Call me!

Call me!
The MINI and I were just pulling into Giuliano’s parking lot early on Saturday evening. I was stopping by to pick up a sandwich for my dinner and some Fudgy Wuggy cake for my dessert. The cake is my treat for the week.

The Fudgy Wuggy cake is a really rich chocolate cake with a chocolate fudge icing. I have no idea of how many calories it has and frankly, I really don’t care to know. My blood sugar tests were fine at my semi-annual checkup. My doctor says that I can indulge so long as it is in moderation.

Anyway and more to the point.

I had to wait for the opposing traffic to move past so I could enter their parking area. I had the top down and the radio on, not too loudly either. I was enjoying life and the remains of the day.

A younger and attractive woman pulled alongside of me and smiled at me.

Sweet.

“Call me!” she said with a big smile and then she drove off.

Great. My pen and paper were in my briefcase that was in the MINI’s trunk. For a brief moment, I had a fleeting thought of following her and then I gave that idea up. Too much traffic to fight.

Motoring on, Alex the Saleswoman would be pleased with me for using MINI phraseology.

I now have twenty-eight hours and change of driving with the top down on the MINI. Normally, I would have expected something close to double that level. But, this has been a cool and overcast Summer here in Southern California.

Last Thursday, I had to go pick up some shirts at the laundry. I headed out of the building at about 3:00 PM. The MINI”s outside temperature was reading a chilly 63F. The skies were overcast and there was a steady breeze blowing in off the ocean. I had the top up and I had on my slightly fading red University of Utah hoodie and my red Utah baseball cap.

I was not color coordinating with the British racing green of the MINI.

I have over 2,500 miles on the MINI and I should reach 3,000 by this time next week or sooner if the sun stays out or I go joy riding again this weekend.

The new photo of the MINI and me was taken by Alex. I should ask Alex if I could add a photo of her to the blog.

Teaching
I think I am going to be teaching four classes next quarter. I’ve taught them all before so my preparation time will be significantly reduced.

One of my classes is State and Local Government. The Fall election will give me a number of live teaching aids. I plan to have the students debate some of the more interesting California state ballot measures. Time permitting; I also plan to show a couple of films, one will be the Jimmy Stewart classic, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON.

This quarter will end in another week. Most of my students are doing well but there are some will not pass.; primarily because they did not complete the assignments.

Doug
Doug and his girl friend took me out to dinner last Friday.

We went to L.A. Food Show because we all like the food there. I had a new menu item, a deli burger. It was ok. I don’t think I’d order it again. It was your basic burger with a couple of corned beef on top of the burger and some coleslaw, served on a brioche. It was supposed to have some pickles. I think I missed them. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best, I would give a 4.5 or so.

Doug had a simple herbed grilled chicken and his girl friend had fried chicken and waffles. I think she said that Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles did it better.

I skipped desert because I knew I was having Fudgy Wuggy cake on Saturday.

Dereliction of Blog Duties
I know that I have been derelict in posting to the blog this Summer. In my defense, I would point out that it is Summer in Southern California and I have a new convertible car to distract me.

I won’t make any promises about writing more because they may be hard to keep. For example, what if I see the woman who yelled at me and she gives me her phone number? I think that could adversely affect my time to post to the blog.


Be well and stay happy.

The MINI and Me

The MINI and Me
I finally found something about the MINI that I don’t like.

I don’t like the digital odometer.

I know this is a very minor point. Doug said I was overreacting. Doug also said that I need to move forward into the digital world.

Digital world.

Smigital world.

I want the old style analog odometer. I live for the visceral pleasures of watching up to seven number wheels rotate in unison to spin over the 100,000 mile marker. That is truly enjoyable. You have an opportunity to savor the moment longer.

I don’t have that pleasure anymore with the MINI. I blinked and missed the MINI hit 1,000 miles and I was looking in my rearview mirror when it rolled over to 2,000 miles.

In another 3,000 miles, I will get to watch the Pathfinder finally roll over to 100,000 miles. That ought to happen next year sometime, depending upon what passes for our rainy season here. I got to see the Prelude spin over seven wheels three times.

Since my personal major milestones are not very frequent, I guess I can live with the digital odometer.

Moving on
I was out joy riding again this weekend.

It was a perfect weekend for joy riding except that I had to teach from 8:00 AM to 5:20 PM on Saturday. That sucked up most of the prime top down joy riding time. I did enjoy the top down drive home from school.

Sunday was my joy ride day. I spent close to three hours buzzing around Southern California. Sunday was a perfect day for it. It was warm but not hot. The freeways weren’t particularly crowded so there was very little need to slow down.

I now have 23 hours of driving time with the top down.

The MINI holds the turns like an old Autopia car from Disneyland [the cars are on a track so they can’t go off of the ride]. I don’t know if the ride still exists at Disneyland or not. It has been awhile since I was at the park, maybe five or six years now. I ought to go sometime soon.

I am getting better at watching my speeds on the freeways now. I have been able to improve my gas mileage by watching my speeds. I think I am averaging close to thirty miles to the gallon.

Molly the Stylist
I went to see Molly the Stylist today.

Today is the first Wednesday of the month. I try to get my hair cut around the same time each month; that way, I don’t look too shaggy the day before I see her.

Molly said my hair was getting on the ragged side when she started to cut it. It had been a bit over a month since she last cut it.

Molly made me promise to put a hat on or drive home with the top up so my hair could look nice for a few hours. I wore my fading red University of Utah baseball hat. When I buy a new one in a year or so, I will buy a black one so it will color coordinate the MINI better. The fading red of the cap and the MINI’s British racing green just do not look that good together now. They will look very seasonal at year end.

Teaching
I had one of those days when you wonder if it was all a dream yesterday.

The school has a systematic program of having the students evaluate the courses and instructors each quarter. Overall, I feel that I did. I mostly hit the target number which is 91%. I had one student of out 85 who didn’t like me. I can’t please everyone I guess.

I had two women in my Microeconomics course last quarter. Students can write comments about the instructors if they want. I think one of the two females wrote, “I think he is handsome,” in the comment section.

At least, I hope it was one of the women in my class.

I don’t intend to ask either one of she was the one who wrote the comment. She would likely deny it and I don’t see anything to be gained by embarrassing the women.

I so do not want to think about the possibility the comment was written by one of the thirty eight male students.


Be well and stay happy.