Bryan and The Tick

A follow-up to the previous post...

2011-10-15T10:00:00.002-04:00

For anyone curious, here are the pictures I used:

I then took the photos and layered them in GIMP, each succeeding picture being added as a transparent layer so that I could then "erase" parts of it to show the layer below. The end result shows 5 sides of my personality as a car enthusiast if not as a person.

Enjoy!

First Post in Awhile...

2011-10-13T07:46:00.000-04:00

Haven't really had much going on with the car lately. I bought a '10 Mazda5 that I'll need to be getting photos of soon before the weather goes completely sour. I've been getting into RC flying more as well.

I still enjoy The Tick, but for now, he's pretty much finished. I removed the grille, making him look even more stock. The top will need replacing next year, and I'm going to try to tear the suspension apart and rotate the components this winter.

Speaking of The Tick...last May, I took a series of photos with a tripod and timer, hoping to one day stitch them together to look something like one of these:

Well, they didn't come out that fancy, but here is the first real try at it:

Random Video - Vampire Weekend

2011-04-22T21:51:00.005-04:00

Here's another indie group that has found themselves featured in commercials for just about everything: Vamprire Weekend and their video for "Holiday":

Not sure why, but the imagery of men in clothing out of the 1700's riding around L.A. in Chevy Impala cracks me up. Add in a bit of uncharacteristic partying, and for some reason I love this video!

Deal's Gap

2011-04-21T21:49:00.001-04:00

Not much has happened with the car. Nothing, in fact. Put gas in and drove it--all the way to North Carolina! Unfortunately, the weather was a little cold and it rained all Friday night, but I still had a good time! I left the house at 6.30am and drove top down all the way with a stop in Lexington for breakfast with a friend I was doing a caravan with to get there. I finally arrived at my cabin at Nantahala Village at 3.30pm, totally pooped!

I managed to get some driving done despite the rain. Here is a shot of me on my way in, just up the hill from the Crossroads and the Motorcycle Resort. I actually made the front page of Killboy.com, but was pretty far in the background (or in the front, depending on where you were standing):

Squint reeeeeeal hard and you'll see me heading around the bend!

I also went fishing with some of my friends while I was down there. Admittedly, I've fished about twice in my life, so "rusty" was not the word! However, after a couple hours, I managed to reel this one in:

Yeah...it's tiny, but at least I got to eat it!

I even got to fly my Solo Pro in the cabin!

First Day Out

2011-03-12T15:58:00.001-05:00

My wife, whether she knows it or not, really keeps me going sometimes.

Today when she got home from the gym, she was surprised that I hadn't put the tires on The Tick yet, considering it was just past 60deg and dry. I had thought about it, but kind of kept putting it off, as I've had the last couple days off work and was just enjoying not having to do anything (even if I would have enjoyed it).

That said, thanks to the air tank she got me for my birthday last year, I got the job done in about 40min and we were on our way.

The Tick is back on the road!!!!!!

IT LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES!

2011-03-02T07:17:00.005-05:00

This has been The Tick's spot since the middle of November...

I probably should have turned it on a couple times, but I just let the poor guy sit while I was working out this winter. Guess you could say priorities changed.

After 3+ hours on the charger last night, I put the battery back in and attempted to fire it up...and it caught on the first try!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

New Kicks!

2010-12-20T22:36:00.000-05:00

Christy and I have started working out together, which I've really loved. I've soooooo missed running! We've been at it since the beginning of December and, despite a couple setbacks and getting my butt kicked by the trainer on several occasions, I'm happy to report that we're both still trucking!

Partially as motivation and partially because we honestly needed to replace them, we both went to get new running shoes.

Now, for those who may not know, I was (and sort of still am) a shoe geek. Besides all my trips to Runners Supply, I was lucky enough to work at Bob Roncker's Running Spot, one of the best running shoe stores in the country as well as coming back to Runners Supply to work during one of my summers in Canton. During any free moment, I would run back to the stock room to try on all the shoes to get myself familiar with them (I mean, you can't sell what you don't know, right?). I kept a catalog in my mind of model names, features, weights, fits, etc. and loved it!

Aaaaaaaanyway...back to the present.

My old shoes (when I bought them) were the latest and greatest of Nike's Structure Triax line. I picked them up while Christy and I were on honeymoon at the now defunct Honolulu Niketown. They were light, responsive, cushy, and decently supportive. Good shoes, overall. I've been running in various models from the Structure Triax line since I was a freshman in high school, and it's nice to see that Nike kept making them as a quality mid-range shoe.

Out with the old...and in with the new: the Asics GT-2160. Like the Structure Triax, I'd run in one of the shoes from this line in high school as well. In fact, the GT-2040 had been the first regular running shoe that I'd run sockless in (by Senior year, I was racing regularly in spikes and flats without socks). These are pretty quality shoes as well. I like them because they're a little more stiff than the cushy and light Nikes. While this sounds counter-intuitive, keep in mind that I'm just over 200lbs. Light and cushy shoes get pounded to death at that weight, but I find that more solid shoes are actually more comfortable and supportive without feeling like bricks.

And now, the two shoes side by side:

Soooooo...a lot of rambling about new shoes--especially because I've only run in them about three times for a total of 5-6 miles. Truth is, much like running, being a shoe geek is a hobby I forgot that I enjoyed!

If I Had My Druthers...

2010-12-09T07:38:00.000-05:00

My father is in the middle of the restoration of his 1930 Model A Cabriolet. Despite urgings from his fellow car buddies (who all wanted him to go the custom/restomod route), Dad is restoring the car to factory brilliance, which is something I can definitely get behind. To encourage him and possibly give some ammo to the "factory restoration" argument, I recently snapped pictures of a 1930 Tudor whose owner had it restored a couple decades ago:

(After seeing it up close, I can't help but laugh, thinking that "Tudor" was a joking amalgamation of "Two Door", but that's beside the point!)

While I applaud Dad for sticking to his guns and doing the factory restoration, if I had my own car, I'm thinking it'd look something like this:

(via Just a Car Guy)

This is some pretty impressive work, no?

A long overdue update, Pt. 2 - Audio

2010-12-06T09:00:00.003-05:00

Following the CR@TG trip, I finally tackled the task of getting the old MBQ Component system removed and serviced and the new speaker setup. It consists of Kenwood KFC1662S 3-ways and Rockford Fosgate Prime R1T-S tweeters. These were wired into the stock speaker wiring. The 3-ways were installed on top of a set of custom 6-1/2" to 8" speaker adapters for the Miata and 8" XTC baffles.

The setup is meant to work on the stock head unit and, while not the most awesome setup, works well. I was also finally able to reinstall factory kick panels and my dead pedal!

New Speakers 001 by bryanewyatt, on Flickr

New Speakers 002 by bryanewyatt, on Flickr

New Speakers 004 by bryanewyatt, on Flickr

New Speakers 006 by bryanewyatt, on Flickr

New Speakers 007 by bryanewyatt, on Flickr

Compare the "panel-off" pic to the old setup:

Sound Fix 009 by bryanewyatt, on Flickr

A long overdue update, Pt. 1

2010-12-04T21:22:00.000-05:00

Not too much has happened with the car, aside from some audio upgrades I'll be covering in the next post.

Here are some shots of the car along with some folks you might recognize at CR@TG '10.

First off, it snowed on the way in!

CR@TG 2010 001 by bryanewyatt, on Flickr

CR@TG 2010 004 by bryanewyatt, on Flickr

I didn't take many pictures, but here's one Taylor got of Christy and I. It's one of our favorites!

DSC_7271 by bryanewyatt, on Flickr

Shots taken on the way out from the Motorcycle Resort:

CR@TG 2010 005 by bryanewyatt, on Flickr

CR@TG 2010 006 by bryanewyatt, on Flickr

CR@TG 2010 010 by bryanewyatt, on Flickr

Oy! Who are these, then?

(For those who don't know, the car on the right famous Blue Potato owned by Peter Brusa and the Sweet Potato owned by his wife Ginger, both friends of Christy and I).

CR@TG 2010 012 by bryanewyatt, on Flickr

Ponderous Parking Protuberance

2010-10-12T19:55:00.002-04:00

This happens more often than I'd like to admit at work (or, well, anywhere when I drive The Tick): I will walk out to the car only to find that it is now completely invisible, even though I remember exactly where I parked! To combat this, when I park the car, I will often purposely leave it even or a little past the end of the car next to it.

