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)
I woke this morning and noticed that there was ice on the side of the waterfall at the pond – this is water that splashes up, and has frozen on the rocks and on the overhanging conifer. The fish, in water just above freezing, are cold and still, huddled together in the deepest part of the pond – where they’ll likely stay for 4+ months now, till spring!
I’ll be removing the pump pretty soon now!
