Just a quick "hi". So far so good! If I have to head to the Dragon though... I pack my own air mattress! I travel with it everywhere since I am like the Princess and the Pea.

We've decided to do cake on Monday, which is good since I don't have it finished. The girls are having a great time. Met them at the airport and I put a pink and purple lei on each one. They are so tiny that the lei actually reached to the knees! First thing Elise said was, "I want to swim in your pool!". And tonight they asked Claire (she's oldest and just turned 5) what she wanted to do tomorrow and her reply was, "I think I want to come back to Florida!"

So despite the fact that I found out last night that the road near the airport was going to be mostly closed (they said plan at least an hour wait time in traffic) AND just when I was going to get ready for leaving I checked flight status (which I never do)... it was 30 minutes EARLY (what flight comes in THAT early???)... it's all worked out and no one has spazzed yet.

So Gem- I remember reading something about a dog in one of your posts but never thought about it literally being a dog. But holy crap... a MASTIFF? Wow. And they can't leave it at home due to behavioral issues? Someone PLEASE call Cesar Millan! Or maybe you can make treats from home with some kind of sedative? Maybe that would get expensive after awhile.

TNMM- I always call you "Teeny MAMA" in my head... can I call you that here? FYI- sounds like you're WICKED popular! Hey, it's good to be loved.

So I must go and work on my cake. Cab- get pumped about your cabinets. RJ- have fun with your cabinets. UhOh- I think that husband's got something planned because of your antiques. MINIxB- I LOVE Chili Red... my fave. I still have the '05 Chili Red Cabrio in the garage... but I just don't know how to part with her. Hal- still keeping everyone in line? Kiki- nice to see you again. RG- did you detail the car? Did I miss anyone? 'kay... nighty night!

 

I will. I'm so excited. My Mini will have another Mini to keep her company (hopefully)

 

Hi Freebies! Been kicking my own butt doing house stuff again.

Yes, Vivi, I was planning to bring my queen air mattress in case a runaway Freebie (or TWO, RG??) showed up.

Hubband's cousin is staying with us for a little bit until she starts the officer basic course, so she was helping me kick some serious renovation butt! She also found TWO rats today - one skeleton and one mummified. Ew. But she's one up on me! Holy crap I'm tired.

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...0GRND%20FLOOR/

HI KIKI!!!! Ohhhh, a fellow clock lover! I have an addiction to mantle clocks - i've got one cast iron Ansonia, two Sessions, one Seth Thomas, and one very decorative unknown. I actually have an old Seikosha regulator clock (before they shortened the name to Seiko), too, but the crystal fell off of it and broke...Have to get it fixed and then considered selling it. Right there with ya - I have a weekly ritual, where I water all my beeeuutiful japanese orchids, and then wind all my clocks. (8-day clocks.) Your piano sounds beautiful!

Hia 'Ola! Sounds like you've got a pair of sweeties on your hands there!

RandomG...get anything in the mail lately???

Oh, i'm kinda bummed - I was planning to get stripes while at MOTD (and a friend who owns a body shop in NC and does it all the time was going to install them), but Aesthetic Creations is backlogged and they don't have any of the ones I wanted in stock. *sigh* so I've got to wait. *sigh* *sigh* *sigh*

I'm taking cousin-in-law shopping tomorrow, and I have GOT to detail the car tomorrow!! My brother is SOOOOO psyched to be going. We haven't had an adventure together for...nine years now? Long time.

Did I mention that my camera-toting-Sarah-watching-neighbor is a total sweetie??? He cut my car-camera mount down to the PERFECT size for the car...and he filed it all down so it's nice and trim... SUCH a nice guy! We went for a short twisty tootle in the MINI. He was very impressed.

G'night kids!

 

*big hugs* Wish I could meet you guys there!

I haven't gotten anything in the mail yet, but I haven't checked yet. I'll head out to our lock box before I go to bed and let you know!

RG.

 

Oh!!! I got something in the mail!!! Pics tomorrow!!!

