Tabula Rasa

TDTVS episode 3 of 82 gave us a little peek at Kate’s Australian back story. On the island miracle man John Locke whittles a whistle that brings Vincent out of the jungle.

Besides LOST we also watched 2/3rds of the second episode of An Unsuitable Job for a Woman the decidedly British mystery show that came in the mail today. When we tear off the outer flap of the red Netflix envelope we shred that sucker because it has our name and address on it. For those of you who laugh in the face of the identity thieves I have the perfect solution of what to do with all those envelope flaps – Netflix Origami

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Pilot – Part 2

Show 2 of 82. Does this photo look familiar? I think it does. Just six days ago I posted a photo I had taken of the Shannon Rutherford “Action” Figure that was based on the scene from this episode.

After Sunday’ games the FRS had a magic number of 1 for clinching a wild card playoff spot. They were also only 1-1/2 games out of first place and winning the division was once again in play. But last night they lost and Tampa Bay won dropping them back to 2-1/2 games behind. Because the Yankees had the night off the playoff clinching magic number remained at one. Tonight the Yanks are winning and Tampa Bay has won the first game of their doubleheader and although the FRS are winning, they are making it look hard, they are up by only one run and the Indians have loaded the bases the last two innings. Update: The FRS managed to stave off defeat and are going to the playoffs.

The weather has turned positively March like all of a sudden here, High near 80, low in the upper 50s and 20 MPH winds. Even though it is our long days and 1 hour earlier start, we got up even earlier so we could ride the tandem to work. The good thing about the extra hour early start, there is nobody, and I mean nobody, on the road at that time. The good thing about the wind is it is coming from a direction that makes it a tailwind on the way home.

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Pilot – Part 1

Night 1 of 82. We have started watching all the previous seasons episodes of Season 5 of TDTVS , one at a time, every weeknight until January when new episodes begin again.

I still have trouble with the jet engine remaining running long after the crash and then spectacularly blowing up when some red shirt is sucked into it. The second explosion when the wing crashes down on the sand is a credibility stretcher as well.

This episode is entitled Pilot (Pt 1) because it was what the producers, in the traditional sense, used to sell the show to the network. But knowing now, what I didn’t know then, I’m betting it is also called this because of the key role the pilot played in the plane getting lost.

Just how old was J.J. Abrams in 1969? Do you think the genesis of LOST was a show called The New People?

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Synchronized Horseback Riding

We walked back over to see the balloons fly again this morning (more pictures.)

After the skies cleared they held some equestrian type stuff, go figure, the event is called Ford Trucks Equestrian America Balloon Festival. We stayed a while to watch our neighbor and another member of the Aiken Pony Club do a musical dressage demonstration. They did a 5 minute walk, trot, canter, etc. in sync inside a small ring set up to the music from TDPM.

Coincidentally I got to watch the last 15 minutes of that movie on USA after the FRS beat the Blue Jays on TBS that segued into a House marathon, which I have been glued to ever since. If you like House like I like House check out Medical Reviews of House on Polite Dissent. The fellow is a doctor which gives him a very unique slant on the show. Don’t forget to read the comments as they are almost as good and at times even better.

Just like us, the Emperor took the day off.

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Word Limit

Unfortunately I have used up all the words I’m allotted for today by typing out captions for the pictures I took this morning at the balloon fest, so head on over to Flickr to see ’em and read ’em – Aiken Balloon Fest 2008.

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Red Envelope in the Mail

When we got home today and checked the mail there was a familiar red envelope in the box. Upon closer inspection it was a clever advert for the service. Inside were four cards, offering 1 month free trial to Netflix that you would hopefully pass out to your friends and when they signed up you would get a bonus movie shipped to you from your queue.

Sounds cool, but I won’t be passing any out and here is why, when you sign up you need a valid form of payment (most likely a credit card, but I’m sure direct debit from a checking account is an option) and this I understand, but the part I don’t like is that they will automatically start charging that card or whatever if you do not cancel before your month is up. I’m not stupid, I know why they are doing it that way, they are betting you won’t remember to cancel in time and they can charge your account. They are also betting you won’t even see it on your monthly bill and can probably get a couple months of money before you figure out what happened. That just smacks of sleazy.

How about playing fair and using the opt in policy, send a couple three emails after the three week time frame and ask if they would like to continue? We had just recently considered giving someone a gift of Netflix for Christmas, but decided against it for the same reason.

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Mid Grade

The 2001+ Miatas, which the Emperor is one of, requires premium (91 octane) fuel because they bumped the compression, among other things, to increase the horsepower. Because of this I have been paying 20¢ more a gallon than must folks.

The car will run on lower octane gas because the ECU (brain) will compensate and adjust the timing so the engine won’t knock. When this happens the car will lose a few horses and the gas mileage will also suffer some. I have never cheated and run lower grade stuff, because even when the car is on E it only takes 10 gallons to fill up, so considering the downsides, saving two bucks more a tankful is just not worth it.

When I first got the car I was startled by a sort of abrupt surge in engine power as it passes up through 3000 RPM when the car is not fully warm. I wondered if there was something wrong because none of my previous Miatas did that. I checked that fountain of Miata knowledge, the forums on Miata.net and learned that that behavior was common in the 2001+ cars. They added a mechanical variable valve timing thingamabob and that in conjunction with ECU created that little surge which smoothed out after the engine was up to temperature.

Funny thing happened last Friday though, because Hurricane Ike created havoc with the gas supply in our neck of the woods, when I finally found a place that actually had gas for sale they weren’t selling premium. I filled the car up with mid grade (89 octane) and so far my butt dyno has noticed zero difference in pep. And as a bonus that, still surprising after all these years, 3000 RPM surge is gone. I didn’t check to see if the mileage was down, so tonight I filled it up with mid grade again. At the next fill up I’ll see if I end up getting less than the usual 27 MPG.

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