Whatever

4 Weeks

While waiting these 4 weeks for the arrival of my new front lip spoiler (almost halfway there?) I haven’t been standing still in the Miata Mod Department. Way back in February I pulled the power antenna and replaced it with a cheapo $6 thing from an auto parts store. I knew it was only a matter of time before I replaced that ugly rubber thing with something a lot nicer. That time has come.

When I ran through this scenario with the ’95, I went to my local BMW dealer and got one of the masts from the Z3. It was thin, flexible, about 1 foot tall and looked very sharp back there on the fender. $40. Now that style of antenna is every where, even the new Mazda 3 has the Fubu type antenna from the factory. Something different was required this time. Into the Honda parts bin for the little stubby S2000 antenna I went.

It came in the mail yesterday, but just like the BMW unit, this needs modification too. The threaded shaft that screws into the car is too short. It would probably be OK if the threading in the Mazda antenna mount started right at the top, but for whatever reason the screw doesn’t start to engage until about a 1/4 inch down. I don’t have the tools, nor the expertise to accomplish the antenna mod, but I do know who to call. Because I work in a manufacturing facility, I know several people who have access to several pieces of high dollar machinery and know how to use. This morning I asked one of them to remove the existing stud and tap the bottom so that a longer one can take it’s place. And not destroy my $20 investment. If he had the same sense of priorities I have, he’d have dropped any of that work stuff and got right on my antenna, but now I have to wait a day or so until he can get around to it. I say that half seriously, the last time I got Jim Mullan to do something for me it took about three days, but it was better than OEM looking when he got done with it. Well worth the wait.

Comet Gestation Counter: 28 days

Speaking Of Wheels

While poking around the ol’ hard drive on Thursday I found another chapter of the Life of Brian that I had coded for the Master’s Miata Club’s web site several years ago. All the other LOBs were in word format, but for what ever reason, this one wasn’t, so I missed it the first time through. Chapter 5 happened in late 2000 and concerns the jinxed purchase of a set of tires and wheels from the TireRack.

This purchase was jinxed for the entire life of the tires too. For whatever reason this combination of the wheels and tires had a tendency to spontaneously got flat. Happened 3 times in the two year life span of the tires. Best we (the collective knowledge of the Miata.net Tires forum and I) could come up with was that once the tire pressure dropped below a certain level the bead of the tire could separate from the wheel. The set of Bridgestone SO-3s that came after, never failed in their 2 years before I wore them out.

Comet Gestation Counter: 4 days

Promotion?

This memo was forwarded to few folks at our plant today. It concerns a staffing change at our main plant in Florham Park. Why I got it I’m not sure, but I’m glad I did because I found it entertaining. The Name has been changed to protect the “innocent.”
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I am pleased to announce that Fred Flintstone has accepted the position of Procurement Commodity Manager beginning 7/19/04. Over the last 6 years, Fred has held various roles in Engineering with increasing responsibility. Most recently, Fred held the position of Project Manager with direct responsibility over the RHNG project. Fred has played an integral role in managing this project through a successful design freeze. Due to the critical nature of this project, Fred will continue as Project Manager until the electronic version is successfully in production.

Fred has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Really Smart Guy Institute, an M.S. in Engineering Management from Cheesy Online University, and an MBA in Strategic Management from Snotty Nose University.

In Fred’s new role, he will manage several key commodities including machined parts. Fred will be responsible for developing and implementing the strategic direction of these commodities in an effort to drive negative net inflation, globalization, and supplier performance. Fred will be reporting to me.

Please join me in congratulating Fred on his new assignment.
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RHNG stands for Red Hat Next Generation which going to be our latest and greatest valve if it ever comes to fruition. It has been stuck on one thing or another for couple three years now. So is this a promotion or a demotion? Before, top dog engineer on the company’s valve of the future, now, buyer of bitsy valve parts, you tell me. Just what is a successful design freeze anyway? He got the design so screwed up we are frozen with no chance to go back or forward in any attempt to make this a viable product? Whatever, here is my hearty congratulations to you Fred, salute!

Clean Top

On one hand I like the cloth top on the new Miata, but on the other…It sure looks nice, but because it is a light tan in shows dirt easily. Not only that, but what do you clean it with? The vinyl top was easy, practically whatever was readily available worked fine. You sure can’t use Windex to clean off the bird doo off a cloth top. After some research in the Tops, Windows, Tonneaus, and Boots forum over on Miata.net I bought a 303 Cloth Top Care Kit. It consists of some cleaner specially designed for cloth and then a protectant that helps keep it that way and it restores the waterproofing too.It came via FedEx ground a couple days ago and maybe tomorrow afternoon I’ll go out and wash the car and then use my kit on the top.

