Washed the car today, that is why the top went up. It was fairly filthy. Not only did I was the outside, but the engine compartment got a washing too. Found some quick and easy instructions in a Miata.net forum post and decided that 7 years of road grime needed to go. I really need to wash off the coolant residue left behind by my leaky heater hose incident, I could still smell it and it made me think that the leak was re-occurring. The engine compartment looks a whole heck of a lot better now, won't win any car shows, but looks good. As a bonus the coolant smell is totally gone, it has been replaced by the scent of Simple Green.

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This windblocker thing is cool. Made the trip over to Rader to run the December Master's Miata Club newsletter through their postage meter. Today's high was only around 50, but with the windows up and the blocker in place the car interior was quite pleasant. We are going to have to give it back next Saturday and it will be hard to live without.

They got their first Mazda 6 in. I didn't look too closely, but from the glimpse I got of it on the showroom, it appears more Millenia in size than 626. Not that I'm even in the market for a 4-door.

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It's Thanksgiving, which means family, friends, football and food. It also means we must make a good impression on company, so I blew the leaves off the roof and cleaned up the front yard in the morning chill. It was work, but I don't think it was enough to offset the caloric intake of my traditional 2 helpings of turkey and all the fixin's.

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Last Friday while out scouting the Christmas Light Tour route we stopped at friends from the Miata Club's house (they are the end of the line because they are hosting this year's Holiday Party.) It was getting chilly as daylight faded and we considered putting the top up for the ride home. That's when John said here try this. He had another member's old windblocker to copy to make a pattern so he can make one up for himself. John is our Club's closet seamstress, he has made a bunch of stuff up including bags for the boot and our Club's Loaner Trunk Bag. We have had to windblocker on quite a bit and it has definitely extended the lower temperature limit for top down driving. Using just the blocker it keeps the cold wind off your back. With the blocker and windows up it is very cozy inside. Still get some cold air in, but hey it is a convertible. I think we are going to get John to sew us one up too.

Upper 30's on the way to work - no problem, the top was down.

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Today was definitely a dull day compared to yesterday. Highlight was the drive this evening to fill up with gas. wOOt.

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Almost forgot. Back on the 17th one of the door prizes I won in the Poker Run was a $25 gift certificate from MM Miata On the19th I mailed in the certificate along with an order for some leather seatbelt stalk covers. I already have the leather shift and hand brake boots and this would complete the ensemble. They came in today, pretty good service. The first 4 years Miatas were produced the seatbelts were fastened to the floor. Starting in my year they were fastened to the side of the seat for I'm sure government mandated safety reasons. The sleeves fit all year Miatas, but for mine, about 3 inches had to be trimmed off the length. Now that they are installed they really are nothing special, glad they were essentially free to me. I would have been disappointed to have shelled out $25 for that lackluster enhancement.

Decided to drive it work and see where I could go from there about my coolant leak. My wife followed me in her Mom's car in case something happened. I'll spare some of the other weird happening of the morning except to include the fact that a huge cloud of white vapor engulfed the car upon parking in the lot at work. At morning break the IE, Chris, and I went out and started the car and looked to see if we could actually see where it was leaking. Sure enough you could see a little drop - drop -drop coming from the lower heater hose. I called the two "local" Mazda dealers and neither had the hose in stock. I called Advance Auto and they said we have one of the 2. I ran there at lunch and picked up the hose for $10. When I got back to work Chris asked if I had any luck finding the hose I told him yes and that I was going to call the shop right across the street to see what he'd charge me to put it in.

He said, "Don't do that, get me a pair of pliers and I’ll change it in 5 minutes." 50 minutes later the hose was changed. To be fair he probably would have been done in less than 10 minutes if I had the stock hose. The Advance Auto hose was just a generic 90 degree bend thing and was too long requiring trimming and retrimming and retrimming to fit. And because it was in such an inaccessible spot forcing it on and twisting it only to have to remove it as a big PITA. Thanks Chris.

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Missed posting yesterday, but no matter, as nothing happened yesterday. Went out once, to the mall, a 6 mile round trip.

Today was a really nice day so we went for country back road cruise. Nice little 40 mile drive in he mid 60 degree sunshine. When we got home I went back in the garage to get a load of clothes out of the dryer I smelt something out of the ordinary, took a moment before I realized it was the sweat smell of anti-freeze. Looked under the Miata and sure enough there was puddle near the back of the engine area. Back the car out of the garage and wiped up the mess. I then mixed up a cocktail of water and anti-freeze to top off the radiator. While I ran the car for like 3 minutes topping off the radiator in the driveway I must have dripped out a half a cup on the driveway. And of course when I pulled back into the garage and shut it off I made another puddle... After some research on Miata.net I feel that I have either a bad water pump or a bad hose. Gonna have it towed to the dealer for the work as I don't have the tools, time or talent for car fixin'.

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This afternoon was the reason for my bitching and moaning all week about being at work an extra hour every day, we were FREE! At 11:30 Donna and I got in the car and pointed it away from 1561 Columbia Highway vowing not to return until 7:30 AM on monday, November 25th.

