I Don’t Even Take My Own Advice

I am patiently waiting for the UPS driver to arrive. What I bought requires a signature, so I can’t leave the house until that Big Brown Truck pulls up outside. What am I waiting for? Well, first let’s start with, I don’t even take me own advice.

It is that RoadsterSport muffler I waxed poetically about in that same post linked above. I bought the twin-tip version to match what the stock exhaust looks like.

I haven’t joined the local Miata Club, but I did start reading the Miata.net Forum, specifically the ND section that applies to my current generation. Ostensibly so I could learn more about the car and all the new fangled stuff on it that didn’t even exist when my last Miata, the CTBNL, was made.

But, sadly, it is not just the muffler. I was looking to get a stubby antenna to replace the stock one and I found a recommendation about one called, appropriately, The Stubby available from Cravenspeed. While checking out the antenna I noticed that the company is located in Portland, Oregon. Wait a minute, I live there now. So I scrolled through their stuff and found a couple other items that I just had to have, a side mount for the front license plate and the soundtube delete kit. A road trip was planned and executed. Money was spent.

I’m probably going to take a drive over there again next week, I have decided I’d like to get their clear wind deflector to replace the stock plastic basketweave looking one.

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Gray Is The New Silver Edition of SORT
As of Monday, October 21, 2024 at 4:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1972 Datsun
240Z		 1991 Mercedes-Benz
Unimog		 1958 Cadillac
Series 62
Ever since I purchased that Aero Gray Miata I see an awful lot of vehicles painted in various shades of some sort of non-metallic grey. I was going to have the car wrapped in bright shade of blue, but after the reactions from all the folks at the Mazda dealer to see the car in this color. I think I’ll just leave it gray, because gray has become the new silver.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sport: 1968 Porsche 912 Coupe Sold for $22,500 on 10/16/24
Off-Road: 1978 Ford F-250 Ranger Sold for $23,500 on 10/17/24
Touring: 1953 Chevrolet 3100 Pickup Sold for $25,550 on 10/16/24

George L. Smith State Park Again

I subscribe to the Microsoft Bing Wallpaper app and everyday I get a new background for my desktop. When I saw todays image I thought, “That looks familiar.”

That’s because it is. I took the picture below on a visit to a state park in Georgia while on a geocaching hunt. I liked it so much I uploaded to Radio Paradise for them to use in their slideshows while music is playing. Even though that was 14 years ago they are still using it and every few months I’ll see it.

Another Sunday, Another Post Office Safari

I set out with a planned route that would net 7 more Portland Post Offices. It didn’t take long for the plan to fall apart.

Not A Post Office Anymore

My first stop was at the Portland Airport. I had tried for this post office once before by following signs that said post office with an arrow and it put me somewhere where I had to back out. This time I used Google Maps in satellite mode and saw where I went astray the last time, then dropped the little man to make sure that image matched what was on the map page. And when I got to where the post office was, that is exactly what it was, was. The building is still there and you can see the address numbers up on the wall. And just to the right of that is the ghost outline of the official Postal Service metal signage.

Not A Public Post Office

I plugged in the address of my next target and headed off. Not long after driving along the route I spotted a nice big piece of granite with the words “United States Postal Service” engraved on it, so I pulled in. The parking lot out front was huge, but the only way in said “Employees Only.” I turned around and started driving to the other side, but was not an entrance there either. The building was twice the size of the parking lot. This must be the sorting facility for all the mail that gets flown in, not where I could go and buy a stamp.

The next two post offices were right where Google Maps said they would be. My loop was now taking me back into the heart of the big city. Turns out my next stop was smack in the middle of a very young hip happening place. I had to loop the block 3 times before I just gave up und headed for the next Post Office on the list. Back home I figured out what happened here, when you type in the address, Google shows you the map and on the left there is a static street view shot of that address. It showed the building I was looking at, but that building is not there anymore. That street view image is from 2019 and if you drop the little man and you will see what he and I saw, a new building where that PO was.

The next Post Office was the main post office for the big city and big it was. The photo I took of it shows a little more than half the building size. Then I missed the next two post offices altogether. I circled the block twice in each instance, but what I was seeing was not what I was expecting to see. I wonder those are the other place and those buildings have changed. I’ll give it one more try before I just shrug and move on.

It’s That Time Again

After 3 years it is time for some new glasses. I’m pretty sure the prescription has not changed that much, but tradition is tradition, so new glasses I’ll get. And I’ll add the current ones to the drawer where the other last two pairs of glasses reside, so if I want a different look, they are there for the taking.

From left to right, the top row, Dawson’s in Azure Crystal with Oak Barrel (Current pair), the Vaughn in Eastern Bluebird Fade and the Sadie in Riverbed Tortoise. Bottom row, Santiago in Hudson Blue Fade, the Gillian in Teal Tortoise and the Newman in Shoreline.

The current front runner is the Santiago in Hudson Blue Fade because it is similar in shape and style to the current pair. But, I find myself leaning towards Gillian in Teal Tortoise because it is a slightly different shape and because of my love of all things Gillian Anderson.

Post vs. Kellogg

I got rid of Discovery+ because that was Donna’s jam. I cancelled the Premium & Ad Free levels of Peacock which saved enough for me to get Netflix as a replacement. I have no idea how long it will stay, but for sure there are quite a few new things I can watch. Plus there a lot of older shows that we might have seen and enjoyed, so they might be worth a re-watch.

I know I wanted to see My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman. The first episode was with Jerry Seinfeld. The second one was with Former President Obama. Which reminded me of the Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee episode with then President Obama. So I started re-watching those Jerry Seinfeld’s CICGC shows. The ever helpful algorithm at Netflix recommended other Seinfeld stuff, the entire 9 seasons of the TV show or his stand up specials or the movie Unfrosted.

Hey, I remember seeing the trailer for Unfrosted and though it might be worth trying. It had a bunch of funny people in the cast too. I checked IMDB to see what rating it got, 5.5. well it can’t be half bad. Last evening I sat down to watch it, you know what, it was half bad. The only thing the movie did was make me quit somewhere watching in the middle and go to the kitchen to heat up a couple Pop Tarts.

Slowly Erasing Donna

I have spent the last two weeks having Donna’s name removed from bank accounts, the title to the house, her name off the land lease, the power bill, etc. Last Friday a woman from the ALS Association came over and picked up a few small things for their loaner closet. Someone else is coming over tomorrow to pick up a lot of the mobility supplies and home occupational therapy devices.

Those things were all esoteric, just names on paper or in computer files, today was a big one, I took all her clothes, coats, visors and shoes to Goodwill. I walk by the ratan hutch in the living room and look at the pictures of her to see if Donna is fading out like Marty McFly in “Back to the Future.”