Month: May 2015

I Lettered In Drafting…

Drafting Alphabet

..in both high school and college.

I stunk at both Wood Shop and Metal Working in high school, but did manage to get a industrial course that I was not only good at, but liked as well when I got to Drafting. So I kept at it, taking couple more classes in it during my time at good ol’ NBHS. After getting out of the Navy I took a Blueprint Reading in my first semester in college and realized that being a Draftsman was what I wanted to be when I grew up.

Every drawing has something called a Revision Letter that is used to keep track of any changes made to a drawing. Some places start with an A, some start with no letter before going to A, but the Valve Store(tm) starts with a – and then the first change is an A. In the beginning of my training as a draftsman I was taught that there are 5 letters that are are never used as a Rev Ltr because they might be confused as a number, I, O, Q, S & Z.

With out using those five you still get 21 revisions before you have to start over again at AA. Because ASCO has been in business for 126 years now, a few of our older drawings have the honor of dual letters. Even though there is now a prefix, those five letters are skipped again the next time around. One of the sets of drawings I was working on the other day had a B as the first letter, meaning it has had over 40 revisions. This particular drawing’s previous Rev Ltr was BH, so naturally the BI letter combo was skipped and next pair in line was used – BJ.

Now, maybe because I was in the Navy or maybe because I’m a guy or maybe I have a dirty mind, but I think there are a few 2 letter combos that don’t include the fab five that should not be used as Rev Ltrs, that’s one of them. The next one is less likely because a drawing would have to be on its 122nd revision for it to occur, but FU probably should get a pass. The next one my dirty mind comes up with is at 177and that is HJ.

Got any more?

Must Have One Of These

John Fawcett & Greame Manson

Like the Walking Dead before it, Orphan Black has spawned its own little cable show, about the show, that airs after the show on the cable network that shows the show. It is called After The Black and this week’s episode featured the co-creators of the show, John Fawcett & Greame Manson. Greame (on the right) is wearing a black T-shirt with a scorpion on the front. You can’t really tell from this photo but the segments of the tail is made out of letters that spell out Orphan Black. 99.9% of the clothing that is inspired by the show are too feminine (as to be expected), but this one I would buy. I want to buy. Internet, make this happen.*

While the first three minutes of Season 1 are a great hook to get you interested in watching the show, the first three minutes of Season 3 is almost a fan service as we get to see all the main clones in a dream sequence as envisioned by one of the other clones. It also introduces the subject of the T-shirt:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV1mQAM_LqQ

*at the end of this After The Black episode it is mentioned that the scorpion shirt was made specifically for the crew of the show, so that means it probably won’t make it for regular people consumption. Too bad.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1478

Wash Time

The dead bird was cleaned out of the Emperor’s mouth a few miles after he crash landed there on Sunday, but it took until today to clean the dead bugs off the nose. The Sonata got a bath tonight too, but unlike the hand wash the Miata got, the Purple Whale got a Molly Wash from Lulu’s.

Brian & Donna got a laundry basket full of clean clothes and even some of the English Ivy near the A/C unit got a shower of Agent Orange tonight.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1477

Got Some Splainin’ To Do

Splainin'

I’m now averaging sucking a bird to its death into the grill of the Emperor every 7 years or so.

Yesterday we took a long overdue road trip. The first objective was to head to our favorite bookstore in the Richmond Hill, GA. Objective #2 was to gather some Moss Motoring Challenge points and lastly was to enjoy a nice drive with the top down before the brain-frying weather that is called summer in the south shows up.

Inside a half full outlet mall just south of Savannah, Georgia is Book Warehouse. Hard cover books for $1.99. They are used /returned / off-lease library books, so they are about a year old and covered in shiny acetate with stickers plastered everywhere. In spite of the convenience of the Kindle, there is something neat about holding a hefty collection of inked paper bound together, inside a couple sheets of cardboard. For around thirty bucks we came away with half a trunk full of fine literature, Daniel Steele for her and Robert B. Parker for me.

On the trip down and back we made a few stops and racked up 5 Motoring Challenge points, two lakes, a state park, a city and one sneak peek.

Mission accomplished. We were gone from home on Sunday for 2 meals, nearly 300 total miles and 9-1/2 hours. This splains why all I had the energy for posting last night was two pictures, one from Saturday (we helped set up the reception room for a co-workers wedding) and one from Sunday (a variation of the sneak peek photo.)

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1476

Motoring Challenge Points 5, Approx Miles Driven 215
Totals So Far: 39 points & 930 miles

Sunday

Paradise Restaurant

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1475

Monochromatic Miatas

We still don’t have all the details on the US version of the new Miata. We’ve got most of it, but there isn’t a configurator online to start building your ideal car yet. What we do know is that the color palette is pretty monochromatic. There are seven “colors”, including a white, a pearl white, a white-ish gray, a dark gray and a black. There is a blue, but it is really a medium gray with blue undertones, leaving the only real color something called Soul Red. And it is a metallic paint, so on cloudy days or in the shade it will darken right up.

Taking a cue from our German friends, (cough, cough…BMW…cough, cough) Mazda is going to start charging extra for metallic, mica & pearlecent paints. In the UK the Soul Red is a thousand dollars extra. The only color on the chart that is free is the Arctic White, the rest are an extra $800. I have seen on the Miata.net Forum that the Soul Red will be extra in the US, but not sure if the other paints will be more too.

Once these 7 colors were basically confirmed as the ones the new car would come in a thread appeared on the forum on the lack of real sports car colors. This thread has peaked at 32 pages compromising of 778 posts. The agreed upon solution to fix this – vinyl wrap your new car. So don’t forget to add about 10% to the cost of your nearly thirty thousand dollar new car to get it in the color you want. Your options are now wide open, take your pick from this chart of over 60 colors, including several hues in the now trendy matte finish. If you are buying a car for wrapping, here is a hint, buy a black one. This way when you open the doors or hood or get a peek inside a panel gap, the original red or white original color doesn’t pop out.

Me, I’d more than likely go for the Gloss Intense Blue (CB-169) or the Gloss Metallic Bright Blue (CB-162).

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1474