Category: General

As most people know, I am not a speeder. I may do 80 in a 70 zone when that is the general speed of the traffic but, unlike many MINI drivers, you won’t find me doing 100+ even though Sarah certainly would love to. My reasons are two-fold: first, I don’t want to get a ticket, never had one in my life and don’t intend to (though with my regular San Diego commute I consider it inevitable). Second, I think it’s irresponsible in most public road conditions. You might think you can stop on a dime from 130mph after coming round a blind curve to find a poor Cruiser owner broken down in the middle of the road but I know I can’t. In such an event I am happy to see Darwinism take care of you but I don’t believe innocents should have to suffer for your lesson in mortality.

I am pasting a posting from the SCMM forum which shows exactly why I don’t hang out with these people any more. Its not a question of if this guy seriously hurts himself or someone else, its a question of when. I don’t intend to be there when it happens.

Well … I had been pumping along at 110-130 at the time and that seemed to present an “issue” with Mr. CHP (go figure) … of course, I had no idea he was “watching me” and a dude in a HEMI Dodge going at it … so, he was pissed cause it took a while to land my sorry MINI ass … but he was impressed with my driving and thought the car was “cool” … durr … we KNOW THAT …

On the way to San Diego yesterday I was alongside an orange convertible Cooper for a while, got to check it out for a while. The differences is styling are subtle but noticeable – when I first saw it in my rear view mirror I knew it was a MINI but there was something odd about the front; I couldn’t pick out the differences but they were definitely there. Very cool looking car, I want one.

Its taken me a long time to catch up with a good thing but finally this weekend I installed the excellent auto-up window circuit in Sarah. Here in the USA the MINI doesn’t come with a switch to put the windows all the way up, you have to hold them in until they are done. Ian over on the east coast solved this with his own circuit board design and, even for a botch-it artist like me, it was very simple to install. Hardest part of the whole install was getting the courage to pull on the dash to pop out the facia, I felt for sure with my ham-fisted style I’d break it. Excellent product, highly recommended if you don’t already have it.

Last night I passed a gas station advertising their premium unleaded at $2.72!! I think thats the highest price I have ever seen, and the news reports are predicting it will go higher. The only ray of sunshine is the thought of all those H2 owners spending a lot more per mile in their hideous behemoths.

The sun goes in and the MINIs come out!! I’m currently staying in Old Town, went for a walk last night, saw 4 MINIs parked within two blocks of the hotel. Tonight I went to Borders in Mission Valley, parked two spaces down from another red MCS, came out of the store and it was gone, but another red MCS was parking nearby. This one had a red checkerboard roof which I thought looked neat. I also saw a whole bunch between work and the shop. I haven’t seen many in ages but now I’ve seen probably 20 in a week.

Seen a lot of MINIs this past week, saw five in one short trip from Balboa Park to Montgomery Field, managed to bag a couple of waves from those that saw me. Also a couple of new sightings here in the Valley, including a gold one that apparantly belongs to a high school girl here in Brawley. Much to my dismay, however, the gold one was sporting one of those awful bra’s, made the car look hideous from the front. I don’t get why someone would get such a gorgeous car and then cover up half the front.

I know the argument is saving the paintwork from stone chips and hence increase resale value but surely you buy the car for yourself, not so that the next owner gets a good deal. Also, in the scorching sun of the Valley, the paintwork is going be two-tone when that bra comes off.

[Hmm… having the words “high school girl” and “bra” in this post is going to make for some interesting referrals]

On the way home last night, the combination of setting sun and flithy windscreen made driving westbound somewhat hazardous. So I decided to get the car washed, I knew it was too late to get a human to wash it but figured I’d just run it through one of those automatic dealies. Fifteen minutes later I had yet to find one – plenty of gargages proudly announcing “Car Wash” but all of them were now supervised and therefore closed. I did find one eventually but I think the death of the automatic car wash has been greatly under-reported.

I haven’t died, just started a new job and could not remember how to login to the posting system here. Not that there is much to tell… the MINI is on a good running streak with no problems to report. The fuel guage was acting odd again last Sunday, started with a full tank but after 70 miles it showed well below the first mark; usually I get about 100 miles before the first mark. Went to the restrooms on the I-8 and when I got back in the car the guage was showing what I would expect, nowhere near the first mark. Second time something like this happened.

Saw a few MINIs in San Diego, one went by my hotel every morning when I was coming out, a red one with bonnet stripes, and I also met a member of the West Coast MINI group in Pacific Beach whilst stopped at a traffic light. I haven’t done anything with SCMM in a long time, maybe I shall and see what these guys are up to; they are supposed to be a lot more informal.

On the way into El Centro this afternoon a new MINI I hadn’t seen before passed in the other direction – it was pepper white, black roof and blue stripes on the bonnet. Not sure yet if I like that combination, seemed odd to me.

Today marks the end of my first year of adoption and its been a very enjoyable year’s motoring. During that time I’ve done 21418 miles, mostly between Brawley and San Diego but there was also the one trip to Las Vegas. The car is great to drive though it hasn’t been without its faults: replaced the coolant reservoir, replaced the DSC unit, replaced the ABS unit, repaired a headlamp unit , and replaced the windscreen. So she’s not the most perfect specimen of her kind but I still love her like only a parent can. With my new job having me driving to San Diego and back a couple of times a week, I predict many more happy miles to come.