Bicycling

Plated

As I was parking the tandem in the garage when we got home from work today I could hear the slightly muted beep of the answering machine. It was salesman Jerry letting us know that the Sonata’s South Carolina license plate was in and we could come get it whenever we wanted. Well, we wanted it now, so we changed clothes and headed over to Augusta.

The above picture does not show spiffy new SC plate because it was taken last weekend at Tignall Cemetery somewhere in Georgia where we DNF’d a cache. I ran it through an infrared plugin and then added the car’s color back in.

Friday The Thirteenth

In honor of today’s date, when it was time to pay for our weekly groceries at Kroger’s, we had the option of three different very short check out lines and we chose number thirteen.

I’m not going to create a separate page for the mods done to the Sonata like I did for the Miata, because the second and quite possibly last mod for it arrived in the mail from South Korea today. The first was tinting the windows and this one is a home market badge that goes on the right side of the trunk to balance out the Sonata one on the left. It reads F24GDi. The 24 stands for the 2.4 liter engine, I googled to find out that the GDi stands for Gasoline Direct injection, but the F I have no idea about. Four cylinders maybe?

We rode the bus (AKA the tandem) to work today and nary a single black cat crossed our path.

New Carport?

It had been there for 11 years before something heavy enough landed on the carport tarp to puncture it and it might be another eleven years before it happens again. And it might happen again in 11 days.*

This afternoon on our cycling trip home from work we took a slightly different route than usual which took us right by one of those portable building places. Right after we passed it we made a u-turn, which, on a tandem, takes more road than you might think. We went inside and picked up a brochure for one of those metal carports.

*We hope it waits at least twice that, because we were told that it takes about 3 weeks to get one of those metal carports installed.

Oh, This Twinkie Thing, It Ain’t Over Yet


Mirabeau Blue Genesis Coupe

Bike rode to pay our bills (cable, water, power & doctor) this morning and ended up at Atlanta Bread Company for breakfast. Maybe tomorrow I’ll tell the paper cup story.

This afternoon I fixed something, which is a rare occurrence around here. Last time I went to use the leaf blower it wouldn’t go. The gas line from the tank to the “carburetor” was broken. It had dried out and cracked in a couple places. We found a kit at Big Box Home Store and I managed to replacethem without too much trouble. I did have to enlarge one hole in the plastic tank to fit one of the plastic tubes through. There appears to be a miniscule bit of leakage at that point, but I doubt it creates any hazard.

With that repaired, I proceeded to blow the oak pollen clusters off the roof and back deck. Donna then took over and cleaned the front walk and driveway. While she did that, I finished hosing the pine pollen off the screened porch, so that maybe we can enjoy our dinner out on Monday.

Tonight I’m watching the Red Sox – Yankees game on ESPN, but listening to it on the WEEI off the ‘net. I’ve tried several times in the past to do this, but the audio and video never lined up. Tonight, for some reason, they are in sync.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 992

Dog Gone It

Gozque – Spanish for small yapping dog.

The Red Sox finally won a game. The starting pitcher for the FRS gave up 6 runs in 7 innings and lowered his ERA by nearly 10! As a bonus the 9 -6 win came against the dreaded Yankees.

We rode the tandem to work today and it was a great ride. It is Spring Break around here for the schools and it is amazing the amount of traffic that eliminates. During school time we see maybe a dozen cars, but today we were lucky if we saw 3.

My dabbling in Ubuntu Linux, will always be just that, just dabbling. Late last night I discovered that you cannot stream Netflix in Linux. Plus I should read my own posts…back last October when I loaded it on the laptop I realized that my most used Geocaching program doesn’t have a Linux version.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 990

Mr. Aiken & Me

Donna and I went for a little bike ride this morning. First off we chased the 14% larger moon as it set in the southeast to the Post Office to mail something. Once the moon disappeared behind the clouds and the envelope disappeared in the slot we headed back northwest to go downtown and drop the power bill in the slot outside the SCE&G office. While we were that way we stopped in to see what the so-called founding father of Our Fair City(tm) was looking at. Near as I can tell he is looking down the Alley trying to catch a glimpse of a Tipsy McStumbles waitress. Thirteen miles is all our backsides could stand considering the last time we were on a bike was, as near as I can figure, around Thanksgiving last year.

After breakfast I went out and rinsed all the pine pollen and tree bits (seedling covers and flowering things) that were covering he Emperor. Because it is early in the spring yuck season I didn’t bother with soap, just water and a towel. Later in the day on a trip to the mall I parked, against the expressed consent of my wife, near a tree. In my defense, I figured it was through dropping stuff because it had tiny leaves already showing. I was half right, it wasn’t dropping solid bits, but when we got back to the car it was covered with tiny droplets of sap. At first I considered leaving it on there giving the pine pollen something to stick making the Emperor appear to be wearing a polka dotted robe, but instead when we got home I spent 45 minutes or so with some Quick Detailer wiping off that gunk.

During one of the top transitions while cleaning the outside of the car (I also cleaned and protected the leather seats) I noticed that the top was bunching up on the passenger side at one of the metal bows. Turns out, right where the bow has the radius between vertical and horizontal, the inner dark layer of fabric has been separated from the tan exterior layer. This means that this spot where the top material is very taught, only has one layer of fabric there which will probably tear in the not too distant future. I’m going to call the top guy over in Augusta to see when he can look at it and determine if it is fixable or it is new top time. If a new top is required it will be a big disappointment. The OEM top lasted 5 years and this one will have only made it half that long.

Started up, went down, went up, back down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 979

Bike Christmas Tree

On my way back from the doctor’s office this morning I stopped and snapped a photo of this Christmas Tree made entirely out of old bicycles in front of a “Flea Market” store. I think I need to go back and shoot from a slightly different angle so you can read the whole sign reading Christmas Store. And maybe a little later in the day, so that there is a hint of darkness which might make the string of lights more noticeable.

After having the weather the last couple of weeks such that making ice cubes outside was possible at midday, this morning when we left for work it positively balmy at 38° and this evening we took a small drive with the top down…

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 914