Harry's Ruminations

On the block today: One set of Mini wheels + race tires One highly over-functional cell phone :-) The race tires got interest within 10 minutes of being posted....

As I look out towards the new year, I just want to vent. I want to give voice to the few doubts and fears I have... I'm working at a company that doesn't have much of a reason to exist, making mediocre products that my customers dislike more with each passing iteration, working on a new product that will either fail outright or never be used. Despite the above, I have a rough time relaxing this week...this car fever has me in its grip for two reasons--I've always wanted a BMW, but I love my MINI. I don't love it more than I'd love being out of debt and in secure financial shape. I'm beating-up myself for not doing things..things I promised myself I'd do this time off: selling some stuff on ebay, organizing my finances, exercising, relaxing, reading. I've pretty much done none of it. :-) Every vacation is like this...it takes me until a certain day to 'detox' from my workaholism, and then I can finally relax. Thanks for listening

At my darling's insistence, I went over to our doctor today to get my toe looked at; over Christmas, I noticed my middle toe on my left foot was ingrown on the right side. Today I got it removed, feeling very little pain thanks to some lidocaine. The rest of the day, I convalesced watching season 5 of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," my most excellent Christmas gift from Bella: Also, I have a new cellphone...Decided that I wasn't using the 450 anytime + 5000 night/weekend package I had from Cingular, so I went the same route Bella did with Virgin Mobile. $20 for a phone, then prepaid increments as needed. :-) It'll be nice to not have that $50 each month. * * * No news on an E30 BMW...looking at this one . Got some pics from the owner and seems nice..

So, 9am this morning found me at Beechmont Toyota, looking at a 1984 318i with 173,000 miles on it. Yes, this car was made when I was in Kindergarten, here I was, trying to decide how much rust was acceptable on my new "project car" / Daily driver. Answer: Not this much. No way. The 1984/1985 318i has the same engine (BMW's M10) as the previous 3-series and the 1970's BMW 2002 (yes, it's alot of numerical designations...please try to keep up). Anyway, this lump of iron produces a bulletproof 101 hp and likes to rev, despite its lumpy cam. Surprisingly, giving the age of the car, it fired-up smartly and settled into a thrumming idle, and the transmission was still buttery smooth, but the rest was a raft of problems--rust throughout (more on that later), questionable electics, musty smell in the cabin, bad seats, cracked dash, and missing surrounds behind the lights in the engine bay. After a 30 minute test drive (yep...the suspension is shot...oh, why is the tem...

You scored as Albus Dumbledore . Strong and powerful you admirably defend your world and your charges against those who would seek to harm them. However sometimes you can fail to do what you must because you care too much to cause suffering. Albus Dumbledore 85% Hermione Granger 80% Harry Potter 80% Sirius Black 65% Remus Lupin 55% Draco Malfoy 55% Ginny Weasley 55% Ron Weasley 40% Lord Voldemort 40% Severus Snape 25% Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...? created with QuizFarm.

Sell the mini, keep the change, and buy one of these babies:

Sleep: Haven't gotten much lately. Whitney's gotten even less. I require ~6hrs / night to function...she requires more :-) Sickness: Apparently, I've given whatever I had to everyone in my area. Germs 1, Humans nil. * * * Thought...a nice used 5-speed toyota pickup would fill my current needs quite well :-) something to commute in reliable as dirt good for going to Lowes, getting firewood, etc. runs on regular gas easy to work on decent mileage (25 mpg) I'd probably want a 2wd model, though...and they'd be iffy in winter driving. Could get some snows for it + sandbags, though. One thing though...because they hold their value so well, you just don't find them under $10k.