Why, you ask? Well, I'm a little paranoid about the car getting bopped by someone who enthusiastically pulls into a spot without carefully seeing if there's a car occupying it. I've nearly done this before (the owners of the NC, Mini Cooper, and several other cars at work could stand to not park so far into their spots!). If nothing else, it makes the car a little easier to find when I walk out at the end of the day.

This strategy can backfire, however. Every day, half the parking lot does a shuffle right around lunch-time. What this means, of course, is that the car you evened yourself up with in the morning might be replaced by something MUCH bigger in the afternoon.

This was one of those days.

This is what I saw when I walked out to my spot this evening:

It's worth noting that at the original angle I approached the car, I couldn't see it at all!

There's The Tick!

This really does happen quite often. In fact, I keep a running album of The Tick next to stuff. Feel free to browse :-)

ps - It took me almost as long just to get to the highway as it did for me to get to work (door-to-door)!

The Answer to Every Question?

2010-10-04T06:52:00.003-04:00

A member on one of my forums recently posted an article on the automotive blog Jalopnik.com detailing his feelings regarding the Miata. Not surprisingly, I happen to agree!

Your thoughts?

One Hit Wonders Weekend

2010-10-03T21:29:00.001-04:00

Now I don't know about most of you, but when I hear the phrase "one hit wonder," I normally think of the 80's. Maybe it's because my age was still in the single digits when the Berlin Wall fell, but I find that a lot of the songs I liked back then were by a group from whom I never heard another song. I think of groups like Information Society and songs like "What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)" or the ever so famous "Come on Eileen" (and yes, I know the lyrics):

That said, I'm forgetting that the 90's had plenty of OHW's (I like my acronyms...I like 'em a lot!). Consider "Lucas with the Lid Off" or Us3's "Cantaloop":

Why am I having this random thought? First, this is my blog and I can think whatever random thoughts I want to, of course. The second reason is the title of this post; one of the local stations here in town had a One Hit Wonders Weekend. Always nice to hear some songs I haven't heard in awhile!

What were some of your favorite One Hit Wonder tunes?

I Should Be Doing This Right Now

2010-09-30T23:43:00.000-04:00

How do I find these random videos all the time?

Good question!

In any case, I present you Vampire Weekend's "Holiday":

Now seriously...who would think of rolling in an Impala through the hills of LA all while wearing 17th Century garb?

The Search for Better Driving Music (or, Google the Lyrics FTW)

2010-07-30T22:37:00.000-04:00

For those who don't know, the Internet is a wonderful thing. With little more than a few words or lyrics, you can find just about anything!

In any case, I was watching America's Got Talent from 7/13 with Mrs. Wyatt tonight, when I heard a really cool song playing in the background for one of the acts (in case you're curious, it was the brother/sister tap group). With only 5 words from the chorus, I was able to find the song within one search. I give you Norwegian (?! yep...I'm as shocked as you) duo Madcon's "Beggin'":

Because the Internetz are so boss, I could also go to, say iTunes or Amazon and have my choice of either downloading the song for my iPod or buying the CD--all without ever getting off my chair. Yay for new driving music!

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men...

2010-07-19T05:34:00.003-04:00

It's been said a billion times that a picture is worth a thousand words. This one sure is haunting enough. From flickr user Dan Maudsley's collection comes this 2005 photo of the liner SS American Star (formerly SS America, among others), run aground off the Canary Islands:

(click for the larger version, of course)

For more info, check out the ship's Wikipedia article.

The first thing I thought when I saw the photo (without knowing the ship's history), is how fragile our creations really are. Yeah, yeah, yeah...a bit overboard (pardon the pun) on the philosophy, but really: stop and think about it for a minute. This ship took the work of hundreds of people and actually survived in service from 1940 to 1994, when she was wrecked. Like any ocean liner, she was built to last and survive quite a pounding. That said, it only took two days of pounding from the sea to break the stranded ship (by then nothing more than a floating hotel, with no power or navigational abilities of its own) in half. Two days? A ship that'd survived 54 years' service--several of them during WWII as a troop transport--split in half by the waves of the mid Atlantic. The bow section soldiered on for 13 more years, finally succumbing to the ocean in 2007.

All of that work, time, and history gone--just like that. Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

For more pics, check out the page of one of the ship's former patrons: http://www.ss-australis.com

A Sign of the Times

2010-07-08T15:14:00.001-04:00

Those of you who haven't been near or talked to me for more than 5 seconds since last Thursday may not know it, but Christy left for Tanzania a week ago. She's due to come back on the 26th. Please keep her and her group in your thoughts and prayers. If you're curious, check out our blog for her thoughts on going back. The Cliff's Notes version is that she loves being there--to hear her talk about it, Tanzania is one of the greatest places on Earth. I love to sit and listen to her tell stories because it's so obvious that to her, it really is! I will say for sure that after listening to her, I'm sold!

It means a lot to me to see her being the woman I love--passionate, caring, loving, and diligent!

While this is her sixth trip, it's actually the third she's taken since we met. She left for the first one back when we were dating. In fact, she'd just met my parents for the first time that Memorial Day. Back then, she was participating in We Care Ministries when she was in the 'States, so I knew that the next time I saw her would be more than a month (almost two) later. I knew when she came back that my wait for a wife was over. I also knew that if I could be apart from her for as long as that trip was (or seemed to be in my mind), I could do anything!

Soooo...thinking all this one week after my wife of (now) three years left for Africa, I find myself confident, but still...I miss her!

I love you, baby!

Something Different

2010-06-08T22:41:00.000-04:00

This morning, I was getting ready to head out to work and remembered that I'd left my glasses on the dining room table when Christy and I were playing board games last night. As I reached over to the table, I saw something...hop...in my peripheral vision. Here's what I saw:

Seeing an opportunity that I couldn't pass up, I quickly and quietly got back to the living room to grab the camera. I managed to snap off a few shots from a little closer:

This guy wasn't afraid of me! I decided to oblige the little one's outgoing attitude by walking all the way up to the glass. He actually didn't move until I backed away!

Neat way to start the day!

1989...Coolest Year. EVAR. Part 2

2010-05-10T00:36:00.003-04:00

If you haven't read Part 1 of the Coolest Year EVAR list, have a look. In the meantime, let's roll on!

6. Nintendo Game Boy - Honestly, I can't remember when I came to be in possession of Nintendo's "wonder brick", but the fact is, Gunpei Yokoi's pride and joy was released to the US in--you guessed it--1989. None too soon for this video game nut! For the first time, I could take my games with me--and how! I don't know how I'd have made that first trip to Hawaii without it.

Did You Know? The late Yokoi-san was the inventor not only of the Game and Watch series and a producer of the Metroid series (among others), he has been credited with patenting a staple of modern gaming, even in the analog stick era: the humble D-Pad.

5. Family Matters - I'd have included The Cosby Show, but it started in '84. The adventures of the Winslow family and Black and Nerdy prototype Steven Q. Urkel were the linchpin of ABC's TGIF lineup. It became so popular that Urkel got his own cereal, despite the fact that he was apparently so nerdy that he drove a BMW Isetta (which in my opinion only made him quirky, not nerdy).

The show would make a jump from ABC to CBS along with Step By Step (whose premier Urkel had literally crashed) for '94, though I'd argue by then the magic had long since been lost. Jaleel White would eventually bounce through several roles, one of them being, strangely enough, the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog!

4. Tienanmen Square - You know the picture. I'm pretty sure it's one of the most famous of the 20th Century. Honestly, I was too young to really care what was going on when this photo was taken, but the image (and, oddly enough, not the video) have been burned into my mind forever. TV news can be a wonderful thing.

3. Berlin Wall Falls - Probably an even more significant event than the student protests in Tienanmen. Largely regarded as the official swan song of Communism--and not just in Germany. This was another event that I really didn't understand until much, much later. Watching several specials over the years, I really just can't imagine what people on either side of the Wall really had to experience on a daily basis. Even comedies based off the event are tragic...

2. Ducktales - Why does this game make the list? Is it because the Moon stage theme is quite frankly one of the coolest video game themes ever? Maybe. Is it because I can't get the cartoon's theme song out of my head any time I hear it? Quite possibly. There are plenty of reasons why it could make the list: great gameplay, simple (enough) controls, plenty of secrets, and the aforementioned music--all hallmarks of Capcom's great 8-bit games. That said, this one makes the list for one reason and one reason only: it's the first game that I ever beat. How many of you can say that you remember the first video game you ever beat?

Now that I think of it, I seem to recall my first issue of Nintendo Power was the Ducktales issue!

Yeah, it's not much, but hey...I was eight. What do you expect?!

