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.