Month: February 2009

Close

We went for a walk in Hitchcock Wodds today, not just any walk either, it was our inaugural attempt at geocaching. I had loaded about 7 geocaches into the GPS, but we printed out the instructions for one that was accessible from a road that took us to a woods entrance for start. I started down Coker Springs road, even after it turned to dirt (well, actually mud with yesterday’s rain), but stopped a hundred yards down when I came to a berm across the road that looked high enough to strand a Miata. So I backed up the hill to pavement and parked.

We walked back down the road with the GPS in hand and it led us right to the Coker Spring House. We were right there, but after 5 minutes of fruitless searching, we were close, the GPS was reading under 10 feet away at times. I talked Donna into stop looking, go for a walk in the woods and try again on the way out because we had to pass right by there.

About a half mile into the woods I looked at the GPS for the next closest cache and it showed one about a half mile away, but the direction it was in was straight down a trail that had become a shallow stream because of the rain. Next closest was .9 miles away, so we opted to try and find that instead. Trying to follow the directional arrow on the GPS and stay on a trail that took us in the right direction was interesting. When we got within a 1/4 mile we realized that the cache was on the other side of a swamp area and the only way to get to it to go in 3/4 mile circle around the wetland. Close, but because we had already gone almost 2 miles, with about a mile to go to get back to the car, we decided to save that one for another day.

On the way back we took a slight detour to try and find the second cache because we were coming from a drier direction. Until we got close. A short squishy walk on Sand River and the GPS pointer locked hard left – up a 15′ cliff like bank. Retreat down river and then a short walk along the trail (current stream) led to a trail that took us to where the cache should be. With the GPS reading distances in the single digits we milled about for awhile and I lobbied for moving on, Donna would have nothing of it. And it was as if she knew she was that close, because less than a half minute later she shouted, “I got it.”

Fresh from our success we tried for the Coker Springs cache again and another 5-10 minutes of beating bushes resulted in a no find again.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 121

Happy Valentines Day

We got up halfway early for a Saturday and had a nice romantic breakfast at the Waffle House because nothing says love quite like greasy short order food.

Once again, at our closest WH, there were more employees than customers and they were quite boisterous, but we didn’t let that detract from the experience. When the waitress brought over just our double order of scattered and smothered hash browns, as the cook in the background mumbled something about the waffle iron being unplugged, we didn’t let that spoil the mood either (we did get the pecan waffle while we still had half the potatoes left, so really, no harm.) We have vowed that next Valentines Day we will drive out by the Interstate, the Waffle House natural habitat, to see if we will have a nicer time.

I kid, but Waffle House really is on our short list for favorite breakfast places and it should be for you too.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 120

Try Not To Be Like FOX

Tonight is the return of T:TSCC on FOX after a lengthy break and I hope that I can dig deep down and retrieve my suspension of disbelief, so I can enjoy this episode like I used to the previous ones.

That is immediately followed by the premier of the new Joss Whedon show Dollhouse. My wife and I both really liked Joss’s Firefly, but we never could abide by Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel, so I’m hoping it turns out more like the former and not the later, but from the sneak peak stuff I have seen so far, I’m not optimistic. I will have to have patience and give the show a couple three shots before giving up, remembering that my first attempt at Firefly I turned it off after about 15 minutes.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 119

Weekly Book Review*

At the 1989 Chicago Auto Show Mazda unveiled its new sports car, the Miata. Right now twenty years later at the same Chicago Auto Show it is unveiling the freshened third generation version of that same sports car. Motorsports Books has recently published a new book by Larry Edsall, Miata 20 Years, that is an excellent guide to the history of my (and possibly your) favorite car.

If you would like to know how the Miata was born (an auto journalist?s response to a car executive?s question), how it got where it is today (Guinness World Record?s best-selling sports car with over 850,000 made) and everything in between, then this book is for you.

Even if you think you know everything there is to know about the Miata, this book is still for you, as you?re bound to find some stuff you didn?t know. I did, and that is a tall order because I?ve owned three Miatas since 1989, I have a 14 year collection of the original Miata Magazine, I used to read the big mailing list back when (can you say 200 emails a day) and now peruse the Miata.net Forum with regularity.

If you are thinking about buying your first book on the Miata, start with this one, for the list price of $25 you get nearly 200 pages full of information, color photographs and illustrations that will keep you entertained for days.

If you already have a bunch of books on the Miata, this would still make a nice addition just for its trick 2-layer front cover. Looking at the book you see an overhead view of the car with its top up, unfold the right side top flap (lightly magnetized) and now it is an overhead view with the top down.

You can get the book direct from the publisher, on Amazon or possibly your local big box bookstore.**

*I’m not really going to do a weekly book review, I have enough trouble keeping this blog thing filled with regular (and sometimes irregular words), I just wanted a nice title for this post.

**Ethics Disclaimer: The publisher gave me a copy of the book because I said I would write this review.***

***Ethics Disclaimer, Sub Paragraph B: Had I known Miata 20 Years existed before that happened, it would have already been on my Amazon Wish List…

Wild Wild West

We are planning a two week vacation this year and heading west to do a giant road trip. We are flying and renting a car, so we can get further west than Dallas, which was the last two week Miata driving vacation we took (to go to Miata World 99.)

We are landing in Denver on a Saturday in April and heading north. The first week is pretty much planned out – Mato Tipila, Big Heads, Carhenge, Garden of the Gods and then four days in New Mexico (two here and then two here.) The second week is still up in the air, possible places we might go range from Roswell to Four Corners to the Bonneville Salt Flats (where I want to see just how fast our rental car can go.)

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 119

Nurses Aren’t Supposed To Laugh

“Of course I won’t laugh, I’m a professional nurse. In over twenty years I’ve never laughed at a patient.”

“Okay then,” the man said and proceeded to drop his trousers, revealing the tiniest man thingy the nurse had ever seen. Length and width, it couldn’t have been bigger than a AAA battery.

Unable to control herself, the nurse started giggling then fell laughing to the floor. Minutes later she was able to struggle to her feet and regain her composure.

“I’m so sorry,” said the nurse. “I don’t know what came over me. On my honor as a nurse and a lady, I promise it won’t happen again. Now, tell me, what seems to be the problem ?”

“It’s swollen,” the man replied.

Post Office Galleries

I have uploaded this weekend’s PO pictures from the safari. They are view-able in two places only one place, right here on mr-miata.net and on Flickr. I have removed the fancy one I had made up with Jalbum, so the photos could be sorted in several different ways. I hadn’t updated it in a while and to do so with only a few left to do to complete the collection, seemed a waste of time, and I’m not so sure I’ll put it back up.

Now I just have to make up a little paragraph about each Post Office…

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 117