Geocaching Trifecta (and then some)

We went out to lead the MMC on the October Breakfast Run, but nobody showed up, so Donna and I ran across the street and ate at a Waffle House. Afterwards we pulled off a Geocaching Tirfecta, we DNF’d a cache, found a cache and then hid a cache.

We were going to stop there, but someone else published a series of caches based on the the game of Risk and all of a sudden there were 46 new caches to look for in the CSRA. Some were within a few miles of the house so we ended up being FTF on the three closest. Tomorrow morning we are going to head out fairly early and try to find a few more of the series.

Pink Drink

There were 4 of us who went to the Tool Show the other day and after we had seen all there was to be seen it was time for lunch. At first we thought we were going to be treated to lunch by the salesman who sold our company that fancy-schmancy (and very expensive ) CNC machine, but he bailed on both the show and us. This was actually not a big disappointment to two of us because that meant we could go across town to Mark & my favorite restaurant in all of North Carolina – Razoo’s Cajun Cafe! There was going to be a few toe-less rats around after we got there.

When the 4 of us arrived at the restaurant after the 30 minute drive, 3 of us settled in to a booth and the other made a bee-line to the restroom. When our waitress arrived to take drink orders I ordered regular Coke and the two others got Diet Coke. We didn’t know what the other fellow wanted, so we ordered for him. I asked the waitress if they had anything pink and frilly. She said that they had pink lemonade and we said, “Perfect.” Instantly catching on, she asked, “Do you want me to put a little umbrella in it?” “Umm, why, yes we would.”

When she returned with the tray of drinks, poor unsuspecting Kieth looked at the four glasses and wondered who ordered that pink drink, but it slowly dawned on him what had happened, as she passed out the other three drinks to us and he had nothing in front of him with the pink drink was still on the tray. Our waitress offered to go get him something else to drink, but he waved her off and said, “I’ll just drink this.”

The new guy, Tom, is a quick learner, as he too needed to use the rest room, but decided to wait until after he had ordered his meal before going…

7,000 Widgets

Went to SOUTH-TEC 2011 Expo, AKA the Charlotte Tool Show, today with some co-workers. We were there to place eyeballs on a new fancy-schmancy CNC machine we bought and won’t take delivery of for another 16 weeks. And of course, wander every aisle and marvel at all the widgets on display, while managing to score free pens, cheap bags and multi-colored lanyards to give away to the unlucky souls back home who didn’t get to go. We might have even picked up some useful information.

When I first heard we going it was in the company’s Ford 9-passenger van. Ick, who wants to spend 3 hours each way in that thing. When it was confirmed that it was just 4 total going, I offered to drive the group in the Purple Whale. Even with it raining for almost all of the trip, I definitely enjoyed driving in my own car than riding in that van for 340 miles.

Somewhere just south of the South Carolina state line on the way home the Sonata hit the 7,000 mile mark.

Pink, Purple, Tito & Missing Yankees

Enough already with the pink. I can relate to the sentiment, but when NFL quarterbacks star wearing hot pink shoes, it has gone too far.

The Purple Whales bounced back from their loss last week by knocking off one of the two remaining undefeated teams in the End Zone Entourage FFL, thereby pulling back into a first place tie in the Western Division.

Maybe because I’m a homer, but I thought ex-FRS manager, Terry Francona didn’t sound half bad as a color commentator during the first two games of the American League Championship Series.

When I turned on the first game of the ALCS I thought for sure I had stumbled onto some sort of wildcard game. Detroit? Texas? Where were the Red Sox, Rays or Heaven forbid, even the Yankees?

The Ottoman Empire

After a dry run of the route, and dining at the destination, of next week’s MMC Breakfast Rally that we are leading, we did the weekly grocery shopping. With that out of the way, we got down to the serious business of living room furniture shopping.

Our destination was Rooms To Go in Augusta. Not only do they have a big ol’ selection, but I was angling to up the $800 sofa to a $2k, six or seven piece suite with a “Free” 51 inch Samsung 3-D TV. And my plan might have worked had we been able to find something that met our comfort needs and more importantly had the looks/style we liked. Didn’t happen, where we got one, the other was not there or vice versa.

After lunch went back to the store where we saw the couch candidate the other day and to see how well it might match our current stuff we had brought along one of the accent pillows. Turns out it didn’t look half bad, but after a more in depth try out, we determined that the contoured seat areas were really not comfortable for the afternoon nap laying across pose.

