nathan jara

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know that the Caped Crusader set up shop in Pittsburgh over the last few weeks for his newest big screen adventure. Thanks to the gentle cajoling of a friend, I made my way downtown this past week to see if I could catch a scene or two. After a delicious Italian eggplant sandwich with marinara and a side of risotto, we walked around Cherry Way, which was closed off for filming. Walking through the downtown area was interesting in that it really did feel like I was on set. Fake snow lined many of the streets and a fenced in area hid Batmobiles and Bat bikes. A shortcut through the downtown Macy’s to the opposite side of the building gave a good view to the afternoon action where, SPOILER ALERT, the Tumbler tumbled into a giant hole in the middle of the street. Geez, I hope Batman called the Gecko, Flo, or that guy with the blue telephone ahead of time.
 

Over this weekend I showed my car some love by doing a nice wash and summer time wax. But in between the wash and wax, I tried something new by using a clay kit. Meguiar’s Smooth Surface clay kit comes with two clay bars, detailing spray, micro-fiber towel, and a sample bottle of cleaner wax. The clay kit is used by first making sure your car is squeaky clean, then spraying the included detailer over a section of your car. Next take the kneadable clay bar and rub the bar over the sprayed area, once smooth, wipe dry with the towel. Repeating this process section by section over the whole car picks up and rubs away all the contaminants (dirt, tar, debris, general yuckiness) that get stuck to the car body. The result is well, amazing. The stuff leaves your car as smooth as glass. I followed up the clay bar with a new coat of cleaner wax to seal in all that glassy goodness. Take a peek below and you’ll see why I think it was worth it. :)

So I have a complaint to make. I’m not sure what it’s like these days in the rest of the country, but I’ve come to the conclusion that a good portion of people in western Pennsylvania have lost some fundamental driving principles. It’s amazing. I can’t count the number of times in the past few weeks I’ve encountered others who A. don’t know how to use their turn signal and B. don’t seem to understand the concept of ‘right-of-way.’ I’m not sure if the cars these individuals are driving don’t have turn signals, but if they do, they certainly are too lazy to make an effort to flick the turn signal arm. And when it comes to pulling up to the intersection, these particular drivers don’t realize that whoever is first to the intersection, proceeds through first. Only when two cars arrive at the same time does the person on the right have the ‘right-of-way.’

And just one more thing. Headlights. I am continually amazed that people do not turn on their headlights when it’s raining. First of all, it’s illegal (pg. 66). Second of all, it’s just silly.

Okay. I’m done.