MINI of Peabody Tech Day

Posted on by Ian C.

I spent much of today at MINI of Peabody, getting both MINIs “tech inspected”, chatting with MINI friends, etc. And the sun even shone for a while – although regular snow meant that MoP’s car stock had to be brushed clear (again and again, I imagine!):

The “tech day” was a personalized, one-on-one, inspection of your MINI and a chance to ask questions and discuss concerns; each car was given half an hour which allowed a good check of all the basics … I’m pleased to say both my MINIs passed (report cards for GBMINI#6 and GPMINI):

 

 

Oh – and my MINIs were not the only ones there 😉

 

Gary also very kindly offered to have my AUX input cable installation checked out – it turned out that the head unit was simply not recognizing the cable (I hadn’t got it wrong!), and happily MINI of Peabody had a spare so were able to repair it right then (and clean the car for me – many thanks!)

The blizzard of ’78

Posted on by Ian C.

Margaret & I have seen some impressive snow since emigrating to New England … two feet on Aprils Fools day 1997 was amazing! But our friends still talk about “the blizzard of ’78” – so much snow there was nowhere to put it, Gloucester inaccessible for a week (till the army was able to clear highway 128).

Now, on the 30th anniversary, there’s an interesting article published in the Gloucester Times:
Thirty years ago, five men went to sea from Gloucester for the last time aboard the 50-foot, steel-hulled pilot boat Can Do. Rockport’s Motif No. 1, the red fish shack and one of the most painted buildings in the nation, toppled into the harbor. The raging ocean pounded the New England Lobster Co. at the end of Pigeon Cove wharf into the sea along with many nearby fishing shanties. Dozens of lobster boats were lost. A nearby house was ripped in half.

The sea, the waves of which reached heights of 30 to 40 feet with near hurricane winds, ravaged the Cape Ann coastline.

A total of 32 inches of snow fell in a period of 24 hours from Monday night throughout the next day making it the heaviest one-day snowfall in the city’s recorded history.

Head over to the Gloucester Times to read the rest

Celebration Town

Posted on by Ian C.

While at our new home last weekend, we visited nearby Celebration Town, created by Walt Disney (see history on Wikipedia).
It’s a colorful and compact town center, very attractive and with (we found) some great places to eat! But here’s some pictures (including a store that sold British goodies!):

 

There were also some interesting things in the sky (I’m cheating because this was at the house, not at Celebration!); birds of prey, and sky writing (I know it’s upside down – it was written probably for reading from Walt Disney World, not from our house!)