Year: 2007

Not Actually A Mod, But More Like Service

Dutch HyroglephicsHad some new shock absorbers installed today. At 63k miles they were not entirely shot, they were definitely worn, judging by the improved feel on the drive home. They were yellow Koni Sport adjustable shocks, so they were not an equal swap, but more of an improvement.

When the shock replacement was being planned I considered purchasing some lowering springs to get rid of the fist sized gap between the tire and fender lip. After copious reading in the Miata Forum Suspension and Handling section I decided that because this is the “family” car and it is already a close call clearing dead possums in the road that I would choose function over style and keep the stock springs and their “high” ride height.

When I picked up the car after the install it actually looked like the ride height had increased. When I got home I measured it and sure enough the gap was now a 1/2″ more than it was before. Because that dimension is determined by the spring not the shock I was curious. So I asked over on the forum and got a reassuring response that that is normal and the car will settle back down to where it was in short order.

Started down, went up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 330

So Long V570, We Barely Knew Ya

I’ve only had it since the beginning of last April and have shot a little over 2800 photos, but my desire for something with a longer zoom and some image stabilization has led me to pull the trigger on a DMC-TZ3A. It’s blue, so you know it will be taking more colorful pictures than the ones you are used to seeing around here.

Financed through the sale of the camcorder and the fish I have on the line for the V570. I say fish, but actually he is getting a great deal because new that camera is still selling in the mid two hundred range, with refurbs going for $60 bucks more than what I want for it.

ETA next Tuesday.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 326

That Old Sinking Feeling

Night BallThe FRS‘s lead in the east has shrunk to 4 games with today’s loss and Yankee win, but I’m not worried, there are only 45 games left in the season so there is no way the Yankees can catch them. Right. Their Magic Number is just 42.

I predicted that the lead would be down to 5 at the end of last month, I was wrong, but I don’t think I’ll be wrong this time when I say this, “The Red Sox will not be in first place in the Eastern Division of the American League on September 1st.”

Maybe if we had more games against the Aiken Foxhounds…

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 324

Foxhounds

Roberto Hernandez StadiumFortunately for us a thunder storm blew through town this afternoon and cooled our temperatures way down into the lower 90’s so we could go out this evening. Because…

…tonight was ASCO Valve Mini Bat Giveaway night and everyone in the company who wanted to go got two free tickets to the game. Getting in was free, but we spent $22 on concessions. The home team Foxhounds were winning over the visiting Charlotte County (FL) Redfish 5-3 when we left in the top of the 9th.

We went for a short bike ride this morning and ended up for breakfast at the same old place. Brought some bagels home for Sunday’s morning meal too.

Started up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 324

Call Me Ungrateful

I sold the Camcorder to a co-worker.

Finished my 11th Spenser book and didn’t find anything resembling a Crime Buster Rule.

The cut on my arm doesn’t look nearly as bad as I thought.

Added another old chestnut to the Joke Page.

Got 30 seconds of very loud belt squeal backing out of the garage this morning (and the A/C wasn’t even on.)

I have finished burning all the commercial CDs of my collection (probably have 30 homemade mix discs yet to do.)

I should be writing up the MMC Meeting Minutes, but instead I’m writing this trumpery.

Due to popular demand I will no longer be keeping track of our meals out. If we interpolate, the totals for 2008 would be $2898.07 spent on 170 meals eaten out of 1095 possible.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 321

Gone Fishing

Four married guys go fishing. After an hour, the following conversation took place:

First guy: “You have no idea what I had to do to be able to come out fishing this weekend. I had to promise my wife that I would paint every room in the house next weekend.”

Second guy: “That is nothing, I had to promise my wife that I would build her a new deck for the pool.”

Third guy: “Man, you both have it easy! I had to promise my wife that I would remodel the kitchen for her.”

They continue to fish. When they realized that the fourth guy has not said a word, they asked him. “You haven’t said anything about what you had to do to be able to come fishing this weekend. What’s the deal?”

Fourth guy: “I just set my alarm for 5:30 am. When it went off, I shut off my alarm, gave the wife a slap on her butt and said, “Fishing or Sex?” and she said, “Wear sun-block.”

Lost Time

Yesterday at 2:35 PM I scraped my arm.The nurse and I spent 20 minutes treating it. We then spent the next 15 minutes examining the scene of the crime and recreating the event. We then called in the maintenance supervisor to have him look at the offending junction box cover and he then got a maintenance guy to remove the cover, smooth off the sharp edge and then replace it. Another 30 minutes used up. From there we ended up in my boss’s office while he, the nurse, and I filled out the accident report, spending another half hour. Pretty much killing the rest of the work day.

Today the nurse spent almost 2-1/2 hours with me, driving me to two different doctor’s offices, so I could get my tetanus shot. (At the first place we went, the front office person “couldn’t get me in the computer”, so we left after an hour.) Back at the plant we spent the next 45 minutes together to 1) re bandage the cut because the doctor did a lackluster job after he spent all of 10 seconds looking at it, 2) filling out the appropriate paperwork to have me take a drug test and 3) me peeing in a cup and her testing it. Later my boss brought around the accident report for me to sign (anther 2 minutes, but who knows how long it took to complete it.)

Next week the Director of Operations, the Facilities Manager, the HR Manager, my supervisor, his Manager, the supervisor of the department I was passing through and his manager will meet to discuss how to prevent this from happening again. More than likely after all of these folks spend an hour in a room, a maintenance man will be dispatched to reroute the offending junction box and it’s associated conduit, another maintenance man will be dispatched to place yellow tape on the floor to designate an official aisle and the department supervisor will spend a half an hour instructing his people not to place pallets in the new aisle.

This was not considered a lost time accident, because I did not “miss” any work, even though over 8 man hours have been spent on it so far, with lots more to come.

As a bonus, as far as OSHA is concerned it is not a recordable accident because I did not require stitches, x-rays, or antibiotics (tetanus shots don’t count) so our company’s accident free hours numbers don’t get reset.

Started up, went down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 319