First Post in Awhile...

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:

Deal's Gap

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!

IT LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES!

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! 

A long overdue update, Pt. 1

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

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?

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?

Signs of Spring

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!

New Calendar Hotness!!!!!

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!

Quick Winter Job

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!

Rockin' It Stock!

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!

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

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

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

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

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!