Ranniel Umali's Leroy Blog

2008-01-15T20:49:00.000-05:00

40,640 Miles - Bad Press

Ok, this was posted on one of the boards I frequent... check it out and together, we can both scratch our heads in wonderment. Here is a link to the thread that started all the commotion... post #23 is when the shit starts to hit the fan.

2008-01-05T19:42:00.000-05:00

40,130 miles - Happy New Year

Happy New Year everybody! My MINI resolution for 2008?

1) finally make the trip to Cedar Point, the Roller Coaster capital of the World
2) MINIs on the Dragon
3) MINIs Take the States

I did not do the Cedar Point trip last year. You probably did not know I was planning such a trip ahahaa. Well, the good folks on the OL and I were talking this up as a possible June event, but the organization just never happened. MOTD? For 2007 I opted to do the Five Borough Bike Tour (and it was fun!!). MINIs take the States? There wasn't one for 2007, but there is lots of buzz on the internet that corporate is gearing up for a 2008 MTTS and it looks like it's gonna happen and it's gonna be bigger and it's gonna be better.

Of course, there will always be the other fun stuff through out the year; Jim Thorpe Run, Nutscapade, a possible NYEE springtime...

But before we close the books on 2007, I have a few blog entries in draft-mode that I will post shortly (just give me a few weeks ahahaaa). O yeah, and speaking of 2007, I hit the 40,000 mile marker on December 30, 2007... woohoo!!

2007-12-23T21:50:00.000-05:00

39,200 miles - Blackout

... as mentioned in my Flickr.com pages, I ordered black vinyl mirror covers... not to protect my side view mirrors from the harsh winter elements, but to match the black steel winter tires I just had installed.

hahahaaa... I like the look... Leroy looks like he's all business now :)

before...

after...

motor on!

2007-12-17T19:09:00.000-05:00

39,000 miles - It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

... that's five AM... and that somewhere is Eastern Standard Time. Getting to work early does have its privileges... no morning traffic, EZpass discount, rock-star parking next to the office entrance, leave work early...

During the warm summer months I usually arrive to work early, but with work being hectic these past few weeks, I've resurrected my summer work schedule. I do concede the 5am clock-in at the office is early even for me, but it's just like arriving to work at 9 and staying until 8pm (which a lot of my co-workers do). BTW, there are a handful of pre-7am people where I work. They usually stay until 3-4... sometimes later. In the Summer when I come to work at 7, I'm usually out by 4-4:30pm.

I hit the 39k mile marker just a couple of miles east of my office and ironically, just across rt 46 from one of our sister offices (which I should have taken a picture of but o well).

2007-12-15T10:37:00.000-05:00

38,850 miles - Snow Tires

Tis the season for giving, and I bought snow tires for Leroy... and for me. Now that I no longer have a pick-up truck, Leroy's my only option to get me to point B (which usually is work).

I ordered the Firestone Winterforce M+S from tirerack.com, check 'em out here. They're the cheapest tires I could get my hands on, but nevertheless, these tires should provide adequate traction over snow and ice.

... and speaking of snow and ice, I was treated to the first major snow storm for the 2007/2008 winter season on Thursday, December 13. Thankfully, my tires arrived the evening before and I had them put on the following morning. My initial impression was 'man, they're ugly', but they are more for utility than asthetics... and to be honest, the black steel wheels are growing on me. Regardless... my commute home that Thursday evening was slip-slide-free. I am still a bit leary when it comes to snow/ice on the roads, so my driving was probably more conservative than necessary. In time, I will come to push the limits of these cheap wheels (Mother Nature permitting).

tidbits;
-these tires are non run-flats. As such (and also prolly due to the thick treads), Leroy feels 'different'. The bumps are a bit smoother and the car feels like it is sticking to the ground... not alot, but the feeling is there.
-non run-flats!!? Yup. I need to buy me some of that gooey tire repair stuff... and maybe I should start hauling my porto-generator/air compressor since I don't have a spare (no room for one hahaaa).
-My all season performance run-flats are in my storage unit. Prolly won't put them back on until April (I need to situate them so that they won't get wet should my basement floods up).
-LOL, I bought these cheap mirror covers to match the black steel wheels hahaaa... hey, I still gotta coordinate, don't I?

