The closest I've got to the Miata all day is I have walked by it a half dozen times on the way to and from the washer/dryer. It has been raining nearly all afternoon anyway. This morning Donna and I took my sister and her husband over to Hopeland Gardens to walk around and take some photos. Being the heathens we are, we didn't realize that they were having Easter services at the amphitheater. Fortunately it is a big place and by the time we had covered everywhere else and wanted to head that way, services were over and the crowd broke up. Afterwards, we drove around horse country to breathe in the ambiance...

I have finally made it over 1 year CPU time in the search for ET. I am a member of the Miata Club over at SETI@Home. I am currently in the number 10 spot. The only other person I could possibly overtake unless I rent supercomputer time is #9, Erick Sodhi. He is currently 130 WU ahead of me, but it looks like he has stopped comtributing. His last uploaded results were on February 1, 2001. At my current rate and if Erick doesn't wake up, I will overtake him on the 19th of June this year.

Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 71

Company was in town to go see the harness races this weekend, but this morning started with a herendous rain storm. Put the top up and drove over to see if the races were still on before schelping everyone over, nope called off until next Saturday. What are we going to do now. Around lunch the sun came out so we piled into my sister's car and drove to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia. Nice time. We managed to get out and back to the car before it started to rain again.

This evening we needed a trip to the store for some last minute items for Easter dinner tomorrow, so Donna and I dropped the top back down and made the 15 mile drive to the Publix that is 3 miles away.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 71

The cockpit cover Does not need waterprofing, I think. It is made of Technalon and it is supossedly fairly water resistant already. No straps to adjust, just elastic with rubber coated hooks. When I first put it on it appeared too small, but after futzing with it, it seems OK. Got to put the front on first, roll it out and put the tabs under the trunk last. Right now it is rolled up and tucked under the boot to preserve the trunk space.

Made a trip to Augusta to drop off Bike Club newsletters at the three big bike stores over there. The 2 in downtown were a cinch, but getting to the one in Martinez proved problematic. Friday and Saturday are what they call a tax holiday in Georgia. In order to boost sales or cut parents a break, school type items are tax free. Traffic was such a mess around the shopping centers that after trying a couple of ways to get around it, I baled and came home. We will be out that way next Thursday and will drop the stuff off then.

Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 69

Top up for the ride to work, top down for the ride home. Big news is my cockpit cover from Rspeed came in today. Going to spray it with some Scotchgard waterproofing tomorrow for insurance (supposed to already be weather resistant.) Then, put it on so I can get the straps adjusted. We'll see if using this thing turns into a hassle, I hope not. I hope that using it in combination with the boot I can slow the climb of the number at the bottom each post, thereby increasing the life of the top.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 69

Didn't put the top down until the trip home. So in honor of an absolute perfect spring day we took the 25 mile long cut home. After I ran right back out to go to Mailboxes, Etc. to make copies of the Aiken Bicycle Club's newsletter for distribution. On the short 3 mile trip there I saw 3 newish Chrysler Sebrings with their tops down (I told you it was a perfect spring day) I also saw a 3-series BMW with their top down. Also a red M1 & silver M2 Miatas with their top up and a silver M1 with it down.

Started up, went down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 67

Made it to work with the top down, but up it went as rain was in the forecast. Lightly rained a couple of times during the day and we ranright through a heavy line of thunderstorms on our way to Augusta to run the Miata Club newsletters through the postage meter.

Big news is it is a different postage meter. For the first time in nearly four years of Miata Club newsletter producing we have a different sponsor. Ever since the last GM at Andy Jones was hired our relationship has soured. I hope the guy is selling cars for Andy, because he sure wasn't nice to us. Let me put my Nostradamus hat on and say this is probably cyclic and we will be back at Andy Jones in another 10 years. Right now the new guys are interested, the GM and a salesman at Rader are Miata owners and are in the club, but life is fluid....

