assorted MX5 and other ramblings

[simple]

I discovered yesterday that my headrest speakers weren't working -
turns out that the cable under the seat had fallen prey to the part
of the forward-back adjusting mechanism which locks the seat in
place. It had happily munched through the cable. Have now
resoldered and they're back to their mediocre glory (I'm too
lazy/cheap to replace them with anything better).

I also implemented a long-term plan which I've been procrastinating
about for ages. Since I have my park-lights on whenever I'm driving,
and no lights-reminder buzzer, I wired the light circuit into a spare
circuit of the car alarm. Now, if I try to set the alarm when the
lights are on, it beeps and flashes at me in an unnatural fashion
(and I can still ignore this brief warning if I really do want to
leave the lights on).

Once previously, I had managed to flatten the battery by leaving the
lights on. My park lights are modified to be brighter (to make me
more visible when driving), so leaving them on when parked is
generally a Bad Idea.

For anyone else thinking of implementing the same thing, the bulb
which illuminates the ash-tray is a handy place to get access to the
lights circuit.

In pursuit of the holy grail of the drip-free oil-change, I tried the
cardboard chute method last week (mentioned here by someone on the
list just before I did the oil change). I was semi-successful -
where the chute butted up against the engine I didn't manage to catch
all the oil running down the side of the engine. Only one drip found
its way to the ground though, so I shall try it again next time.

I'm off to Paekakariki (from Auckland) in two weeks for the Juggling
Festival (http://festival.juggle.org.nz Thu 17..Sun 20 March 2005) -
I've got some temperature loggers to do the all important data-
gathering during the journey - I'm thinking I shall monitor engine
bay, cabin, and boot temperatures, correlated with speed from the
GPS. But I might come up with another plan - I'd like to figure out
the coolest place to keep film cannisters while travelling - could be
in one of the tunnels that runs forward from the boot?

For anyone in the area, the Juggling Festival includes a Public Show
on the Saturday night (I think it costs $10, but I really have little
idea because I've always paid as part of my festival registration) -
the show should be pretty good. Email to the address mentioned on
the website if you want to know anything more.


Karl.

[joanie]

Hi there Karl, I live in Paekakariki but have never actually got to the
juggling festival Will make an effort this year and look out for you in the
MX5
Cheers Joan H