Coccinellidae

The Mini already has a name, Ladybug. First because of the coloring, but after the deal was done and we went to drive it off the lot there was a ladybug sitting on the driver’s outside rear view mirror. Tonight, as if to cement the name, when I went out to pull the Bob Richards sticker off the back and wash the windows better than Nissan of Augusta’s “detailer” did, there was another ladybug walking on the roof.

This car, for now, will be Donna’s daily driver as it replaces the departed Sonata. I am now slightly jealous about her getting the Mini, not because I like driving it better than the Miata, but because it has the lowest mileage of any vehicle in our fleet and I love a new car. But because I asked nice, she is going to let me take the mini to work tomorrow to show all my friends. I will have to back the Miata out of the garage for her to use tomorrow, she will risk driving it in, but just won’t back it out of the garage.

The post title, Coccinellidae, is the ladybug’s scientific family name and as it turns out it is not really even a true bug, it is a beetle, so Donna ended up getting a beetle anyway, just one from BMW not VW.

I spent lunch at work and another half hour at home creating the above avatar for the Mini like I’ve done for our past vehicles for use in online forums and as the avatar for Fuelly. To the right the Sonata is gone and the Mini has joined the Miata in the sidebar. Right now it shows zeroes for the Ladybug as we have yet to fill it up because they topped off the tank before giving us the keys. It will be the second fill up before data gets entered because I don’t know if the trip odo was reset when the dealer gassed it up.

Purple Whale Harpooned

by the Japanese whaling ship Nissan with a German spear made in in Great Britain…

Guess I won’t be submitting the What Car Should You Buy form after all.

We had our eyes on a Mini in Spartanburg and had planned on going up there on Saturday to test drive it. It is a 2012 Cooper Base in Spice Orange for eleven and a half thousand bucks. It has the dual panel sunroof, which really interested us, and had less than 40 thousand miles on it. The only thing that worried us was that it had been on their lot for over 2 years. Why hadn’t somebody bought it already? Then I searched for Minis for sale using different words, adding Augusta to the mix, and found one for sale at Nissan of Augusta (I’d link to the listing, but they already pulled it off the web), one-forth the distance away.

We were going right near there, to go to Cars & Coffee, so after looking around at the lines of Mustangs and stanced imports for a few minutes we drove 1/4 mile further down the road and test drove that Mini. It didn’t have the sun roof we liked and it was couple thousand more than the one in Spartanburg, but it was right there and it was basically brand new, as it only had 16 thousand miles on the odometer. We both liked it. It was smaller then the Sonata, a half a foot narrower and nearly 4 feet shorter, but it rode like the bigger car.

We left there and drove a couple more miles down the road to the VW dealer to test drive a new Beetle. Donna’s first car was a Beetle and we both sort of liked the looks of the new one, so we wanted to drive one of them to see if it could get on the short list of possible Sonata replacements. Short answer no. It was shorter than the Sonata, but almost as wide and Donna spent the whole short test drive scootched up in the seat trying to judge where the front of the car was.

After the Beetle disappointment, we came back to Aiken to go to the Chocolate Festival at St. Mary’s Church to eat lunch, shop for used books and eat several bucks worth of chocolate desserts. By that time we finished, it was too late to drive to Spartanburg to test drive that Mini before the dealer closed, so we went home.

At first we thought maybe we would wait until next Saturday to drive a hundred miles to see if we wanted the big sun roof and the orange color, but then thought, we’d wait, drive up there, not think the sunroof was worth it, hate the color, come back to Augusta and find that the Mini would have been sold on Friday. We stripped all our personal items from the Sonata, grabbed the title and went over to Augusta.

The Mini interior had changed slightly, here is a 2003 picture and here is a 2013 picture. Not really a radial change, so the big change must have been with us. We are still not sold on the big dinner plate sized speedometer in the center of the dash (there is a digital speedo in the bottom of the tach which is front and center), so maybe after a while it won’t bother us.

Jalopnik “What Car Should You Buy” Submission Form

Donna and I are thinking of replacing the Sonata. It is a comfortable ride, but it is too darn big. You would think that after 6-1/2 years we would have gotten used to it, but no. I am still occasionally liable to cut a right turn short hitting the curb and getting it correctly length-wise into a regular parking spot is a hit or miss proposition. Visibility out the back is awkward and it is even worse for Donna because she is shorter than I am. We both agree that on paper the perfect car for us would be a Mini, but we were non-pulsed the first time we tried one back in 2003.The car has changed some, we’ve changed some, maybe we need to try one again. And probably will this weekend.

If the Mini fails to light our fire once more, I’m not sure what we should try next, so I’m looking for suggestions. One possibility for suggestions is on a car website I read daily, Jalopnik. They have a feature called What Car Should You Buy? where their crack staff make car buying suggestions based on how you fill out a submission form. I have reproduced it below with how I would fill it out. If we are underwhelmed by the Mini again, I might actually send it in, even though it seems as if their recommendations are there more for their entertainment value than anything else.

Name: Brian & Donna

Email: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com

Would you be willing and able to provide a picture of yourself for the article? A picture of me, yes, but my wife feels that you are stealing a little bit of her soul anytime her picture is taken, so probably not her. Besides, someone has to press the shutter button.

Tell us about your situation We currently have a 2011 Hyundai Sonata that is just too darn big. The largest car we ever had before this was a 1983 Honda Prelude. We also own a 2002 Miata.

What are some attributes that you want from this car? It needs to be smaller than, but have the same ride comfort, as the Sonata.

Where do you live? Aiken, South Carolina

How old are you? Early 60s

What are your hobbies? Random road trips, bicycling, hiking & geocaching

How would you describe what you do? One retired and the second soon to follow

What are some cars that you like? Please explain why you like them. She likes beetles & he likes little 2 door coupes, probably left over warm fuzzy feelings for our first cars, a 71 beetle and a 73 Datsun B210.

