A Very Neat Phone Call

Today I got a call from MINI / BMW asking me if I am enjoying my MINI and if I had any questions. This blew me away. They are taking the purchase of a simple commodity called a car and turning it into a memorable EXPERIENCE.

I did have a fiew questions, one was when did they start doing this and he said beginning of the year. I then asked a really dumb question, whether he was MINI or another company. Of course he said MINI, what else would he say.

I then asked him a technical question about the radio, which he did provide an answer. Not sure if it is the right answer, but it was an answer and satified me.

I usually don't succumb to such marketing ploys, but heck, I am getting older, maybe softer too. It sure made an impression on me and for now I am sold on MINIs.

Turn Turn Turn Tip Tip Tip Over Over Over

I have been remiss staying up on  my blogging. The weather has turned from winter to a cold spring and I have not felt compelled to get out on the FJR. This year our planned travels are drastically cut back. For the last 5 years+ I have had a National Park Tour on the docket and a bunch of grand tours in the works. We probably have done our last NPT for the IBA and I have scaled back the Grand Tours to one right now. I have signed up for the GLMC Z to Atour, which is finding towns beginning in Z or ending in A.  In New England there is not an abundance of these towns so I don’t feel like I need to get out there right away and start pulling down these towns. Plus I am having fun with the MINI and the camera.  

 

 

I did get the oil changed in the FJR and ordered a new riding suit from Motorcycle Superstore. I got a one piece suit so I don’t have to keep pulling up my pants. Probably much more reliable in a get off as well. Speaking of getoffs, the day I finished changing the oil, I decided to take a ride over to Giff’s to make sure the bike was not leaking and to test my new riding suit. Giff’s is located in back of a very busy gas station that always has the cheapest gas prices in the surrounding area, so the people line the street to save .03 a gallon. Over a years time the average person probably saves about $30, but will blow hundreds of dollars on some frivolous thing like scratch tickets. Do the math 15,000 miles per year divided by 15 miles per gallon (and this is on the low side) = 1,000 gallons used times 3 cents per gallon = $30.00. I am just a guilty as blowing money on frivolous things, such as riding around on the motorcycle all over the country taking pictures and gathering little round stamps in a book. Believe me this cost more than a couple of hundred dollars per year. So I am not criticizing the blowing of the money, it just does not make sense to stand in line for gas at this kind of savings per year.

 

 

Any ways I digress, so at this busy station there are always the cars lined up. In addition to the maniacal people frothing over the 3 cents, the entrance makes a rising right hand turn off the street  to get to the back of the lot. I am executing this maneuver perfecting (in the nice weather this is almost a weekly visit on the FJR, so it is not unfamiliar territory to me) when the last car waiting to get to the pumps starts backing up. I hit the brake and the car stops, indicating to MEEEEEEEEEE that I could proceed. Off the break, abit more gas and the car starts backing up again. At this point I have the steering head cocked for the right turn, giving a slight bit of throttle to make it up the ramp and I am forced and instinctively hit the front break.  

Fast forward all of 2 seconds and I am standing next to my beautiful FJR lying on its side. The woman in her late 30’s maybe early 40’s gets out of her car and says are you all right. I simply say “What were you thinking”. Her reply was “I needed to straighten out a bit so I was properly aligned to save the 3 cents a gallon because we can’t get gas this cheap in New York.”  

 

 

Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration on what she said, but she was from New York, the age was spot on and she did mention about straightening up her car. I then asked her again, because I was not really satisfied with the first answer, “What were you thinking?” To which she replied, “I did not see you”. Realizing this was probably the right answer and the most honest, I said to her, “ I am going over there to ask for help to lift the bike up and I will be back to get your information in case there is any damage.”. She immediately replied, “I didn’t hit you”. I gave her one of those looks with the tilted head and half closed eye look with a bit of sneer. You know the look

 

 

It took me all of 45 seconds to get some help and she was gone. Yup she felt the value of the 3 cents of savings exceeded the cost of what was going to happen next.  

Right after this the ambulance and police showed up. Someone had seen what happened and called them on our behalf.  

