Miata Washings

Odds & Ends

This is way cool, instead of hanging your flat panel TV on the wall or hiding it in an armoire, make it into a quasi mid-century MadMen inspired piece of furniture. M21 Flat Panel Console

For Christmas I bought myself a USB TV stick. It came with a chintzy little metal stick antenna that has a magnetic base. I stuck it to back of a panel on my computer desk and it works pretty good pulling in three of the four local stations. The one it is missing is FOX and I kinda want that one. I found a tutorial on how to make a digital TV antenna from wire coat hangers and yesterday I made one. It looks remarkably like this and all I managed to do was ruin 6 coat hangers and get a blister on my right palm because it doesn’t work as good as the throw away one that came with the TV stick.

I’m trying out the latest version of the Google Chrome browser (right now, as I type this!) and it does seem substantially faster than Firefox. Now with extentsions. The first of which I installed was AdBlock… Will the love last?

The office of the University president looked like the front palor of a successful Victorian whorehouse. It was paneled in big squares of dark walnut, with ornately figured maroon drapes at the long windows. There was maroon carpeting and the furniture was black leather with brass studs. The office was much nicer than the classrooms; maybe I should have worn a tie.

That is the opening paragraph from the little book that started it all, The Godwulf Manuscript, the first of 37 Spenser books by Robert B. Parker. Rest in peace Mr. Parker.

The Emperor got a much desrved bath this afternoon.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 531

Sweet Home Augusta

This afternoon I did something I should have done yesterday, wash the car. Today was the last 3rd Saturday of the month Miata Club breakfast event of the year and the Emperor was still wearing the dirt he picked up in Florida from Thanksgiving. I usually wash the car before a Club event, but recently I have been letting that slip. Maybe because the countdown clock is under 365…

The TV situation is so bad that I am intentionally watching Sweet Home Alabama.

I miss Mad Men.

Started down, went up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 513

Back Into The Woods

Swampy CutToday was the second Glorious Fall Day® in a row and for the first time in about three months we went for a walk in Hitchcock Woods. Took a nice little 3-1/2 mile walk among the falling leaves.

Because the weather was perfect for it as well as walking in the woods, the Emperor got the full spa treatment; bug/tar removal on the nose and rocker panels, a good washing, headlights polished, wax and a window washing. We are now set for the winter.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 471

Henderson Heritage Preserve

We got out this morning to visit the Henderson Heritage Preserve north of town to discover the two caches that are there and scout possible locations for placing our own.

It is in two separate sections and there is one cache in each. The first one, Utorthent, was in the newer of the sections and the more groomed of the two. It was a very nice walk and a nice hide of an ammo can, the GPSr never read closer than 12′, but we found it without too much problem. Round trip hike turned out to be 2.8 miles and we only covered about 1/2 of the marked trails.

We then got in the car and drove the 2 miles to the parking area for the second section. We were looking for a cache called Sandhills in this one. This cache was only a 2 mile round trip, but it was through a more primitive piece of woods and included a small stream crossing and a nearly all uphill walk to the cache. As a bonus, on the way back downhill to the car we spooked a pair of deer. They came from near the road and crossed in front of us going deeper into the preserve in a big hurry.

Both places have a couple possibilities for cache placements, now I just have to figure out who to talk to to get permission. I emailed to both people who have caches in Heritage Preserves in this area and only got one reply and he was no help.

In a total reversal of standard procedure, I washed the Emperor the day after an MMC event. Even went the extra mile, vacuumed the interior and cleaned and preserved the leather seats.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 358

How Long Can They Keep This Up?

The Sox and Yanks are playing baseball this evening and for some reason the FRS are winning. And not only tonight, they have beaten the MFY the other 5 games they have played so far this season. I hated to say anything for fear of jinxing it and they’ll probably get their butts kicked tomorrow night while I’m watching the game on ESPN, but it feels pretty good.

I’ve been putting off washing the car for a couple weeks now because they keep calling for rain, well I couldn’t stand it any longer, so I washed the car tonight. So it will probably pour tomorrow, but the joke will be on Mother Nature because the car will be in the garage all day, we are riding the tandem to work….wait a minute then the joke will be on us anyway.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 243

Aiken, SC

0 miles from home.

Easy flight back, we started to get some heavy turbulence somewhere over middle America, so the pilot got clearance to fly at a higher altitude. When we got up there, there must have been a better tailwind because we spent only 2:55 in the air as opposed to the scheduled 3-1/2 hours.

We used that extra thirty-five minutes to catch 3 quick caches on the way home, 2 in Fort Mill and another in Blythewood. There were still a couple left on the GPSr to do, but we could only put off the inevitable so long, we came straight home from number three.

Sorry for the Travel Bug follow the route link yesterday, didn’t realize you had to be a member and log in to see the map. So here is an image you can see – take a look.

The first things we did when we got here was for Donna to mow the weeds in both the front and back yard while I blew the piles of oak pollen clusters off the deck and the driveway. Then the Emperor got a much needed bath. The poor boy spend the last 2 weeks parked outside the Charlotte Airport Holiday Inn and there was a nice layer of baked on pine pollen on all his horizontal surfaces.

Tomorrow it is back to reality.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 176

Vacation


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What started as a two week vacation in the American west to eyeball some of the great natural wonders it has to offer, has somehow morphed into a long distance cache hunt. Now instead of gazing in awe at Devils Tower or Monument valley I will be staring at the GPSr while peeking at the ground looking for ammo cans well integrated into the environment.

The Emperor got a bath today even though he will need another one in three weeks after sitting in long term parking.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 172