Started down, went up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 66

Today at lunch I ran to the Post Office to mail off my CD of the Month. I mailed 2 copies and I should get 2 back, one of Josh's and one from somebody else who sends in two. I just love this idea of random music. When will I get it? Will I love it? Will I hate it? I made up some labels for the CDs and stuck them in one of those plastic cases I get at work. I wonder how intricate the ones I get will be? Wait here, I'm going to check my mail and see if they are there yet. :-D

When I got back from the PO I decided to put the top up. There was no mention of rain in the forecast, but there were a couple of big gray clouds wandering the sky. Went right inside and called Rspeed and ordered up a cockpit cover, this way on days like today where there is a slim chance of water droplets from the sky I can use that instead of taking off the boot and raising the top. My fancy-smancy A/C Cover Plate is not in yet. Two weeks ago they said 2 weeks, today they said one more week.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 65

Went to Evans, GA to check the Miata Club P.O. Box. 4 pieces of mail. At least 2 were applications for membership. Usually I don't check it for months at a time and when I do there is one flyer from a drug store in there. Of course the weather was so nice today that we made the normally 45 mile trip into about twice that by going the long way over Clarks Hill Dam.

Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 63

This afternoon I finally polished the right tailight to match the left. When Jim got to the Sonic, we walked over to my car so I could give him the wheel and polish back, he said, "Missed one." Me, "Huh?" Jim, "The third brake light on the trunk lid." Me, "DOH!" accompanied by a Homer Simpson-esque head slap. The Procrastinator King now has 10 days to do the center taillight before the next Club meeting.

Big crowd for MMM...Time number two, considering 3 of the regulars were off tearing up the track at Talladega. Judy Arrowood and sons, nicholas and Zachary came out in the Miata with the VW Bug kit. :-) Cathy Miller rode navigator in son Andrew’s car, while her friend Roxanna Lane drove her car. Ron Kaufman’s son, Keith and grandson Josh came along in a Corvette. And guest Terre Bohman joined some of us regulars in his turbo’d white ’99 with those sweet Flyin’ Miata duals. Seven Miatas and nine cars in all.

Plan was to hang out at the Sonic an hour or so, then take a back road drive over to North Augusta and the site of last month’s MMM...Time, the Sno-Cap. The Sno-Cap was having their 4th Saturday Cruise-In and we wanted to look under the hood of of a car besides Jim’s. We ended up staying a while longer than planned at Sonic, as Jim was stuffed under the dashboard of Andrew’s car fixing his windshield wipers. Without too much more than the usual shenanigans associated with a nine car train on public roads, we managed to make the last half of the Cruise-In. John & Jackie skipped the drive and were waiting for us at the Sno-Cap.

When we finished parking, the lot was full, even with Ron and son parking in the church lot across the street. Besides us there was a little of everything, classics, hot rods, 60’s muscle and even a couple of choppers. They held some drawings for door prizes and Jim won a milkshake, while John won a banana split. Andrew would have won a T-shirt, but he left 5 minute before they drew his name. Ron missed winning a Long Dog for the same reason.

After the prizes, Sno-Cap owner, Rachel tried unsuccessfully to coerce enough contestants to hold some sort of dressing/undressing contest. She swears that they had done it once already earlier and everyone had fun, we remained unconvinced.

Started up, went down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 63

Wimp! Put the top up because it was cold for the trip to work. After work it had warmed to the lower 50's yet we left the top up today. I guess I'm spoiled now, I have gotten used to warm temps and I know they will be back in force soon. Tomorrow is MMM...Time 2. We meet in Aiken at a Sonic and end up where we meet last month. The Sno-Cap is having what they call the 4th Saturday Cruise In.

Got to get up and dust the pine pollen off the car and polish that last tailight so I can give Jim his stuff back tomorrow. I am the Procrastinator King as I have had all week to do this. In fact I did one light Monday and why I have waited to do the other is a mystery. Not really as I am the Procrastinator King! It is good to be the King.

