The Emperor Goes To Camp

Camp Mazdamiata
We dropped the Miata off at summer camp this morning. It is not for a long stay, so he probably won’t get homesick. We think it will be good for him to spend some time with his peers under the watchful eyes of experienced counselors while working on a couple of issues. We also hope he has some fun.

We would like for him to pick up some neatness habits and stop leaving his stuff all over the place in his bedroom1. Plus we would hope he can be more efficient and sharper in his responses to requests2. But our main concern is that he come back more poised and agile3.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1513

1. Fix a leaking main rear seal.
2. Replace the clutch.
3. Install new shocks and springs.

The Martian Part III

So, I’m excited about this Martian movie and it got me thinking, who do I know that might like the book. So I turn around and ask my cubical neighbor and fellow Clone Club member, “Are you a book reader?”

He: Not really, I do listen to audio books when I commute though.
Me: So what kind of books?
He: It varies…
Me: Autobiographies? Mysteries? Non-Fiction? Hard Science Fiction?
He: Well right now I’m listening to sort of a survival story. It is about a guy left behind on Mars…
Me: Unbelievable. That is exactly where I was going…Where are you in the book?

I’ve got a couple more ideas on who to try next week.

The Martian Part II

Got two pieces of news about the thing that might actually drag me into a physical movie theater for the first time since 2012. They have moved up the release date for The Martian from November 25th to October 2nd. And the trailer dropped.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue4PCI0NamI

Now I’m still psyched to see this thing, but I’m not real happy about the marketing. The teaser viral thingie from the other day was perfect, but the trailer and then the poster kind of spoil a plot point that held a lot of suspense for the book reader.

I’m sure there was a different way to do the trailer so that the whole will he or won’t he be rescued in time could have been left a little more open. I fully understand why they’re going this way, ‘Muricans love a happy ending, plus my way would have little time to show all those other actors faces. And just maybe it is me, it doesn’t show him actually being saved.

Anyway, we knew how Apollo 13 turned out and it still made a heck of a movie.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1511

Sneak Peek 2b

I’ve already submitted one sneak peek photo for this quarter, but with just three weeks to go, I don’t think I’ll capture another picture worthy of Sneak Peekdom, so I’ll go ahead and use the panorama from this last weekend’s Motorfest as my second. When I got long winded on my reply to his reply on my submission email I thought I’d include this slightly longer description of our Saturday here.

Subject: 2nd April-July Sneak Peek Photo
From: Brian ‹xxxxx@gmail.com›
To: David ‹xxxxx@mossmotors.com›
Time: June 8, 2015 10:04 PM

This past Saturday I attended a big ol’ car show at the warehouse of a famous Miata (and others) Parts & Accessories vendor1. I wanted to capture as many participants as possible so I stood on the base of a lamppost and using the camera’s built in panorama function tried to capture as many as I could. Got most all of them.

Brian

Moss Motors

Subject: RE:2nd April-July Sneak Peek Photo
From: David ‹xxxxx@mossmotors.com›
To: Brian ‹xxxxx@gmail.com›
Time: June 9, 2015 11:58 AM

Hey you made it!
Hope you had fun, Brian! Thanks for the photo!

David

Subject: RE:2nd April-July Sneak Peek Photo
From: Brian ‹xxxxx@gmail.com›
To: David ‹xxxxx@mossmotors.com›
Time: June 9, 2015 1:45 PM

David,

We’ve been to the Miatas at the Gap in July and a couple of National Meets so we have seen that many Miatas in one spot, but the collection of LBC’s was staggering. There were everything from what looked like unrestored cars pulled from a field to ones that looked in showroom condition. There were daily drivers and race cars. Very impressive.

We watched some slot car antics and took a tour of the facility, but as you could tell from our lack of car show participation on 2014’s Challenge, they are not really our cup of tea, so after eyeballing all the cars once or twice we got antsy*. Two hours of sitting still were enough and we pulled out of the parking lot around 11. There were motoring Challenge points awaiting.

The real objective for the trip was to cross off two states and their capitol buildings along with the 3 points for the facility. Everything else was gravy; Car Show point for the “fest”, a truck stop, a lake and a Z city.

When we left Petersburg we were heading to Raleigh to spend the night (State Capitol buildings are easier to get early on Sunday mornings.) Because we traveled enough Interstate on Friday we vowed not to set wheels on one on Saturday. Donna pulled out the Virginia state map and plotted a course on gray lines with three numbers on them.

About 15-20 miles south of Petersburg on VA-619 we zipped right by a one-room schoolhouse. Whoa, we were just a few minutes earlier discussing one-room schoolhouses and of those we had already researched, we might want to get. Serendipitous. We made a U-turn. It had a small sign on it that said “Concord School 1906” (when we got home we tried researching it on the net, but couldn’t find anything about it. It is definitely a one-room schoolhouse though, the only thing missing was the proverbial red paint.

This is no sea story, but less than 5 miles further down 619 we spotted a sign that said “Doodlum, Population 34”. Wow, another unexpected bonus. Of course, you could see it wasn’t any sort of official sign (and research later on the web confirmed this), but we took a picture anyway.**

Brian

*There is a rolling stone and Moss joke in there somewhere…
** We are not worried though, as we have a big trip planned for the fall that includes at least one state with population numbers on their signs.

Subject: RE:2nd April-July Sneak Peek Photo
From: David ‹xxxxx@mossmotors.com›
To: Brian ‹xxxxx@gmail.com›
Time: June 9, 2015 3:37 PM

It was after the Guide was sent to the printers when I had the though: “You know, Dave, Miata owners aren’t into car shows like the Brit folks are. You should have probably changed that up a bit.”

And so I shall. Next year…

1 I thought this was funny because David works for the company that not only runs the Motoring Challenge, but put on the Motorfest too.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1509

Mad for MG

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie6J77X0prE

I always wanted a new MG from like high school on. But I didn’t want the newer ones with the rubber bumpers. This was a moot point anyway because I couldn’t afford one. By the time I reached the stage in my life where I could get a small toy convertible, any MG I might want was over 30-years old. No way with my limited mechanical ability could I deal with what was an unreliable British car when new, that would now be doubly iffy. So I bought a brand new Japanese version of the car.

Now if I wanted, I could buy what I desired back in the day, a new reliable MG. This one has modern running gear tucked under that classic body. It is something called a MG Abingdon Edition from Frontline Developements in Oxfordshire, England. Oh, all I need is about $123,000.

Started up, went down, went up, back down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1507

The Martian

Ask anyone who has had a favorite book turned into a TV show or movie if it was as good as the book (don’t get me started on Jack Reacher) and if more than one of your first million friends says yes I’ll be shocked.

The best scifi book I’ve read since I was a wide-eyed 12 year old is being turned into a movie. So I clearly had low expectations, until now. Here is the trailer:

If you like hard science fiction and tales of survival garnished with humor, go read the book, its only six bucks for the Kindle – The Martian by Andy Weir, so now that you too can be impatiently waiting for November 25th.

Started up, went down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1503

Spy Novel

In a spy novel I had just read, the hero hid a letter in a particular statue in Washington, D.C. Since I was in that city at the time, on a whim I decided to see if the statue really contained the small niche the author had described. To my great surprise, it did — and a cellophane-wrapped letter was inside. After a moment’s hesitation, I pulled out the letter, opened it, and burst into laughter.

An unidentified reader had penned, “Good book, wasn’t it?”