Are there any deal-breakers? No Minis of any ilk, tried ’em, didn’t like ’em. Did I mention smaller than a Sonata?

Is there any other lifestyle information that would be helpful in determining the best vehicle for your needs? Although the weekly mileage will mostly be under a 100, we are prone to week long road trips of around 1500 miles. We checked “a little of both” in the type of driving category, but in reality it is more back roads driving. We live in a small town, nowhere near city sized and highways are for 18-wheelers.

What is your approximate price range?
Less than $5000
$5000 – $10,000
$10,000 – $15,000
$15,000 – $20,000
$20,000 – $25,000
$25,000 – $30,000
$30,000- $35,000
$35,000 – $40,000
$40,000- $50,000
$50,000- $60,000
$60,000- $70,000
$70,000- $80,000
Above $80,000

How long do you you plan on owning this vehicle?
1-3 years
3-5 years
5-7 years
7 years or more

Approximately how many miles a week do you drive?
Less than 100 miles
100-200 miles
200-300 miles
400- 500 miles
More than 500 miles

What type of driving do you do regularly?
Highway
City
A little bit of both

What body style? Check all that apply
Sedan
Coupe (2-door)
Convertible
Hatchback
Wagon
SUV
Crossover
Pick-up Truck
Minivan

On average how many passengers (including driver) will occupy this vehicle?
1-2
2-3
3-4
More than 5

Do have a preferred transmission type?
Automatic
Manual
Can’t drive a manual, but I’m willing to learn
No preference

Do you have a preferred drive type? Check all that apply
Front-wheel drive
Rear-wheel drive
All-wheel drive
4-wheel drive
No preference

President Trump’s Aid to Puerto Rico

Several month’s ago I gave up the dueling tweet thing with my Bernie and Trump figures. It got old because nothing ever changed, Senator Sanders kept tweeting things that made sense and BOTUS (Buffoon of the United States) kept tweeting nonsense. Both 6″ “action” figures went into a drawer under my desk. But after seeing the coverage of the president’s Monday visit to hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico, I just had to bring the doll out of exile.

Sneaky A** Atlantic Broadband

A little background first (in case you haven’t been following this site religiously), from our local cable company, Atlantic Broadband, we get the fastest internet they offer because that is what is really important. We also get what they call the Limited TV Service so we can get the local big 4 networks and the PBS stations. Because we get just the limited channels we don’t have the cable box that they usually rent you for a mere eight to ten dollars a month, the coaxial cable gets plugged right into the back of the Samsung.

In early September, we received a letter from Atlantic Broadband with the exciting news that starting October 10th all the Limited TV channels would be broadcast in digital format. To view these dramatically enhanced picture and sound quality channels you would need a digital adapter. The letter states that we were eligible to receive two digital adapters at no cost for use on TV sets that are connected directly to cable and if we needed more than 2, they would be $2.99 a month. One adapter would be mailed directly to our home.

Sure enough, two weeks ago, a box came in the mail and inside was an adapter and its associated remote. I placed it aside waiting for the 10th of October to see if I’m really going to need it or not. Right now, if I let the TV scan for available channels it finds over 40 stations which includes several standard definition versions of the local networks along with an HDTV version. So instead of watching the NBC affiliate in 4:3 low definition on channel 2, I watch the 16:9 high def one on channel 82-14, etc. I’m hoping that this will still be the case once they go digital. But not optimistic.

On Monday, we got an email that our cable bill for October was available for viewing and paying online. Hmmm, that total looks higher than it did last month., so I look at page 2 where the details are and looky here. Under Monthly Charges, along with the cost of our monthly cable service there is a line for a Limited Digital Adapter at a cost of $2.99 for the month. WTF? It is supposed to be free!

And it gets even better. Underneath the Monthly Charges section is one entitled Prorates where there is a line for Limited Digital Adapter at a cost of 89 cents. They started charging me for using the adapter (which wasn’t connected to the cable yet and supposed to not be needed until the 10th of October.) on the 22nd of September. Had they looked at the tracking number of the package and started charging on the day of delivery to my house?

Update: 55 minutes total on hold, 2 customer service representatives and the $4.49 “mistake” was removed from our bill.

Home Again, Home Again Jiggity Jig

Today was our shortest day on the road, we were home by 10:30 in the morning. We took just one picture, Roadside Oddity for 1 point, and that was while we were still in Hendersonville before we even started home. All told we took 23 pictures worth 31 points which brings us to 189 total. We have a possible 68 points left on the table. The big hitters are the vehicles from 1900-1909 worth 10 points, and a vehicle from 1910 -1919 is worth 7 and a rainbow is worth 4. there are four goals worth 3 points, five more worth 2 points and twenty-five goals worth just 1 point.

In the seven days we traveled 1645 miles. We filled up with gas 7 times averaging $3.12 a gallon with the lowest being $2.90 in Newport News, VA and the highest being $3.24 in Hendersonville, NC. Average MPG for the trip was nearly thirty miles to the gallon at 29.93.

Blue Park Ridgeway


Today was our longest drive with a total of over 300 miles covered. It was our longest in total time also because the last third of it was on the Blue Ridge Parkway where the top speed is only 45 MPH. The first third was a straight shot down I-81. The middle 1/3 was spent on lovely rural, and mostly empty, two lane VA & NC roads.

Three points in the Motoring Challenge today, 1 for Switzerland, 1 for Blue Ridge Mountains and 1 more for the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi, Mount Mitchell.

Oh, yeah, today was our 41st wedding aniversary, so we had a special dinner of microwavable chimichangas and hot pockets in the hotel room.