Safe motorin' this Winter season everybody!!

2007-12-07T23:24:00.000-05:00

38,461 miles - Three Years Old

Happy Birthday Leroy. I bought you something special... LOL, it didn't arrive on time... you'll get your Birthday gift soon and I'll post pics for all to see.

2007-12-02T09:08:00.000-05:00

38,150 miles - Addition to the Family

The new Clubman is out. Check it out. What do ya think?

2007-11-27T21:43:00.000-05:00

37,000 miles - Time Flies

Whoa... it is now late November. Time to resurrect this blog...

8th of August - 32,000 miles

I was commuting to work... it was rainy and dark and I couldn't for the life of me keep my camera still enough to capture a decent picture... and so I propped it on top of my thermos which was resting snugly in the cup-holder. Jewel's Goodbye Alice in Wonderland was playing.

27th of August - 33,000 miles

+11... I didn't have my camera Sunday evening when I hit the 33k mark. I was in Jersey City dropping someone off at Newport Centre. I asked him to take a pic of the mile mark with his cameraphone. If he remembers to e-mail it to me, I'll upload.

16th of September - 34,000 miles

... coming home from Short Hills Mall, I hit the 34k marker eastbound on the Newark Bay extension of the New Jersey Turnpike. Norah Jones' 'Broken' was playing.

11th of October - 35,000 miles

Again... commuting to work (according to the pic's stats in flickr... it was approximately 6:30am). I was at the entrance of the Newark/Bay extension of the New Jersey Turnpike. I forgot what was on the radio at the time. Prolly something techno... I've been in my techno musik phase for about a month now...

25th of October - 36,000 miles

I was running a lunch-time errand. I was in Totowa dropping off some dry-cleaning.

13th of November - 37,000 miles

... commuting to work. I am nearing the end of the Newark Bay extension (westbound) and quickly approaching the entrance to the New Jersey Turnpike. 1010 wins was on the radio.

28th of November - 38,000 miles

... again, going to work.

2007-10-14T20:57:00.000-04:00

35,144 miles - Redemption

Did the Nutscapade Run... again. The last time I did it I managed to spin out while exiting a sharp turn at the top of a hill. The road was rich with wet leaves too... and o yeah, my tires were grossly underinflated ahahaha. The punishment? a couple of damaged rims, roof scratches, and a bruised ego.

Fast forward one year and I find myself meeting up with Jolly and crew to once again take on the twisty roads of Dutchess County. This time I managed to take make the run accident-free... though I did come close to hitting the MINI in front of me as we approached a stop light coming out of a sharp turn at the bottom of hill. Had I set the walkie talkie to the right channel, I would have had adequate verbal warning. Lucky for me, Leroy's brakes are in tip top shape... and the ABS works just fine too ahahaaa....

I feel better...

2007-07-20T23:39:00.000-04:00

31,200 miles - Summer of 2007.

More mile markers. Nothing special boohoo...

2nd of June - 29,000 miles.

Saturday mid-day errand run to North Bergen so I can get my MINI checked out after his little bump with a bus.

26th of June - 30,000 miles.

... an early evening drive home from work.

17th of July - 31,000 miles.

... Off to work. grrr...

.. LOL, my summer turning into one long work sesson.

2007-05-29T12:08:00.001-04:00

28,850 miles - Linkage

Looks like the 2003 Trans Am made it to another Blog... check it out... there are some really neat pics of cool cars in this blog. (www.photocars.blogspot.com).

Thanks jarapet from flickr.com!

2007-05-26T11:54:00.000-04:00

28,500 miles - I'm Hit

Leroy gets into his first accident. It happened yesterday (05/25). I was heading into Manhattan for a few happy hour drinks and dinner with my BFF when I was 'bumped' by a charter bus during the massive merge into the Lincoln Tunnel. Crazy. I will post go into details later. But right now...

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY everybody!! Don't forget to spend some time tomorrow to remember our fallen soldiers.

Motor on!