Last but not least on the greatest things of '89 was a game that I never actually have beat:

1. Mega Man 2 - Though some of us get a laugh at just how many Mega Man games there are now (officially, there've been 10 8- and 16-bit games in the main series, 8 in the Mega Man X series, and let's not get into all the spinoffs from that), at one point, there were only two. Like many other folks, the sequel was the first one I got to play and WOW...I was blown away. HUGE bosses, one of the greatest game soundtracks ever, and a difficulty level that, while pretty high, was never cheap (I'm looking at you, Ninja Gaiden)--this game had a lot going for it. To this day, I've never finished Dr. Wily's infamous castle (MM2 was the first to feature the castle), though I guess I probably could...and I wouldn't be the only one who's given it a thought.

There you have it: ten reasons why 1989 was one of the best years of my life. I've left off a few things (you might want to Google "River City Ransom" sometime), but this covers most of the main things I could think of offhand. Yeah, I talked mostly about video games, movies, and TV, but like I said...I was 8. Having a brother (whom I idolized) that was into computers and comic books, no one should be surprised that this is what I could remember of 21 years ago! Lots of things were changing in my life and, in many ways, I happened to be in the right place at the right time to enjoy a childhood at the end of one decade and the beginning of another. Jesus Jones summed it up pretty well two years later:

An Interesting Perspective

2010-04-07T10:54:00.002-04:00

Every once in awhile, I find it funny to capture just how short this car really is (or, perhaps, how tall everything else is). Consider this picture I took from my eye-level of the truck I parked next to. In case you're curious, that's one of my building's emergency generators reflecting in the truck's door.

Honestly, it never scares me that my car's this low to the ground; I wouldn't have it any other way.

A Little Behind...

2010-03-29T22:56:00.001-04:00

To the 3 people who actually read my blog, I apologize for not having much content going on lately. For the record, I've been up to a few things. Car-wise, I installed a front sway from a Mazdaspeed Miata, took The Tick out for a drive, and took in some of the local automotive flora and fauna (aka Cars 'n' Coffee). I even dabbled in fancy photography:

(Yes, I need a tripod badly!)

I really need to post a little more often! I've still got the last part of the Top 10 of 1989. Promise that'll get finished!

Signs of Spring

2010-03-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

Those of you who know me know that I'm not shy at all about going top-down if I feel like it. Honestly, I enjoy being top-down more when I need a long-sleeved shirt or jacket (but best when that's paired with shorts).

What follows are a bunch of pics I took with my cellphone. Sorry if they're not exactly awesome!

Last Friday, I saw that the high was going to be over 40deg F. Seeing the sun was out that morning, I couldn't not go top-down! What my mind had blanked out was the fact that the morning temp was 25deg F! In the process, I was able to set a personal temperature record while fully convincing the neighborhood kids at the bus stop in front of my house that I'm probably crazy.

Surprisingly, I was able to treat one of my co-workers to a ride back to work after lunch. Guess I'm not the only crazy one, huh?

The same day, I snapped a pic of The Tick along with a Civic I'd parked next to. I'm always amazed at just how small my car is!

This morning, I noticed something interesting as I walked in. Aside from a few sadists, my building's motorcycle parking has remained conspicuously empty--until today. Sitting next to a well-appointed Vespa was a new visitor: a BMW R1100S. Pretty bike, huh?

Why, hello there!

One last picture: I had the opportunity to park The Tick next to the '89 Mariner of a coworker. This car is probably one of the oldest Miatas I've ever seen up close and personal and, while it has definitely seen better days, it is still on its first owner and shows no signs of croaking any time soon (knock on wood!) as it completes a daily commute of about 40-50mi!

Can't wait for more top-down days!

Project OEM Plus™ gets a Boost

2010-02-27T23:14:00.002-05:00

For more on this story, check out our blog :-)

Finally!

2010-02-12T21:34:00.006-05:00

As of February 1st, The Tick is paid off!

While a small victory in and of itself, what this means is that all of the cars are now paid off. Gotta admit, it's a pretty good feeling...Christy and I have been very blessed!

Now that The Tick's paid off, it's time to think about what modifications I'd like to get done to "finish" the project:

Wheels, Tires, & Suspension:
*Upgrade front swaybar to Mazdaspeed Miata unit.
*Re-do alignment.
*Flip tires.

Interior/Chassis:
*Add the OEM Shock Tower Bar to tighten up the front end.
*Upgrade driver's seat to Elise seat. It'll let me sit lower in the car (important if I want to look into a rollbar), support my back better, and give me a real headrest for once. My friend Adam has some ideas.
*Once the head height problem is solved, get a rollbar for safety. I'm thinking a Hard Dog M2 Sport (no diagonals).
*Buy an iPod adapter kind of like this one.

Aesthetic Clean-ups:
*Fix the slight rust issues in The Tick's trunk.
*Clean up The Tick's cloudy headlamp lenses.
*Get the wheels refinished.
*Paint The Tick's valve cover in red crinkle-coat. Looks something like this (Mazda did quite a job from the factory!). Come to think of it, Harvey's valve cover could use a similar treatment this summer.
*Replace the antenna base with something a little less swept.

What do you think?

New Calendar Hotness!!!!!

2010-01-23T19:52:00.002-05:00

As you may or may not know, I'm a moderator over at Club Roadster. The forum is dedicated to owning and modifying your Mazda Miata in ways that, in some cases, can be quite off the beaten path. Some highs, some lows, but I'm one of the original members of the forum (member #6, if I recall). In addition to our own gathering at Deal's Gap (otherwise known as CR@TG), we've made group appearances at Miatas at the Gap. We have users all over the world--literally!

We recently completed a run of calendars for 2010. I'm a horrible photographer, but here're some shots of my copy:

I approve!

If you're interested, the calendars are for sale. My friend and fellow moderator Adam (aka Revlimiter, whose car Sharka graces the cover) also has a contest going!

Big, BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG shout-outs to Randy (aka Phatmiata, whose car is the pin-up for January) for getting this done!

New Year's Resolution

2010-01-17T17:28:00.002-05:00

My New Year's Resolution is pretty simple this year: manage the mail pile better.

If you've lived in a house and/or paid bills in your life, you know that mail seems to pile up if you don't keep on it. An irrational fear of finding out you've been canned via the mail or something similarly nefarious does nothing to help this. When I was living in Ft. Thomas, I had a box full of mail that was unopened, presumably to be shredded. I seem to recall thinking that the wedding gift I probably used (or at least appreciated the most) was a simple shredder. Needless to say since we got married, moved, and bought a house, the mail stream has yet to relent. Unfortunately, my patience for actually sitting down to sift through it all has yet to find itself.

I mean, come on...we're in the 21st century here--doesn't anyone believe in doing things online?!

(The honest truth is that I'm lazy about doing the mail because I tend to keep tabs on everything online, and therefore know that most of what I get in the mail is either junk or a notification that I probably would have gotten too late had I not already taken care of it online. That, of course, does not matter because it doesn't get rid of the giant piles Christy and I keep putting off every couple weeks.)

So anyway...a quick picture just to give you an idea of what I'm working with here. To note: the mail pile today contained at least one item from Oct 23rd and I had emptied the shredder prior to going through my part of the pile...

Ummm...yeah.

Quick Winter Job

2010-01-15T12:41:00.012-05:00

In order to go grocery shopping today, I needed to take care of a task I'd sort of been putting off. Because the garage isn't heated, it can reach near freezing temperatures overnight--not good for The Tick's summer tires. Fortunately, my buddy Chad had a worn-out set of old Blizzak snow tires that he had used last winter that I could mount on the car so that there'd at least be something round and black on it. Now, these Blizzaks are somewhat special because they have been on, to my knowledge, 3 different cars. Back in November 2004, I bought them used from a Miata club member to mount on Junior, my old car. They did pretty well, helping the car to contend with some rather deep snow:

While the snow wasn't deep in this spot of the driveway, the car had navigated 6"+ of snow going up and downhill out of downtown Cincinnati earlier in the day!

After a winter, I gave them to Chad, who ran them on his Miata for a year or two. In the meantime I switched to a different set of Blizzaks mounted on a set of 90-93 "daisy" alloy wheels. Thus getting those old beat-up Blizzaks on even more beat up (and mismatched) steel wheels was an interesting homecoming of sorts.

Sooooooo...finally to the point of this story!

The operation itself isn't so difficult, just time consuming. Just loosen the lugs, lift up one side, remove the summer wheels/tires, labeling each as you go, replace the winter wheels/tires, tighten the lugs, lower the car, finish tightening, and then torque.

