I only have a short time to do a blogging, the actual vernal equinox is at 8:49 PST, a little less than an hour from now. Why is this time important, because on the exact moment of the equinox you can stand an egg on end. And I want to try it…
The Social Distancing Edition. As of Monday, March 16, 2020 at 9:00 PM pacific time:
| Track | Daily | Crush |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 Titan MK9 Alfa Romeo Formula B | 2003 Ferrari 360 Modena 6-Speed | 1979 Cadillac Eldorado St. Moritz Convertible |
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| Perfect for racing around after a couple of brewskis. | Perfect for driving and never getting out of 2nd. | Perfect for junking and freeing up parking spaces. |
We did our weekly grocery shopping at Fred Meyer on Thursday as usual. When we went through the paper product aisle things weren’t entirely empty and we didn’t need anything, so we kept on going. Fast forward to yesterday (Saturday) and when we went to add some toilet paper to the main bathroom, we discovered that there were really only three rolls left. Hmmm. With what is in each bathroom and this, we probably have enough to get to our next shopping day, but with all the hubbub on the the news and on the net about empty shelves we figured maybe we should go get some.
I can sort of understand the run on hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipers, but what the heck, nowhere in anything I had read or heard about this virus was diarrhea ever mentioned as a symptom. Why were people hoarding toilet paper?
After dinner we headed over to Fred Meyer and sure enough there was nary a roll of toilet paper to be had. We did buy a couple of rolls of paper towels and 3 other little items that we missed on Thursday, so the trip wasn’t a total waste. Donna asked the cashier when they expected the next shipment of TP in and was told they get a truck every morning, but that it was for everything in the store and may not have this now much sought after item.
Because it is on the way home we ducked into the Rite Aid just down the street. Its paper product aisle was bare as well. We decide to also stop into the Holiday Market, a 1/3 scale supermarket with fewer items and fewer choices on the way home too. As we approached, the parking lot was fuller than normal and the two cars right in front of me pulled in there, so I said, “I guarantee they don’t have any either, so let’s just go home.”
So this morning we contemplated making a run to the Albertson’s and Sherm’s Thunderbird Market to look for toilet paper, but I felt it was a waste of time and really didn’t want to start playing Whack-A-Mole with local supermarkets hoping to get lucky and happen to be in a store when they came from out back to stock the paper products. Donna suggested trying Amazon. Ha, no toilet paper at all was available in Prime. There were a few of other options, but all from third party vendors with shipping fees of $5 to $15 and 7 to 10 day delivery times.
Mid morning today we did go back to Fred Meyer just to see if the morning truck brought some toilet paper. As we entered the store someone was coming out with cart that had a package of either three rolls of paper towels or 6 rolls of TP, couldn’t tell exactly as it is impolite to stare. When we got to the paper product aisle there they were, a few dozen packs of Kroger brand 12 packs. There was a sign that said Limit 2, so that is what we got. We are now set for the next three weeks or so and hopefully by then the great Covid-19 TP Rush will have subsided.
No actual video for this tune. There probably was one back in the MTV days, but searching the web just unearthed several versions of the song with static backgrounds. Save Ferris’s probably best remembered for their ska treatment cover of the Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ song Come On Eileen.
The 70th Anniversary Edition. Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of the production of the first Volkswagen Type 2, the Micro Bus. I was hoping to find 3 of them for sale today, but no such luck. The only one that was there was newer Westfalia camper that was ripe for crushing, because, to paraphrase Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, “It ain’t a real bus unless it was built before 1969.” As of Monday, March 9, 2020 at 9:00 PM pacific time:
| Track | Daily | Crush |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 Cooper-Climax T39 | 2007 Porsche Cayman | 1990 VW Westfalia |
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| If you are going to go racing, go in style. | It was either this car or this other one. |
I know there is a market for this, but IMHO, yuk. |
Growing up, if my mom wasn’t listening to the Red Sox baseball game on the radio, she had it tuned to the local Country Music station. So naturally, as soon as I had a radio of my own, I vowed to never listen to country music again. It was second on my list of hated music genres, right behind opera. Sure enough, as I hit adulthood, I discovered that it wasn’t that bad after all.
It never made it into a “What’s kind of music do you listen to” conversation, but occasionally after a few months of a steady rock and roll diet, a week of country was a nice palette cleanser. And even sometimes when I got bored with the videos on MTV, I would watch CMT for a bit1. Which is where I discovered this voice.
Because yesterday afternoon was sunny and lower 60’s, when we headed out to run some errands, we opted to do them in the Miata. About 2 blocks down the road a fairly loud rumbling started and the front end of the car was doing a small wobble. Donna went, “What’s that?” I answered, “Might have a flat.” A couple of seconds later I said, “I know what it is,” and did a quick u-turn to head back home.
This post should really have been titled “I’ve Got A Few Lug Nuts Loose.” For what has to be at least the sixth or seventh time in my career I have not fully tightened down the lug nuts on a wheel or two (or four) after rotating the tires or doing some brake maintenance. Including one time in the early 80’s that happened with Donna driving and having to stop at a place to have them diagnose the rumbling sound the car was making.
This is why I was getting the stink-eye from her as we returned to the Pacific Terrace driveway. Because just before turning around I had said, “I forgot to tighten the lug nuts.” On Wednesday afternoon I installed the new front license plate mount, which had caused me to remove the front wheels and I missed the final step.
About the second time this happened in Aiken, I devised a way to make sure not to forget this step by taking the torque wrench and placing it right at the entrance to the garage. There was no way for me to miss it and I sure as heck couldn’t drive the low clearance Miata over the wrench. To my credit, I did something similar here too, but because I was working close to the garage opening, the torque wrench was mixed in with all the other tools I was using, so it got put away with everything else. I think a new safeguard is required. Possibly I should buy a baseball cap from the Lansing Michigan minor league baseball team to wear when working on the car. Or, perhaps putting the torque wrench on the driver’s seat might work.