Spotted a Mini

Well, never expected to see a Mini but on my way back to the office after a little walk I was passed by a white Mini Mayfair! It looked like it hadn’t aged too well but the young male driver looked like he didn’t care.

Also saw a Hummer which somewhat predictably cut-off some other car without giving a care. Good to know that Hummer drivers are a**holes no matter where they live.

We were supposed to be going home tomorrow but we’ve been “extended” until next Weds. I suppose we must do what the company wants but there’s not one of us happy about it. And, most importantly, Tokyo seems to be fully booked for the weekend and we have to move to a hotel we aren’t sure about….

Second MINI Sighted!

On the way back from a day’s sightseeing, as I waited to cross the street a Park Lane edition S drove in front of me. My camera had long since been put away but, other than being real clean, it appeared much like any other Cooper S, although I think thats my first Park Lane edition I’ve seen.

We’re booked on a flight home on Saturday but Friday we heard that they may want us to stay until the following Wednesday. I’m already ready to come home so I have my fingers crossed that no changes get made to my schedule.

In all the jet lag I got the URL to my pics wrong. With over 200 taken I’ve split them up into sets, go to this posting on my blog for a list if you wish.

First MINI Sighted!

I’ve been in Tokyo for one full day and a half, was wondering if I would see any MINIs but this morning on the walk to the office we were passed by a pepper white, black roof Cooper. I didn’t have my camera with me so no picture but maybe I will see some more when I have it with me.

MC2 Magazine

I had been unimpressed with the previous MINI magazine (can’t even remember the name of it right now) and so had not bothered to check out the MC2 periodical.

But tonight, in anticipation of a business trip to Tokyo next week, I bought a bunch of magazines and books to help with passing the time. I’m not leaving until Tuesday so what did I do ? Yep, started reading the magazines. One was MC2 and I must say that my first scan of the issue looked good and I am looking forward to reading most of it. If my suspicions are confirmed there is a good chance I will look for it on the shelves again.

Topless Again

The weather has cooled nicely in the Valley so Friday I decided to drive home with the top down. Nice and warm in San Diego, got to the mountains and it got cooler of course. It got down to 54F with a vicious windchill but I braved the numbness in my body parts rather than that stopping to put the top back up – if I do it again, I need more than a t-shirt and shorts on. Once I got down to the valley floor, the temps were a lovely 78F, the feeling came back into my hands and all was good again. XM even played Billy Bragg’s New England so I cranked it up and enjoyed the rest of the drive.

Being Quick Off the Mark

I don’t know what it is but it seems to me that everybody wants to accelerate from a stop light as if they were a Grand Prix driver, doesn’t matter whether they are in a Kia, a F-250 truck or a Lotus Elise; gotta put your foot down and go. This presents me with a problem as (a) I find the MINI not real good at quick starts and (b) I hate being beaten off the line by a pissant car or truck. Sometimes, usually if they have moved over to the outside lane just so they can beat me to the next block, I’ll take part but I won’t break the speed limit just to get ahead, and if the distance is long enough I am usually caught up by the time we get to 40mph or so. But I do wish I could get a better start off the line. Or that I could just let them go and not care about it. Or maybe even both.