Well, we here at the Mom-in-law’s place are getting ready to depart for Middle TN tomorrow so we are running around getting clothes cleaned for the trip and preparing for dinner with the father-in-law, which is kinda at cross purposes because we are hauling out clean clothing while putting other clean clothing in suitcases for the trip. So, another interpretation of the one-armed man hanging wallpaper routine. 😉
Because of Mrs. the Poet’s infirmities I have been seeking a compromise vehicle between the Sprint-T and a 1970’s American sedan or mini-van. Her priorities are roof, windshield, working doors with roll-up windows, heat, and A/C. Those are non-negotiable. My priorities are steering, stopping, and acceleration with emphasis on those being fun via minimum mass. We both want “comfortable” seats, but again are at cross-purposes on what we define as comfortable. I want minimum padding and full support, she wants good padding and minimal support. I think I have found something we can agree on, a used Mazda Miata. It satisfies my need for a fun to drive vehicle, while at the same time Mrs. the Poet’s demands for creature comforts. And because we can use different seats on the driver and passenger side we can equally meet our diverse seating wants and needs. I have been looking up the tires for Miatas and found them very affordable with both good road-holding and traction and decent fuel economy so that a trip to TN would be cheaper than bus tickets. So if anyone knows of an old Miata for sale cheap with a good engine and A/C in the DFW area I’m interested in it.
And on the tube is the final race from TNT covering the Sprint Cup for a long time, possibly forever. If what I read is true TNT is dropping their sports broadcasting in favor of funding more original dramatic shows. I don’t know who will be doing the middle races next year when NBC takes over the Chase from the Disney networks, ABC and ESPN. I know Fox still has the first half of the “regular season” of the Sprint Cup. Well, all will be revealed next year anyway, so there is not much waiting to be done at any rate.
I have been hearing disconcerting rumors that some insurance companies have been selling insurance to people who should have been on expanded Medicaid by telling them they get much higher subsidies than they actually get and that those people will have to pay those subsidies back at tax time. Since I have a policy that is highly subsidized because we qualified for Medicaid this news is rather disturbing to me, as you might imagine. Since we don’t have access to what our subsidy should really be we have to depend on the insurance company since they get that information from the government directly while we get told “you get a subsidy” but not how much. If this blog goes silent after March of next year you’ll know I had to hock everything to cover my taxes…
Getting back to the Miata, one thing I will need to find is a bike rack to haul the new bike. I mean I designed the bike to fit the racks they put on the DART bus, so a standard length bike rack that bolts to the back of a Miata so I can have fossil fuel free transportation when I get to places I have to drive to get there in a reasonable amount of time rather than take the bus or ride the bike there.
And I have to wrap this up and take a shower and change clothes for dinner, so rubber side down out there and shiny side up (true for bicycles or cars, so everybody is covered).
PSA, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 