Sue joined me at C2E2 this year (last year he headed up for one day, this time she came up for the entire weekend) and never set foot in the exhibit hall. She didn’t want a badge (imagine that) and just told me to go have fun. I was glad that she also had some fun too.
Sue and I tend to get confronted with questions when we are together about the key to being happily married for over 20 years (much to the chagrin of my parents). To me it is simple- Sue has never really tried to change me, and I have never tried to change her (fine… early on, we both tried, but after a while we both gave up).
I tend to get grilled about how I could be so understanding when Sue is at a yarn shop or needlework store spending money. More shocking is that I will join her on this little expeditions. We both have our hobbies and if we were to total things up I’m sure we would come out even, besides (as Sue’s parent’s point out) we ended up growing up together and while we might not completely understand each other’s eccentricities they are what makes us special.
So when Sue talks about buying Mink yarn… I might roll my eyes, but I know she will do the same thing when I “need” the most recent gadget or a classic comic book.
So they determined what was wrong with Sue’s MINI and since it had 52,000 miles on it was out of warranty. For those people who own a MINI (a BMW product) we kind of understand that service can be rather expensive. $100 oil change is common. When I had a Honda, service was cheap. They did things for nothing. Little things like every time I brought my Honda in they replaced the wiper blades. If you went to an orientation once you bought your car you got a free oil change card for the life of your ownership. Pretty neat. Too bad I really don’t like the design of Hondas anymore (they look like every other car).
Now besides all that, I have gotten some wonderful treatment from MINI Service around the country. I go in and they know it is expensive, so they understand and kind of counsel you into other alternatives. Simple things are done for free. In a few cases they have done some major service for a fraction of the cost (if you are nice to people- they are nice to you) With that in mind I would go back to MINI for service anytime… then again there isn’t an alternative around here anymore.
For those who don’t understand carspeak many cars have what are called a “limp mode.” What this means is that something is wrong with the car, but it still can make it somewhere, but slowly. When Sue’s MINI went into limp mode the top speed was around 30 mph. Why did this happen? (stay tuned)
As for MINI United, it had been scheduled for August of this year for the south of France. With scheduling the way it was Sue & I would not be able to attend (see the post “The of No”) so if details (like real location) had ever been released, I ignored them. Last week they announced that they were postponing it until 2012. Huh? No one saw it coming- a lot of people had made reservations for flights, rental MINIs & lodging- nonrefundable reservations. So while Sue & I were looking at it as “Oh well, maybe we will be able to go now” there were a lot of unhappy MINIacs around the globe. The reasoning for postponing it- they want more time to plan. As U.S. owners have asked- How will this effect MINI Takes the States? and when it comes to the Summer Olympics in London that will create inflated travel costs to Europe.
I still think Cecil had something to do with it… just sayin’
So I made it through middle school without any romantic entanglements (not difficult at all) and headed off to high school, the time in every geeks life when everyone (even the geekiest guys) are dating… or at least that’s what happened in all the popular films of the day (so it must be true). Here is where I jumped in with both feet and did… nothing. Sure I tried and failed once, maybe twice – I think the highlight was sending a girl (who I had a crush on) a box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day not realizing that she was getting over the stomach flu.
What? You are shocked that I didn’t have a wonderful social life in high school? You see I worked… My parents owned a t-shirt shop. One of those places that you could have a design (or your own message) imprinted onto a shirt. I started working there before they owned it (at 13) and stopped just before they sold it (at 18). If I wasn’t working on Friday night (mmm… ordering pepperoni & meatball pizza) it seemed that I was baby sitting my little brothers while my parents played bridge- therefore very little social life.
I did go to my Junior Prom (not my Senior), and had a nice time. My mother did try to suggest people for me to ask. In celebration of my actually going out with a girl she decided to host the post prom party (Which is why I really dislike the Smurfs). Weeks and a few dates later, when my prom date decided to move on, (“Let’s just be friends”) I was crushed… I kind of became a hermit (not too difficult) until college when things changed- but that’s a story for another day.
