Sonata Washings

Shiny Sonata

Yesterday afternoon I washed the Purple Whale. It has been quite a while. I hope that I missed tagging a post somewhere along the line or according to this blog the last time the Sonata got a bath was October 2nd.

Today when we got home from work I waxed the Purple Whale. It has been quite a while. Like never. In the one and three quarters years of it being a member of the family it has never been waxed.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1196

Team Car

Hoping to turn around their lackluster showing on the football field from the last two weeks, today I gave the Purple Whales official team car a bath because everyone knows a clean car is a much happier car. And a happy car just performs better.

Sunday in Aiken

A short bike 10 mile ride. Breakfast at DD. Grocery shopping at Kroger.

Lunch. Wash the Purple Whale.

Afternoon spent watching the Weather Channel and listening to the FRS on the internet. Which is more related than you think in that they are both like rubbernecking at a car accident on the Interstate, horrible to see, but you just can’t turn away.*

Evening spent blogging and surfing the web.

Try and reel in your jealousy.

*On a related note, I just got an email that offered MLB.TV on my Roku for the rest of the season for a measly $10, so that if I actually wanted to see that wreck…

This April Starts Like Last April Started And Last September Ended

Baseball is back and the FRS have lost the first three games of the season. The Boston press is already writing stories about the Red Sox 2012 season being doomed or don’t worry it is only 3 out of 162. Today the Sox had a 3 run lead going into the bottom of the 9th inning. Detroit scored three runs to tie it. The FRS scored two in the top of the 11th to take the lead, but Detroit promptly scored 3 in the bottom of the inning to win it. I was already leaning towards Gloom & Doom, but after today’s effort I’ve fallen completely over.

Both cars got a bath today, the Sonata to remove the Georgia red clay from the wheel wells and the Florida bugs off the front, while the Miata had the last of the pine pollen rinsed off.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Tran?si?tions since 10/24/08: 1127

A Night At The Spa

The Purple Whale is spending the night at Taylor Hyundai getting his 15,000 mile beauty treatment. Because we learned our lesson last time (call and schedule in advance a couple weeks) we have a loaner car from the dealer.

It is a 2011 Hyundai Azera with 2,222 miles on the clock. I don’t have the greatest relationship with loner cars (examples: 1 & 2) and this one is no exception.

Or maybe it is just me, because I’m sure this is a very fine automobile, but it is severely lacking in quite a few categories compared to its cousin the 2011 Sonata. The styling leaves a lot to be desired, both internally and externally, the front leg room is less than an Elantra we tried, the leather seats are rock hard, uncomfortable and slippery, and it wallows down the road like a mid-seventies GM sedan.

On the plus side it has a bigger engine, a V-6, that puts out about 30% more HP than the Sonata (but the gas mileage is 20% less.) The only other thing that is nicer than the Purple Whale is that it has Dual Climate Control.

The sticker was in the glove box and the MSRP was over $4,000 more than the Sonata. To be fair, I’m sure the esthetics, both inside and out are much better in the newly redesigned 2012 Azera. But it is no wonder they had to turn this into the Service Dept Loaner, they would never get want they wanted for this wallflower with all the new Fluidic Sculptured, larger and cheaper Sonatas on the lot.

All Hail The Saloon!

This a picture of the first 4-door automobile the Bogarduses ever owned. It is a 1981 Honda Civic all fitted out with our bikes on the roof rack. If you look carefully you can see Donna in the driver’s seat waiting patiently for me to get back in the car so we can go somewhere, possibly New Orleans. The building in the left background was the apartment building where we lived in Meridian, MS while I was assigned to the Naval Air Station there.

I was working second shift and Donna was going to school during the day so we needed two cars. The four door joined a similarly colored 1980 Civic 3-door hatchback in our stable*. The 4-door only stayed with us for a year and a half before being traded in on a 1983 Honda Prelude in, you guessed it, maroon. I could never really get comfortable in the 4-door because the seat didn’t go back far enough for me, while in the hatchback it did.

*I would have said garage, but that would have been incorrect because we just had spots in the apartment complex LOT and not even assigned ones.

It is also the last 4-door car we owned for 30 years. Until the Purple Whale came along, who by the way, got a nice little bath this afternoon.