Here's what the car looked like when I was done...decidedly not bling!

Finally, proof that The Tick does not have Sport Package brakes: because the steelies are 14" in diameter, a car with the larger Sport Package brakes (standard from '03-05, but an option on my car) will not be able to fit 14" wheels over the brake calipers. I was a little scared that I'd gone to all this trouble just to have 4 wheels that didn't fit, but I was relieved to see that they fit just fine!

The only remaining task was to manhandle the wheels downstairs. I promised Christy that I'd keep them out of the way, and so I tucked them back behind where I'd stuck the luggage and the Christmas tree.

I'll still need to get them in some garbage bags, but that can wait until I get back from the store, now that I have an open trunk!

EDIT: Chad was good enough to point out that the Blizzaks had been the temporary rolling stock for our friend Rose's first Miata after it went sunny-side down and was being parted out. Chad actually got them back after we found something else for it to roll on and used them as winter tires for the subsequent 2 winters. Thus, those same Blizzaks and mismatched steelies have been on 4 different cars!

RC'ing over New Year's

2010-01-04T22:00:00.006-05:00

After celebrating Christmas with my family (with many thumbs up), we went to Texas to spend New Year's with Christy's family. I was really looking forward to the trip because I love getting to see my nieces and nephew, but this trip was extra cool because I was finally going to get to meet the little gal that Christy's middle sis and her hubby adopted!

I'll let Christy and her middle sister (yay, btw, for middle children!) tell you the rest of the story with her family went (short version, it went very well). Instead, I'll tell you about another part of our trip: RC'ing!

The last time Christy and I went to Texas for Thanksgiving, her dad surprised me by unveiling a plane he'd made based on a color scheme I'd modeled on the RealFlight RC simulator. The plane was a 38" Yak-54 sold by DWFoamies. He'd already put the airframe together and I did the stripes on wing. I also helped add the various electrics and the engine as well as the landing gear. Here is the finished product: the Yak-2!

Christy's dad called it the Yak-2 because it was the 2nd DW Yak-54 he built--the first was still flying, though heavily patched. In fact, the Yak-1 was the first of the two I got to fly. I left after Thanksgiving with the plane assembled but its first test flight had not yet taken place--my father-in-law reserved that honor for me on my next visit!

On New Year's Eve, we met up with some of his friends to do some flying. Here was my debut in front of my father-in-law (doing the filming), his boss, and one of the project managers for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter:

I couldn't have been more pleased with how it went! The second flight went pretty well, though I nosed over on landing. The third flight was on video, though--with a perfect landing!

Needless to say, I was pretty pumped! In the meantime, we added a battery strap to hold down the battery instead of the velcro pad that held it down previously. We liked the feature so much that we retrofitted it to the Yak-1:

Unfortunately, it was not meant to last...Statistically, the longer you fly without an accident, the more likely you are to have one.

It only took two days for me.

I crashed the plane nose-first into a parking lot following a flight that'd been going great. I'll have the video later, but it appears from the pic below that the elevator ripped in two during one of my flights on a somewhat windy day, causing a loss of control.

Here're some of the pics:

Thankfully, my father-in-law is a very easygoing guy and reassured me that foamies are very rebuildable, as the Yak-1 can testify (man, I wish I'd have gotten a close-up of it!). I started working on it that same night:

As of yesterday morning, the plane was completely ready for an engine test and then another flight test. Perhaps I'll have the honor of doing a first test flight for the second time!

To close, I'll leave you with a couple pics of my father-in-law's fleet as well as some of his friends. I really had a great time and look forward to maybe one day building my own plane!

John Mayer was Wrong...

2009-12-14T10:05:00.002-05:00

...I really should start carrying a camera on me at all times.

(in case you're curious where the reference comes from)

Anyway...I drove The Tick in this morning to work. I'd say my excuse is that I never completely winterized the car (by filling the tank up and putting Sta-Bil in it), but of course, the real reason is that it was relatively warm and I felt like driving it. Felt good to feel closed into such a small car but with my head open to the elements (yes, I will drive top-down when it's 40deg out). I really can't describe what a feeling I get driving it, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

I noticed that my boss's car and The Tick would have made for a wonderful Mazda ad this morning:

(pardon the crappy cell-phone pic!)

Seeing two bright Mazdas in a boring gaggle of grey, black, and navy cars was too good of a picture to pass up--even if I wasn't carrying a decent enough camera to capture the scene.

Other Car Blogs

2009-12-08T22:19:00.000-05:00

Just for fun, I recently started a thread on Club Roadster about car blogs folks on the forum read. While the list isn't by any means finished, here's what we have started with:

Note: All blogs in English unless otherwise stated

Speed Hunters
Just a Car Guy
Nori Yaro
Carangos & Afins (Portugese)
Racer 86
Auto Otaku
Crank and Piston
Rev Blog
GT-Roadster
RE-Extreme
RE-Amemiya Blog (Japanese)
SuperNow Diary (Japanese)
Farm of Minds
Risky Devil
Okishima Program
brodrive
Cold Track Days
Hellaflush
Autoblog
Speedsport Life.com
Japanese Nostalgic Car
Clunkbucket
Jalopnik
MotorMavens
Revlimiter.net
Race Car Prep
RA64 Freddy
Bimmer Today (German)
Garage Woolery
Bring a Trailer

Have a look!

1989...Coolest Year. EVAR. Part 1

2009-10-23T09:32:00.064-04:00

When my brother Lance got married back in '04, I took the one opportunity I'd ever had for some comedy at his expense by recounting world history over the time he and Gretchen had been friends, dating, or otherwise. As I rolled over current and past events, a thought occurred to me: 1989 might have possibly been one of the most important years of my life--maybe even in recent history!

OK...maybe that's going a bit too far...

That said, some pretty cool stuff happened in '89. The 90's weren't yet here, the 80's were going out in a blaze of glory (didn't someone in the 80's sing about that once? wink, wink...), and the world was indeed going through some big changes. So what's the big deal about 1989?

Yup...time for another list! Perhaps I'll put this one in order later, but for now, these are in the order I can recall them.

10.) Lance is Gone! - For the first time in my life, I was without my big brother. Having graduated in Perry High School's class of 1988, he headed off the next fall to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Even though he was only two hours away, at 8 years old, that two hours may as well have been 12. His room was still as he left it (which meant I could sneak in and play with his Star Wars stuff!), but not seeing him in front of that Apple IIe in our dining room was...weird! Since I had pretty much all good memories of growing up with him (despite Dad's telling me that that story wasn't always true), I was really missing him...the guy was my idol!

9.) Batman - If you don't remember this movie, you:
a.) Apparently have no soul
b.) Were not alive in the past century

c.) Did not watch TV or go to Taco Bell, your local shopping mall, or pretty much anywhere public in 1989
d.) Did not enjoy Diet Coke just for the taste of it

For an 8yr-old whose older brother was into comic books, the release of Batman was nothing short...of epoch-making (how's that for a play on words?). In 1989, you simply could not escape Bat-mania. The movie made $750 million in merchandising alone and, for those whose last picture of the Bat was Adam West running down the pier carrying a giant cherry bomb above his head, a completely redefined our vision of the man in the cowl. Well, that and I still randomly quote some of Jack Nicholson's lines from it to this day.

8.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game - I guess you could argue that X-Men or The Simpsons had more famous beat-em 'ups, but as anyone who lived through the late 80's and early 90's knows, the only other thing you couldn't escape besides Batman were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Heck, the only reason their first live-action movie won't be on this list is that it came out in 1990.

I never had enough time or quarters to beat this one, unfortunately. Maybe one day I'll buy an old cabinet to go right next to my "one-day" Marvel vs. Street Fighter cabinet!

7.) Mom and Dad celebrate 20 years together - On November 1st, 1989, Dad dragged Spence and I out on the front lawn to take a picture with a big sign while we waited for Mom to get home. I'm guessing given that I'm holding my RC car that he had to bribe us a little bit to do it (though making Mom smile didn't take much bribing on our part!). Of course, I wasn't thinking about it at the time, but this was a pretty big moment for them. These days, 20 years of doing anything is to be commended--to be married for that long is nothing short of astounding. The only thing that makes this moment any less significant is that in a little over a week, they'll have been married for double that!

Well, that's it for the first installment. I'll be adding to the list periodically. Share some of your experiences from '89 if you're interested :-)

Toodles!