 

 

 

While this was not the first ride of the season, it certainly was almost the first ride. If this is this season's get off,

 

 

 

 

Meals, Minis and Maniacs

Today I left work early to pick up MeAsWe and head for Wild Willy's in Watertown, MA. There is a RTE for MINI owners, the first of the season. I caught wind of this off one of MINI boards and having just about finished up the annual audit, I felt I deserved some fun time.

Back in the day (I hear lot of people saying that these days) when I owned a BMW 2002, it was very common when we passed another one we would flash our high beams. I have tried this ever since getting the MINI (after all it is owned by BMW) and today was the first time someone acknowledged the gesture with a wave. Woo Hoo !

On the way in I caught some folks on the roads with similar interests. I decide to have some fun with the 5100. I do this all the time on the FJR, why not in the MINI.

We are almost at Wild Willy's Burgers at this point and thought this just might be another RTE'r

The group is meeting up someplace in Boston and running Storrow Drive like the Italian Job to WW's. We arrived early and decided to eat before everyone arrived.

The Choices

The Payment



The Preparation

The Wait

While the wait wasn't that long I forgot to take pictures of the food porn. It was good. MeAsWe (Crystal) selected the hamburger, I choose the more calorie conscience item. So I got 2 of them. I still can't figure out how they got the grass in them.



Then the Many MINI Maniacs started showing up.

We all went inside, the rest of the folks ordered dinner, MeAsWe and Me sat and talked.

Couple of observations
MINI owners are a lot like us riders. They talk about going thru the turns, doing the Dragon, lifting a wheel off the ground and about the things they have added to their vehicles. They are passionate about the MINI and feel a bond with other MINI owners.

They were very much younger than MeAsWe and Me. I bet they were thinking, wow those guys were pretty damn old. However, never once did I, nor did MeAsWe, ever feel out of place.

We talk about kids today how impolite, don't respect their follow person, live in a virtual world, can't communicate, have no direction, etc etc. Nothing could be further from the truth with these guys. Of course back in the day, you couldn't trust anyone over 30. The folks over 30 called me and my longhaired commie pinko hippies and we  were ruining the country. Different singer, same song, some things will never change.

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for
authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place
of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their
households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They
contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties
at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."

Some Greek guy had those words to say.

So couple more pictures and we headed home. Both of us had a great time. We will be back.

You meet the nicest people in a Hot Dog Joint

And Honda thought they were the only ones with this secret.

I don’t know why it holds true, it just does. I was in Webster taking pics of the buildings by the railroad tracks. Stomach growling, right around 1pm and a Dunkin Donuts across the street from the Eddy Block, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.



Eddy Block

I started to cross the street when this woman tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to this sign

Now my friend Giff, has got me going on Dunkin Donuts Ham and Cheese and Turkey sandwiches on a French roll, but this is HOT DOGS. Who can pass up hot dogs, so in I go and order 2 chili dogs with cheese and onions. There was nothing special about the dog, but like diners, dog joints aren’t just about the food. There were 2 gentlemen and the woman cook. She quickly delivers the 2 dogs, I grab an orange soda.

We talked about where the Spaulding Block was. (it was right next door) We talked about concerts we had gone to in the past, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Rush. We talked about Coney Island and other amusement parks. We talked about the number of other hot dog joints, one gentlemen started rattling off about them.  I found out this place had been open just about a year. All of this and more, in less than ½ hour.



A tad colorful, ya thnk ?

They are located at 119 Main St, Webster, MA. When I tried to find these guys on the net I came across this  Get Your Red Hots Here


In these little joints you really do meet the nicest folks. Too bad MeAsWe missed out on this.

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times,The Fix

Headed out about 12:15pm this afternoon to pick up a spot I forgot to grab yesterday. While I was en route I remembered one of the NER riders said something about a RTE (ride to eat) at the Vanilla Bean in Pomfret, CT. Being a nice day and having a sun roof in the MINI, endless great music on the Flash Drive, I searched the GPS, found the VB and said Take me There.

