There is this commercial for the Chevy Impala where this saleswoman is showing this guy one of the newer ones in silver, he says, “My Dad had an Impala.” We are then treated to some B&W flashbacks of an early 60’s vintage Impala convertible. Now that is a cool looking car, the new one, even with the smoked lenses, is crap. Then again I’m not old enough to know, but maybe that 60’s Impala I think is cool now, was considered just as ugly then, as the new one is now.
Top still down. No heater this morning, but I did turn the defroster on to heat up the windshield so I didn’t get a repeat of the window fogging of yesterday.
Went to the post office in town this evening to mail the Aiken Bicycle Club newsletter. Of course we didn’t take the direct route, we went about 30 miles to make the 4 mile trip. About half way through we pulled over to the side of the road and watched the moon rise. It is just past full, but was huge and orange in the sky as it came above the cotton field. After about 15 minutes it was up high enough that it looked like the plain old moon again, so we got back in the car and finished the journey.
Started Down, Still Down.
Top still down. The trip to work required the heater though, the back roads stay cooler than in town. So cool that we popped up the last 60′ hill by work and back into the warmer air that it was instant white out. The windows fogged up so quickly I had to come to a complete stop. Got the windshield wipers on but they only worked for a bit. Got the defroster on too and in a bit I could see using the bottom 3 inches of the windshield. Almost had to stick my head out the window like a dog to see.
Just got confirmation that my picture of me in the car fender was added to The Mirror Project. See it here.
Started Down, still Down.
Drove to work this morning with the top down. Heater was on though as it was mid 40’s. Had to put it up when we got there though as there was still a slight chance of rain in the morning. It was positively spring-like on the drive home – mid 70’s, so of course the top came back down.
Got tired of staring at the naked rear end of the car, so I put the one remaining white 5″ diameter sticker in the same place I used to have one.
Started Down, Up, Down.
Every evening, well almost every evening, my wife and I take a walk around the block. It is close to a mile so we get a little exercise out of it, but more importantly, she likes it because it is hand-holding quality time. We seemed to have timed it wrong, because while usually traffic is very light, tonight it was relatively busy. Not long after they passed us, the driver of a SUV tossed out his cigarette butt, leaving behind a shower of sparks. It wasn’t that close, but people do it all the time – without thinking or looking so it seems. I have yet to be hit by a flying butt, but it seems only a matter of time, what with the walking, bicycle riding and driving a convertible…
At a stoplight, whenever I see someone drop their cigarette butt out of their window, I want to go over, pick it up and hand it back to the smoker and say, “You dropped this.”
Made a bagel run early this morning. Well, I think 9:00 PM is early on a weekend. The sun was out and it was somewhere in the 40’s, so before I backed out of the garage I put the top down. Really pleasant drive, didn’t even need the heater. As I slowly turned into my neighborhood on the return trip I startled a couple of birds in the magnolia tree in the median. Well, I think 30MPH is slow for a 90 degree turn. The second one misjudged my approach so that he ended up sort of scrambling up the windshield, I heard his feet scratching the glass. The blow was glancing enough that I don’t think I killed him. At least I wasn’t showered in feathers or anything. I know I scared the shit out of him, because he left that on the window.
Started Up, now Down.
Made the run to Evans, GA to check the Miata Club’s P.O. Box. I has been nearly 2 months, but we never get any mail unless it is renewal time anyway. There were 5 pieces of mail, a credit card come-on, a flyer from a grocery store, a returned newsletter, a group buy offer on windstops from Serious Auto and a Christmas card for the P.O. Box just to the left of us. Almost put the top up when we started as the temps were in the upper 40’s. My wife said, “That’s what heaters are for.” So instead I put the boot on. When we got back from the drive it was after lunch and it was nearing 70 degrees, so I put the top up. I wanted to wash and wax the car.
Starting yesterday, I think I will list the status and the changes to that status of the top here in the last line. Might be fun to go back and count ’em up for a week, month, year…
Started down, now Up.