Thanks For Nothing Microsoft

A little over 2 weeks ago in one of the weekly email newsletters I get I saw an offer for a free CD from Microsoft that included every security update available up until February. Really free. No shipping even. So I signed up. It got here Saturday and I took it as a sign that I really did need to format c: and start over (along with the earlier deleting the question mark extravaganza.)After freshly installing Win2K I went to the Windows Update site and it reported that I needed to run 2 Critical Updates and Service Packs, 19 Windows 2000 Updates and one Driver Update. I didn’t do anything because I wanted to try my new CD. I ran it and whatever it did took like 15 seconds…WTF. I rebooted and went back to the update site, I now needed to run 2 Critical Updates and Service Packs, 18 Windows 2000 Updates and one Driver Update. Wow that was a big help.

Also in the same CD package was a trial version of a firewall and a virus software. I didn’t even investigate further.

Mod Mania Strikes Again

I added the CarArtz.com caricature, including it’s cost, to the list of Mods, AKA the btr equipment package even though it doesn’t go on the car, I wouldn’t have got it if I didn’t have the car. I’ll add the cost of framing too, once it has been done.

#5 under ugly in my list of what is Good, Bad and Ugly about the new Miata was the plastic “Brushed Aluminum” trim surrounding the shifter, radio and vents. That will get fixed on tech day next Saturday. I found a Club member with a base 2001 with the all black interior who is going to swap pieces with me. While I have the dash apart I thought I might as well get the nifty little JDM pocket that goes in place of the passenger air bag switch. Ordered it from R-speed yesterday and it arrived today. I was going to link you directly to the product on their site, but they must have pulled it off the page as I got the last one they had. Here is picture of what it looks like in some one else’s car. I’ll add the cost to the list when I install it in the car next Saturday. That’s when I’m putting on the muffler too, so the total will probably hit the 4 digit mark then.

Ran the Master’s Miata Club newsletter through the postage meter at Rader today. While we were there I got Scott to go get me some of that water spot remover he used to clear up the outside rearview mirrors. I needed some more because I wanted to clean the whole windshield with it. When he did the job back then I was teasing him about cleaning some dead bugs or something off the glass while he had the rag in his hand. Being the obliging fellow he his, he rubbed a couple of spots clean on the driver’s side of the windshield. Well whatever that stuff is, it cleaned the window so well and/or left behind a coating, that the water beads up differently on those two spots. Not necessarily better or worse, but just mismatched enough that it is noticeable when driving in the rain. It seemed to be taking him a while to return, so I had Donna wait for him and I went upstairs to where they have the postage meter. When he finally came up there, he started towards me, Donna said, “You have to promise,” I saw what he was carrying and cracked up, “not to laugh.” He couldn’t find a bottle or anything so it was in a dixie cup and the cup was inside a latex glove. Because we had a 25 miles drive home Scott had to seal it somehow, so the glove was secured at the top with a small tie-wrap. The way he was holding it, the little fingers were dangling so that it looked sort of like a cow’s udder. How could you not laugh. But it worked, the FM made the trip back with out spilling a drop. Scott, you can put my name down as a reference on your application for the next Survivor series, because I can regale them with your feats of MacGyverisms.

Fill This Out

Went to Staples this evening to buy a box of envelopes. Friday I mail out the Miata Club newsletter and I needed envelopes. Found what I wanted, $4.19, for 500 of them suckers. Take it to the checkout and the girl scans it and I hand her a ten dollar bill. She gives me $1.12 back. I look at the change and assume she thought I gave her a $5 (even though if you think about it that wouldn’t be right either.) She goes , “Oh.” And starts towards the cash draw to maybe give me a $5 dollar bill. I check the receipt and see what has actually happened is that the envelopes scanned twice somehow, so I point it out to the cashier.

Here is where things go from bad to worse. She says, “Oh.” And heads off to the customer service area and waves me along to follow her. She gets the supervisor off a ladder and explains to her what has happened. The supervisor says, “We’ll just refund the overage to you.” She proceeds to punch a bunch of buttons on the display and a form spits out which she hands to me and says, “Fill out your name, telephone number and sign it.” I think to myself, all I did was come in to buy envelopes and how did I get into this mess?

I fill out as requested, skipping the street address, city and zip code lines. When I slide it across the counter to her so I can get my $4.44 back, she looks at it and says, “You have to fill it out in case I get audited.” I wait, thinking I have filled it out, I don’t care if you get audited, just give me my money. When she makes no move to pick up the receipt and repeats the you have to fill it out bit again, it dawns on me she wants every line filled out even though she verbally instructed me to do just 3 of the lines. I think to myself again, all I did was come in to buy envelopes and how did I get into this mess?

Now I get a little mad at the whole thing, so I tell her, “Keep the envelopes and give me all my money back.” She apologizes and says that will take a manger to void out my refund to give it all back, “Fine,” I say, “whatever.” Rolling my eyes and digging in my heels. She pages the manager over the intercom. While we wait she apologizes again about the whole thing, mumbles something about getting audited and cash back and I think if I have to listen to her whine much longer I’m going to go postal and climb over the counter and start stabbing her with her pen. So I cave, fill out the other 3 lines of the form and say, “OK, give me the money back.” She is still mumbling apologies as I storm out of the store.

All I did, was go in to buy some envelopes, and look at the mess I got in.