Odd Stuff of the Day - The Garden of Las Pozas

2009-10-22T08:05:00.002-04:00

It all started with a song I couldn't get out of my head. If you've seen the recent "V" Vizio ads, you know what I'm talking about:

After running around all day yesterday with that song stuck in my head, I decided to look up where the tune came from, and that's where the story begins. The song is "We Are the People" by Empire of the Sun, an electronic duo from Australia:

The video for the song was shot in various locations in Mexico. The most striking of these was the garden of Las Pozas, a surrealist concrete garden built between 1949 and 1984 by Edward James. As the story goes, James, a British poet and patron of surreal art, wanted to build a veritable Garden of Eden but decided that his current location of Southern California was unsuitable. Heading for Mexico, he contracted a guide and together they found a location in Xilitla, San Luis Potosi. Already home to several natural pools and waterfalls, Las Pozas was built at a cost of $5M US. It has a collection of temples, stairways, arches, and palaces, among other features.

Looks like I've got another destination for the bucket list!

Links:

Travel and Leisure: "Concrete Jungle" by Gini Alhadeff

Google Image Search for Las Pozas

Ten Years? Really?

2009-08-28T07:33:00.004-04:00

For those that don't know, I graduated from the University of Cincinnati on Friday, June 13th, 2003. There are any number of reasons I happen to remember that date (mostly because it was Friday the 13th...seriously, who graduates their class on Friday the 13th--they couldn't have waited until Saturday?). It's kind of crazy to think I've stayed in one place this long. However, if you count my time at UC (UUUUUUU KNOW!), I've been here for over 10 years! Of course, that means...

le sigh...

...it's time for my 10yr reunion this weekend.

Oh, I'm not really scared, disappointed, or anything bad like that. It's just kind of crazy. My class (thankfully, I think) skipped its 5-year for whatever reason (I'm guessing Matt and Meagan were busy getting married, which I can definitely understand, having tied the knot myself), so for some of the folks in my 364-person class, this will be the first time I've seen them in a decade. A decade? Really? Think of just what's happened in the world in a decade...think of the famous folks who died, the fact that we've had three Presidents take office (and all the hilarity that ensues)...geez, too many things to think of otherwise! Point is, it's amazing to think of what happens in ten years and even funnier to think that I'll walk up to someone this weekend and say:

"So...what's been happening?"

Loaded question if I ever heard one.

Yay...I've been scammed!

2009-08-15T23:00:00.001-04:00

Thought I'd throw this one out there for everyone. Just a warning.

Just today, I received a relatively unmarked envelope from Canada, of all places. Here's what I saw:

Now, in case you didn't get a good enough look at the check on the right, here it is:
If you read the letter closely, you'd see that apparently, Homelife Trust is offering me $25,000US and all I have to do is cash the check attached and send in $2500 to pay for taxes on my $25,000 which is supposedly part of a stimulus package (considering I already got the homebuyer's credit, that's more than a little odd). So...I get $2500 for nothing with the promise of about $20k more? In the words of mah homey Admiral Ackbar:

Basically, you can deposit the check, but eventually, the bank will figure out it's a fake and come after you for the full amount. Hopefully by that point, you a.) haven't spent any of your ill-gotten gains or b.) have not been stupid enough to actually send the jerkwads the $2500 to cover taxes. If you've done either or both, now you're out $5k and you've got no one to blame but yourself.

You have been warned.

"Top 10" of Sorts

2009-08-10T19:45:00.017-04:00

Trying to break from my rule of car-only topics (hey, The Tick is running, and not much has changed), I'm going to break up what is normally the NHL off-season to talk about something I thought about while I was washing the dishes tonight. Those of you who have known me long enough know that I have been a hockey fan since my brother Lance started at Carnegie Mellon back around 1990. I'm not sure what I can exactly call the start of my love of hockey, but I'm guessing it was the combination of one of the coolest logos I've ever seen and the fact that, as a Gen Y kid, I am genetically doomed to take up whatever my Gen X brother thinks is cool.

Ok...that was one of the longest sentences I've seen quite awhile! Moving on.

What I want to talk about today is a list of my favorite players in NHL history. I'll preface this by saying that this is not a list of the greatest players ever. Several of the players had their glory days before I was really able to follow NHL coverage regularly and a lot of my memories are full more of rosy nostalgia than concrete numbers. To that point, all of the players on this list have played during my lifetime--sorry, Bobby Orr...

Oh yeah...Wayne Gretzky is NOT on this list. If that offends you, close this window and politely bugger off. He's just not one of my favorites and never will be. End of story.

On to the list!

10.) Paul Coffey - Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins
Mr. Coffey is pretty much the prototype of the modern offensive defenseman. Although he spent arguably his best days quarterbacking the rush in Edmonton for the likes of Mark Messier, Jarri Kurri, and the Great One himself, my first memories were of him playing on Pittsburgh's 1991 Stanley Cup-winning squad. Although a journeyman later in his career, he served as the backbone for three of the greatest captains that ever played the game. Along with being the second highest-scoring defenseman in NHL history, what more can I say? (Oh yeah, he was AWESOME in the first NHL Hockey game for the Genesis).

9.) Larry Murphy - Los Angeles Kings, Washington Capitals, Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings
The second Pittsburgh defenseman on the list (who, like Coffey, eventually played for the...*blech!*...Red Wings), Larry Murphy to me was always a consistent role-player on a team full of superstar talent. Although he would suffer some rough years in Toronto, he played a crucial role on not one but two consecutive Cup winners (91-92 with the Pens, 97-98 with the Yankees--er, I mean...the Red Wings!). At the time of his retirement, he had played more games than any other defenseman and to date is the 5th highest scoring defenseman in NHL history.

8.) Brian Leetch - New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins

Simply put, this is how I like to remember one of America's greatest hockey players ever. The 1994 Stanley Cup Finals was probably the first Cup Final I'd ever gotten a chance to watch, and what a blast! As a fan of defensemen especially (yeah, almost half of my list ended up being blueliners!), I was agape watching Leetch's performance. Although Mark Messier was the undisputed team leader by experience if nothing else, Leetch was definitely the on-ice quarterback bar none. To date, the Corpus Christi, TX native is the only American-born player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy. A two-time Norris Trophy-winner, he is one of only five defensemen (including Paul Coffey) to score 100 points in a season. Quite frankly, I don't think the game will ever see another player like him.

7.) Ron Francis - Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs
Like Larry Murphy, Ron Francis in my childhood was always a consistent performer on a team of superstars. When I was growing up, he was the centre on the Pens'#2 line. A supremely talented two-way player, he was the first player to win both the Lady Bing and the Selke trophies in the same season. However, as much as I would love to remember Ron Francis as a Penguin, I'd be foolish to ignore his record with one team (from two towns). Drafted by the Hartford Whalers, he would eventually get picked up by the Pens. in the meantime, his original team packed up and moved to Raleigh, NC. After his stint in Pittsburgh (where he served for a time as Captain), he went back to the now-Carolina Hurricanes, where he would eventually retire as the team's all-time leading scorer in all stats. Leading two teams (he is the only player to captain two, in fact) to success is quite a feat; Francis's formidable stats are icing on the cake.

6.) Joe Sakic - Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche
Although he bears a strange resemblance to Harry Connick, Jr., Joe Sakic was always a man of other talents. A class act who, like several other monumental players in NHL history, led the same team for their entire career (the Nordiques moved to Denver in '95). Sakic was named Captain for the 1992 season and would keep the position until his retirement just this June. Owner of one of the most feared wrist shots in hockey, I first saw him in action along with a number of then young stars on the Nordiques (Forsberg, Sundin, Nolan, and Thibault). I reveled in watching Sakic, backed by an aging Patrick Roy and a then Cup-less Ray Bourque, hoist the Cup over his head much to the chagrin of the dominant New Jersey Devils squad he and his teammates had just bested. For a guy who'd played in obscurity in Quebec, shipped across the border and up into the mountains, it was truly a crowning achievement--and what does he do? Hand the Cup immediately to his more experienced colleague to share the moment.

5.) Nicklas Lidstrom - Detroit Red Wings
Were it not for the man at #2 (don't you go peeking!), one could argue that Niklas Lidstrom is the face of Detroit Red Wings hockey. Given that the folks in Hockeytown seem to be leaning more towards Swedes than any other nationality, perhaps Lidstrom is as much the new face of Detroit as anything. Really, you could do a lot worse. A four-time Stanley Cup champion and the first new captain Detroit has had in the last, oh, quarter century, Lidstrom is quite simply one of the best defensemen in the league today. I daresay he'll one day be remembered as one of the greatest defensemen ever. Even with competition of the likes of Pronger, Niedermayer, Chara, Green, and others, Lidstrom has won the Norris Trophy six of the last seven years. "Staggering" does not even begin to describe it.

