Month: March 2011

Greg’s Wet Car

I guess he took enough ribbing on Monday and Wednesday about not bringing the new car out in the rain, that today, in spite of the forecast of more rain, Greg did drive it to work. Or maybe it was because he had an appointment to get the windows tinted in the afternoon, but whatever the reason, there Jackie O was, covered in raindrops in a very damp parking spot this morning.

Started up, still up.
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Greg’s New Car

The wait is finally over, Greg got his new Camaro convertible on Saturday. He drove it most of the way home with the top down, but some gray clouds on the horizon made him stop and put the top up and according to him it was a good thing, as he just made it into his garage before the skies opened up.

The photo above is a simulation of Greg’s new car because he has decided not to drive it in the rain and it has been raining a lot around here lately (actually he did drive it to work yesterday, but I forgot to take a picture.) I may totally explain the blue glove later, but it was for something similar to last year’s great roach kidnapping caper. The car is painted a sharp looking orange metal flake with black stripes and the interior is black leather with orange inserts. Not my cup of tea, but God bless the individuals who buy cars that outrageous.

I heard Greg on the phone to his wife on Tuesday afternoon telling her how much fun it was to drive, but the car hadn’t told him its name yet. He did say it was definitely a she though. I haven’t told Greg that I have a name for his car and it is Jackie O. This is not a reference to JFK’s widow, but a reference to the car’s color scheme and it is short for Jackie-O-Lantern.

Started up, still up.
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Paparecraft Propaganda

Papercraft Propaganda by Paper Tom. It is supposed to put you in mind of an old school Soviet statue.

I was out of contention in the NCAA Basketball Pool after last week and after this weekend’s games everyone is out of it. We still have the first winner, second place and third place winners, plus the Booby Prize for finishing last, but no one has any more points to gain. Of the teams in the Final Four, only 3 people had Kentucky, 2 people picked UCONN & one person picked Butler to make it that far. Of those 6 people, no one picked any of those three teams to move on, thus rendering next weekend’s Final Four irrelevant.

Started up, still up.
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Mmmm…Pancakes

Unlike usual, the MMC’s monthly breakfast was held on the fourth Saturday instead of the third. Like last year, the March breakfast was at the North Augusta Optimists Club Annual Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser.

Somehow, I don’t think they will be using my this year’s picture on next year’s flyer like they did with last year’s picture this year.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
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Patched Hat

Spent a couple hours in downtown Augusta this afternoon. The Emperor was getting his hat repaired. On Monday we made a quick run to Jones St and Remond’s Upholstery to get an idea on what needed to be done about the delamination of the top’s fabric behind the passenger seat. Randy thought they he could do a fix that might get me another year before I had to replace the whole thing. He needed more time than any of us had that night so we made arrangements to return today.

Because he was who I bought the top from and did the install, he felt that I should have gotten more than 2.5 years out of it before it failed, so he offered to fix it for nothing. Because he wouldn’t take any money, Donna decided to bake him some of her famous chocolate chip cookies as payment. He glued a large piece of fabric over the tear area, covering it entirely, and extending it beyond where either of the top bows might move over during transitions. The fabric he used was a little “slipperier” than the top’s current lining. To make it even he did the same to the non-ripped driver’s side too. You can hardly pick out the repair work unless you know what you are looking for.

We dropped off the car and the dozen cookies and walked a few blocks south to the Mellow Mushroom for lunch. Afterward we walked along the Riverwalk. We were going to do some caching and attempted an Earthcache along the Riverwalk, but one of the requirements was a picture of us at GZ and the camera was in the trunk back at the upholstery shop. We tried one more, but because of where it was and the logs of those before us, we didn’t try very hard before giving up.

Started up, still up.
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Alternative School

There are two schools to filling the gas tank of your car. The first school is when the pump shuts off, you take it out of the filler tube and hang it back on the pump. This results in a set of total random numbers which is fine for some and a Type B personality trait. The second school is for the Type A person, when the pump automatically shuts off, they will then bump the nozzle’s lever in small increments until the dollar total is even or at best 25¢ steps.

Overall I am definitely a Type B personality, but when it comes to filling my gas tank I exhibit Type A leanings. I have always tried to get my gas total a nice even (for a better word) number, partly for me, but also for my unmistakably Type A wife and household CFO.

On our last trip back from Florida I started to subscribe to an alternate of the second school, or a third school if you will, triggered by an incidence of the first school. While filling up somewhere south of Gainesville the pump shut off at $32.32 and I was intrigued enough to leave it right there. Reinforcement came when we went inside to buy some snacks and a Georgia DeLorme atlas for future geocaching adventures, the total of our purchases came to exactly $32.32.

This alternate school is difficult to achieve, because, like hitting the even dollar, it comes round only so often. Fortunately my Type B-ness allows me to be fine with achieving some even number (2nd School) and failing that, any old total (1st School.)

Tonight’s fill up – $29.29

Started up, still up.
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Where Does That Leave Us?

Right now the top two contenders for our next car are the Hyundai Genesis Coupe and the Kia Optima EX. There are a couple of cars left to try before we make a final decision, a Honda Accord Coupe and a Hyundai Sonata SE.

While I loved the Genesis Coupe, the downside of this car is that it might be too sporty in nature. We already will have a sports car in the stable and we were looking more for a touring car. And frankly, Donna was looking forward to being driven to work in relative comfort and not always having to brace herself against the g-forces generated while I try and late brake, nip the apex of every turn and accelerate briskly towards my next cornering opportunity. This is where the Accord might come in. The coupe, like the Prelude before it, is nothing much more than an Accord sedan all tarted up. A sheep in wolf’s clothing if you will.

The Sonata SE will be my last chance to dance with the supermodel of sedans, but I am hoping it will have a more connected to the road feel ALA the Optima. Part of the SE package are 18″ wheels with lower profile tires and what the manufacturer calls “Sport-tuned suspension and steering” which sounds a lot like what the Optima mentions in its brochure for the standard suspension setup.

Both the Optima and Sonata have a major fault and that is size. Donna had a heck of a time trying to get the right seating position in them. I’m thinking maybe some of it was the pressure of having both myself and a salesman stand out side looking at her fiddling with the seat controls in the dealers lot. I’m betting if it was just me in a quiet spot she could get it easier. Plus some of it will be driving the car and learning where the external edges of the it are.

Who knows, maybe the Accord Coupe will be the winner. We used to be a Honda family and even owned a couple of Accord “coupes” back in the day. Our 1978 car was a 2-door hatchback that was about the same length, with a 7″ shorter wheelbase and 500 pounds lighter than today’s Honda Fit! It was Honda’s “big” car. If the Accord Coupe is not the answer, we may just end up with a Genesis Coupe. We saw one pass by us at a corner today and even our anti-red bias didn’t prevent us from liking the car in Tsukuba Red.

Started up, still up.
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