Planet 9

Every so often you run into what I call a "final product", one that is so good for the intended purpose you can't imagine how to improve it. In my experience you don't come across products like often, so it's probably worth blogging about the ones you find.

The last place you expect to come across a final product is in car waxes or sealants. Given that they're chemical potions it's no surprise there are discernible differences between them, but for the past 35 years or...

The sun came out for a week in Portland, and I couldn't resist. I said I wouldn't, but I did. I drove the Cayman this week. The roads were dry and mostly clean, only a few stray rocks. Over the holidays I had polished every swirl mark off the paint, and I tried Zaino Clear Seal, for the first time, as a paint sealant. (I'll probably do an article about Clear Seal, once I see how it holds up. Interesting stuff.)

The Cayman started right up the first time, after sitting on the...

I suppose one can reasonably drive a Cayman year-round in Oregon, but since ODOT spreads "sand" (small rocks) and "de-icing fluid" (salt) on the roads anytime it freezes or snows a few flakes, I choose to leave the Cayman in the garage for the winter, which probably means until late March or early April.

My last driving day was this past Saturday. It was partly cloudly and 50F, so I went out for one last good drive, about 75 miles worth. Heated the car up nicely....

One of the most expensive aspects of owning a high-end sports car these days is buying tires for it. Anyone that has priced a replacement set knows that you might spend $1500 for new Michellin Pilot Sport 2s. This makes tire health a factor we should pay attention to, making sure our alignments are correct, inflation is correct, and that wear is occurring evenly.

You can stand there and stare at the tread, or you can measure tread wear across the face of the tire, and note progress...

I brought my OBDII code reader to work today, so I could reset a check engine light on a friend's 2008 Corvette Convertible. Here in Oregon, one of only two states in the US you can't legally pump your own gas, these CELs are more common, because the pump jockeys either don't tighten the gas cap enough, or they twist it around a couple of extra orbits just to be sure, wearing out your cap quickly in the process. I love to go to Washington or California just to pump my own gas. Oregon is such...