On second thought, our current couch didn’t seem that bad, sure it was slightly worn, not nearly as bad as Marty Crane’s recliner, so let’s just say that it had acquired a nice patina. And because what had started this whole furniture shopping expedition in the first place was the desire to remove my feet off the coffee table, which not only holds our obligatory fan of magazines, but doubles as our dinner table on weekdays when watching Law & Order re-runs, we just took the easy way out and bought a $50 ottoman.

Couch Shopping, Desserts Bigger’n Your Head & You Sure That’s Right?

Last time we bought living room furniture we got a 3 piece matching set, couch, love seat and arm chair. Because it is just the two of us, the only piece that has seen appreciable use is the couch, so now we need a new one. The other two items are basically brand new, so we would like to keep them and just buy a couch. Because it has been quite a while, a matching piece is entirely out of the question. The object we seek will be something that will compliment what is staying. Not easy, the current furniture is a burgundy cloth with rolled arms accented with nail heads sitting on ball feet. Not too much out there in that style and to make it nearly impossible we have decided to get a couch with built in recliners. The second store we tried tonight had a possibility, but we still want to look at least a couple more places.

We had dinner out with the Masters Miata Club tonight at the Boll Weevil in downtown Augusta. The food is always good and tonight was no exception. They are known for their desserts and usually Donna and I decline, but for some reason tonight we didn’t. Boy are we sorry. Here is a photo of some of their desserts, our Perfect Chocolate cake (which we “spoiled” with two scoops of vanilla ice cream) was larger than those shown, it was actually hanging off both sides of the plate!

On the way back from Augusta we filled up the Emperor’s gas tank. Regular was under 3 bucks, and because HRH takes Premium it was going to cost us $3.17 a gallon, but with our shopper\’s discount it too was under three at $2.97. I had reset the trip odometer in Clayton when we filled up last Saturday morning, I didn’t reset it when we topped off on Sunday, and so the mileage since that first fill up read 454.3. I took the last two gas receipts, totaled up the two tankfuls and got 15.065 gallons. That means the MPG for the past five days, which consisted of 60% windy mountain roads, 25% 2-lane back roads and 15% 4-lane divided highways was a respectful 30.16.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1072

I’ll Just Use My Special 78-21-1 Mixture

When I backed the Purple Whale out of the driveway on Sunday evening to make a grocery run I was surprised to find the Low Tire Pressure Light illuminated. The car felt fine, so I knew I didn’t have a flat. I elected to make the trip and if the light didn’t go out by the time we got back I’d check the tire pressures.

As part of the dealer installed options for the Sonata was a $99* charge for the Purigen Tire Service. Which they said improves steering response, handling, fuel economy, and decreases false TPMS alarms. I guess I was supposed to assume that they had filled the tires with pure nitrogen and as proof they did, I got 4 bright green valve caps.

The TPMS light was still on when I got home. Not only was the light on, but the entire info display screen was filled with a dire warning that could not be eliminated, so I grabbed the gauge and checked all four tires. Every one read right at 31 psi. Which didn’t seem too bad, but the door sticker said the manufacturer recommends 35 psi.

One of the purported advantages of pure nitrogen is that its molecules are larger than oxygen so they cannot escape trough the rubber of the tire. One of the first things I did when I brought the car home was check the tire pressure all around because they are often way over inflated for shipping and sitting on lots so the tires don’t get flat spots. When I checked them back in April they all read 35 psi. Did, in a mere 5 months, the tires lose 4 psi of pure nitrogen pressure? Or did the dealer fill the tires with air and try and charge $99 for 4 green valve caps? Or did the whipping the Purple Whales received from Team Turner in Fantasy Football this week knock the air out of the tires?

I filled all four tires back up to 35 psi using my special 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% other gases (i.e. the air we breathe) using a cheapo Sears compressor and the light went away.

* The supplemental dealer sticker not only included the $99 dollar tire filling, but a Xzylon Interior & Exterior Protection Package for $699! These figures never were included in the bargaining process as I started at below the internet invoice pricing and gave a little (88¢ a month.) As a matter of fact I didn’t even notice the supplemental sticker until I pulled all the paperwork out of the folder the salesman gave me once I got home.

Last night when I went to the auto parts store I bought a pack of silver valve caps to put on the silver valve stems on the silver wheels.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1072