The Best of Times

Met 4 fellow riders at the VB. They rode their bikes, mine still is parked in the garage.

We told some stories, listened to some stories and then it was time to go. I headed for Webster on the back roads of CT.  Picked up some scenic spots along the way.

 

The Worst of Times

I saw it. There was blood oozing from my MINI. A wound, a stab, a slash. It was ruined.

Maybe my MINI had been unfaithful to me at the Bean, Lipstick on it's collar. A closer look.

My MINI had been raped. How could this had happened. I was pissed. One month old and it has been marred and I didn't even get to do it.

I went about my travels, traveled through Webster, picked up the spot I needed and headed for the showers. The MINI felt so dirty and violated it needed a shower.

Well the MINI felt clean but evidence of the violation was still present, just a bit cleaner.

The kid finished wiping down the MINI and I was about to leave, when this Chrysler 300 pulled up beside me. The guy in the car waved to me to put the window down. I complied and he said pull up over there and I will fix that for you. It will be a minute.

The Fix

And it was gone. The gentlemen was behind me in the car wash and saw the mark. He said I just couldn't see a brand new car leaving with that mark on the bumper. I can't say how happy I was. 

Better than the mark being gone (which is pretty damn good) is the customer service this guy offered. He did not have to do this, but just did because he did. It doesn't get much better than that. This was at the Imperial Car Wash in Mendon, MA. I had my Chevy detailed here just before I traded it in on the MINI (another dumb thing I did, having it detailed) and they did a superb job at a great price.

The World is back in balance. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done ....

Bring It On Home to the Hanover

This weekend MeAsWe and Me (or is that I) went to see ClassicAlbunsLive performance of Led Zeppelin II. This is not a tribute band, but the sole purpose is to replicate the sound of Led Zeppelin. When I bought the tickets, I said to myself I really wish they were playing Zep I, but II was just as good. One of the band members came out to explain stuff to the audience. He stated we would not see any costumes, nor would there be any videos or change of clothes and they even may not play the same instruments as the original artists. What we could expect was to imagine coming home, pulling the album from it’s jacket, placing it on the turntable, sitting back, closing your eyes and become immersed in the music. The only thing we didn’t have to do is flip the album over to side 2.

They nailed it to a Z. (for Zeppelin, a little play on a Letter)

The first 15 seconds of their performance was a bit disappointing, but I had to remind myself that what I heard on the album was recorded in a studio and this was live. From then on I was amazed how good these musicians were.

To me the star of the show was the guy on Lead Guitar. I have always had an appreciation for Jimmy Page, for the blues and for a Gibson Les Paul. This guy had multiple Les Paul’s, but the one that really stuck in my mind was the Goldtop Les Paul. I don’t have a clue if it was authentic or not, but this particular LP was built primarily between 1952 – 1958. Based on his performance I am betting it was authentic. He also played a blonde Telecaster, which if original, dated to the 50’s as well.

This guy was a master and made me realize just how complicated Page’s riffs were. It also made my understand that Led Zeppelin’s music was pretty darn complicated because almost every piece started out and end completely different at the end with several transitions in the middle. I have always known this but seeing the music played live made you doubly aware of it.

The singer essentially got Robert Plant spot on. I never really paid much attention to the bass line in Zep. The drummer, while it’s tough to beat Bonham, he did an A++ job. He did Moby Dick just as if the group was there live. Page and Jones, initially on stage, leaving to let Bonham have his way with the skins, and came back at the end.

They finished up Led Zeppelin II and the lights came on. The  group speaker said they were going to take a little 20 minute break and come back and play some more. Out we went to the lobby to pee and have some more beer and went back to our seats.

Back in our seats after 20 minutes, the group essentially played the Led Zep I album in it's entirety and made strong cuts into III and IV.

We saw these guys at the Hanover Theater in Worcester, which is a great venue for this type of stuff. I can’t wait for Pink Floyd to roll around from ClassicAlbumsLive. I am sure I won’t be disappointed.

It's Getting Close

Maybe a week a way, maybe 2