 

Hi morning all, Cab where are you??? out enjoying this weather????

OLA enjoy your little ones!!

Hi everyone else, sorry I try to keep up but by the time I type I forget who said what!!! I'm not ignoring anyone promise.

RG I'm checking out that gem site, this isn't good!

 

I found this poor little guy in my mail box last night. He was a little cold, but he was bundled up in a blankie and came with a note asking me to give him a good home. So I brought him inside and put him straight to bed with my old dog, who kept him warm through the chilly night we had here last night. He doesn't snore at all and Reilly didn't seem to mind sharing his crate with him. So I think he will make an excellent addition to our family!

This morning, we got out of bed and heard the sound of the robo-espresso gearing up. We were a little confused and then we came downstairs and found this in the kitchen:



After breakfast, we took him on a tour of the house and he was thrilled when we got to the basement. He looked around the home theater with awe in his eyes and then he spied my anime collection and dove straight for the shelves!! I think he's really looking forward to watching Robotech with me tomorrow while the kids are in school!



And finally when we got to the garage, he saw Viola and he squealed! He begged for a run through the bends with me, so I opened the door and I heard a rousing cry of... "SHOTGUN!!!"



It's a beautiful day at Casa RG.

Thanks X. He's adorable and I love him already!

 

OH I am sooooo glad he's a firm seat-belt wearer! I was hoping he was, especially when he was describing the kinds of rides he particularly liked. And I am highly gratified to see he's already earning his bearista keep. He had mentioned he would try before he left...

ROFL

 

Boy did I ever have an OCD day.

I decided to detail the MINI today. First I sprayed the wheels to remove brake dust and road grime. Stuff got about 80% of it off. rest had to removed the old way; elbow grease.

Next came the the rest of the car. Lots of soap and water. Then followed with the clay bar and detailer spray. You can't believe how much crud is still left on the car even after a good wash. Especially the rear end. Lots of pollen embedded in the finish. Even did the glass.

Once that was done I finished off with cleaner/wax and Back-to-Black on all the plastic trim. Looks real shiny now.

Will treat the glass tomorrow with Rain-X.

Only big problem is there rain predicted for Tuesday through Thursday.

I just hope it stays north of here.

 

That sounds like a GOOD day, Hal!

I thought clay-bar-ing WAS waxing? No?

What are the best wipers? Mine are falling apart!

I have to do an OCMD day tomorrow (Obsessive Compulsive MINI Disorder.) HAVE to...

 

Not really. It's just another cleaning process. Clay bar is a extra super fine abrasive that removes the stuff that bonds to the clear coat. It will sometimes remove swirl marks left after a botched cleaning of rub down with a too coarse cleaner. You think you wash your car really good until you give it a wipe down with a clay bar and detailers spray. The bar I use is white and feels like Play-Dough. It turned a gray/yellow color after I did the bonnet. But the surface nows feels like new glass.

On wipers, the jury is still out. I'm still trying to find one that works well and will last longer than 3-4 months out in full sun.

One I cannot recommend is the Rain-X Latitudes. The driver side is just OK. Passenger side doesn't wipe the outboard 2". Plus they don't toggle which makes them have a tendency to chatter. I think it's due to the "I" beam design. Just doesn't make good contact with the glass.

The best replacement for the rear one is OEM from the dealer. So far there's no third party that makes a 10" replacement wiper blade.

G'nite all. (insert sleepy smiley here)

 

Wow Hal! Nicely done. Wanna come do mine???? (giggle)
Actually I vaccuuummmeeeeeddd the heck out of my clubbie yesterday. And also wiped down the interior plastic/leather & washed the rubber floor mats. Today, I'm taking my daughter to school, having a riding lesson (?) and then coming home to detail the outside. I picked up a claybar and am planning on claying Mocha and do the who shebang. Glad to hear I can clay the windshield.
Hal, is there anything I can do to the wheels to keep all that brake dust/grime off? I take her to the car wash (put in 4 quarters, get the high pressure hose/thing) at leas 3 days a week, and always hose off those wheels, then wipe them down with a rag, but it seems by the time I get from car wash to next stop, there's more grime... groan!

