#12/365 (Offerings)

To take for permanent
that which is only transitory
is like the delusion of a madman
- Kalu Rinpoche



Title: Bonny Doon, Pine Flat Rd. Laptop Buddha
Flickr User: Bijapuri
Taken: June 2007, Santa Cruz, CA

moody weather and mini maintenance....

The wait at Palo Alto station this morning was very moody. As I left the treehouse for the train - - it was POURING rain. Safely tucked under manbrella(tm) I made my way to the train (since the MiniCooper is at the doctors). I ducked into Peets to pick up my cup of coffee - and stepping back out - the rain had been replaced by a big beautiful pre-sunset patch of clear sky. Almost like someone had run an eraser across a chalk board. I walked the rest of the way to the train - and kept the manbrella at the ready in case it decided to rain again. Watching people arrive at the station on rainy mornings (of which the spring will bring lots more of....) is interesting. People either react like a six year old kid puddle-jumping their way to school or they have this frustrated "curse you mother nature" frown. I don't see much of a middle ground (at least with my commuters) The train pulled up and the most interesting visual trick - it seemed a rain squall was following the train... you could literally see it coming down the track behind the train like a spectre. Very cool.... but - I got on the train and was in my seat before it caught up with us. Boy howdy did it rain hard - and now we're pulling in Millbrae ("Your connection to BART and SFO") - and its windy but dry. It's a lot of fun experiencing this kind of weather while in a nice dry northbound commuter train.

You might have noticed in my previous paragraph that the MiniCooper is at the doctor. (sigh) The car started making a thumpathumpa sound when in gear in the last few weeks and I decided it was time to take her in to the doctor. The mechanic says he knows what was wrong just by hearing me pull into the garage. He thinks I have a failed front axle joint. (sigh) that sounds expensive. So I'm trying not to obsess until I hear from him. (he says however that it's a common malady of Minis with 95-110k on them --- mine is a 2003 and just hit 95k) if it is the axle joint - it's liable to be an expensive fix. I've been saving to "use my passport" in 2010 - and it may temporarily get spent on keeping my car. Part of me balks at a $1000 repair on a $7700 vehicle - but the Mini is my most favorite car ever... and I'm not ready to let go of it. So... we'll wait and see.

bad tranny

I heard back from the mechanic. He has diagnosed it as a "chipped gear" in the transmission. He's researching finding a used tranny for my mini. The internet shows that the 2003 and 2004 model have transmission failure 90-100k. He says I could keep driving it - that its not going to blow up or anything - but that if the chipped gear decided to give way it could be a catastrophic failure.

a fierce tranny mess!

I'm excited that my car will soon be a fierce tranny mess!!