Month: May 2004

I Am Brian’s Colon

Yesterday I had a colonoscopy boys and girls. You don’t need to look that up in any medical dictionary, colon + scope, means they were looking at my innards from the inside. The worse part is the prep. If you have had it done, you know what I’m talking about and if you haven’t, I don’t want to spoil the fun.

During the actual procedure they sedate you and depending on who you talk to who has had it done, that means anything from knocked out to partly aware. When the nurse put the needle full of fuzzy juice into the IV she said to me, “Now think of someplace pleasant you would like to be.” I started to decide which place I thought I would like when the next thing I knew I was coming to in the recovery area. And when I say coming to, I really mean just peeking my head above the fog.

The next few hours I was in and out. I remember my wife feeding me cookies and a Diet Dr. Pepper. My next memory is of being helped out of the wheelchair into the Miata. There is a brief window into lucidity at the CVS where I picked out a book to read. I remember reading some of it during my doctor prescribed bath. I read a little more on the couch before putting it down to go take a 2 hour nap. I was “sedated” at around 1:30 and it wasn’t until around 7:30 that continuous memory was regained. When I went in tonight to get the book I kind of figured that I would have to start all over reading it again, I did, but I didn’t have far to go, the dog eared page marking where I stopped last night was page number two.

Mmm…Pain Pills

Had a minor outpatient procedure done at the hospital today. After driving myself there, Donna had to drive me home and as a special treat she put the top down for me. I love driving the Miata, but it sure was fun over in the right seat too. You get to see so much more and until they start making those George Jetson bubble roof cars you poor suckers in your SUVs will have to lead much shallower lives.

With apologies to Brian Damage:
[x] I’ve been banded
[ ] I’ve not been banded

I hope it doesn’t take three weeks to recover again, but I know that is wishful thinking because I am just a slow healer.

Most Fun In The Miata Since…

Today we had more fun in the Miata since, well, Donna would just as soon I didn’t blog about that. 🙂 A couple in the Master’s Miata Club put on a time/speed/distance rally for us today and it was a blast. Maybe I’m just saying that because we finished 2nd and didn’t have the humiliation as others did of having to open the emergency envelope.

Fuzzy Math

This afternoon we went over to Rader Mazda to have the car’s 7500 mile service done. When I called and made the appointment the other day I asked how much it was going to be. It is a glorified oil change, but they inspect a bunch of stuff and rotate the tires. I was told it would be $74 and change. About what I figured. I saved a coupon the dealer had sent me earlier, so I’d get 10% off that to boot. When the car was finished and it was time to settle the bill they told me it was $72.13. About right I thought, 74 + tax – 10% = $72 and change.

When we got home I looked at the invoice. Huh? Mazda “B” service, Labor $108 (1-1/2 hours), parts $21.09 (oil, filter, gasket and something called SOLVENT,WIND) and tax $1.48 for a grand total of $130.57. How come I paid only $72.13 and how did they arrive at that figure?

Clutch Shudder

Go over to the Miata.net in the NB Forums and search for the term “clutch shudder” and you will get a million hits. Here is a good example. When I first started going in there after buying the new Miata I read quite a few of the posts and at first it got me worried and I was always in the back of my mind looking for this thing to show up. Occasionally when first driven about 1/2 from home when I got into 3rd gear the car would do a bit of shaking, but it would disappear in less than a hundred yards. Was this the shudder or something else? Although this clutch has never been as smooth engaging as in the previous 2 Miatas I’ve owned it is not really a problem, but more of a quirk.Yesterday morning the clutch seemed especially hard to engage smoothly for the first half of the trip to work. This morning though, any doubts I had that this was my clutch developing the dreaded shudder, were put to rest by confirmation. When backing the car out of the garage there was noticeable bucking and accompanying noise to go with it. Even Donna said, “What’s that?” “Clutch shudder,” I replied. I paused at the end of the driveway to let a car pass and when I backed out the shudder was there again just as bad. The trip to work was fairly normal after that.I guess I will wait it out a bit more before saying anything, see if it get any worse.

7500 Mile Service

Today was the 7500 mile check up on the Miata (done at 8010.) An oil change and a tire rotation basically. I had a couple of things I want them to address while we were in there too. The trunk was creaking when you opened and closed it, there were a couple of missing plastic fasteners on the splash guard on the right front wheel well and the driver’s side top latch was looser than the passenger’s side.

We have always been treated right personally by the folks there. We even got a loaner car to do some shopping when the service was taking longer than expected. I’m not so sure about the car. When we got back in the car to drive away there was this almost overpowering smell of solvent or cleaner. We opened the windows the first chance we got and that helped a lot. By the time we got home I kind of figured that it was lube for the trunk hinges. The car is in the garage with the trunk open now hoping the lube will be all dry and the smell gone by morning.

Past experience with tire changing at any place other than my driveway requires checking the lug nut torque. Sure enough, the lugs were replaced using an impact wrench with out any sort of torque limiter. I had to use a 2′ long breaker bar to loosen them up (and on a couple of them I feared for the longevity of the breaker bar.) Good thing I didn’t get a flat on the way home, I’d have never gotten the wheel off with the puny lug wrench in the trunk.

And because tomorrow is a Master’s Miata Club’s TSD Rally, I washed off the car to make it pretty.

8000 Miles

Turned over 8000 miles this morning on the way to work. I have the scheduled 7500 mile check up for this Friday. I’m not too worried about being over mileage, I changed the oil in the car a couple of hundred miles after I got it and then again close to the half-way point.