Went home and changed into what is know as week-end wear and headed out for lunch at the Boll Weevil Cafe. I had a Jose and she had a Curious George, mmmm. After the vittles we went out and planned the route for the Master's Miata Club's Christmas Light Tour I'm leading on December 7th. It is a pared down version of the one from last year in the Augusta Chronicle.

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Another semi-dull day in paradise. The top went up in the middle of the afternoon because Donna wanted it that way when she went to the dentist. She was chewing on a carmel when one of her crowns came off. Luckily the dentist could squeeze her in if she went over then, so she did. About a month ago she cracked a tooth, what luck.

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Braved the chill and dropped the top for the ride to work this morning and there it has stayed.

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Up for the early morning frosty drive to work. We did go out at lunch and just drive around for 45 minutes in the mid 60 degree sunshine. After work it went up as the temps were falling fast and the clouds, although no rain was predicited, looked like they could sprinkle on us at any minute.

Today was haircut day for both of us. Every 4 weeks we go to a salon run by a friend of ours from the ol' Aiken Bicycle Club days. Donna likes getting her haircut every month, so at the begining of the year we sign up for appointments on a Tuesday evening at 5:00 PM every 4th week. While my hair has basically stopped growing on top (and in several patches is actually regressing) the sides are still thick and shaggy after a month, so the trim is welcome for me as well.

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When Donna and I sat in the car seats this morning we both kinda squirmed. It had been way too short a time out of them after way too long in them. But the feeling soon passed and because we were a little early we went right on past the usual turn off for work and extended the drive by a few miles to some kill time. After work, we put the top down even tough it was chilly and cooling fast (still warmer than yesterday.)

The story of yesterday's poker run in the Macon Telegraph.

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Today was a big day. We went to Warner Robins to participate in the MidGA Miata Club's annual Toys for Tots Poker Run. we left the house at 7:45 AM to meet the rest of our Club members at the GA Welcome Center. There were only 2 others who showed up, Tony Cappucci and Karl Johnson and Tony wasn't making the trip, his wife was home sick so he was going to go back home and play nurse. We had to pick up the Rushtons (Scott and Lisa) in Thompson, GA about 30 miles down the road on the way to our destination. After a meeting in the McDonald's lot our 3 car caravan headed out. The poker run was scheduled to start at 1:00 PM and as it turned out with one missed turn in Macon and a slow Pizza Hut lunch we got there about 10 minutes after 1. Our 3 cars were almost the last to sign up. The MidGa folks had arranged for some media attention, one of the Macon TV stations had sent a camera man down to shoot some footage (I wonder if we made the news?) They also had a photographer and reporter from the Macon newspaper. The reporter was looking for an empty seat to join in the fun and Karl volunteered, so I'm sure we'll get in the paper. The loop for the run was 60 miles and nicely laid out, with for some reason, easy to follow directions. The only down side was the fact that it never made it out of the 40's so we kept the tops up for almost all of the drive. After picking our last card we made a potty stop at a McDonalds. We realized that we only had a couple miles to go so we put our tops down to trick the crowd at the finish into thinking we did the drive that way. We let them stare and point a bit before we admitted we just put them down recently. They had prizes for the top 6 hands, cash for the top three and other items for the other 3. Donna and I ended up with 4th place with a pair of 9s and a pair of 5s. We traded the turkey frying kit that wouldn't have fit into the trunk, nor did we want, for a gift certificate to the Atlanta Bread Company. Also cleaned up on door prizes too. We all did, they only had 22 cars show, I'm sure due to the weather, but had prizes for like 50.

Another thing big thing was the total mileage. Turns out it is 165 miles from our door to the old Wal-Mart parking lot in Warner Robins. So with the round trip and miles involved with the poker run we ended up driving 390 miles today. We got home almost exactly 12 hours after we left. I took my hat off about halfway home, but as I sit here typing this it still feels like I have it on. When this is finished I'm showering and going to bed.

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Rained the entire day. The only good thing about that is it just might get the local TV weather folks to shut up about the drought - rainfall deficit- thing.

Instead of of usual evening walk around the block, the rain forced us inside, to the local mall. Boy, good thing I don't have a lot of disposable income, I found a lot of stuff I wanted, but didn't actually break down and buy. Admittedly most of it would have found it's way to dust collector status in a few months, but still there are a lot of cool toys out there.

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As predicted, the 1 day-old balogna sandwich tasted just like a made-that-day one....

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As predicted, we put the top up for the drive to work. At the last minute we decided to go to Popeyes for lunch. Donna gave away her frozen TV dinner and I just saved my sandwhich to eat it tomorrow (what is one more day to balogna and processd american cheese?) The top went down and there it stayed.

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It has stopped raining here for a bit, so the top went down for the drive to work. 50 degrees is warm enough. It was only a little warmer at noon, Donna wanted to go for a ride and who am I to say no. Like Sunday's drive the leaves were awesome in that random hardwood in the pines kinda way. Not New England everywhere color, but pockets of surprising blazing yellows and glowing reds amongst the green. I think the temperature was even cooler than the morning on the way home, the fresh but, cold air was still nice. Tonight's clear skies will produce cold enough temps that the top will definitely be up for the ride to work tomorrow.