2007-05-23T23:54:00.000-04:00

28,358 miles - Summer Lovin'

T - 2 days until Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of summer!! And you know what that means... local car show circuit is on!! This year, I promise to attend more shows. But first, a look at the good ole local boys from Liberty Classic Car Club of Bayonne, NJ... good times :)

This is only my third outing with them, but already I see the challenge; to keep these car show photosets fresh with new vehicles (and hopefully, faces too... I'm still workin' on gettin' in on the good side with these guys)... and I accept it! So without further adeiu, click either pic below (or here) for pics.

Motor ON Detroit!!

2007-05-11T20:52:00.000-04:00

28,000 miles - Down at the Twist and Shout

... headin' home from work on the western spur of the New Jersey turnpike. Mary Chapin-Carpenter's 'Down at the Twist and Shout' was playing... rather loud...

2007-05-10T23:45:00.000-04:00

27,953 miles - These Little Things...

make owning a MINI an utter blast. So today I'm driving home after having a nasty day at work, when all of a sudden a little girl riding passenger side in a hulking H2 rolls down her window and screams from two lanes across - 'Hey mister, I love your car!' and proceeds to smile and wave furiously (as only little kids can). She continued to wave and stare for no more than a quarter mile... just enough time for the H2 to speed passed me, but those few seconds were all I needed...

My bad day? history :)

2007-05-04T13:15:00.000-04:00

27,586 miles - A New Tire for Leroy

Ok. I bring my MINI in for a promotional free 10 point inspection and what happens?

I had the tech inspect my tires on account one of them was constantly low on air. Well, according to the technician, the rear drive-side tire had nails... that would explain the weekly visits to the air-pumps. I also had the tech check out a knocking noise coming from my engine. Turns out the passenger side engine mount needed to be replaced. And last but not least, the tech noticed the wear marks on the roof and decided that they've gotta go. So it is roof number three for me!

Everything was covered under warranty except for the tire...

I originally planned the inspection to take no more than a couple of hours, however the roof would take at least a day due to a part on order. So I left Prestige with a loaner... a 2006 Hyper-Blue/white roof MINI-Cooper S. A few observations;
I said this before and I'll say it again; the hatch is a much better ride than the convertible. The car feels tighter, more put together. The view out the back is so much better.
The hatchback is quieter than the convertible. You can really hear the sweet sound of the engine... and the limitations of the stock sound system. Gone are the crisp treble sounds and the deep bass beats. While the Harmon Kardon sound system is 'lost' in the interior noise of the convertible (forget about sound quality with the top-down!), the stock radio's weak speakers are exaggerated inside the hatchback.
As for the sunroof? The roof is cool... I enjoyed playing with it; opening it, closing it, engaging the screen... fun! For about five minutes... I'm sorry, nothing beats driving with the top down.

Well that's it for now. I'm off from work today... the sun is out... and my MINI looks ready to go... motor on everybody.

2007-04-25T23:28:00.000-04:00

27,500 miles - I Drive My MINI-Cooper pt II

... afew thousand mile markers for your entertainment pleasure... NOT! The pleasure was really all MINE.

19th of December - 22,000 miles.

Heading home from Manhattan after a pleasant night out in New York City.

21st of January - 23,000 miles.

After discovering my fridge barren of food, I venture to the nearby A&P to buy some dinner and lunch supplies for the upcoming week. The dreary weather accentuated the crappy mood I was in :(

14th of February - 24,000 miles.

I was driving home from work. Home. I wasn't driving to anywhere special. Just home... alone. For Valentine's Day. be'H.

6th of March - 25,000 miles.

... and its off to work I go.

27th of March - 26,000 miles.

... and its off to work I go again!

16th of April - 27,000 miles.

... and its off to work I go again (part III)! Now that my MINI is officially my only ride, I've been packing in the miles. My commute takes me from Bayonne to Totowa via the New Jersey turnpike and routes 3 and 46. It is a horrible commute. I will blog about it shortly. This picture came out really nice because it was still dark outside. With the headlights on I was able to illuminate the area in front of my MINI. This week would prove horrendous commute-wise due to a nor'easter that hit the metro NY area Sunday (yesterday).

2006-11-26T10:48:00.000-05:00

21,648 miles - Out with the Old...

