Miatatude

Well I think that we have finally got some closure on the whole timing belt fiasco. The $61 check from Rader for the towing charge refund came in the mail today. Would have been a lot nicer on their part if they would have given me the check when I picked up the car 13 days ago instead of making me jump through hoops to get it. Coincidentally the first timing belt failed on the 13th day and having made it home safely I can now breathe a sigh of relief. I’m not sure if it the Red Sox fan in me or if it is my disposition that makes me a perfect fan, but part of me hates to say that out loud.

Let me give you an example of my mind set. Last night in game 4 of the World Series they flashed this text along the bottom of the screen: “The team with a 2 to 1 record has won 10 of 11 of the last World Series.” In this case they mean the Yankees. Had it been the Red Sox I would have felt just the very mention of that would ensure that the next year when they showed that stat it would have read 10 of 12. Of course for a Yankee fan it would just affirm what they already believe – next year it will say, 11 of 12.

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Bought some premium gas tonight and the knocking has almost entirely disappeared after a 15 or so mile drive.

After work today I drove around and snapped pictures of myself while I drove. I hoping to recreate/update my self portrait I took several years ago that I have posted over on Picture Yourself.

Purchased Today: $13.50
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Noticed some engine knock (AKA pining) this weekend when driving in the mountains. Then today it was noticeable on some of the inclines here in town. Naturally I suspected the knuckleheads at Rader didn’t set the timing right. Easy to do if you don’t RTFM, as the ’95 Miata’s timing marks are different from every other years (I wish I knew what Mazda was thinking there.) I came home and hooked up my timing light and it was set to 11 BTDC which in spec, should be 10 plus or minus 1 degree. I guess I owe them a mental apology, but I’m going to hold on to it at least until this belt makes it further than the first and they get me check for the $61 towing charge.

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The trip to Asheville and back was a partial success. We found the May event hotel and picked out what range of rooms we would like to stay in. An OK place. Used to be a Hilton as that is what it is called on the Asheville map we have, but now it is a Holiday Inn. A short trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway was frustrating on 2 levels. The leaf peepers were out in full force and they were traveling at a very slow speed most of the time. The colors along the road seemed to be at their peak as there wasn’t any green to be seen, but the colors were very muted, all shades of brown and what was red or yellow was not bright at all. We didn’t even stop at any of the overlooks for both those reasons.

The weather was great, perfect convertible weather, sunny, low humidity and lower 70s. The Miatas we spotted were a perfect 9 for 9 with their tops down. C5 Corvettes were 1 for 2, as were the Porsche Boxters. A Toyota MR-2 and a Honda S2000 had their tops up. Mustangs were 1 for 4 and Chrysler Sebrings were 2 for 4.

Purchased Today: $23.00 in gas
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At 12:15AM this morning I turned out the TV and the lights and went to sleep. It was the middle of the 11th inning. The Red Sox hadn’t scored in the 10th nor did they even threaten. After they went in order in the eleventh, I sensed they didn’t have it, they would have to lose or win without me watching. Turns out they didn’t need me watching to lose, bottom of the 11th and a Yankee hit a home run to end it. What the hell am I going to do with my Cowboy Up T-shirt now? I guess to wipe away some of the tears so that my beer won’t get so salty tasting.

Day trip to the mountains of western North Carolina tomorrow. Heading up to Asheville to do some advanced scouting on a couple of things. Should be mildly amusing, probably won’t get many fun runs at the curvy roads as they will clogged with leaf peepers in RVs.

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