent money on the old-school folding visors from the first-gen cars, I might be able to eliminate them altogether with that tint.

And there is one last modification (or so I’m telling myself) to be done: a set of custom gauges from Revlimiter. We are ironing out all the details as we speak; it is based on a combination of his Spyder faces and something I’ve had sitting in my Miata folder for a couple decades.

Custom Gauges Go Here