4.) Ray Bourque - Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche
While he did not finish his career or even win a Stanley Cup there, it is supremely difficult to separate Ray Bourque's story from that of the Boston Bruins. Let's get the obvious out of the way: No. 77 retired as the highest-scoring defenseman ever in goals, assists, and total points. He's also a five-time Norris Trophy winner. Most importantly to the Bruins, however, were the 21 years he spent as their captain. In his time with the team, the Bruins would make the Cup finals twice. In an era where prima donna players increasingly heavy on talent but low on loyalty would make a post-season dogfight out of contract renegotiations (yes, Maid Marian Hossa, I'm talking to you), Bourque would come back to the Bruins with little friction for a fraction of what he could have been making. Perhaps it's a measure of the karma from his low-profile personality and high-profile play that he finally got to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup in what would prove to be his last game. Who needs a bucket list when you can go out on top?

Before we go further, I should probably tell you that the next three men on this list are a.) all centres, b.) all captains of their respective teams, and c.) truly three of the greatest players to have ever laced up a pair of skates. Only one of them has played on the same team as Wayne Gretzky (yes, all you Kings fans can smile because I've mentioned your Chosen One again). I apologize to the following players who did not make the list: Jaromir Jagr, Pavel Bure, Eric Lindros, Luc Robitaille, Brett Hull, Pat LaFontaine, Mike Peca, Pierre Turgeon, Jeremy Roenick (ok, let's try not to go too crazy!)...

Now that you're probably cracking open another Red Bull, here goes my top 3 favorite NHL players of all time!

3.) Mark Messier - Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks
Mark Messier's first taste of NHL success was a Great one (seriously...I've gotta stop with the Gretzky references!). That said, it's interesting to note that he actually played here in Cincinnati with the Cincinnati Sting of the WHA. My first sight of him was along side Brian Leetch, Mike Richter, Alexi Kovalev, and the rest of the New York Rangers as they snaped an amazing 54-year Cup-less streak (see also The Curse of 1940). Messier, who had scored a natural hat trick in the 3rd period of the Eastern Conference Finals to get the Rangers to the Cup Finals, had the honor of also scoring the Cup-winning goal in Game 7 of the first Final I'd been able to watch. If anyone deserved to hoist a Cup, this man did. Despite the players he was always surrounded by, it was Mark Messier who was the glue that held his team together. Unlike many of us, he was given a chance to prove it once and for all.

2.) Steve Yzerman - Detroit Red Wings
Without a doubt, one of the greatest captains to ever play the game. Heck, one of the greatest players to ever play the game. Steve Yzerman is Detroit Red Wings hockey. On a team with a tradition of greatness (as much as it pains me to say it...), Yzerman stands out. Picked as the team's youngest captain at the start of his 3rd season, he would serve in that capacity for the rest of his 23-year career. If you can't tell, I loathe the Red Wings, but I practically idolize Stevie Y. I even named him second on this list. I really can't give a much better tribute than that.

1.) Mario Lemeiux - Pittsburgh Penguins
Those of you who know me should not be surprised one bit. The Pittsburgh Penguins were the first hockey team I became a fan of. At the time it was the cool logo (and the hat that Lance bought me). Paying attention to the news in the year or so after my brother started at CMU showed me that the Pens were a team on the rise, and a lot of that rise was due to one Mario Lemieux.

Even more than Steve Yzerman in Detroit, Mario Lemieux is the face of hockey in Pittsburgh. Mario led his team (several of whom I've already mentioned here) to two Stantley Cups, even chucking years of superstition aside to not only touch but hoist the Prince of Wales conference trophy over his head before going on to win the first cup in 1991. He was not just one of the greatest offensive weapons ever unleashed on NHL goalies; his size, speed, and versatility allowed him to play a good two-way game as well. Such was his talent that he was able to lead the league in scoring the season after the second Cup playing in only 60 games while dealing with treatment for Hodgkin's Disease. After sitting out 1994-95, he would win not one but two more scoring titles! Larry Schwartz of ESPN.com wrote of Mario's career:

...But Lemieux's most remarkable feat is overcoming Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymph nodes that had taken the life of one of his cousins, and a debilitating back injury. Pro athletes have returned from serious injury before. They also have come back from life-threatening illnesses.
Can you name another athlete who has come back from both and performed better than anyone else in his or her sport?
"Notwithstanding Gretzky's abiding majesty, posterity will never forget that no athlete - not even the sainted Lou Gehrig - has ever before Lemieux been struck down by a deadly disease at the very moment when he was the best of his sport at the best he ever would be," wrote Frank Deford in Newsweek. "And since: Lemieux has achieved miraculously in remission, struggling, on the side, with a back injury so grievous that it has benched him after he merely laced up a skate. That is the stuff that answers people these days when they wonder where all our sports heroes have gone."

First pick in the 1984 Draft, he was the catalyst for the revitalization of the Penguins franchise, not only winning Rookie of the Year honors but helping to increase game attendance by nearly half. It would not be the last time he'd help keep the team in the Steel City, however. Following the team's declaration of bankruptcy in 1998, Super Mario stepped in to help purchase the team (equity is a wonderful thing, eh?), serving as the majority owner of the team he'd helped build to this day. And build he did. The early part of this century was spent with the Pens literally at the bottom of the barrel, having lost the money to keep players like Jagr and Darius Kaspiritis in town. With the help of folks like General Manager Ray Shero, Mario and Co. were able to acquire a core of young talent and surround them by able veterans. In 2010, not only will the Pens be staying in town, they'll be moving into their new arena (RIP to the much-loved Igloo) as defending Stanley Cup Champions!

If nothing else, he (and Jaromir Jagr) made the cover of what was my favorite Wheaties box:

Sidney Crosby has some huge shoes to fill.

Live from Vienna, Austria - HGM, Reumannplatz, and Alisha and Brian's Office

2009-04-09T15:04:00.012-04:00

Christy's dad and I went to the Museum of Military History yesterday as sort of a guys' activity. Me in a museum is like a kid in a candy shop--even if most of the exhibits are noted in another language! We really had a good time and I took LOOOOOTS of pictures...here are a few:

Here's the car Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot in that basically started WWI:

The upper turret and one of the rudders from a B-24 Liberator shot down during WWII:

The first production Albatros BI reconnaissance aircraft:

The funeral arrangements for Prince Eugene of Savoy:

The museum is housed in the center of what once was the arsenal of the Austrian army as seen in the two photos below:

The halls of the building contain beautiful frescoes commemorating Austria's imperial history under the Hapsburgs, some of which I tried to take photos of. These do not do justice to just how amazing they look in person!

It also contains many statues, many of which are of various figures in the empire and can be found in the entrance hall:

The museum contained many artifacts that are multiple centuries old, which simply blows my mind. How many times to you get to see 400 year old flags?

Okay, enough gushing about the museum. Time to move on and cover the rest of the day!

We met up with Christy and Alisha and took the U-bahn over to Reumannplatz to go to Tichy (Tee-kee) Eis Salon, one of the better ice cream joints in town (there are lots, by the way!). While we were eating our ice cream in the park nearby, I got up to take a couple pictures:

I last snapped a shot of the memorial to the victims of Fascism 1933-1945

Once we got back to Alisha and Brian's place, we decided later to head out to the mission office. While we were walking along, I decided to play with the low-light settings on the camera. Most of the shots turned out bad and were trashed, but some I kept:

After a short walk, we arrived at the newly painted office and had a look around.

We got to ride on the S-bahn (Strassenbahn) back to the U-bahn station. On the walk back to the apartment, we found that a group of snails had decided to have a race. Man, this city has everything!

One parting shot for tonight...the valiant Sharkdog (the coolest Beagle I've ever met):

Live from Vienna, Austria - Leopoldsberg and Centimeter (or, How to Eat Your Meal On a Sword!)

2009-04-07T15:53:00.006-04:00

Busy days abound!

Today, we went up to Leopoldsberg to have a look at the city from a different perspective. Unfortunately, it was a little hazier than we'd hoped, but I was still able to get some decent pictures. I was just bowled over by how beautiful the area is around Vienna. I was just as impressed by how densely packed people are here. Houses, apartments, shops, and cafés--all of them are just stuck wherever there's space; the streets are quite narrow as a result. However, folks always seem to be either moving about or sharing a conversation at a café everywhere you look. It's a very different lifestyle from what I'm used to at home. Anyway, here are a couple pictures from Leopoldsberg:

After we came back down, we met up with Brian and went over to Centimeter V where we enjoyed Das Schwert, a meal of Weiner Schnitzel and porkchops on a sword over French Fries, Chicken Wings, and Chile Con Carne. It was quite a meal!

