Okay...I got my car fixed.  Those who think it's fun to steal emblems off peoples car, please have the courtesy to no scratch the paint doing it.  But then...if you are foolish and selfish enough to get your jollies ripping off total strangers for something totally useless, you probably don't have the any courtesy anyways.  The bodyshop painted the entire bonnet (hood in MINI speak) and Boot lid (hatch).   They also replaced all the lettering because it was easier to take them off and paint the hatch then put new lettering on. 

 

It's been really really busy here at work and tonight, some friends and I have formed a team (warp factor racing actually has been in existance for quite awhile but I'm not really part of it) and are going indoor go Kart racing tonight.  It was fun last time and tonight will no doubt be fun again.

 

Tomorrow (Friday the 31st of March) will be really busy as it is not just a financial monthend at work but also a quarter end.  

 

 

Last weekend, I went to a small opera production.  I saw Puccini's Suor Angelica.  I'm not much of an opera type person, but I do like listening to music and pretending I'm an audiophile.  Going to live performances kind of gives me a reference point to where I want to take my audio system at home to.   The story line behind Suor Angelica really isn't that exciting.  Kind of a tragic comedy.  The interplay between the 13 actors was quite impressive and the dynamics of the voices was quite awesome.  Nothing a recorded works would do justice to.  The production was conducted by Frank Klassen, a friend of mine.  In fact, I graduated from high school with him.   The program was put on by Opera Appassionata. 

 

Just before the opera, I had coffee with another friend from high school too.  Linda and I used to walk to school together in grade 8 and 9.  She lived just down the block from me.  We've sporadically kept in touch since high school and I count her as a good friend.  We talked about midlife crisises at our age (her husband's) and I can't help but think of my own midlife crisis and wonder why at this time in my life, I'm running into all these friends from my past.  Thinking about it more, I realize that my very best friends I currently have, I've had as friends since my schooling days.  I guess that's the way it's supposed to be.  The most trusted and precious relationships are built over time.  Even a marriage.  My wife and I have not "lived happily ever after".  We've had our moments.  But overall, I can say I love her more today than when I married her.  If I lost her today, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.  I believe she probably has the same feeling.  Oh, we still have a lifetime of learning about each other and learning how to love each other even more.  I look forward to it.  We've been married 17 years. 

 

Okay...I've picked up a cold.  I think I'll go and try and sleep it off now.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

 

Last Thursday was one of those days you just wished never happened.

I went to work last Thursday and go into a hissy fit with a salesman.  The saleman had a very lucrative order to place but it had a few conditions.  The customer wanted an invoice before he submitted a deposit for the order.  That's generally not a problem.  However, the contract was not signed we can't put the order into the system to generate an invoice.  Also, the customer wanted something in a timeframe our manufacturing facilities could not meet and the salesman wanted jump the queue.  Then said salesman started blaming everybody but himself for the delays caused by the process he broke.  So I was not a very happy camper after work. 

 

When I got to my car after leaving the office, I found my car had been vandalized.  Somebody saw fit to steal the emblems off the front and back of the MINI.   I probably wouldn't be so upset if they had done it in a neater fashion.  Afterall, emblems aren't all that expensive.  But whoever saw fit to steal also saw fit to use a screwdriver or something and scrape up the paint to expose bare metal.  So now I'm out my insurance deductible and everybody gets to see their insurance go up to cover these senseless acts of vandalism. 

 

So I called my MINI dealership as asked who they used for a bodyshop.  They told me to give Docksteader Collisoin a call as that's who they used.  Now my MINI dealership and Docksteader Collision is not near my office.  So I give them a call and their estimator comes out in his boss' car (a Mercedes Benz S-55 AMG), picks me up at the door of my office, drives me to the parking lot and my car, takes the necessary pictures, fills out the paperwork and drives me back to my office entrance.   Tomorrow, he's going to bring a courtesy car to my office and take my MINI to the shop for the repair work.  They're working on my schedule and not theirs. 

 

I am totally awed by the ownership experience of the MINI.  The car has not been totally trouble free (nor is it inexpensive).  But it has been very painless.  I feel I'm getting value for my money.  GM could learn a lesson by mimicking some of this.   But I've owned GM cars for 30 years and have been angrier with their dealerships for the last 10 or 15 years.  You have to get pretty ballistic to get anything fixed to your satisfaction at any GM dealer....and they still don't get it.

 

Anyways, getting back to what I started with, lots of things went wrong on Thursday but I think that was an anomaly.  Hopefully, the sales people know that to faciliate smooth business transactions, they need to get us the information to do our jobs.  Also, I'm parking my car indoors from now on.  Moving to a new office in a few months that has underground parking. 

 

Happy March, everybody!