Whatever

Has It Really Been Five Days?

I’ve got a few things that happened this week I wanted to blog about, but because I write sooo slooowly I just haven’t had the actual time to do so. Trouble is, like missed sleep, you never really can catch up blogging.

All I’ve really had time for is wondering the interwebs, I’d like to say totally aimlessly, but that would be a lie, so it was maybe more like somewhat aimlessly, because there is always an undercurrent of Miata-ism to it. To wit, my current wallpapers on the laptop and desktop (plus a bonus one) are:

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Started down, went up, back down, up again, down again, back up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 47

What’s The Password Kenneth?*

g78FY7PMQ0tkT5w
AnVknz6LOHXdNMn
Qn5FlG16gX1WS0D
U5Ct1SVNN5K3EAQ
jHYkj8H7MjpGvK1

The PCs around Valve Store(tm), like most in a networked business environment, are locked down pretty good so that the regular Joe users can’t screw ’em up. That’s where an administrator password comes in, and I wield one.

One of my various functions at the the plant is Back-up IT Guy and because the Regular IT Guy is pretty ill, I’ve been doing a lot of more computer type stuff recently. While most of the real issues are handled remotely by the Help Desk techs at the Home Office in beautiful downtown Florham Park, NJ., sometimes it is just easier to just call Brian.

It used to be easy, I could keep my admin password the same as my regular network password, so it was always right at my fingertips. But about a month ago the corporation that pulls ASCO’s marionette strings decreed that all Administrators must use the RSA Token two-step authentication system. Now every morning I have to login to special Password Repository using a combination of my 4 digit PIN and 6 randomly generated digits, that change every 60 seconds, from my software token. This allows me to get a unique 15 character alpha-numeric admin password, good for 12 hours.

What you see above are my passwords from the past week. Feel free to copy them down for your own personal use on your favorite, or not so favorite, internet sites.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 38

*My twist on the used to be famous phrase, “What’s the frequency, Kenneth?”

Should I Buy A Lottery Ticket?

Brian's Coke Zero

Instead of my usual MiO enhanced bottle of water for my after-lunch whistle wetter today I thought I might get a soda from the vending machine Avenue C.

Instead of my usual choice of a Diet Dr Pepper I thought I might get something with a different flavor, so I picked up a Coke Zero, the #3 drink on Brian’s Top Three Favorite Soda Flavor List.

It wasn’t until I got back to my cube and was pouring the soda into my mug that I realized that the bottle had my name on it. Lucky pick huh?

I finished filling my mug and tossed the bottle in the trash. That’s when it dawned on me that maybe I should get some photographic evidence. Snap. Toss again.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 33

Perfect Synchronicity

Today’s selection of MiO flavoring added to my bottle water is Orange Vanilla. If you get it cold enough it tastes like liquid Creamsicle (which didn’t come in raspberry flavor when I was a kid.)

This morning’s yogurt snack was fat free vanilla. So, can you guess what this afternoon’s fruit is?

Too Much Blue?

I’m not sure I like the way the all this blue looks, so don’t get to comfortable. OK?

On Tuesday evening I changed the oil on the Miata and rotated the tires. I pulled the right front tire off first so I could get to the oil filter and drain plug. While the dark amber color fluid drained into a plastic pan, I pulled off the right rear and mounted the previous front tire in its place. I rolled each at least a full rotation looking for anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing sticking out of either one, but the inside corners of both of them were worn a bit more than the outside. It was getting close to tire shopping time.

When I pulled the right rear I realized it was time to shop now. The inside edge of this tire was almost square from uneven wear. No belt material was showing, but what should have been a smooth circumference was somewhat wavy.

Normally I would spend several hours checking reviews, reading the tires & wheels section of the Miata Forum and searching for deals before getting a new set of tires, but we were taking a weekend trip that started in 48 hours. I needed tires in a hurry and the few times I’ve had to do that it hasn’t always ended well.

I checked the website of the best independent tire dealer in town and they listed a couple of Ultra High Performance Summer tires in my size, including the Yokohama S.Drive which the Emperor already was riding on. It was about 3 minutes until closing time, but the fellow who answered said he could hook me up the next day with a set of the Yoko’s and an alignment.

I hated to do the alignment because there are a new set of shocks and springs in the garage awaiting installation in the next couple weeks and I will have to do another one after that stuff is put on. But it would be kind of stupid to buy new tires and then take a 850 trip with an improper alignment. I’d like to get closer to 25,000 miles on this set instead of just under 21,000 for the current tires.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1493

Motoring Challenge Points 0, Approx Miles Driven 140
Totals So Far: 40 points & 1080 miles

Too Much Red

If you tuned in last night or today you would have noticed that I changed the style of the blog. The style itself wasn’t bad, but it came out more redder than I liked.

So tonight I changed the color scheme to something lighter. My wife viewed the page on the desktop and proclaimed it looked like Easter. I didn’t see it on the laptop, where I picked the background, here the blue and greens are a touch darker and what she saw as yellow on the desktop, looks khaki here.

Come back tomorrow, probably be some more different colors. And if you are lucky, maybe a story.

Dead Mans Pants

In a Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee Jerry Seinfeld tells Seth Meyers of his 1972 Porsche 911 Carrera RS that, “Well it’s a Dead Man Car. I bought it from a dead guy, and it’s not getting sold again until I’m dead.”

This last weekend before we made it to the Cub In, we took a trip to Lexington to get some bagels at a chain called Brueggers that purports to New York Style bagels. Because, try as we might, we just can’t get a decent bagel in Aiken.

Every time we get to Lexington we have to stop at their Goodwill store because they have this awesome Dollar Rack where Donna can get tons of stuff for the nephew and nieces in Washington. While she shops for them, I shop for myself and if you search long enough, you can get lucky. Over the years I’ve found a couple of polo shirts in my size that still had the store tags and stickers on them.

This time I scored a couple pair of pristine Wrangler jeans in my size. They didn’t have the tags still on them but the material had that new denim stiffness to them that they couldn’t have been through the wash more than twice. The shirts I can explain, somebody must not have liked the colors, but these jeans, they’re perfect, somebody must have died. Because barring mishap, I can keep a pair of jeans at least ten years…

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1489