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Almost One Tenth As Old As America

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Almost One Tenth As Old As America

Road Trip

Giant Ball of Lint

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Giant Ball Of Lint

On our road trip we stayed in a combination Holiday Inn Expresses and Hampton Inns with a Sleep Inn & Suites thrown in for good measure. The only place we stayed that was not part of a chain was the Blennerhassett Hotel in downtown Parkersburg, West Virginia and it was definitely a step up. The price was really not that bad, about what the average was we paid for all the rooms on the while trip.

When checking in we asked to be away from the elevator and ice machine, our Guest Relations Representative assured us that even though we were not that far away, we would not hear either and asked if we wanted to see the room to check for ourselves. We said, “Sure.” At this point is where the clerk gives us a key, but not here, she hands the key to James the bellman who leads to the elevator and escorts us up. The room looks kind of small with a king bed in it, but it is furnished very nicely. The GRR was right and we head back down to finish the check in process.

They ask if we need help with our luggage and we of course decline, we are after all in the Miata, our luggage consists of 4 small bags, a laptop and a purse. The bellman/doorman does get to hold the door open for us though, both on the way out and again when we come back in.

The very best thing about the place were the towels. Used to the thin rough things you normally get at some chains, these things were a revelation. Normally post shower I grab the hand towel and use it like a squeegee to brush as much water off as possible before getting mostly dry with the bath towel, but here I get almost entirely dry with just the hand towel. These things are like water magnets. Soft? It feels like you are drying yourself with an Angora cat, the same breed that inspired the song Soft Kitty that Sheldon Cooper likes sung to him when he is sick.

I make note of the name on the tag and search the interwebs. One of the hits that come back is an Amazon link to buy them. $200 seems high at first, but it is for 6 bath towels, six hand towels & 6 washcloths, we vow to buy them when we get home.

We do, and they arrived last Friday. Best move ever. Knowing that new towels need to be washed separately, boy do they, we run them set through a cycle. Because these things are so big and so fluffy we have to break it into 2 loads. When load one comes out of the dryer the lint filter is completely covered about a 1/4 thick. When I get them in the house and are ready to hang them up, they are still covered in a bunch of balls of lint. They need to be washed a second time. I start saving the lint because it is prodigious.

What you see above is all the lint from the four dryer loads squeezed like a stress ball into something about the size of a regulation major league baseball.

Tagged: Road Trip, Whatever

Grand Loop

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Road Trip 2015

While trying to describe the loop driven on our vacation to a co-worker, even I got confused, so I made up this rough estimate of the way we drove. The little red star is Aiken. We left heading northeast and proceeded in a counter-clockwise direction, driving through parts of 21 states and Washington D.C.. We had tossed around the idea of doing it clockwise, but this way had the big advantage of hitting D.C. early on Labor Day Monday instead of mid day during the work week.

On Tuesday night’s MLB.tv broadcast of the FRS game, to go along with the odd “highlights”, we were treated to an actual commercial for some brand of baseball cleats. Interestingly, this stuff only came through when watching on the Roku, on the PC in between innings there was just the usual silence. Then Wednesday night it was back to silence on the Roku. My guess is that they are testing the feasibility to start showing actual commercials. Doesn’t matter to me, next year I’m going back to just the radio broadcasts.

Tagged: MLBTV, Road Trip, Vacation

The Emperor Is Acting Like A LBC 1

Saturday, September 19, 2015

State - Georgia

He’s got an oil leak. Wednesday when we left Vicksburg, MS in the morning the car clattered a little longer than usual, but I chalked it up to the fact that is was parked nose up at about a 20° because of the slope of the lot. At our first stop of the morning I smelled a little cooked motor oil, but chalked that up to the ratty pickup truck we were next to in the quick stop lot. At the second stop I smelled it again. This time we were all alone in the lot.

I popped the hood and, oh yeah, the smell is coming from there. I checked the oil. The bottom of the dip stick was dry! Added two quarts of oil and it brought it up to full. At least it only needed two…the car only holds four. From then on for the next day and a half and 650 miles we carried around a quart of oil in trunk. Every couple miles I’d add a 1/2 quart or so.

Yesterday I jacked up the car and boy was it oily. I bet half of what I lost was coating the underside of the car. I was more on the right side than the left and it really seemed to be coming from around the oil filter. But when I went to see if it was loose, it wasn’t, it was still tight.

I sprayed Simple Green around the bottom of the car and pressure washed it as best I could using my lame homeowner weekend washer. Changed the oil and filled it up again. Then I washed the car and gave it a quick spray wax. I then laid a towel down in the garage and parked the Miata over it.

This morning we went to breakfast at Steak & Shake in Augusta with the MMC. When I backed out of the garage the towel didn’t look dirty at all. The leak went away? Highly unlikely. On the way to breakfast we stopped on I-520 going into Georgia to get the last State we’ll get for the Motoring Challenge, bringing this year’s tally to 22 (if you count DC as one & they do), this is exactly twice last year’s eleven. When we got home at about 11:00 AM the Emperor got parked back in the garage.

