Year: 2003

50 Year Old Cabinets

We are in the middle of a kitchen spruce-up. Fresh paint on the cabinet doors and new shiny silver hinges and knobs to match. We have a yellow tile counter top which was standard in that era and the cabinets were painted a pale yellow to get everything to blend in. This time we have decided to embrace the fifties in some spirit by painting the bottom cabinet doors in what could only be called glossy avocado. The top ones will be painted in another 50’s inspired color, glossy mustard. Tonight we got the bottom portion finished, somewhat. Although the hinges were the same style as what was removed, when reusing the pre-existing holes a few of the doors don’t close nicely anymore. And with the extra coats of paint a few of the drawers don’t slide as well as they used to…

New Car Fever

Ever since I drove that Sea Foam Green Miata about a month ago I’ve had the itch to get a new car. This one is the oldest and highest mileage car I’ve owned at 8 years and 124k miles. Ever since we have been married we have always had a nice automobile that we bought new. Although there is nothing really wrong with the Miata, I think I’d like the feeling of a new taught car.

The trouble is that in the past eight years Miatas have crept up into the middle 20’s and that just seems like too much money for, in essence, a small car. On the plus side, Mazda is offering 0% interest on 2003 models and they might be willing to deal some to clean the lot of these “old” cars. The bad news is that the Miata doesn’t come in, what I consider, a decent shade of blue.

On the other hand I am intrigued by the new Mini. A brand new Mini Cooper can be had for around $20k and a supercharged S for only three thousand more. On the plus side for them is they have two shades of blue that appear acceptable and they are a excellent handling car for a front-driver. The down side is they aren’t convertibles and from what I’ve read on the MINI2 forums the quality in certain areas is suspect.

I guess there is option #3 to consider, take an antibiotic to squash the fever. I may need heavy doses after Saturday, we are going to Charleston to test drive Minis.

Purchased Today: $0
Money spent since 03/03/03: $2627.54
Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 277

Cross Another One Off The List

After a week and a half ago’s lunch fiasco we will no longer be visiting the only Popeye’s in town, nor will we ever set foot inside the northside Burger King again. There are just too many choices of places to eat that we need to subject ourselves to sub-standard service or food. Tonight we have to cross another place of the Bogardus Dining Out List. What is usually a nice place to get chicken fingers, disappointed us big time. First clue was when we were standing in line to order the counter person started mutter about having the answer the phone and taking those orders. The wait for our meal was way out of proportion to the busyness of the joint. The fingers were barely warm enough to eat, the cornbread was stale and the mashed potatoes were pretty cold. I guess they must have put the plate in the freezer while waiting on the green beans. The beans were piping hot. We didn’t eat the cornbread and I did take the mashed potatoes back up and asked if it wasn’t too much trouble, could I get some hot mashed potatoes. The poured a little more gravy on them and nuked ’em. Unfortunately now they were as hot as the beans thereby making the warm chicken seem less so. So long Wife Saver, Zaxby’s here we come.

The Italian Job

Watched the 1969 version with Michael Caine tonight. For those of you who have seen a lot of 60’s movies, this thing would strike you as extremely odd. For those of us who have seen a bunch of movies (or possibly lived in) that time frame, this movie is still quite odd. I think it must be the strong British influence.

There can only be one reason for the remaking this flick – BMW. I know nothing has been said and maybe I am a bit of a conspiracy theorist, but they had to be behind it. The 2003 version is nothing more than a 111-minute commercial for the new MINI Cooper. Hey it worked I’ll be in Charleston this weekend driving one.

Parts Is Parts

Blew out a turn signal bulb yesterday. We were on our way to a Miata event at our sponsoring dealer, so when the first parts store I stopped in didn’t have what I needed I figured I could get it at their parts counter. The bulb is a pretty standard automotive bulb, an 1157NA. 1157 is the type, 12 volts, two filaments, one brighter than the other and the NA means it is amber. The parts store had plain 1157s, but because the Miatas turn signals are mounted in a clear lens I needed the yellow bulb.

When I asked the parts counter guy for two 1157NAs he didn’t move, he just looked at me like he was waiting for more information. None was needed, but he asked anyway, “What kind of car is it for?” I sighed internally and said out loud, a Mazda Miata. Off he went to the bulb draw. He rummaged around for a few minutes and came back with two bulbs. When he put them on the counter they were clear. I said, “I wanted NAs, I need them to be amber.” Back to the drawer he went. More rummaging, lots more. Finally after what seemed like 5 minutes he returns with two yellow bulbs. I checked the part number just to be sure. As I’m walking away I heard him say to himself, “I always wondered what NA meant.”

I guess basic automotive knowledge isn’t a prerequisite of working at a part department in a car dealership. To be somewhat fair, this dealership sells both Mercedes-Benz’s and Mazda’s so maybe he needed to know how much to charge me. I paid $2.87 for the pair, I wonder if a Benz owner would have had to fork over $8.59 for his?

It’s Summer!

Not really. If you stood out of the wind in the sun during the mid afternoon you might believe it was a cool summer day.

It was a nice day for the “Membership Drive.” We actually did get a new member. A fellow who had purchased a new Miata from Rader back in the real summer, showed up to claim his free membership. He had to leave early, so he said, I hope we didn’t frighten him off.

It also became common knowledge among the group that I am flirting with leaving the Miata fold for Mini-dom. When I blamed it all on Mazda for not having a decent blue colored car, Scott hustled off and got the hot-off-the-presses 2004 Miata brochure. It contained this sharp looking picture of a bright blue Miata. Seems a new color for ’04 is Strato Mica Blue. I never trust the colors depicted in Mazda photos as they have been way far apart from the actual appearance in the past. Good thing, because it turns out Strato is the same color as one of 2003’s Special Edition colors which is much darker than the brochure (or web page) shows and when I saw one in Rader’s showroom several months ago it looked almost PURPLE!

Purchased Today: $2.87
Money spent since 03/03/03: $2614.54
Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 275

Mini Mania II

Earlier in the week I signed up on the website for them to send me a Mini brochure. It arrived in the mail today. I am beginning to think these guys are too cute. The brochure was about the Mini, but it was also a mini brochure. It measured 3-1/2″ by 3-1/2″. When unfolded, its 10 panels measured over 3′ long.

I also have been checking out the Miata.net equivalent for the car, Mini2.com. They even have an active forum for sharing the love with other Mini nuts.

After a bit of reading in the forum it seems that the path to Mini ownership is fraught with obstacles. A lot of the same things transpired when the Miata came out in 1989. Things settled down for the Miata in a year or so, but the Mini has been for sale since February 2001 and the car is still not that readily available.