5000 miles

Speaking of crappy cellphone pics...

After only 4-1/2 months, my Odometer turned over to 5000 miles the other day. Now, this is actually an interesting achievement considering on my first MINI, it took almost a year to accumulate that feat (true story!).

Well.. *I* thought it was interesting anyway. I mean, isn't that a song or a movie or something?

Ferrari Something

Filed under "You Don't See This Everyday":

I noticed something interesting as I was heading southbound on the I-15 the other day. Even from a distance I knew I was about to see something you don't see everyday- I justs didn't know quite what that was going to be. As I got closer, I saw not one, but two Ferraris- on an auto-hauler (whatever those things are called). Since I'm not a "Ferrari guy", all I can tell you is that one was yellow, and the other was red. (Yeah, there was a Lexus on it too but who cares about a Lexus?!).

I grabbed a photo w/ my crappy kamera phone at approx. 70mph. Because I can. And I thought it was pretty.

TMI MINI?

Just when i think I'm doing okay, I'm reminded that i still don't really understand humans people. I know MINI owners have a reputation as fun and friendly folk, which is true, but sometimes it gets a little too much for me.

In the grand scheme of things i suppose i would most likely identify as an introvert. perhaps this is why i still think it's so odd when folks i barely know come up to me and strike up a conversation out of the blue. Conversations about cars and MINIs with a perfect stranger is one thing, but as if that's not weird enough, sometimes the stuff they talk about isn't about cars or MINIs, but is well, personal. I mean for all they know, I've got a blog that publishes everything everyone says to me! *wink*

John Cooper Photo Gallery

1,000s of beautiful photos of MINIs in head to head competition.




www.johncooper-mini.com

"Toy Drive" - Part Two - The Pics

Photos are starting to roll in from the Toy Drive.

(^^^there's mine! ^^^)

MINI Caravan



MINI Caravan



MINI Caravan



the fire truck parade/caravan


there were about 10 fire trucks!



Stoney and friends from K600 (KOGO-AM)



yeah, we kinda stole the show i guess.



20 or so MINIs (each full of toys!)



toys, toys, toys!



WCM Group Photo


Capt. Darren of the Salvation Army. (Cool guy.)


Special thanks to WCMers Chris and Sandy for the photos!

It's another MINI Adventure! "Toy Drive"

The West Coast MINI Club participated in thr Toy Drive for well-deserving "East County (San Diego) kids for the second year in a row. I'm not even from San Diego so that makes it even more exciting!













About a week beforehand I went shopping to pick up some toys and of course i call up my friend to boast- i mean share- the warm fuzzy feeling! First thing she says, is "oh no- i've got 100 toys in my car!" DOH! (The folks at her work did a toy drive and she filled up her trunk for me! How cool is that!)

Early the next morning (and I do mean early!) we emptied out her car and crammed and amazing amount of toys in the MINI! (and she still has some left in her car, simply because we ran out of room!) You'd be surprised at how many toys you can jam into a MINI Cooper, even with a driver, co-pilot, and a 3-foot passenger! 50-60 toys later we headed out!

The next phase of the adventure was to rendezvous with a one couple in a MINI at an offramp about 20 minutes away. They showed up like clockwork and we were on our way. I wasn't driving like maniac but they soon fell behind. (sorry?) We didn't worry because they knew where they were going.

We, on the other hand, followed Google's impeccable directions to the letter! We got the McD and I said "first one's here!" About ten minutes later, with no one else showing up, I'm thinking "um, where's the rest of the MINI's?" I called up MINI Steve- it turns out Google gave us excellent directions- to the WRONG McDonalds! (notice how I attempt to shift any fault away from myself!) No worries- we headed up to the right McD and there were about 10 MINIs waiting for us!

But wait! There's more!

We headed onto the freeway and about 5 miles down the road we met up with 2-3 more MINIs. We continued on to our next rendezvous stop- and guess what? 6 or 7 more MINIs! We waited in the cold and misty morning for what seemed like 30 minutes or so, and as we waited another 3-4 MINIs showed up. Each one packed with toys! (okay- "each one packed" was kind of an exaggeration, but still)...

"Captain Darren" from the Salvation Army showed up and he was obviously moved by the turn out (those Salvation Army folk- so passionate!)

About 20 MINI's deep, we caravaned about two miles to the drop off point (later we found out it's illegal to caravan in El Cajon! It's "right up there with street racing"? Who knew!?) I didn't know there was going to be a radio station there, but as we pulled up, we could hear them on the radio saying, "OMG- look what just pulled up- about 20 MINI Coopers!" (Insert every MINI joke you've heard 1000 times by now).

It was neat as we pulled out about 300-400 toys over all (probably more, but who's counting!) Everyone was really excited and appreciative and the radio station kept up the hype and MINI Steve got to plug the club for a couple minutes too! A local, non-WCMer in a MINI either saw the cars or heard it on the radio and pulled in to talk to us. (new recruit? mmmaybe!) About a dozen fire trucks showed up shortly there after with their toys and nice people and firemen, but personally, i think the MINIs stole the show (as they always seem to do!)

Next stop: Off to lunch with the MINI group where we took over 1/2 of an italian restaurant. Then it was back home in damp weather and a TomTom u-turn glitch, but of course, Mr. Bigglesworth handled it with no problems.

Now, for a well-earned nap, and to close the book on another MINI Adventure!

:bmp:

Mr. Bigglesworth Returns!

I am happy to announce that Mr. Bigglesworth has returned, 98% restored to it's original pristineness!

Turns out there was minimal body work needed and no paint involved. The rear right suspension was completely replaced as well as front control arm (the parts list is quite daunting). They also replaced all the black molding on the passenger side and front bumper.

Overall I'm quite pleased with the exception of a slight rattle at highway speeds that wasn't there before. This might get fixed by default after I mention that they (and I) totally missed a broken wiper fluid resevoir (as near as I can tell, the impact hit so hard that it got sandwiched, smashed, and cracked between the fender and body/frame?! Doh!)

They also forgot to replace the jack support stand which was ripped from the frame and thrown who knows where. Can't blame em though- I can't find this item in the parts book! I got it back on Friday and only those two not-so-little oversights. I don't notice any sign of painting but this morning I noticed the sill on the passenger side has scratches and dings in it that weren't there before. Should I complain about that? Other than that, they did a pretty good job.

I hope I don't notice more "slight aberrations" in the coming weeks.

Motor Safe.