Taking a quick cruise through the archives and guess what I found? This post, my very first at dbmini.us.
Yes, that’s right, 5 years ago September 12th I started up this little dog and pony show. Can’t believe it’s really been that long. 875 posts long according to the WP dashboard (1307 comments too, not bad).
Thanks for stopping by. If you are curious, the archives are at the bottom. If, however, you would like to visit one of the sites in the blog roll on the way down first, feel free! Be sure to tell ‘em that db sent ya!
Quick WRR update. Only 1, maybe two shows this week as we took the week off. Be around next week (Thursday as usual, time TBD) for a live show via Talkshoe.com. Free account required if you want to participate in either chat or (drum roll please) call-in! More details will be posted later in the week, so stay tuned!
Another that I’ve been missing for a while is Miniology.com. Home of all kinds of good things like Starlord’s video podcast, a cool list of Club events and news with a more Mini bent to it. Definitely worth checking out.
I’m not really sure why but lately, I have spent some time assembling a list of the cars I have driven over the years. Before I forget it like I forget what I had for lunch, I figured I’d better jot it down.
- 1965 Chevrolet El Camino
- 1967 Austin Healy Sprite
- 1962 Chevy II
- 1985 Chevy Sprint
Man, what a sweet ride. Worked for 2 years to save up enough to buy my first car, and this is what Dad found. Spent every last dollar I had on paint, interior mods and a new stereo (hey, I don’t have anything against 8-track). When I was done she was sweet. Complete with 327 under the hood, she was a runnner too. Now, there is a signal in North County San Diego because of me. Man, I miss this car.
Red with scratched paint. Removeable top. Electronics by the Prince of Darkness. But man, nothing better to cruise San Diego in as a young man. Made all the headaches and wasted cash almost worth it.
Don’t worry, nobody else knows what it is either. Until I call it a Nova. But it wasn’t a Nova, it was a Chevy II. 235CI straight-six, turbo-glide tranny. After the suspension and brake rebuild, it was like driving a Caddy. #19648 off the line too. Another to add to the list of cars I miss.
Hey, a fella has to get around, right? Actually, for a 3 banger, she went pretty well. And, as advertised, 50 MPG. Fantastic. Until I blew a head gasket. Oops. (Read on…)
Going through my links of news looking for stuff to post over at MF and this nugget caught my eye. It’s a great read to be sure, but not quite appropriate to post over there. So, you get to read it here instead. Bonus, said MINI is one of the greatest colors of all time for the MINI.
You shitbag. Go ahead and say I asked for it, that this is what I get for leaving the windows of my Mini Cooper open in the Famous Footwear parking lot. Were you teaching me a lesson by reaching in and grabbing my red and white bucket hat from the driver’s seat headrest?
Read the full story here.
It’s gets better, and not quite as harsh. I highly recommend checking it out. Oh, and when you are done, maybe cruise over to her blog and read some of her posts. Quite clever.
Got yet another email from the Owner’s Lounge saying they missed me. Awwww. That’s sweet.
But, it’s still the Owners Lounge. And, I’m sorry to say, it still sucks.
Sure I clicked over to vote for MTTS. After that I decided to poke around a bit, see what was going on. Here is what I found.
Nightmarish navigation. Just as always, trying to find anything over there is like looking for a needle in a needle stack. Took me over 5 minutes just to remember how to get to the message boards.
4 words. Black background, white text. It might just be me, but the impossibly small white text on the black background is very difficult to read. At least [ctrl-+] works to make the text larger.
Lack of Organization. In the section Message Boards / Suggestions for MINI / Owner’s Lounge why am I seeing posts about run flat tires, door latch problems and squeaky brakes? This is a post that would go nicely in that section, but I won’t post it there for fear of getting flamed by the regs.
Resumes and profiles. Actually, this part is pretty cool. Would be pretty cooler if even a little bit of formatting was allowed. Maybe bold or italic text? That sure would be nice.
MY Stuff. The OL still has me down as owning a BRG/W MCS. I’ve emailed to get that changed, but I haven’t been able to. That should be an option, as well as changing anything else in there short of the money stuff. I was able to set up a second username with my current VIN, but it’s not tied to everything else I have done or posted.
Tracking. This is another cool feature of the OL. Although it would be nice if it were a little more timely.
I know there is set-in-stone online design language that has be followed, but does that have to affect functionality and organization as well? I don’t think so. If you look around the internets there are many a message board, including NAM and MINI2 and many of the club sites/boards that pull off effective navigation and useability much better than the OL.
Older Articles »
