Mini Washings

Aloha, Beaverton, Portland, Tanasbourne, What’s The Difference?

Today I took the Mini in for some service it needed after the last visit back in October of 2024 when I had a new battery put in and an oil change. They noticed that there was a leak in a timing cover that was dripping down on a motor mount which would eventually ruin that mount. Plus the front brakes were getting pretty worn, The back brakes were changed back in April of that year and now it was time to do the fronts.

I had one of the first appointments of the day, 8:00AM, which is when they roll the doors up for service customers because it was going to take several hours for the job. I arrived at the dealer earlier than expected, 7:30AM, even though I had a 6 mile creep coming into Portland on I-84 before getting on US26 to Beaverton.

There was a post office right around the corner from the Mini place, so I backed out and went over to grab a photo. So, the dealer is in Beaverton, the post office is right there, but the Postal Service classified it as in Portland. Still with some time left on the clock I drove a couple miles south and west to get an actual Beaverton post office. Turns out just 3.5 miles further west there is a second Beaverton post office, in the census-designated place of Aloha. I’ll get that one when I get the very last post office labeled as Portland which is located in a neighborhood called Tanasbourne in Hillsboro, Oregon.

40,000 AQI

We had a very smoky drive home from Portland on Sunday. We drove within a couple of miles of Mt. Hood but couldn’t even see it at all for the smoke in the air. I’m not sure exactly what the Air Quality Index was but it had to be pretty dang high. By the time we got as far south as Bend, the smoke wasn’t as bad, visibility was up to around a whole mile.

Right around the same time the Mini’s mileage turned past the forty thousand mile mark.

When we got home the car had it numerous squashed insects and road grime washed away down our driveway.

31,000 Writers On Strike

I don’t know how long the Writers Guild of America strike is going to last, but it has put a minor crimp in my mindless YouTube entertainment. I had just settled into a routine of watching the opening monologues of 4 late night TV show hosts (Meyers, Colbert and the 2 Jimmies) to kill an hour or so as Donna is downstairs doing her daily indoor cycling and exercises.

I also don’t know how close the number of writers is to 31,000, but that was the reading of the Mini’s odometer yesterday when I backed it out of the garage to give it a good washing. Today I also gave it a quick waxing, vacuumed the inside and then washed the windows inside and out in preparation for our upcoming road trip.

Clean Mini

Todays high was 49° and partly sunny, so I hand washed the Mini in the driveway. This was the first time it received this treatment. We bought the car in late October and I probably wiped down the lower sides of the car around Thanksgiving in preparation for the side stripes. Winter set in and I think by the middle of December the Mini was filthy, so after coming home it got a Meguiar’s Quik Detailer towel wash. The next wash was almost exactly 2 months ago on February 4th, but that was a trip through an automatic car wash.

I’m hoping that we have seen the last of the snow for this winter and if you can believe the long range forecast of the AccuWeather meteorologists we have. There will be few scattered days of rain in the next couple of weeks, so the snow tire removal is imminent. This Sunday looks good, sunny and a high of sixty.

Everclean Car Wash

The photo above is from just after Thanksgiving the last time the Mini was clean. Since then we have had snow storms every two weeks like clockwork. Everything from a 1/2″ to 6″ and that meant the helpful folks of the Klamath Fall road department have been distributing cinders on the roads after each one. This has led to a very dirty car, especially the nearly vertical flat back of the car. It has become entirely brownish-red except for where the clean sweep of the rear wiper.

As much as I love washing our cars I am not about to go outside when the temperatures are below 40°, so this afternoon we ran out on some errands with the last stop being a drive-thru car wash. It is not perfect, so probably tomorrow I go down to the garage and break out the Mequier’s Quick Detailer and finish the job.

Times Miata Driven since 11/01/22: 7

 

Car Wash Day


I got a nice mountain bike ride early this morning around Moore Park and I really should wash that thing (and then re-lube the chain) because it is quite dusty from the very dry trails. Instead, I washed both cars this afternoon.

Wash Day

Yesterday was tire swap day for the Mini and today was bath day. Even broke out the Tire & Trim Care liquid and shined up the the black trim that runs around around the lower part of the car.

14.0 mile drive running errands and enjoying the springtime.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 15