Category: General

Well, I couldn’t get Brecht’s to see me yesterday, said to call back today and see if they could take a look. I am told that the Xenon headlamps rarely fail so I am sure its a 10 minute loose wire job. Brecht’s now has a dedicated MINI service rep which is good in a way but also bad as now the other reps won’t take my call; I can only speak to him, and he’s hardly ever free to pick up the phone. And he doesn’t return voice mails, either, it seems. There aren’t many times I wish I was driving a Honda but I’m sure the light would be fixed by now if I was.

Sarah is currently at 44.5K miles which means a scheduled oil change is coming up. The MINI ‘adapts’ the service intervals depending on your driving style and over the last 1000 miles the mileage at which the next service will take place is getting further out. It looked like it was going to be at 48K but now its up to 49,300. I’m pretty sure my warranty expires at 48K, that’s going to be a bummer.

In other news, thanks to the high-tech folks at eschwa this has been the first spam-free morning in a long time. Long may it stay that way.

It seems like all my MINI blogsters are buying new MINIs and I want to join the craze. This lunchtime I spec’d out a tasty Purple MCS Convertible, loaded it up with accessories, coming out at $28, 204 before tax and dealer markup. I added white stripes but of course being a convertible I can’t do a union jack roof. Current finances won’t let me do it though when I sell the Jeep, that plus the trade-in on the current MINI would get me the car with probably the same payments and remaining finance term as I have now. Other option is just to mod this one out with pulley, intake and all but everything I read suggests that the ’05 models handle so much better than the ’02 that I have that really I should start from there.

I really don’t want to extend the end of my car payment terms or else I’m never going to be able to buy my plane. So many toys to own, but so little money.

Don’t blame me, I didn’t write this article. Its all to do with the size of the wedding ring finger, apparantly.

Been thinking about whether to go to Vegas for this year’s MINI Vacation in Vegas after all. If the crowd is as clique-y as last year then pretty much the only attraction of the event is to be amongst all the MINIs and to motor to interesting places; unless you’re driving something other than stock, you’d better know people or you’ll be ignored. But the runs are the same ones I did last year and the fun of being amongst the MINIs is offset by the distance, cost etc. So I’m having a hard time convincing myself to go.

One of the new laws that came into effect on Jan 1 was that drivers must now have their lights on anytime they have the wipers on continuously. On my drive over to San Diego yesterday I saw plenty of lawbreakers looking for citations. Regardless of the law, however, the combination of dark skies, heavy rain and lots of spray on the road made it near suicidal not to have your lights on if you wanted not to be hit.

Btw, one of the other Jan 1 changes: mandatory $1000 fine for speeding tickets over 100mph. MINI owners take note!

Its almost the New Year and that means making a resolution. This year, rather than making some pointless promise that you won’t keep let me ask you to consider a change in driving habits….

The one thing above all else that I hate on my drive to/from San Diego each week is the sea of brake lights that appears from nowhere on a regular basis. There’s seldom any good reason for it, one person taps his brakes and everyone else reacts like one of Pavlov’s dogs. The ripple effect goes back for miles.

So, what to do? Well, I was taught that brakes are for stopping, not for slowing down in a hurry. Its amazing what leaving a little gap between you and the car in front can do and then simply coming off the gas when the red lights come on; friction and gravity are wonderful things, they will slow you down. If everybody did this I am sure the average freeway speed would increase by 10 mph.

Of course, it won’t ever happen, too many people doing their makeup, talking on their cell phones etc not paying any attention to the traffic will make sure of that. But give it a try, the driving experience will be so much the better for not having to stop/start the whole way, you will love it, your passengers will love, your car will love it.

Happy New Year to all 🙂

Another picture in the cool MINIs category. Here are some MINIs dressed as reindeer for a Christmas parade in Atlanta. Now where can I get me some antlers like those?

See all the very cool pictures at SweetDaisy’s website

Saw this picture on the SCMM message board and had to put it here for all to enjoy. Just too cute!

Photo courtesy of George Marsh.

Just back from a nice surprise at Costco in El Centro, a gallon of Premium Unleaded was just $2.13, the Regular was under $2 at $1.99!!!