11/29/07

Well, my plan to have “matching” badges on Marty and George may fall by the wayside. The “2000GT” badges intended for Marty are about half the size of the “Datsun 1300” badges for George. Perhaps a separate “Datsun” badge to go along with the “2000GT” would make them more similar. We’ll see how I feel once I get a look at them “on” the cars. I use quotes because I obviously won’t attach them permanently while just having a look-see. I'll keep y'all informed on the progress as things, um, progress. I told mom that I plan to use the Christmas vacation time to clear out the south side of the garage, barring really foul weather. I want to make at least enough space for the Seven so I can move it home. Then if I have enough space for some of the big indoor items at the shop (tool box, welders, plasma cutter, mill, air compressor, and such) I will be one step closer to moving out of the Beenbroke shop on a moment's notice if need be. I'm not anticipating having to move out under the cover of night, but an exit strategy is a good idea. In fact, since the mill has never been hooked up, I might just plan to have it moved to the house “right away.” I'm not sure how I'm going to move it, but there has to be a way. I wonder if we could “tump” it over onto the trailer and then stand it back up at the house. That is one heavy mo-fo I have to tell you. I have an idea for using the hoist but I'm not having any luck putting it to words. 14,000! Why did I just say “14,000!”? Well, that “14,000” was the 14,000^th “word” in the November rants. Sorry, the Vista version of Word I'm using has a little counter at the bottom telling me how many words there are in a particular document. I happened to notice at the end of the preceding sentence that it was at 13,999 so I needed a one-word sentence before ‘splaining it to y'all. Yeah, I'm odd that way. Changing the subject, as I'm wont to do, I've been reading up on Miata batteries. See, I have one of them in the Seven and I think it is dead. Here’s what I've read. If an AGM battery is fully discharged, and Juan tries to quick charge it like a regular lead-acid battery, it will be ruined. I think I quick charged mine a year or so ago when it went dead. Oh, a Miata battery is an AGM or Absorbent Glass Matt battery. Now, on the other hand, there is a regular lead-acid “replacement” battery available for the Miata and it is quite possible that the one I bought is such. I don’t remember what I paid for it but I'm pretty sure it wasn’t the $130.00 quoted for the Panasonic/Mazda replacement AGM battery available from the dealer. Not to mention I know I didn’t buy it from the Mazda dealer. I think I bought it at O’Reilley’s. Anyhoo, the point is, well, I'm not sure what the point is. Oh yeah, now I remember, the point is I think I may have killed the Seven’s battery when I quick charged it one or two winters ago and I think I need a new one. What I'm thinking about doing is going to that Batteries Plus place on Camp Bowie and seeing what they have in a similar sized 12 volt battery. Since mine is in the engine compartment and not the trunk like in a Miata, I can probably forego the AGM design and get a regular gel cell or something. We’ll see. I'm looking at pictures of me driving the Seven at the Tail of the Dragon and thinking, “That really is a silly little car.” It sure is fun though. You should go get, or build one. They come highly recommended. I still find it hard to believe sometimes that I actually have one. Then again, I see them and think little of it because I do have one. They say familiarity breeds contempt but I think in my case it is more like familiarity breeds complacency. Whereas someone else might see a Seven and say, “Wow, what a cool car!,” I’ll say, “Yeah, I've got one of those.” I do the same with AC Cobra replicas, Dodge Magnums (Magna? Magnae?) [ It's Magna - SM ], and BMW 6 series. I’ll see one and say, “Yeah, I used to have one of those.” Seriously, I actually say it out loud, even when I'm alone. I'm odd that way too. Well, I think I've just about said all I have to say for today. I think I'll shoost this off to Spiderman and call it a rant. Wait, scratch that and reverse it.