Author: Mark Alexander

Posted on

Looking at a Well-Earned Retirement

No, not me. That’s not for several years yet.

I’m talking about my faithful Anderson, the MINI that’s been at my side for the last thirteen years. He’s reaching the age where the expensive repairs are starting to pop up, and while it can be argued that it’s probably more cost effective to drop $1200 for a new power steering pump and $1800 for a new clutch (both of which I’m staring down the barrel of this year) rather than shelling out $400 a month for the next five years, the long-term sustainability of a car of Anderson’s vintage really comes into question.

I’ve looked at new MINIs. As I’ve gotten older, I’m realizing I need something a little higher off the ground than my current vehicle. I do like the MINI Countryman (which does ride higher than the standard MINI), but it’s at the high end of my budget for a basic build, and I discovered while looking last night that it’s now apparently impossible to get a MINI with a manual transmission.*

I’m sorry, but having to shift is half the fun of driving these cars. I grew up driving sticks, and with only one exception (the New Beetle I owned prior to Anderson) they’ve all been manual.

I didn’t hate the Beetle’s automatic. It got me from point A to point B, but the moment I got behind the wheel of a manual MINI, I’d forgotten how much fun it was to drive.

So I’m looking at a Jeep Renegade. The Renegade caught my eyes years ago (especially in the neon colors I saw them), and I thought I’d check them out.

They too, are only available with automatic transmissions, but they fit nicely in my budget, and repairs down the line (something I definitely need to keep in mind as I face retirement) are bound to be less than the BMW-manufactured MINI.

I can get a Jeep Wrangler new with a 6-speed manual, but I really don’t see myself as a Wrangler kind of guy.  Maybe when I was a buff 25-year old, but those days are long gone…

Yeah, I could look at gently-used MINIs that have sticks, but then we’re back to the down-the-road maintenance costs.

I’m not saying any of this is going to happen immediately, but I know it’s going to happen sooner rather than later.

 

*My friend Marc just pointed me to this article. So now I’m thinking that if I get a new MINI with a stick and can get thirteen years out of it like I’ve done with Anderson before the major repairs start, I can live with that. Chances are I won’t even be driving in another thirteen years, truth me told. (Getting old SUCKS.)

 

Posted on

This Playlist…

…was obviously curated by someone my age.

I have every one of these in my collection and remember each of them when they first came out; the vast majority on vinyl.

Posted on

Quote Of The Day

How pleasant to lie motionless on the sofa and to know that one is alone in the room. Real happiness is impossible without solitude. The fallen angel betrayed God probably because he longed for solitude,” ~ Anton Chekhov, from Complete Works of Anton Chekhov; “Ward No. 6,”

Posted on

An Open Letter to Elizabeth and Bernie

Knock it off.

Knock off this petty bickering because all you’re doing is making it easier for Trump to win reelection.

Elizabeth? I’m not sure I believe you when you say Bernie Sanders told you in 2018 that a woman could never be president, because if he had, and with your love for social media, and knowing the two of you would be running for president this year, you would have spoken out then. But to sit on it for two years and then drop it this week smacks of desperation; it smacks of infighting; it smacks of not focusing on what’s important and that’s getting this rapist, drug-addicted, adulterer, liar, thief, con artist, traitor out of office.

So, again, tell me what you’re going to do if you’re elected, and stop this ridiculous squabbling with the other candidates. That accomplishes nothing. Oh, and that bit where you wouldn’t shake Bernie’s hand was childish and unnecessary and totally Trump.

Knock it off.

Now, Bernie. You need to get your supporters in line, because if they are, with your blessing or not, personally going after Elizabeth Warren, then that’s on you. They’re your volunteers; tell them to knock it off.

I don’t know who will get the nomination but if it’s not you, and you don’t step up and support whomever gets the nod, and you don’t demand that your supporters rally around the nominee, then we will all know that you are just a desperate old man who wants to be president and when he can’t he pouts.

Knock it off.

I need y’all to run for office, run for president, not run against your fellow Democrats. This country cannot stand, literally can not stand, another four years of this.

Source.

Posted on

Quote of the Day

A person of good intelligence and sensitivity cannot exist in this society very long without having some anger about the inequality—and it’s not just a bleeding-heart, knee-jerk, liberal kind of a thing—it is just a normal human reaction to a nonsensical set of values where we have cinnamon flavored dental floss and there are people sleeping in the street.” ~ George Carlin

Posted on

Same

Pretty much my entire professional existence for the last ten years.

Posted on

Quote of the Day

There are many parts of my youth that I’m not proud of… there were loose threads… untidy parts of me that I would like to remove. But when I pulled on one of those threads… it unraveled the tapestry of my life.” ~ Jean-Luc Picard in STTNG: Tapestry