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.