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Rained all feakin' day. Stopped right now, but another band is on its way. Quite possibly tomorrow on the way home we may get to put the top down. Mailed off some Barndoor Fan Club window stickers to jolly ol' England today. I have now mailed stuff from the Club to Canada, Australia, Italy and England as well as all over the USA.

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Just got to work before the storms that did all that destruction the night before, blew through. We got a 1-1/2 of rain today, but thankfully no severe weather. Did get to put the top down for the ride home, as there was a lull in the action. We made an evening trip to the store and the top had to go back up as it was raining then. It's still raining now. Probably get another 1-1/2.

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Unlike yesterday we did go for a drive this afternoon. Just a short 40 miler around the county and ending up at Brusters for an ice cream fix. Nearing peak leaf color around here which made the drive a very scenic one. Don't get all jealous though, nowhere near like the Blue Ridge Mountains or New England, the hardwood trees are too scattered and separated by pines to be spectacular.

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Blogging early because it is baby-sitting night. We still call it that even thought the boys are no longer babies. Ten years ago Donna gave as a Christmas gift to another couple in the Bike Club our services as babysitters for one weekend evening a month for the next year. At that time their one son was 2 years old. This gave them to opportunity to go out on a "date," have dinner out, see a movie, whatever. Four years later we got a year off after their second son was born and he got old enough to leave alone with us. The boys have gone from not wanting to leave our sides and go to their bedrooms until their parents came home to going immediately to their rooms to play Nintendo. One thing that hasn't changed it they still don't want to go to sleep.

In January when it is 35 and raining I'll look back with sadness of today's missed opportunity. Another perfectly beautiful fall day and the Miata traveled whopping 5 miles today. A morning trip to the grocery store and a lunch time trip to retrieve sandwiches...

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It was our half day off Friday, so after work we dropped the top and did a nice long drive on a perfect fall day. While out driving we noticed a slew of convertibiles out too. Three Mustangs, a Sebring, a Z3, a Miata and an Audi TT. Only the TT had their top down besides us. WTF? it was 70 and sunny with low humidity, if the top wasn't down today I doubt it ever goes down. Shame on you people.

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Went to the Master's Miata Club meeting in Augusta tonight. Nice turn out, 18 members and one guest. The Creer's brought along a family friend, Lorraine Page. It was Lorraine's birthday and we all sung happy birthday to her. Lorraine is famous for this hit song.

Today is also my 13th anniversary as a Miata owner. This is my second Miata, but if you added up the mileage from #1 and #2 I have been in a Miata for 225,000 miles.

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December weather (with a twist of March) in November today. Progress. The sun came out and we hit the 60's, but the wind came sweeping down the plain. Went out for the monthly Aiken Bicycle Club meeting at the Aiken Brewing Company in downtown Aiken. I had a hamburger that was OK and washed it down with a . . . . coke. Did buy a new Palmetto Cycling Coalition hat for $15 dollars Donated $15 to the Palmetto Cycling Coalition and got a neat hat as a thank you.

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Another day of January weather in November. If it was 10 degrees warmer we might have chanced the ride to work with the top down, but it wasn't, so we didn't.

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Today’s high temp was 54, which is approximately 20 degrees colder that the average high temperature for this date. To boot it rained on and off all day. Felt like a January day here in my fair city, Aiken, South Carolina although it is only early November.

Speaking of November, I finished up making November's CD Mix of the Month. Burned the CDs last night, printed the labels and liner notes and packed for mailing at work today. Submitted for your approval this month is a Christmas music mix. Since the mixes have been showing up late in the month if I waited until December to do the Christmas thing folks would get it too late.

Wouldn't you know that my latest Christmas CD came in the mail today, too late for any song to make it into the mix. Too bad, Dobby Dobson's version of White Christmas from "Reggae Christmas from Studio One" is almost as good as The Drifters version I included. There is always next year.

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Walked by the Miata about 20 times today, doing the laundry and going out for lunch and yard work and such, but never got in it.

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The only reason the top went up today was because I washed it. It was very chilly 42 degrees this morning too. Today was our little membership drive at our sponsors, Rader Mazda. We had a real good turn out and had fun to boot. Lots of visitors, a couple of Miatas stopped by and looked us over and left, a couple of "Fast & Furious" types stopped and looked and left maybe a half dozen Miatas showed and hung around a bit and chatted. I figure maybe 3 new perspective members, one seemed sure catch. Some folks had fun talking a father and son into test driving a Miata, they didn't buy, but hey. One of the members took pictures, see 'em here. (That's me in the red, white and blue rugby shirt.)

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I took another picture of the Miata-O-Lantern. This time lit from the back with a 40 watt bulb and you can really see the rot as black spots. Next year I'll wait until a little closer to Halloween.

As promised, a picture of the car with the Wabbit Teeth. Not all I hoped for, but it is a start.

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