This is prime roadster time in Albuquerque. The mornings are warm, the evenings are cool, and a girl can't help but shun the ragtop for open sky, and it is just as romantic as it sounds.

Miatas have been in my life since 1994 when my dad bought his in a very muted mid-life crisis, so I've had a dozen years to fine-tune the rules of roadster ownership. Until recently, I thought they were instinctual, but with the release of the Pontiac Solstice and the reworked MX5, I've found this just isn't true.

And really, what's to know? There are only three rules.

Roadster Rule Number 1: The small blondes in the big SUVs are actively trying to kill you. So are the big dudes in the even bigger trucks. Small cars trigger the murderous instinct of anyone getting less than 15 m.p.g.

It's a tough rule, but eventually, everyone gets it. And usually the story ends, "and then he flipped me off." Unless you're Adam, and I can't post how his stories end, because this is a public forum, and there might be ladies present.

Roadster Rule Number 2: The weather's nice? The top's down.

You'd think this would be the easiest rule to follow, but as of this writing, I've seen more Solstices with their tops up than down. Like, it's running 14:1, which causes Adam to smirk and mutter about "trunk issues." But it's spreading to new MX5 drivers, which boggles. What is the point of buying a convertable if you're not going to put the top down?

So the rule is, if it's nice (which is, granted, a flexible term, but for now let's define it as 68-84 degrees F, and sunny to partly cloudy, and not use Adam's definition which means above 50 degrees, period), the top should be in the down position.

But I will make concession for hair issues. Sometimes a girl is sporting a fragile, pre-guillotine French updo and the top needs to be up. Other times? Top down, dear. Which means the dudes? The dudes have no excuse.

Roadster Rule Number 3: When you come upon another roadster, smile and wave.

This is standard operating proceedure. See a roadster? Wave.

So that's what I did last night. I was tooling down Paseo after work and came up on a blonde in her thirties driving a red Honda S2000. As I passed, I gave her the wave and continued on.

But funny thing, we were going the same direction, and ended up as pole and P2 at the Eagle Ranch/Paradise intersection. And that's when she yelled at me, "Do I know you?"

I turned down the Fountains of Wayne and made the "huh?" face and she yelled her question again. "Do I know you?"

I yelled back, "Nope!"

"Then why'd you wave at me?"

"You're in a converatble! It's the friendly thing to do!"

"Oh." And she looked a touch confused, or maybe she was looking at me like I was a crazy person, but the light changed and I zipped around the corner and continued on my way.