Stuffed, we decided to head for home. Unfortunately, there was a problem with one of the U-bahn trains that caused a delay. What that meant was that the train was so full that the last person barely fit in the door (and no, this photo doesn't really do that notion justice):

We ended up hopping a different train and barely even fit on that one!

(that's Christy's dad 2nd from the left behind the post next to the next door on the train)

Live from Vienna, Austria - Stephansplatz to Mariahilfer Strasse

2009-04-06T22:00:00.007-04:00

This week, Christy and I are in Vienna with her parents to visit her sister Alisha. This is is my first ever trip to Europe (in fact, it's the first time I've ever officially left the country!). Despite the fact that we could be accused of not doing much, today was a long day full of activity. Our day started by taking the U-Bahn (subway) to Stephansplatz where we were greeted by the wonderful St. Stephen's Cathedral:

I'd never seen anything like this back home! Needless to say, I went a little crazy taking photos! Not all of them turned out well, but here are a few highlights:

Before we headed off to the Hofburg Imperial Palace, we were briefly entertained by one of the "living statues" who perform in the plaza:

On our way down the Graben, we passed the Pestsäule, a memorial to those who died during the Plauge:

The Hofburg itself is really pretty impressive. It's so massive as a facility that you almost forget that it really was someone's house (though I guess that's a pretty simplistic way to look at it)!

From there, we passed the Austrian Parliament Building, with its beautiful statue of Athena:

Next was the Rathaus, which sits across from the Hopsburgtheater:

We ended the day with a walk up Mariahilfer Strasse. This district is a perfect example of what makes this city so interesting. There are so many different people and something going on everywhere you look. For a boy from Perry Township, Ohio, it's a bit overwhelming!

Here are some articles on the places we saw today:

Stephansplatz
St. Stephen's Cathedral
Graben
Pestsäule
Hofburg
Austrian Parliament
Rathaus
Hofburgtheater
Mariahilf (the district in which Mariahilfer Strasse can be found)

More updates tomorrow!

Rockin' It Stock!

2008-04-15T19:06:00.005-04:00

Finally removed the Roadstersport exhaust that was on the car:

It's for sale if you're in the Cincinnati area and have $100 to spare.

The Roadstersport has decent sound, but I'm at the point in my life (and my hearing) where a stock exhaust is plenty loud enough!

Meet The Tick, or, How to Cross 4 States In A 4-Day Round Trip! - The Home Stretch!

2008-04-06T22:03:00.003-04:00

Josh and Missy were kind enough to take me in, even though I'd made it to Knoxville a lot later than I'd planned. Josh and I woke up and got started cleaning the car up, first by cleaning the oxidation off of the valve cover (never use degreaser on aluminum! grrrr...), then by scheduling The Tick for a simple alignment at one of the local places, who were good enough to squeeze me into the schedule without an appointment.

After a good lunch at Litton's (great burgers :thumbsup: ), we went back and picked up the car, which now rode even better than before. I'm curious just how bad the alignment had been previously! Feeling a lot better, I left for the final ride home, where I arrived a little sooner than expected (for once):

...and that's how my journey ended :-)

Meet The Tick, or, How to Cross 4 States In A 4-Day Round Trip! - Day 3

2008-04-05T20:56:00.003-04:00

While I was in town, I asked if we could give The Tick a more detailed inspection. While he was on the lift, we started to dismount the wheels to balance them out (the car had been threatening to shimmy the car apart at anything over 65mph). I'm sad to say that I discovered why: one of the tires was totally bald (with a slight gash in the center), one had a tack in it, and the other two had nearly bald inner treads:

(the 4th tire was still on its wheel on the car as we had to soak the lugnuts for several hours--I don't even want to guess how much they'd been over-torqued!)

My new tires were coming a little sooner than I'd planned on :( . I was able to order a set of Riken Raptors (I think Riken's owned by Michelin) from the local shop, but it took them almost the whole day to deliver them from their warehouse. While we were waiting, we removed the pinstripe (didn't get an "after" pic...too stressed).

Once the tires were mounted, I bid The R-Speed crew goodbye and headed for Knoxville--though I was now leaving Atlanta at the same time I'd expected to arrive in Knoxville!

Major shout outs to Taylor and R-Speed for making a bad day a lot better!

With the new tires on, the ride was smooth as a baby's butt, though it really needed an alignment so that my new tires wouldn't get eaten as badly as their predecessors had been. That would have to wait until the next day...

Meet The Tick, or, How to Cross 4 States In A 4-Day Round Trip! - Day 2

2008-04-04T08:00:00.002-04:00

I was met at the bus terminal by Louis, who had checked out the car for me. After waiting in the dealer's office for over an hour while they futzed with the paperwork (and a new sales system that they apparently hadn't started using until the day I showed up...). I walked out to find my new car waiting for me. I didn't get a picture, but they had cleaned him up a bit for me. Once I got a shower (first since Wednesday morning), I was on my way by about Noon.

I arrived in Atlanta relatively unharmed, and was greeted at R-Speed by Taylor and Marty:

They were mounting new tires and working on Marty's car (which is awaiting a vinyl wrap):

I snapped some of the few pics I have of the new car while I waited:

While Taylor's car may look stockish, it has a few mods including Fuji Racing's (OER) IRTB setup and a set of Nakamae seats along with a Boss Frog Double Hoop Rollbar. If his car looks a little dusty, it's because of the pollen from the White Pine that leaves every car in town looking like they had been sitting outside someone's garage for a couple years. I'd never seen anything like it!

For dinner, Taylor and I met up with his friend Yuyuske, along with Peter and Ginger Brusa, and Todd Kawanna (American contributor to Road&Ster, among other things) for sushi at Ege Sushi.

Now, I've never had sushi before, and I've never really attempted to use chopsticks. It turns out that I'm not too bad at it! Sushi is actually pretty good as long as you go in with a *totally* open mind--it really will taste like nothing else you've ever had. I'm now a fan :-)

Meet The Tick, or, How to Cross 4 States In A 4-Day Round Trip! - The 12-hour Bus Trip

2008-04-04T06:18:00.001-04:00

Now with Junior dropped off, JD dropped me off at the bus station for the upcoming 12hr ride to Ocala, FL.

It didn't start off badly...until we reached Atlanta...

For starters, Atlanta's bus station is a stone's throw away from the city jail. There's a bail bonds joint and a "house of gentlemen's entertainment" across from it on the other side--in other words, not exactly the best side of town!

We arrived late, and waited about another 30min or so for them to decide to finally take our bags off of the bus (which is silly because *everyone* on the bus had to get off...). I walked into the terminal about 10min before my connecting bus to Ocala was scheduled to leave.

Now, I've seen bus stations in Cincinnati, Columbus, Canton, Akron, and many cities in between. None of them prepared me for the absolute war zone that is the Atlanta bus station at nearly Midnight! There were people everywhere, and no one seemed to have any idea where we were supposed to go, but were all too happy to bark orders to get us out of their hair. Once I figured out where I was supposed to be, I waited for them to let us back out to catch a bus (even more silly because several people had tons of bags that they had had to lug up several ramps and were now going to have to take them back down to a bus). Once my bus was called, I was startled to see that they had overbooked the bus, leaving a full busload of people--including me--standing in front of the door wondering why they'd just shut it in our faces without saying anything. After another 30min of waiting to hear what they were going to do with us, they finally opened the door and herded us onto another bus.

Our driver was seriously on a short fuse (I'm guessing he hadn't planned on having to drive a bus to Florida). In fact, he actually pulled the bus over off of I-75 and came back to yell at everyone at about 1am because he thought that someone was playing with the little footrests that retract from the seat in front of each passenger! In addition, he got very irate with a passenger who, not having a very good understanding of English, didn't get off the bus at the right stop and had to get off and wait for the next bus to drive him back--unfortunately, that stop was in Tifton, Georgia, and the next one wasn't until we crossed into Florida!

I arrived very tired and grimey in Ocala 4 minutes early at 6:26am--apparently, our driver's rude behavior was good for something...

Meet The Tick, or, How to Cross 4 States In A 4-Day Round Trip! - Day 1

2008-04-03T23:21:00.003-04:00

Loaded up the car, first with spare parts that were going to JD, then with my clothes, toiletries, and supplies. Unfortunately, I had a little conundrum...how do I fit all of this...

