It's So Cute and Tiny

“It’s So Cute and Tiny.”
That’s what my favorite and only ex-wife had to say about the new MINI. She said she liked it a lot more than my old MGB which really was a possessed car from hell.

Actually, she hated the MGB for a variety of reasons starting off with the fact that she couldn’t drive the manual transmission. The MINI has an automatic transmission that allows for manual gear shifting so she could drive it.

She was taken by the fact the convertible top is automatic, no chipped or broken nails. She liked the idea of the sunroof function on the convertible top. “I can have the benefits of the top being down without messing up my hair.”

My ex-wife was very happy for me and my decision to buy the MINI. “I knew how much you enjoyed driving the MGB and I was so thankful when you gave it up for me. You really should enjoy this car now.”

[I got rid of the MGB and purchased a Nissan Z that she drove most of the time.]

The Cup Holders Work
I went to see Molly the Stylist for my regular monthly haircut or styling as she likes to say. I picked up some coffee for us on my way to her salon. Since it was cold, well cold for Southern California, and overcast, I phoned to see if she would like to change from an iced drink to a hot drink.

Molly opted for regular coffee.

As we usually do, Molly asked what was new in my life. I said that I had a new car and pointed it out to her. It was parked in front of the salon, I was lucky with parking that day. Molly liked the MINI as well. She said that I needed to find a girl friend to go with it.

I said I needed to find a younger woman with either short hair or one who liked to put her hair up in a pony tail or wear a cap.

Molly thought for a moment and said, “Uh huh. Long hair could be a problem with the top down.”

The new receptionist at the salon likes MINIs and she said the “MINI looked yummy.”

I decided against asking for any clarification of yummy.

Sunscreen
I need to pick a tube of sunscreen for the MINI. Driving around with the top down and driving fast makes it difficult to know when you are getting a burn. I picked up a nasty little burn on part of my arm where the skin had been partially removed by my blood test tape when I took the bandage off.

Openometer
I now have almost eleven hours on the openometer. Since it is Summer, I can drive at least one way to school with the top down. This is driving up my time.

For now anyway, at the beach, we have a thick marine layer of clouds that lasts all day or maybe only allows for an hour or so of sunshine. Since most of my local trips are short ones, I don’t take the top down just be chilled a bit more from the wind effect.

Shameless Driving
Doug has been urging me to go out and drive for the fun of driving in the MINI.

I finally took him up on his suggestion. I went out and drove for 60 or 65 miles on the local freeways with the sole purpose being driving fast with nowhere to go except back home. Of course the MINI handled well and it was fun for me.

I have found that I am driving around corners faster than I would have with the Prelude or the Pathfinder. I need to be a bit more cautious going forward.

The New Doctor
I have a new oncology doctor now.

I went to the Oncology Clinic on Friday with a fair amount of fear and trepidation. I was going to find out who my new doctor would be. Regardless of how talented the new doctor may, I knew that he or she would never be able to replace Dr. Karen in my heart or mind.

I was also concerned because I had an afternoon appointment; my first since January 2008. Afternoon appointments are bad because the doctors schedules are all off and you end up waiting for what seems like an eternity.

My appointment was for 1:00 PM; my new doctor called my name at 4:50 PM.

My new doctor is Dr. Dilruba Haque, MD. Don’t ask me to pronounce her first name. Her last name is pronounced Hock. So far, she seems to be a good doctor. We discussed the skin on my hands cracking. She was willing to consider a reduction in the Xeloda dosage now. I said that I could stand the current dosage a bit longer and it seemed better to me that we should give the new lower dosage that Dr. Karen started me on a chance to take effect. She smiled.

My next appointment is in the morning.

Perfectomundo.

I do need to come up with a new avatar for Dr. Hock.

I had a chance to talk with Nurse Vhrunda and Nurse Linda. They both said that Dr. Karen has gone to one of the Kaiser Hospitals and was working there now. Linda said she would contact Dr. Karen and find out which one and tell me the next time I see her.


Be well and stay happy.