We went out this evening in the Purple Whale to fill it with gas and get an ice cream cone. On returning home I backed the Miata out of the garage and looked at the floor. There was a pool of of about 5 or 6 ounces of clean oil on the floor. I guess the leak is still there. My guess now on the source is near the upper front right, probably the valve cover gasket. It leaks out during operation and falls down on to the plastic under tray and then during that 8 hours of down time drips slowly onto the floor. The dip stick was down a half a quart.

I think it is time for another visit to the Miata Doctors at Panic Motorsports.

Started up, went down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 88

Motoring Challenge Points 1, Approx Miles Driven 75
Totals So Far: 143 points & 7640 miles

1. LBC is an acronym for Little British Car.
Tagged: Miata Service, Miata Washings, Miatatude, Motoring Challenge, Road Trip

Home

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Bugs

I wish we made it home before dark today so I could have taken an updated photo (the one above is from Monday) because the front of the Emperor is so bug splattered now that I’m actually proud of how messy it is.

Today was our longest day at 445 miles, with our shortest day (the layover day Sunday) coming in at 135 miles. Coincidentally those same two days were our worst point wise at 2 each. Our best points scoring day was last Tuesday the 9th with 10 points gathered thanks to those emus! All told we drove 4,180 miles and tallied 62 Motoring Challenge points, about 67-1/2 miles per point or .015 points per mile. We were gone for 13 days which means we averaged 321.5 miles and 4.75 points per day.

State – Alabama
State, National or Provincial Park – Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park, GA

Started up, went down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 86

Motoring Challenge Points 2, Approx Miles Driven 445
Totals So Far: 142 points & 7565 miles
Tagged: Emu, Motoring Challenge, Road Trip

158,000 Logging Trucks

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Finally Got One

We have now taken photos in 15 different Washington Counties, but if you think about it, with a lot of planning and careful staging, don’t you think you could take 15 different photos around the same county? I’ve always had that thought. So for the last several weeks I hoped to have found a Washington County sign that included the state we were in.

Well, today it happened, and it didn’t matter because in Louisiana the counties are called parishes and as far as I know that is the only state that does that. Not only that we are not even going to use the photo either as we found a better photo op just a few miles further down the road.

On our 400 miles drive today through Mississippi, Louisiana & Alabama we passed or were passed by about 158,000 empty or full logging trucks. Somewhere between Georgetown and Monticello, Mississippi the Emperor passed through the 158,000 mile mark.

City – Utica, MS
City – Georgetown, MS
State – Louisiana

County -Washington, LA
County -Washington, AL

Started up, went down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 84

Motoring Challenge Points 5, Approx Miles Driven 400
Totals So Far: 140 points & 7120 miles
Tagged: Miata Mileage, Motoring Challenge, Road Trip, Vacation

Teddy Bear Town

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

City - Onward, MS

I admit that the above photo has been manipulated. Donna took my picture with my head through one hole and then took another when I stuck head through the other hole. I then merged the two. If you look closely you’ll notice that the Challenge Poster is upside down on the left and right side up on the right.

We got 6 Challenges today, but only 3 went for points. Three went for replacements including the one above of Onward, MS. Just by happenstance did we manage to stop at the Onward Store that is pretty much in the middle of nowhere and it wasn’t until we read the literature on the outside by the door that we decided to toss poor little Oliver, Georgia to the side. The reason we call stuffed toy bears Teddy Bears happened right near here in 1902 – The Story of the Teddy Bear.

Lakes & Rivers – Red River, AR
City – Stamps, AR
State – Mississippi

County – Washington, MS
Lakes & Rivers – Lake Washington, MS

Started up, went down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 82

Motoring Challenge Points 3, Approx Miles Driven 315
Totals So Far: 135 points & 6720 miles
Tagged: Motoring Challenge, Road Trip, Vacation

Population Less Than 100 Again

Monday, September 14, 2015

Destination - Population Less Than 100

Our first try for this “Destination” was of the sign for a place called Doodlum in Virginia that had a population of 34. The sign looked very professionally done, but it was most definitely not state issued and Doodlum wasn’t on the state map.

The second, attempt just the other day, was a sign for the town of Goodnight in Missouri that had a population of 18. The sign looked state issued, but the town itself wasn’t listed on the state’s official transportation map.

Morrison Bluff, Arkansas has the real deal state issued sign and was on the map too.

State – Arkansas
Lakes & Rivers – Arkansas River
Sneak Peek 3b – Effiel Tower, Paris, AR
City – Ione, AR

City – Y City
City – Vandervoort, AR
State – Texas

Started up, went down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 80

Motoring Challenge Points 7, Approx Miles Driven 388
Totals So Far: 132 points & 6405 miles
Tagged: Motoring Challenge, Road Trip, Vacation
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sturgeon’s law

"Ninety Percent Of Everything Is Crap"
Derived from a quote by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, who once said, "Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That's because 90% of everything is crud." Oddly, when Sturgeon's Law is cited, the final word is almost invariably changed to 'crap'.

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1) You will never find a more wretched hive of scu 1) You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. 2) Who is this guy? I don't remember him at all. Maybe the puzzle's artist?

#moseisley #cantina #starwars #jigsaw #jigsawpuzzle #jigsawpuzzlesofinstagram #jigsawpuzzleanonymous

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