...into Junior?

Well, here's how:

My bags had to take the equivalent of the "back seat" in the Miata:

Now with the bags packed and the engine running, I took some last pictures of Junior before getting on the road:

On the way to Knoxville, I stopped off to deposit the buyer's check for Junior. When I came out, I noticed that Junior had gotten dwarfed by, of all things, a Ford Five Hundred:

It was right then that the bank teller ran out to tell me that I had nearly left my Driver's License behind...oops!

After an uneventful 4hr trip, I arrived at La Casa de JD to drop off the car:

Before heading off to catch the bus to Ocala, I got a couple pics for the road:

I'll post the rest of the trip diary over the next couple days...writing these posts takes quite some time!

Good News, Everyone!

2008-03-30T23:56:00.005-04:00

I'm selling Junior! Huzzah!

Scared yet?

His soon-to-be replacement is a 2002 Laser Blue wearing 5Zigen Fn01r-c wheels, a Roadster Sport exhaust, and Tien HA coilovers. He also sports a shorty S2000-style fixed antenna.

I leave to drop off Junior in Knoxville and pick up the car on Wednesday. I'll be making overnight stops in Atlanta and Knoxville on the way home.

Stay tuned for updates...and make way :-)

Not too much to post...

2008-01-05T17:53:00.000-05:00

Not too much to post today...visiting Mom and Dad for the weekend. In the meantime, I've started reading a new webcomic called MegaTokyo about a gamer and an otaku who get stuck in Japan and are forced to make their own way. Lots of nerd humor if you're into that sort of thing (I am!). While you're hunting around online, please stop by my MiniCity:

http://edoniisan.myminicity.com/

It won't grow without your help! The town of Edoniisan needs your support!

In any case, peace and hair grease...

-Bryan

A Sneak Peek

2007-12-11T20:42:00.002-05:00

Not too much to report this time out. The car is finally paid off, but apparently I owe the Commonwealth of Kentucky because I forgot to give them back Junior's custom MD2REV plate (if you're reading this, the plate is now available!). Yay...

On a more humorous note, I decorated Edgar for Christmas:

Good News!

2007-11-03T19:21:00.001-04:00

I was able to sell my seat today! In case you're curious, I was talking about it here. Brian, I hope you like the seat as much as I did!

Oh yeah...one half payment left :-D

Not too much to report...

2007-10-06T11:07:00.001-04:00

Not much done this week...at least not with the car. I was really busy this week with work, hosting friends on Monday, a church committee meeting on Tuesday, and teaching a class on Wednesday. My folks were in town last weekend (see our blog for more about that). All in all, it's been a busy time, and I'm just looking to relax this weekend!

Almost There!

2007-09-28T08:32:00.002-04:00

As an aside from the project with Junior, I am happy to say that I am only 1.5 payments away from having the little guy paid off ahead of time! This will be the first time I've actually paid off a car on my own (I paid off Junior's predecessor Monty--but that was only after he'd been totalled; the money came from my insurance settlement).

It'll sure be nice to be able to put the money I was spending on payments towards something else--like getting Junior back on the road!

Speaking of money, I've decided to try once again to sell my Axis Power Racing full carbon-fiber race seat:

The seat by itself is good for about 9lbs and does a very good job of holding the driver in place. It also allows the lowest seating position I've ever seen on the stock seat rails. If you look at the following picture, you can see the difference between the Axis seat and a de-foamed stock seat:

For reference, my friend Shenna (sitting in the passenger seat) is about 5'3", while I am a leggy 6'1"! Imagine the difference if I gained another inch or so by taking the seat off of the stock rails!

In the end, I'd like to get about $400 for it. Its MSRP was $900 and I bought it from a friend for $600 a year or so ago. I have one person so far who has inquired about it, but let me know if you're interested!

Musings on the Next Step

2007-09-15T20:07:00.005-04:00

Today I went over to Chad's house hoping to reclaim the 90-93 "Daisy" alloy wheels that I had given him after moving up here from Kentucky. They had been in use during the winter holding my winter tires that Junior rolled on last winter:

Once I got Harvey (my 99 Civic DX), I had the bright idea of putting the alloys on him. This would require having the hubs bored out an extra 2mm to accomodate the Civic's slightly wider diameter setup. Once that was done, I was going to paint them and replace Harvey's ugly steelies with these bad boys...

...Well...not so much, it turns out :-(

The machine shop I had paid to do the wheels did a wonderful job, and I got exactly what I asked them for. The wheels were bored perfectly--which was the problem. I hadn't accounted for the fraction of a millimeter of rust on the hubs. Thus, the wheels would fit only if I forced them down (by bolting them), and while fitting just fine, would need to be hammered off...no fun. In addition, the paint I had selected was going to come out way darker than I planned. Staring at paying more money to have the hubs re-bored and more money on paint, I decided that it really wasn't worth it.

Crap.

In any case, it was nice to see Chad and Linda again. I hadn't seen them since before the wedding, so it was good to spend time with them, the cats, and Yasmina. I also got to see Junior (who is spending time at Uncle Chad's house until he gets an engine transplant). It was the first time I'd seen him since Christy and I got home from our honeymoon. Needless to say, I'm more antsy than ever to get my boy back on the road!

To that end, I really need to start thinking about what I want to do. Here are the options as I see them:

1.) Buy an engine and plop it in along with all necessary parts (with all necessary hoses, seals, etc.)
2.) Buy an engine, have it rebuilt with stock parts (pistons, rings, seals, oil pump, etc.)
3.) Buy an engine and add non-stock parts (for example a 97 block with 01+ pistons and MBSP)

The 1st approach would be easiest, but is risky--especially if the history of the motor is suspect. At the very least, all hoses and front and rear main seals would need to be replaced. Optionally, I could replace the oil pump as well. The 2nd and 3rd approaches would require me to pay a shop to take the engine apart (once I buy it) and reassemble it. I'd like to mess with it myself, but I would have to borrow someone's garage time (which I'm already going to have to do to remove and replace the engine) and tools that I don't have--and let's not think of how much time it'd take me to do the rebuild! However, doing things like overbore or higher comp stock pistons will have more risk built in than going with stock parts. It sure would be nice to lighten the parts up while I'm in there, though!

I guess we'll just have to see!

Bad News...

2007-09-11T15:45:00.001-04:00

In the spirit of bringing everyone up to speed, Junior has been laid up at my friend Chad's house for about a month or so now. By about the end of June I was sure Junior was suffering the beginnings of an oil pump failure. This was evidenced by slow to no change in oil pressure on the first start-up of each day. The gauge (a "real" one that I salvaged from a wrecked 1992) would then read relatively normal values for every subsequent start. As Junior has already suffered a crank nose failure (yes, it can happen to a 1.8 liter car!) and is over 125,000mi old, an engine rebuild/replacement is in order.

For reference, here's what his engine bay currently looks like:

For my rebuild, I'd like the end product to be a near perfect stock engine. I'd love to have a high-compression rev monster with IRTB's, etc. but right now, it's neither in the budget nor really where I want to be. I haven't driven Junior in anger in several months now (including passing on bringing him to Miatas at the Gap this year), and his crankiness was really just getting on my nerves. I miss just being behind the wheel! Sure, he may not be as fast as the other kids on the block, but, with the engine woes out of the way, I can concentrate on making up for that lack of power, eh?
I really want to do this right, so I'm spending the time now to do the research and budgeting ahead of time. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to drop a comment!

An Introduction: A Boy and his Car

2007-09-09T23:28:00.001-04:00

Just to give some introductions, my name is Bryan and the little green paperweight--and star of the show is Junior, my modified 1997 M-Edition Miata. For the three years before I met my darling wife Christy, Junior was my main mode of not only transportation but entertainment, excitement, and friendship...ok, as much as a car can be!

Why "Junior"? Well, I bought Junior on July 1st, 2004 to replace his "father" and predecessor, Monty. Monty was my first Miata, a 1997 Montego Blue car. He unfortunately suffered from what I like to call an excess of bravado and a shortage of common sense:

I decided that Monty's replacement would be either "The Batmobile" (if I got a Black car) or Junior if I bought another 97. As you can see, I got Junior ;-)

In three years, we've been to seven states: from the frozen north of Wisconson (where Junior's rollbar came from) to the humid heat of North Carolina, we've autocrossed, roadtrip'ed, and otherwise caused general automotive mayhem:

This was my first post, and it took quite a lot of time! I apologize for the not so hot layout...as I have more time, I'll post more. Until then, take care :-)