Thinkin' 'Bout My Baby...

The day I bought her: 10/14/2000. Oakland Hills, CA.

Why I like love the Green Hornet:

I love the intro to this clip, particularly where the host goes on for a bit about the Miata’s reputation for being “a hairdresser’s car.” Interesting how some things are the same on both sides of the pond, coz the Miata has the same book here as well. It’s kinda weird looking at a right hand drive Miata…but not really, considering it is a Japanese car and the Nihonjin drive on the “proper” side of the road, too. There are also a few British colloquialisms in the vid that might leave some of you scratching your head…like when the host sez “the hood can be raised from the driver’s seat, but only if you’ve had your Weetabix this morning.” Our man is talking about the car’s top… not the hood… and Weetabix is a cereal. Other than that, nearly everything mentioned in this clip is true. Well, except for one thing: Miatas driven in the dry Southwest just don’t have rust. At all.

Still and even…I’ve been thinking about one of these for well over a year now:

I think I’d look pretty good in a Road-a-stah, especially one with a hard-toppu. The US model, as shown, goes for about $29K out the door. And therein lies the rub...one of the best things about my current Miata is the fact she's all mine. And life without a car payment is good!

OTOH, nothing lasts forever...

Mission Accomplished (w/o Flightsuit)

Well…back from The Big(ger) City^TM by way of Cannon Airplane Patch. The Green Hornet has been dropped off and is in the (hopefully) loving care of Rembrandt Auto Body, the temporary ride has been picked up and exercised a bit (more about which below), and the delayed major shopping run has been done. All completed satisfactorily, as well.

The TempRide (pictured below) is a 2007 Chrysler Sebring and is better than I thought I’d get. “Better,” of course, being a highly relative term. Better than what, you might ask? Well, better than any low-end bottom-of-the-line GM-Ford-Chrysler product…such as a Neon or a Cobalt. No offense meant to anyone who just might drive…and like…either of those products. I, too, wouldn’t mind a Cobalt…as long as it had “Sport” appended to the end of its name. Same for the Neon, as I know Chrysler makes a pocket-rocket flavor of that car. But…AFAIK the rental car companies don’t buy these things.

The Sebring is OK. It’s quiet, relatively comfortable, and has enough power to get out of its own way. The sound system leaves a lot to be desired (but does have a CD player, Thank God), the steering is numb in that Amurican Car kinda way and it wallows. But other than that? Yeah…I can live with this thing for the next week or three. The best part? The cost is fully within my insurance policy’s rental reimbursement rates. There shouldn’t be any monies due from YrHmblScrb when this is all over.

Ah, but there’s the long pole in the tent. “When this is all over” will likely be the first week in December. The holidays knock out two days next week and the parts more than likely won’t even be ordered until this coming Monday, at the earliest. I hope it doesn’t take longer than that, coz I’ve got somewhere to be over Christmas and I intend to drive. One way or another, but I’d really prefer to do it in my own car. Much better sound system. {insert smiley-face thingie here}

One final note. I made the trip over to Clovis at a snail’s pace (compared to my usual speed), which is to say 50~55 mph. I know I irritated the Hell out of at least four people who got stuck behind me due to oncoming traffic. The back road between P-Ville and The Big(ger) City^TM is a two-laner and although it’s posted at 65 mph, the usual, customary, and reasonable speed varies between 75 and 80 mph. And there I was, creeping along at 55. I felt like I could get out and push the Green Hornet faster than that. But…watching the hood flutter every time one of those big-ass 18 wheelers blew by me gave me all the incentive I needed to hold it down. And so I did: speed down, stereo volume up. And I arrived safely, albeit eventually...compared to normal.

I got to thinking while I was creeping along…specifically about the first Great Oil Crisis/Revenue Opportunity of 1973. We all were supposed to “Drive 55” back then, which no one could or would actually DO, and which gave the state highway patrols and various other law enforcement agencies one of the greatest revenue windfalls of modern times. It was about that time I went out and bought my first radar detector (such as they were). The Fuzzbuster and an eagle eye kept me out of trouble with the gendarmes, but Dang!! It sure was painful, having to slow down when in the company of a black and white. Let’s hope the gubmint ain’t prone to relive the past when the next Oil Crisis hits, because that 55 mph speed limit was the absolute height of stupidity. Ha. Talk about wishful thinking… I AM talking about the gubmint.

The Second

Well, now. I’m not sure if I originally thought I’d make it this far…or not. But I have, nonetheless. Today marks my second anniversary of blogging…in other words: it’s my blog-o-versary. Two years. Wow.

So! Let us (well, me, anyway) celebrate two years of mindless drivel, mediocre photos, dumb quizzes, plane pr0n, and somewhat relevant commentary on a wide range of subjects most people don’t give a dang about. But… ya know what the absolute best part is? I’ve made new friends and reestablished connections with a few old friends, as well. Which has made it all worthwhile, Gentle Reader. Thank you!

There's single-malt, beer, cigars, and sushi in the back*. Help yourself.

* OK...I'm lying about the sushi. There would be sushi were I on either coast, or the Third Coast, for that matter.

A Moment of Validation

This is good to know for my self-esteem, which… generally speaking… isn’t all that lacking to begin with. But. According to Google we're the Number One Authority on “How to say stuff in Portales.” Of course we don’t make claims we cannot substantiate. So, proof:

We’re Number One! We’re NUMBER ONE!

Take that, ENMU! You’re Number Five! You can't say stuff better than us! Ha!

