Once again MotoringFile has “published” their annual gift guide – an essential read for anyone looking to buy gifts for their MINI.
I’m thrilled to see once again that my auto-up windows MINI circuit is included – with such a nice description too 🙂
… one of those no-brainers that doesn’t seem as necessary until you have it … an essential mod that has almost become a rite of passage …
Recently I received an invitation from MINI of Peabody (probably along with every other customer, including at least one who lives in California!) – get your MINI inspected in preparation for winter!
A good assortment of checks was offered, including the battery, wipers, belts, etc … seemed like a good idea, so I booked GPMINI in for the afternoon before thanksgiving, and also took my winter wheels to get them swapped over; when I got there, another GP was also being worked on – it’s always nice for MINIs to have friends 🙂
It turned out that it was particularly worth having GPMINI inspected – a small leak was discovered at the crankshaft gasket, which of course they were happy to fix for me. I had a bit of shopping to do, so managed to borrow a MINI and head down to the Honey Baked Ham store … It was a nice Pepper White / Black roof convertible with hood stripes – I was impressed by the apparent space inside it, due I think to the increased head room of the cloth top; I also noticed that the auto a/c behaved sensibly, waiting for the engine to heat and not blowing cold air on me – a nice improvement since I owned an auto a/c MINI back in 2002! I had no real trouble with rear visibility, using the side mirrors instead, but I was very aware of how much outside traffic noise comes through that thin cloth top …
Anyway, be sure to take your MINI in for it’s winter prep – you might, like me, find that there’s something that needs fixing (and thanks to Chris, Gary, Joel, Paul and Scott for looking after me during my visit)
A new group / website / forum recently formed, the Massachusetts Motoring Club – one of their goals is to have regular get-togethers (“shindigs”) to enjoy an “international night” dinner together … Margaret & I tonight attended a re-run of their first night (not sure if that makes it their second night or not!), at the Brazille restaurant in Framingham. The food was very good, with an array of choices of salad, cooked meat and sides … highlights included the steak, pork sausage and grilled pineapple; yum yum 🙂
Also on offer, dessert (which Pete amazingly managed, after four plates of main course!) and drinks – Margaret said the Strawberry Daquiri was good …
The Club has created a Passport to accompany attendees of the international nights – the idea is to fill it with stickers collected at each night!
Let’s hope there’s many more events – the chance to enjoy great food with great MINI friends should be a great incentive!
Many thanks to Mass. Motoring Club, to Becca, Sheena, Pete, Audra, Thom, Keith (hope that covers everyone involved in organizing it!)
M&I / GBMINI 