I'm also going to rain x the windshield as that rain isn't looking like it's gonna be fun.

TTFN- V

 

AHA!!! I can help answer THIS one! I have beauuuutiful white rims. WHich are a ROYAL PITA to keep clean. First, the most drastic and expensive measure (which wasn't all THAT expensive considering other mods I could have done) was I replaced the front brake pads with CERAMIC brake pads. It's 100% improvement, and one of the best mods EVAR! Next, I have special cleaning brushes - specially shaped, and pretty cheap at dollar stores or walmart or something - but they're made for the spokes. Lastly, there's a rim wax that is pretty thick and helps keep off yuckiness. Wheelwax http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/NMA7102/InvDetail.cfm . I also highly recommend "Black WOW" for the black trim. really does a good job and doesn't fade to white after a while in the sun.

I am fully planning and ready to detail the car after work today! Gots all my supplies and acoutrements! (So excited!) and I've got to pick up a claybar...I think I'm just going to get new wipers, and keep researching for "the best" ones.

 

I changed my OEM pads to EBC Green Stuff pads. It has reduced the dust considerably. They are a carbon/kevlar composite material.

I wanted to use wheel wax, but couldn't find any locally. Maybe one of the vendors at MOTD is carrying it.

If you leave the dust on too long it will etch and pit the surface of your wheels. The previous owner of my MINI didn't do such a good job of keeping the wheels clean. My wheels are somewhat pitted.

T-minus 60 hours and counting to MOTD!!

 

The absolute best product to protect your wheels from brake dust is called Rejex.

It is a high gloss polymer finish that protects "Nothing sticks but the shine".

Made by Corrosion Technologies (same company as CorrosionX) you may need to get it at the airport, or an aviation supply like Sportys, Chief Aircraft or Aircraft Spruce. Website linked above says that TrueValue Hardware now has it.

Not a wax, but applys to a clean surface in a similar manner, wipe on and let dry to a haze and wipe off, two coats in two days protects best and lasts past six months.

After you see how easy it makes cleaning BD from wheels, use it on glass, chrome, plastic and paint as well as gelcoat of a boat.

Only downside is that it is so slick that you can no longer set anything on a treated surface, as it will quickly slide right off.

 

If I didn't know better, ladies...I'd say Hal was getting a tad pumped for MOTD.....

OK, Hal - I'm stumped. I tried to claybar the car. This didn't work, although I followed both the letter of direction, as well as INTENT of direction.... I must do something about it tomorrow...How the H-E-DOUBLE-HOCKEY-STICKS do i do this!?!

 

Wow...sounds like just the pollen warrior I need! Except...if it's not a wax, what is it? Will it damage the car?

 

Ya think? You betcha!

Did you get the clay bar kit or just a clay bay alone? You need to have something as a lubricant. I use detailing spray.

One way to tell if you are doing it correctly is to take a microfiber towel on the area you plan on claying. Just lightly drag it across the area. You should feel it snag on the contaminates.

Now spray the area with the detailers spray and lightly rub the clay bar across the surface. Go left and right, up and down, it really doesn't matter, just be thorough. Now wipe off with a microfiber towel.

If you take a fresh micro and drag is across the area now it should just glide across. Hope this helps.

 

It's a protective polymer finish that's much tougher than wax.

Idea is to protect from damage and not harm surface applied to, a good example is that you can use it on an acrylic aircraft windshield that would be damaged by RainX, but it provides the same 'bead-off' action as RainX.

 

I'll try the "befoe" and "after" swipe/glide but I did get the kit w the primer wax, spray, and bar...directions said to use the primer (no problems there) spray then clay swipe "until there's no more resistance" then wipe down. So I did all that. But it's counterintuitive! If I spray first, then clay, well NO DUH- there's no resistance with the clay on wet car!! I tried it both with and without spray. My bonnet stripes came out cleaner, but...Maybe it was just getting too dark...I'll try again tomorrow. If it doesn't work I'll go back to my old wax I guess...just really wanted it to work!!

