Miatatude

Another to and from work drive day for the Miata, the only things different were the routes. We like to mix it up and drive a slightly different way to work each day of the week. Try it you’ll like it. The best one to do first, if you have a set route you take to work every day, is to as you are about to make the last turn, don’t take it. Go on up to the next street and come back to the work parking lot from a different direction. Even if it is a 1/4 mile further along, the feeling of freedom generated by “driving past” where you normally turn will be worth it.

Called Serious Auto up and asked if they had got my order. They had, they just hadn’t changed the tracking stuff because they couldn’t yet. The spark plug wires are on back order, so no UPS yet. The mats will be drop shipped right from the manufacturer, so no tracking number will be available.

Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/02: 205

Drove to work, drove home, that’s it. My chrome rock guards for the pop up lights were shipped from J.C. Witney, $7.95 (with $9.95 more for shipping.) Track them here. Serious Auto hasn’t updated their database or they haven’t processed my order for the mats yet, as their online tracking still shows that my last order was delivered on July 15th. But I can track my non-Miata shipment from Best Buy here – a new DVD player.

Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/02: 205

Waited all day before even using the Miata for an early evening trip to Bruster’s and then a stop at Publix for a couple items. The Moon and the planet Venus staged a beautiful display along with the fading twilight in the western sky to go along with the pleasant temperatures to make a really nice night for a top down cruise. Tomorrow the brats start back to school, so the morning commute will be crowded with Moms in a hurry, oh joy.

Started up, went down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/02: 205

Backed the car out of the garage and put the top up. It was wash day. The car still has dirt on it from the gravel road to the B&B in NC that we stayed at for the Miatas at the Gap at the end of July. The topper was last night’s drive, we came home with a nose plastered with little bugs. Windexed all the windows inside and out. Vacuumed it out and everything. Pulled it back into the garage and there it sits. Did the odometer spin backwards for a bit and then forwards the same amount, thereby canceling any mileage? Or do they just count forward motion?

Finally decided to replace the floor mats. They look black in dim light but during the day they look gray. Also every time I pull them out to vacuum under them they leave behind about 20 of the little rubber nubs that fall off the back. They have held up well considering they are nearly 7 years old and have been stepped on several times each day in that time frame. I’m going with the $39 ones from Serious Auto. They don’t have a logo which is just the way I wanted them. The price is at least $20 cheaper than any other mat out there, what kind of quality will I get? Don’t worry I’ll let you know.

Started down, went up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/02/02: 204

Made it back to Aiken in the rental car with 3 hours and 50 miles to spare. We left at 7:00am and got back to our driveway at 3:00pm. 8 hours is a long time to be cooped up in that air conditioned cocoon of an automobile, but it served it’s purpose well, we are not nearly as frazzled as we would have been if we had spent that same amount of time and mileage in the Miata.

In spite of the heat, I could not resist putting the top down as I led Donna back to the rental place to return the car. It also felt really good to be connected to the road again, turn the wheel the car turns, step on the gas the car lurches forward and everything was back in perspective again (everything was bigger than me) 🙂

Donna read the whole office of Enterprise people the riot act about the shabby rental the gave us. The very low front tire that made the car ride funny to the melted crayon in the back seat to the general filthiness of the car. She told them of her sister’s comment upon seeing the car, “Did you get this from Rent-A-Wreck?” As their way of apologizing they took the rental fee for one day off the price. A nice offering, but we still probably won’t go back to them when we rent a car in September to take the trip up north.