Mid-Week

Via ESPN…the aptly named “That Ain’t Right,” a slide show of automotive monstrosities from the SEMA show in Vegas. The pic I’ve chosen to pique your fancy features my pet peeve of current automotive abominations…those outsized wheels that seemingly “grace” every other mildly or wildly customized SUV, Caprice, or other big-assed vehicles prowling the streets these days. To my way of thinking the money spent on “22s” would be better spent on a supercharger or some other horsepower enhancing device. Or decent shocks, based upon some examples I’ve seen around these parts…

Today’s Musical Moments… Two tunes from Leo Kottke. The first is contemporary Leo, playing his interpretation of the ol’ Duane Allman classic, Little Martha.

Short and sweet, as the saying goes. And simply frickin’ brilliant.

Now this piece ("Vaseline Machine Gun") is what originally turned me on to Kottke in the waaay-back, circa 1970 or so. The first time I heard this piece I simply didn’t believe it was only ONE guy on guitar…I just knew it had to be an instrumental duet. But, no. Just Leo. I bought the album and became a life-long fan.

Amazing, isn’t he? I’ve seen Leo at least three times…and always in a small venue with no more than a hundred people…at the very most…in the audience. The man has marvelous rapport with his audience and his stage banter is self-deprecating and virtually defines the word “eccentric,” as in funny-eccentric. There are few guitar players that are Kottke’s equal, and fewer still that are better. None come to mind as I write…

Today’s Political Moment of Zen (apologies, Jon)…courtesy of the WSJ:

To get the conversation rolling at that D.C. dinner--and perhaps mischievously--I wondered aloud whether Bush hatred had not made rational discussion of politics in Washington all but impossible. One guest responded in a loud, seething, in-your-face voice, "What's irrational about hating George W. Bush?" His vehemence caused his fellow progressives to gather around and lean in, like kids on a playground who see a fight brewing.

Reluctant to see the dinner fall apart before drinks had been served, I sought to ease the tension. I said, gently, that I rarely found hatred a rational force in politics, but, who knows, perhaps this was a special case. And then I tried to change the subject.

But my dinner companion wouldn't allow it. "No," he said, angrily. "You started it. You make the case that it's not rational to hate Bush." I looked around the table for help. Instead, I found faces keen for my response. So, for several minutes, I held forth, suggesting that however wrongheaded or harmful to the national interest the president's policies may have seemed to my progressive colleagues, hatred tended to cloud judgment, and therefore was a passion that a citizen should not be proud of being in the grips of and should avoid bringing to public debate. Propositions, one might have thought, that would not be controversial among intellectuals devoted to thinking and writing about politics.

But controversial they were. Finally, another guest, a man I had long admired, an incisive thinker and a political moderate, cleared his throat, and asked if he could interject. I welcomed his intervention, confident that he would ease the tension by lending his authority in support of the sole claim that I was defending, namely, that Bush hatred subverted sound thinking. He cleared his throat for a second time. Then, with all eyes on him, and measuring every word, he proclaimed, "I . . . hate . . . the . . . way . . . Bush . . . talks."

Much has been written about BDS and I’ve linked more than a few of these pieces. This one is as good as any and better than most. Not the least of which is this pithy observation:

In short, Bush hatred is not a rational response to actual Bush perfidy. Rather, Bush hatred compels its progressive victims--who pride themselves on their sophistication and sensitivity to nuance--to reduce complicated events and multilayered issues to simple matters of good and evil. Like all hatred in politics, Bush hatred blinds to the other sides of the argument, and constrains the hater to see a monster instead of a political opponent.

Which, of course, has never failed to amaze me. Read the whole thing.

(h/t: Lex)

It’s not a nice day here on The High Plains of New Mexico… a front is moving in and the wind is up. “Howling” is a much more appropriate, albeit overused, term. I won’t be going out today, reduced as I am to using Miss Zukiko for basic transportation, and today is not a good day for motorcycling. Ya, the Green Hornet runs and all her mechanical systems save one are intact. The one system that isn’t functional is the hood latch, and the hood remains in place…which is to say down… thanks only to the emergency catch. It’ll be a slow slog over to the body shop in Clovis tomorrow. But until then, the wounded Hornet will remain parked. I’m not one to tempt fate.

Thanks!

Just a quick hit to say Thank You…ALL of you! … who gave so generously to VALOUR-IT. As of 0815 this morning Soldiers Angels has raised $108,951.00, or 45% of this year’s $240,000.00 goal. More money will trickle in over the course of the next week or so (if last year’s performance is any indication…and I’m sure it IS), even though the fund raiser is officially over.

It’s tempting to moan and groan about falling short of the goal. But let’s not go there. Instead, think about the GOOD the collected monies will accomplish, which is significant. Yes, we could have done better. But it is what it is. If your guilt is overwhelming…you know where that “Donate” button is, right? It still works.

Finally: Congratulations to that Big Green Machine...Team Army... who pulled out the win over a very determined USMC team on the very last day. The current overall results are here.

Summertime...And the Readin' Is Easy...

I dunno whether to be pleased or offended:

But I suppose I learned my lessons well: back in my technical writing/proposal writing days the corporate target grade level was nine. And just for grins ‘n’ giggles, and since I write in Word and then post, I checked the blog to date for November and got the same results: a Flesch Reading Ease score of 61 and a grade level of 8.2.

h/t: Lex, whose blog reading level is “Genius.” See, Gentle Reader? I'm going easy on ya, by comparison.