 

Since I'm OCD, I'll be bringing my "Emergency Detailing Kit". If we have time I'll show you how to clay bar your finish.

Are you going to the drive-in movie Friday night? I'm wondering if they might want to have a second feature; I'm bringing a DVD of the original "The Italian Job". Think they might bite?

 

Wow X... the claybar didn't work for you? I just did Mocha this afternoon, after washing her with dish soap and rinsing her first. Then I took the clay bar (it was meguilar's or something like that), softened just a bit of it (like I tore the corner off and squished it around in my fingers), then on my freshly washed and dried Mocha, I spritzed some of the lube that came with it (which is a quick wax stuff I think), and went over small patches with the claybar- it was kind of slick, and at first I didn't think it was working, but after I dried off the bit I had just done, there was a noticeable difference. I worked my way around the car, and that bit of clay was really nasty- I could feel the difference that I couldn't see... the clay would drag over nasty crap, even with the lube. I'd look at the clay and it would be covered with dirt, which meant I had to fold it over and squish it around to make clean clay...
By the time I finished, Mocha's finish was like glass. Tomorrow, I'm going to dust her off (she's in the garage) and apply a good waxing...

Hal- Quick question... I wash my car probably 3 times a week (dusty road, farm, etc), altho it's the 4 qtrs pressure wash thing. I do pressure wash my wheels and then wipe them down after I've dried the car (man, I go thru those yellow towels quickly!). Before I can get some of this magic wheel stuff, is there anything else I can do???

I'm getting psyched
Made a couple of batches of trail mix yesterday- a spicy and a not spicy version. Have done so much laundry I can't see straight... but I got an hours riding lesson in today - woo hoo!

Night Freebies- Oh, and Gem, can't wait to see what you come up with. Ola, bring your mattress and join us...

Hi Cab- hope all is well!

 

I'm ODC in training, Hal, so I'm curious... what's in your EDK? (and why do I have that stupid credit card commercial in my head now)


YES let's hijack the drive in movie! That is GREAT - I've never seen the original (I know, bad me!).

 

Kit contains the following:
1)Micro fiber towels. Lots of 'em.
2) Car wash soap. Dish detergent is a bit too harsh.
3) One or two buckets. One for soapy water, the other to rinse washing mitt.
4) Washing mitt, I prefer micro fiber.
5) Clay bar kit
6) Combo cleaner/wax.
7) Glass cleaner. Rain-X
8) Black plastic treatment. (Back-to Black, Black Wow)
9) Applicator pads.
10) California dusters, inside and outside one.

I'll probably think of something else. I usually will get some of those small airline bottles to put all my lotions in. Mark them with a Sharpie.

For your wheels, try some regular carnuba wax. Takes some effort, but anything to make the surface slick.

 

Thanks Hal- I'm heading to bed, but will go over that list with a fine tooth comb....
the dish soap I use is Lifetree (Citrus Fresh Dish Soap
WITH ALOE + CALENDULA
Pleasantly fresh, environmentally safe and economical, this hardworking formula delivers enough cleaning power to handle even the toughest jobs. But with extracts of aloe vera and calendula (marigold) and other natural skin softeners, it actually helps prevent dryness and irritation while you do dishes.)

It seems to cut grease pretty well- I've been using it for years on my dishes... Ingredients:
Citrus Fresh Dish Soap, pH 7
Ingredients: Purified water, Alkyl ether sulfate (nonionic surfactant, derived from natural source), Alkanolamide (anionic surfactant, derived from coconut oil), Linear alkylate sulfonate (nonionic surfactant, derived from natural source), Aloe vera extract, Calendula extract, Fragrance (botanically derived)

Poor Mocha, hope I didn't mess her up...

Night-