Two weeks and 603 miles later

Two weeks and 603 miles later
I’ve been driving the MINI now for two weeks. The car has been driven for just over 603 miles.

Contrary to Doug’s suggestions that I take the MINI out for a drive with no purpose other than spending time behind the wheel on the highways, I have avoided driving for the sake of driving so far. Since this weekend will be a long one, I just may take the MINI out for some recreational driving.

I have a difficult to decision to make for the weekend. Do I finally finish reading the Owner’s Manual or do I recreational drive?

By trial and error, I have figured out most of the control and switches on my own. Alex the Saleswoman gave me a quick run through all of their functions when I picked up the MINI at the dealership. I should have taken notes. The only remaining area that I will need the Manual for is how to set up and operate the radio. In the meantime, I have a wonderful CD that Alex made for me to listen to.

Excellent.

It would be easy to recreational drive if the MINI had an ashtray and cigarette lighter so I could smoke a nice cigar while driving with the top down. That would eliminate the possibility of tobacco smoke smell in the car.

Alex the Saleswoman said the MINI has neither. She also said it was bad to smoke anyway.

I do truly enjoy driving the MINI. I especially like and enjoy the way it handles. It corners crisply with precision. There is nothing that resembles a sense of drifting or loss of control when I take a turn sharply.

Alex told me that I should rotate the key fobs about once every four months or so because their batteries need to be charged. Once every four months is a challenge for me so I have been changing off every week. That is easier for me to manage.

Alex would probably say that once every four months is better.

[Shrugs]

I am very glad that I ignored Doug’s comments that green is a Boston Celtics color. I am beginning to love the green car more and more every day. I was stopped in traffic earlier this week and all of the cars around the MINI were black. I liked being able to stand out.

Last Saturday, I took my friend Mariola to lunch. We both teach at school and we both attended the great University of Utah although at different times. She thought the green looked very handsome. Mariola also liked how comfortable the seats. We didn’t have a long lunch because we both had afternoon classes to get back to teach.

When I was driving home from school last Saturday in the bright and warm Southern California sun with the top down, I was stopped in traffic in Torrance at a traffic signal. A family in a minivan pulled alongside of the MINI. The father looked down at me in the MINI and shrugged and smiled; he clearly would have preferred to be driving the MINI and not the minivan with a back seat full of noisy children, judging from the expression on his face.

I waved and smiled as I drove off. I didn’t feel guilty at all at being in my MINI convertible then or now for that matter.

My driving during the first tank of gasoline was less than judicious for me. The car averaged about 26 miles per gallon for my driving. The MINI drives so well that I have to make an effort to not speed.

When I drove out to school last Saturday morning on an almost empty 405 Freeway, I noticed the tachometer was running at 4,000 RPMs. My first reaction was that I was driving in a lower gear and hadn’t shifted up to fifth gear. I looked over at the Speedometer that was indicating that I was driving at 85 miles an hour.

Not a good speed for economical driving. Good thing for me the Highway Patrol was somewhere else and not behind me because I would have been stopped and given a traffic citation that carried a hefty fine.

Teaching
This week has been a good week for me at school. I found out that I picked up USD$600 in teaching bonus money for last quarter. My actual spending money will be less because of withheld taxes.

I taught as a substitute last night and picked up about USD$110. It was easy; all I did was sit in class while the guest speaker, an undercover detective, told adventure stories from his career of chasing criminals to a class of Transportation Security students.

The Paralegal Studies chair spoke to me last night and asked if I was interested in teaching some more paralegal courses in the Fall Quarter. I said sure; the subject matter is relatively easy and the classes for the most part are small which translates into higher evaluations and bonus money for me.

This was the first time anyone at school has asked me about teaching so early in the quarter. This is the third week of the quarter and teaching decisions are not usually made until Week 9 or 10 of the quarter. I guess the chair likes me as an instructor.

I’ve already mentally spent the bonus and substitute money. I will be buying Microsoft Office 2010 Professional and I will be picking up some DVDs and maybe a Blu-Ray or two from DVDPlanet.com.

Perfectomundo.


Be well and stay happy.