We came to replace the Mini which was a fun car to drive and own for the most part. After you get rid of the run-flats it's propensity to chew tires isn't as expensive as it once was. Got a pretty decent trade in price on it too. We didn't buy another Mini re the  treatment we received documented in this ,Minimum CS , and other posts as a result of a loss re the car not working in the way the manual said it would.  Way to go Mini and BMW bought something else x 2 that directly compete in your class.
 

Ah Dobh and the original "otter" This otter was stolen from the cinema in Phoenix after he forgot it and wasn't there on the way back. Yeah I know they pay the cleaning staff little but, hey , bastards

This was his first concert , in a backyard in the Phoenix heat, with Marian Call which is about as good as any first concert memory you're going to have.

Mini Cooper kept mum. So what if our manual is incorrect. no keys for you

First they tell me to read the manual,  you know cos I’m not as cute,or as fast, as a Mini and am more likely to be in error. Well let’s look around page 24-25 ( close to it)

Is there any doubt here that the car should not start when the  key is not in the car, when the key is  five feet away from the car?  Well the helpline , I eventually got to a manager, and asked them to consider that they could be owe me a new key / serious price break on the $300 item because their car is not working as stated. 

That was a few days ago.  

The last car we bought was a Mini Cooper S which I see as the car that makes up for all the regular Minis I drove,you know the ones with a fixed L shaped seat, rusting sills, 10” wheels  sliding mirrors, no heater worth a damn etc.

The “new” car ,a 2007 Cooper S, came with a remote key and what’s called a convenience feature in which you do not have to put your key into the slot to start it. E.G.,It can stay in your pocket , your bag or attached to a purse.

Common belief is that the car won’t start without the key being inside the car.  Sadly , as we found out this weekend, that is not the case.  My wife left her purse atop the pump, got in ,  door closed, started car and drove off.   ( ended up having to get a ride then break into the house)

The car gave zero warning that key wasn’t within the car and  20 miles later, car turned off and couldn’t start it again.

No keys , no movement , no nothing!   This is not the behavior I want from a car so I called the local Mini dealer, 2 days after they failed to return my wife’s call , to find out what the parameters of the  keyless start are.  I also sent a note to Mini asking the same.

So far nothing from Mini and an unhelpful  “you’re the only one in 3000-4000 customers to have this problem.”  from the dealer  and an offer to look at it which I will have to take them up  on.

I really want to know why the car wont let you lock it with the key inside, assumption that it knows where the key is in relation to the car, yet will let it drive off without one being present. Surely that’s not that  hard a question for the  people that sell it/ make it?  

   Couple that to the Airbag system that can be harmed just by moving your seat back and it looks like the  LUCAS lord of darkness joke re the state of UK auto electrical  systems has jumped over into the BMW made Mini.

Here’s a hint.

I am so late doing this I’m practically ashamed.  E.G,   The house only holds about 40 people and , well you think hell 40 people that’s easy Probably so easy that telling everyone would lead to a lot of disappointed folks which I’m still aiming for

 

Marian Call delivers whimsical Alaskan folk funk for the Coffee Counter-Culture. She sounds a little like Joni Mitchell & Regina Spektor raising the child of Jason Mraz & Erin McKeown. Call’s sound is always soulful, honest, and clever, loved by all types — computer geeks, church ladies, teenage thugs, NPR listeners, and urban hipsters worldwide. Marian is currently touring all 50 states and hopes to play for you soon — find more information at http://mariancall.com.

If you like what you hear  then how about hearing it live, like two days from now?

When we originally requested a house concert it seemed plausible. laughably in hindsight, that we could accommodate this at our house.  Thankfully friend and  fellow fan Mandi stepped in to save the day and for this Phoenix and surrounding areas  all you have to do is leave your house on a Wednesday night and come out for live music. 

 

RSVP to

mandi  AT neuroticbynature.com

For details on where to go, what to bring and how much fun you are going to have.

Basically testing out an embed.

here we are

The other day I was searching for the opening hours of a local restaurant. After running to find a phone-booth to covertly speak a request into the iPhone  (sardellas) that I was looking for  which was about a mile away from my current location.

Google’s mobile iPhone app gave me a restaurant in Rhode Island a couple of thousand miles away as my number one and two result. 

What the hell is the use in that? A geo-enabled device making a request from a mobile app gets results for places that are hours away by jet! 

Yes it’s rather cool that I can talk into my phone, have it get the right phrase, and see results within a few seconds but it would be nice if it could be done with more attention paid to the context of the search.

here we are with otters

Now there’s a single minded dedication to ensuring that you get only the “real” Amanda Fucking Palmer, oh wait they don’t return any results for that.  May as well ask which Bjork, which Tori Amos and which Jean Michel Jarre which I kid you not occurs.   Anyway that’s my UI annoyance for today.