Well golly, here I am, spending more time than I'd like to admit reading and perusing MINI and BMW internet forums, and here's one for the Roundel family sitting right under my nose. Well, I should admit that I knew it was here. But you know the nature of life - it just happens sometimes. And when Internet MINI-Land is chock full of the best soap opera material around, it's difficult to take off the blinders. Enough excuses. You know what's cool, MINI-freaks? We can write MINI instead of Mini all we want in this space! Do you know how many letters we get about that topic? A few. One time Mr. Carlson had to get involved. Anyway, glad to be here. Glad you're here, too. Vini S. Cooper is not glad. He hasn't been driven in two weeks. It's too cold, and he's making some interesting noises that need to be checked out. - Marc
...and we are here. It's a good crowd of loonies; friendly, polite, enthusiastic, somewhat capable of staying OT. I am still chuckling from your description of your ride in a Rolls Royce. Why isn't there a Rolls Royce forum on the BMW CCA website???? (oops... OT)
Thanks, guys! The Rolls Royce was just absolutely silly. I got out of it, was escorted into this, by my definition, swank hotel, and ran upstairs and started typing that column. Then I was greeted by some blond with a glass of champagne saying, "Welcome to the hotel, Mr. Biunno - may I show you around your room?" Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, yesplease. It's about that time that I thought to myself, "What am I doing in education full-time???!!!" But that's all just icing on the Rolls Royce cake. Marc
Welcome Marc!!!! Yes that was an awesome column and description. Smiling now just thinking about it. Sometimes I will get a headlight flash from a Mini/MINI driver when I am in my E30 M3. I always flash back. My sister wants a Mini so bad. I just don't know why she doesn't buy one. I even keep finding decent ones for sale for her. I think she can't quite make the jump from her Honda, she is a little too practical.
Thanks! This practicality you speak of with regard to your sister is a major problem. But this is also a question of strategy. If you drag her to a test drive, which is the true litmus test of whether or not you're an actual driver, and she falls in love, then the rest will work itself out. Just showing her cars to buy won't do it. She's mesmerized by her Honda appliance, and the trance needs to be broken by some true MINI motoring. Hell, test driving a MINI back in '04 slapped me hard enough to forsake a pristine E30. Of course I still regret losing that car, but I don't regret the MINI! You mention that you have an E30 M3. For that, I'm supremely jealous. I want one very badly. VERY badly. But I won't have one until I have enough garage bays to handle four or five cars. Read between the lines there, and it means never. Oh well; tell me about the M and I can live vicariously through you. Guys - thanks so much for the positive comments about the column. That means a lot. Marc
Somebody said Cough, cough! Biunno, your mother's posting to the forum again! Here you go: MINI, MINI, MINI. Now go to bed!
Somebody said Cough, cough! Biunno, your mother's posting to the forum again! Here you go: MINI, MINI, MINI. Now go to bed!
We're supposed to be on the same side! Why are you letting people know my secrets? To make it up to me, you can make my sig pic my new column pic. I'll tell you, even though nothing out of the ordinary happened (well, wasn't ordinary for me), the see-through shower practically in the middle of the room was interesting. You all can get your minds out of the gutter; the best part was showering and not missing a second of Sports Center. - Marc
The M is awesome. I fell very hard for it, it is my first BMW. I will never sell it! At one point a light went on for me. I wanted a real drivers car, figured the E30 M3 was the car to have. I was pretty obsessed for several months till I found the right one. It was in Hawaii, I am in Penna. As you can see it was down hill from there, as I now have four. The wife loves them too. Hers is the Dinan 328is. I understand the garage situation. I am able to squeeze three BMWs into my "two" car garage. Lucky for me my parents have a barn, so the BMW that is not in regular rotation has a covered bed too! The sis has driven a number of Minis over the years. The problem is her Honda is paid for and she doesn't believe in car loans, I guess that is what I meant by practical. (can't blame her, I am the same way) I know she will get one at some point, it is just a matter of time.
Going into debt for a dream Heh. You know, I really BELIEVE in living debt-free. . . but my real parents never showed up with the keys to the vault. My first bought-it-myself car was a 1943 Ford-that is, a military Jeep. My first financed machine was a Honda CR93 racing bike, and I've been paying interest for my gotta-have-it-now jones ever since. The Jeep CJ5 that took me to Alaska cost $3100, bank-financed. My 325iX took some fancy footwork with my VISA card. And the roadster? Well, Twenty Large off the sticker, BMW Finance covering everything including tax and license: Would I ever have such a chance again? Yes, the amortization schedule shows me on a monthly basis how much I'm paying for my fun. And you know what? It's been worth every penny! After all, I might be dead before it's paid off; if I had waited until I saved up the purchase price, I might well have keeled over before I ever got to take the wheel.
I agree with all of that, and of course it's eloquent as always. But whatever you were writing was completely overshadowed by the fact that there's a WAHO in your picture. Waffle House is one of life's most simple yet most satisfying pleasures. And you don't have to pay interest. I _had_ one of those fancy WAHO hats. - Marc
Hey we didn't have any keys to any vault either. I bought all my cars with money I earned the hard way. Showing up early and putting in the hours. I guess I just like to save and then buy it. I know it is not the norm, but have you ever look to see how much you pay in interest! That can go a long way in terms of exhaust, springs, shocks, etc!!!!!!!! Live and let live. Those old Jeeps are great, I have always wanted one. My uncle had one after the war for a number of years.