Started down, went up, stayed up.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 62

Same pattern, different format. The top went up before leaving the garage instead after the arrival at work. The rain quit by quitting time, but there were gray ugly clouds hovering about so I was hesitant to drop the top. Donna called me chicken, so I had no choice but to put it down. No problem we didn't get wet at all.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 62

Had a pattern going there...but not anymore. Just started raining and is supposed to go most of tonight and all tomorrow. I hope it rains hard so as to knock all the remaining pine pollen out of the trees. The parking lot at work has a yellow tint and when the wind blows it makes little yellow clouds fly across the asphalt.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 60

No fog for the first time in a while, but the clouds were not pretty looking, forcing the top to be put up while at work, just in case. Good thing too, didn't rain, but saved the interior from a major dusting of pine pollen. The car was covered with the stuff at the end of the day. The top went back down and we drove the 20 miles of our 6 mile commute home.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 58

Foggy morning again and the pine trees were dripping like rain, but we rode to work with the top dow anyway. But the weather made me put it up for the day. By the ride home the weather was near perfect convertable weather - upper 60's and sunny. w00t.

After dinner we made the 15 miles drive to the CVS that is just down the street. More cough medicine for Donna, this stuff has codine in it so maybe for the first time in 5 days we will sleep the night through.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 56

Almost didn't use the Miata today. Late afternoon we made a run to the grocery store for some estentials for next week. Positively late spring-like here with temps in the lower 80s, so because of this the normal 3 mile round trip to Krogers was turned into a 25 mile ride.

The co-pilot likes the the toggle switches, so I guess they'll stay. Need to get a different switch for the pop-ups though, I have a on-off-on one in there now and with it in the middle position the headlights don't go down after the flash-to-pass flick of the stalk. You have to manually push the switch down to get the doors down, so now I just leave it in the down posistion. Fortunately I didn't get a momentary on type or I would have to manually hit the switch down everytime I flash the doors up.

Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 54

Put the top up to wash the car this morning. Back down for the drive over to the GA Welcome Center to meet the gang. Today was Tech Day for the Master's Miata Club. We meet there and drove over to Kurt's house because he has a two car attached garage, a place for four cars in the drive, a single car un-attached garage with workshop and he lives at the end of a dead end road where more cars can go. First we made a "quick" stop at the local Mazda dealer, they just got in a new 2002 Titanium Gray SE and we wanted to peep at it.

Today's Tech Special was brake bleeding. Rudy bought a Forced Induction device called a speed bleeder. You pressurize the brake system and open the bleed valves and whoosh, out with the old and in with the new. No need to pump the pedal. Supposedly this allows you to do the job by yourself, of couse it took 4 of us to do it. :-) They did 4 cars (I think including clutch systems too) and Rudy changed over to some new Axxis brake pads. I didn't do the brake thing as I was busy installing toggle switches to replace the hazard & pop-up buttons. Now that I got them in there, I'm not sure I like it. I'll give it a couple weeks to see if it grows on me. Needs a little refinement as well. The outside plate I made was a little too small and I need a backing plate or something as the switches move around when used as I couldn't get them tight to the console.

When we went in for our pizza lunch I put the top up as there were some gray clouds hovering about. Cleared up a bit after lunch so the top went back down. Jim Creer brought his polishing wheel and magic goo so he could show me how to shave the lettering off the side makers. It is an old hot rodders trick from way back, to polish off the raised lettering on the red and yellow lights to keep from getting unsightly dried wax build up. He did one and then part of another, which I then finished. Borrowed the stuff from him so I can do the tail lights evenings this week.

Started down, went up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 54

Another San Francisco morning here in Aiken, SC. Cold, damp, foggy, real ugly this morning so we put the top up for the ride in. Today was lunch date with my wife and by noon it was sunny and had warmed up nicely. We made the 20 mile round trip to the Burger King that is less than a mile from the plant for Whoppers (Regular for me and a Jr. for Donna.) Can't imagine being trapped inside a giant SUV with an A/C that is on all the time, missing the sounds and feel of the outdoors on spring days like this....

