Miata Washings

80,000 Nothings

Tonight was the annual Bug Splat Rally for the MMC. Our slightly early start and the two brief rain showers we ran through on the loop conspired to make bugs scarce. Prize awarding was sketchy at best and as a matter of fact the Cleanest Car and Most Bugs Awards were given out based on pre-rally car conditions.

The rain was obviously my fault as I washed the car this morning to make the Emperor look pretty for tonight’s Club gathering. In mid Bug Splat loop His Highness crossed the Savannah River and crossed the 80K mile mark at about the same time.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 288

Official Cheese Doodle of the Boston Red Sox

Wise. They also make the Official Potato Chip of the team too.

“Looks like it is coming down on Landsdowne St, better call 1-800 Fifty-Four GIANT” “Dave how’s your new Azek Deck coming along?” “Now at Papa Gino’s, buy any Rustic Pizza and get a small traditional cheese pizza FREE!”

Not only do I hear all those commercials between innings of the baseball game, but now these guys are squeezing little comments into the middle of their play by play. I’m almost immune to the ads though, but something happened the other day that was very disturbing. When I fired up the media player to listen to the FRS, before the radio broadcast came on there was an actual video commercial. I don’t remember what it was for I was so in shock. Disturbing, I could no longer, turn on the game in progress and get in with the usual 1 minute delay, now I had to wait another minute sitting through yet another plea for my money. At least it doesn’t seem to be an everyday thing, I only saw it once, but my innocence is lost.

Washed the Miata yesterday because it needed it and I figured I was safe because they weren’t calling for rain for about a half dozen days. Today the Weather Channel revised their forecast, it is now going to rain tomorrow or the next day and then there is a small chance of rain for the whole rest of week.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 192

Group Shot

To commemorate this fine occasion we all gathered on the porch last night to take a group picture. I had a tripod in the trunk (for those HDR Post Office pics), I was going to be the photographer. With the help of my assistant Donna, before snapping the real thing, I experimented with some exposures and seating arrangements. Here is a composite. And while the real thing came out OK, I’ll never be a portrait photographer.

The other 4 cabinmates were more the late sleeper types so Donna and I packed our car and hit the road at around 6:30 this morning. The only disadvantage to this move was that we spent the first couple hours driving with the top up because of the cool temps. The big advantage and what made it all worthwhile was the fact that we had the roads all to ourselves. No Sequoyas to slow us down on the Snake, no nobody. We didn’t even come across another vehicle in our direction for any of the twisty stuff at all. We barely saw any cars going in the opposite direction either.

We got home at noonish and after lunch I washed the Miata even though it hasn’t been very long since the last one. We are long through with spring here in the flatlands, but in the Georgia mountains it is in full swing with both the pine and hardwood trees throwing off pollen, combine that with the 1/2 mile of gravel road to access the cabin and the Emperor really need a bath.

Started up, went down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 144

Hurley Is A Citizen Too

Just after lunch today there was a knock at the door. We weren’t expecting anyone, but turns out that was wrong. When Donna opened the door there was the unlikely duo of Shannon Rutherford and Hugo Reyes. I knew Jack was a Sox fan, but I was surprised to find a native son of Santa Monica, CA was too. I had bid victoriously.

Here’s an item I won’t be victorious on — I don’t have quite enough cash in my PayPal account — David Ortiz “Yankees Curse” Jersey

I primered the the inside of the newly remodeled bathroom and then hung a towel rack, the TP holder and the shower curtain rod. We started to shuffle things around in preparation for moving our bedroom to the other end of the house. We cleaned out the two closets by carrying a dozen boxes up into the attic. Sunday night we’ll move the bed and our clothes to complete the transition.

Broke down and washed the car tonight, even though there is a chance of afternoon thunder showers tomorrow. Pine pollen season is all but over and it has been 6 weeks since the last wash, so I figured it was time. Plus we are going on a Post Office Safari tomorrow and the Emperor always like to put his best face forward even though he isn’t the primary photographic subject.

Started down, went up, back down, up again, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 111

Missed It The First Time

SardiniaWe got the 7 Post Offices we planned for on the return trip, just not in the order we planned. Blew right by the Sardinia PO at first. We knew we missed it when we spotted the sign for the next town south on US301, Gable. After taking Gable’s portrait we made a u-turn and headed back north. We actually drive by it again, but not too far as we were really looking for it this time. It is an easy Post Office to miss as there was no “blue box” out front, the flag pole didn’t taper like a normal pole and Old Glory wasn’t flying from it either. Plus this is the only sign and it was parallel to the road and not noticeable at 65MPH.

The building looks old enough to be the original, but if it was, I would have expected some sort of bronze plaque the be nearby, so I don’t know if that is true. Another interesting tidbit about the town is how it got it’s name. “When the Government was ready to open a post office in the community that is now Sardinia, the residents could not agree on a name. Since they were meeting in the school house, somebody, seeing the globe, suggested that they spin it and let someone close his eyes and put his finger on a spot which would be the name. This happened to be Sardinia.” I found that on the internet, so I don’t know how true that is either.

When we got home I washed the Miata off. It is starting to be spring here as there was quite a smattering of dead insects on the nose. Of course because spring is starting the car won’t stay clean very long as it about time for pine pollen to start blowing in the wind.

Started up, went down, back up, down again, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 60

4 8 15 16 23 42 Part III

Super Bowl 4: Kansas City Chiefs 23 – Minnesota Vikings 7
Super Bowl 8: Miami Dolphins 24 – Minnesota Vikings 7
Super Bowl 15: Oakland Raiders 27 – Philadelphia Eagles 10
Super Bowl 16: San Francisco 49ers 26 – Cincinnati Bengals 21
Super Bowl 23: San Francisco 49ers 20 – Cincinnati Bengals 16
Super Bowl 42: New York Giants 17 – New England Patriots 14

Oh, and I bought the shirt.

Washed the car this afternoon and I’m embarrassed to say that with the temperature in the low seventies, when I was done, I just drove it back in to the garage.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 24

Record Heat

Help Me, I'm Melting!I don’t know about where you live, but here in Aiken, SC our temperatures are way above normal. Today it was close to 80º and all the snowmen in town have melted.

We walked to the Atlanta Bread Company for breakfast and when we got back it was almost 70º so I took this opportunity to lube up the Emperor’s power window tracks. The passenger side was noticeably slower than the driver’s side, so I read up about fixing it on my favorite reference site, Miata.net. After I lubed up the passenger side, it made the driver’s side seam slow, so I had to go ahead and take the panel off that door too. Man that black snot they use as an adhesive to hold the plastic barriers in the doors is a real pain to work around, there is still some under a couple fingernails even after a half dozen hand washings.

While I was out there I did a quick detailer clean up to get all the dust off the car. That is all it is, it hasn’t rained in so long the only thing the Emperor ever gets covered in anymore is road dust. I was going to try out my new buffer, but I’m still chicken. I did use it, the included foam application pad and some Crest toothpaste to clean off the film that had started to haze up the headlights. Worked like a charm and it wasn’t too hard to use, so next time I wax the car I’ll probably use it to remove the wax.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 496