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.
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.
posted by Chuck Reinhardt at 12:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home