Not having an SUV almost cost us a couple of pieces of chocolate though. On the way home we stopped at the drive-thru of our bank to cash a check. Used the lane closest to the bank so when the teller pushed out the little draw again with my cash and driver's license back I reached up and in, grabbed the envelope and started to pull away. The teller as she was wishing us a good weekend, said, "Wait, you forgot something." When I took the envelope, I felt something else in the draw, but ignored it as they always keep a pen in there for folks who don't have one and I thought that is what is was. When I reached back in there I could feel some little squares, so I picked them up. They were a couple of those little Hershey's minatures in St. Patrick's Day colors. The teller smiled and said, "See, not a pen." If I had an SUV I would have been looking down into the tray and would have seen the candy. Of course, taped to one, was a bit of paper that invited us to refinance our mortgage with Regions Bank. Erin go braugh, indeed.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 50

Top down and boot on for the ride home. Because of the continued absence (63 hours and counting) of That Hosting Company the Miata club site is nowhere to be found. We still have the Geocities space so I uploaded the most current web site back there. Figured a banner ad or two is better than nothing. http://www.geocities.com/masters_miata/default.htm

Started up, went down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 48

We had to make an emergency run last night. Drove the 15 miles to the grocery store that is a mile and a half away to get chocolate chip ice cream. Now go figure, we put the top down. I guess maybe because it is dark it is OK to be cold...

...because this morning, in the light, we put it back up for the ride to work. Foggy as all get out and lower 50's. Even if we had braved it, I would have put it up at work because we are still in the clouds and the interior would have gotten soaked.

Started up, went down, went up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 47

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday it was 10 degrees cooler and we put the top down. It was 60 degrees this morning and we left the top up because it felt cold and still damp from last night's rain too. We were banking on the predicted 70 degrees for the way home., we was robbed. The sun never made an appearance. We left the top up on the way home too as it felt just like the morning, cool & damp. Spring is just around the corner - upper 70's Thursday and lower 80's for Friday - the Bradford pear trees are starting to bloom again, I hope mother nature doesn't put them on hold again.

Started up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 45

You could see the rain on the radar, it was close, but being 50 degrees we left for work with the top down. Made it about 2 miles and had to pull over and raise the roof. It has been raining on and off for the rest of the day so it is currently up.

Found a neat idea over in the Interior/Exterior Section of the Miata.net forum on changing the Hazard and Pop-up switches out to toggle switches, this may be my Tech Day Project.

Started down, went up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 45

Close to freezing this morning, so the top went up for the ride to work. I thought winter was over with? Off to the printer at lunch to drop off the flyer for the Bike Club's Spring Century. Put the top down and the boot on. Stayed down for the ride home, but will probably go back up in the morning, Weather Channel say rain.

Bad news is my new A/C panel is out of stock at Rspeed and they are the only folks handling these parts. Guess I am going to have to find something else to do at Tech Day, sigh....

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 44

Another dull day in the life of the Miata. Made a lunchtime trip to Blimpies and that was it.

Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 42

I am not buying any underwear, frivolous Miata stuff for me! I'm getting THIS from Rspeed so I can have something to install at next weekend's Master's Miata Club tech day. Just have to figure put a way for the cockpit cover to be a necessity, so the funds for it come from the household monies and not my discretionary fund.

Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 42

I've got to get a cockpit cover. There were some dark gray clouds hovering about after the lunchtime run, so I chickened out and put the top up. In an effort to make this top last more than the typical 3 years I usually get I have promised to take better care of it. Step one is to use the boot whenever it is down, this will protect the underside from damaging UV rays. Step should be to not raise and lower it so much. The cockpit cover will allow me to keep the top down when there is a slight chance of rain and hopefully keep those days of 5-6 transitions to a minmum. Just hate to spent the $40 when there are so many other cool non-essential things I'd like. Kinda like getting underwear for Christmas....

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 42

I did make the trip to work this morning with the top down in the mid 30 degree temps. Ran an errand at lunch, took the 15 mile drive to the bank that is a 1-1/2 miles down the road....

Back out this evening for the Miata Club meeting. Everybody must love BBQ because we had 19 people there as opposed to the usual 12. Top is down and I'm going to run to work tomorrow in the c-c-cold again.

Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 40

Cold morning and a warmer afternoon like yesterday, but the change today was the wife has got flu-like symptoms so she stayed home and I went to work. Put the top down for the ride home and left it down, even when I went out later for the Aiken Bicycle Club meeting. The trip home from the meeting was cool, but that is why they put a heater in the car.

Tonights low is supposed to be 34 degrees, but tomorrow's afternoon high will be near 74, so with Donna not be going to work tomorrow (doctor's appointment at 9) I am seriously considering riding to work in the morning with it down. That is why they put a heater in the car. right?

Started up, came down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 40

Cold morning and a warmer afternoon, but the top stayed up. I woke with a killer sinus headache and stayed home from work, so Donna drove the Miata today. She doesn't mind riding in the Miata, but hates driving it, top up or down. She says she sits too low, and can't see, etc. She likes driving her Mom's Civic though....like that is sooo much biger.

Started up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 39

Cold again today and tonight we are supposed to be in the teens again. When will the madness stop? I know, I know, in a couple months I will be griping about the heat...well not me, but my wife will.

No big Miata news, but on the home front, our whole front and back yards are dug up for the sprinklers we are getting put in. Looks like a scene from a GI Joe sized WW I movie. Friday they put in a new sidewalk. This one is a concrete one about 3' wide replacing our falling apart brick stepping stone like thing that has been there since we moved in. We hardly ever use the walk, as our main ingress/egress portal is the garage, but now I told my wife that we will have to use the thing more, seeing as what we paid for it. :-)

Started up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 39

Up at 7:30, ate a bagel, packed the car and started home. Still raining, so there was no sense hanging around Hilton Head when we we can sit at home and watch the rain. Driving west we exited the rain storm, but left the top up as the road was still quite wet and the 18-wheelers on I-95 put out quite a spray. Off the dreded interstate and driving into Hampton, we couldn't stand it anymore and put the top down. The windsheild was ocassionally getting hit with a light rain and the sky we were driving towards looked really dark gray, but we managed to last about 40 miles, until just the other side of Barnwell, before raising the top. Not 2 miles further down the road the rains came harder and we would have gotten soaked.

Started up, down a bit, then back up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 39

Raining on and off, but mostly on, all day. Went out to lunch at the Atlanta Bread Company because we like the food and it is right next to that second-hand book store where we bought some old library books to read yesterday. Ate and went back into get some more used hardcover books for less than the price of a new paperback. Yesterday's Robert Parker Spencer book lasted all of three hours, kinda like a big ol' piece of cheesecake; not really good for you, but delicious and sadly, over too soon. After lunch and book buying we headed back over the half-dozen speed bumps of the codo complex back to our parking spot. Still raining, so we spend a lazy afternoon watching the gulls, the waves and the TV out of one eye and ours books out of the other.

Back out for dinner, Donna wanted seafood, so we were headed to Crabby Nick's where we had eaten before, but somehow ended up at a place called Captain's Seafood. We had eaten there once before as well and remebered it fondly. Tonight it was packed because a church bus had pulled in about 15 mintes before we did. Still it didn't take long to get seated and served. Something about fried seafood, a tossed salad and iced tea...mmmm good, but somehow it didn't seem to be worth the $29 total it cost.

Started up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 37

We took half a day vacation from work and are off to Hilton Head for the weekend. We get to stay free at a condo on the beach. Payback for doing a web page for the owner. He owns a couple he rents out and manages a few more for rent as well. I designed the original page and now I keep it updated and add/remove units as needed and he thanks me by letting Donna and I stay one weekend a year in the off-season.

Really cold morning, but by noon when we left Aiken it was warm enough to put the top down for the trip. It stayed down for the 2-1/2 hour trip to HHI. We shopped for breakfast items and tonite's dinner, headed over to condo, parked and put the top up. Supposed to rain tomorrow and maybe Sunday, might have been the only time the top is down all weekend...

Started up, went down, went back up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 37