... and in with the new. My brother bought a new Subaru.

congrats bro... pics please :)

2006-11-20T22:13:00.000-05:00

21,648 miles - Mother II

Flashback to the end of summer... September 3, 2006 to the MINIs Take the States (MTTS) Wrap-up party. I met up with the good folks at nemini; BandD, Mighty-Mini, Bootsi, etc... and I got to meet up with RGMINI06 and Pauliewalnuts from the OL. The wrap-up party was fun. It was held at Exchange Place in Jersey City. Unlike other MINI events I've attended, there was no mass gathering of MINI-Coopers in Jersey City. It would have been impossible. The MINIs were spread out across the various parking lots in Jersey City's downtown area. Mine? It was home... I took the light rail heheheee. The weather was great. There was food, beer and vendors. The folks who did the run all had great stories to tell, however they also had that 'I just drove five-hours straight and I really need to rest' look. LOL.

... but not me. :(

I failed to do the Washington, DC - Jersey City, NJ run as originally planned. Due to an, er... oversight at work, I did not have the Friday before Labor Day off. I could have still made the run, but weather wasn't cooperating and I didn't want to rush down to DC in all that windy rain and I never reserved a room and I had no one to drive down with and wah wah wah!!

Excuse me? What's MINIs Take the States? Whoops, my bad. MTTS was to promote the 2006 MINI-Cooper S JCW GPs (John Cooper Works Grand Prix). Two thousand were built, and a lucky 415 made it to the states... and for some of these GPs, this event was to be their inagural run. LOL! It was also an opportunity for the rest of us to just motor! There were approximately eight GP owners picking up their new cars that day. The GPs were all lined up nicely, and I did manage to take a few shots. Anyway, go check out the MTTS official webpage from the corporate site. :)

Flickr pics... my pics.

Motor on everybody :)

2006-11-19T07:50:00.000-05:00

21,648 miles - A Useless Statistic

I added a free site counter from sitemeter.com. Let's see how this works.

LOL, I always wanted to know how often people access this site... prolly not a whole crowd... but I know you're out there. heheheee.

2006-11-18T15:32:00.000-05:00

21,648 miles - Mother I

Wow... I wrote this entry way back in February of this year but I never finished it. So here it is (of course I cleaned it up duuuH). It wasn't a huge entry, just something to pass the time during those silent winter months as Leroy lay in hibernation.

Ok, my Monkey post mentioned that I was working on the 'mother of all blog entries'. That is not going to happen anymore. It is just too long. The entry would recap major milestones for Leroy like the one thousand mile marks, service done and MINI-events attended. Instead, each milestone will rightfully have a separate post. But I babble... without further adeiu, here is the old February entry titled "Modify my Love"...

7,996 miles - Modify my Love

If you check out the MINI forums on the internet or the tricked-out MINI that just wasted you at the last stop light, you will find a lot of people are modifying their tiny cars. For them, stock is not enough. Better performance? How about a pulley reduction, stiffer anti-sway bars, or a Borla exhaust. Looks? How about some new rims, custom paint, rally lights, grille badges and of course, decals decals decals. Someone mentioned that the MINI is all about individuality, so make it 'our own!'. Check out minimania.com, mossmini.com, minicarparts.com, or aestheticreations.net to list a few online merchants keeping MINI owners broke. People get super-creative with their MINIs and I'm constantly impressed with what's been done.

For me? I will pass on all the above. Stock rocks. My MINI is beautiful... both inside and out, with chrome in all the right places, deep shiny metallic paint, 17" stock rims, a well appointed interior. And as for performance? I'm quite content with its 163 horses. BMW did a great job re-designing the MINI and I'm not about to change a thing on my MINI... that is, until the warranty expires.

motor on... the last pic is a great comment on MINI madness gone mad. LOL.

2006-11-17T00:01:00.000-05:00

21,648 miles - I Drive My MINI-Cooper...

... and I'm feelin' super-dooper yo they tell me I'm a trooper and you know I'm satisfied!! And at 8000 miles in five months? I'm definitely motoring. Here is a rundown of the past eight thousand-mile marks. Queue the music...
*puts the needle on the record*

18th of June - 14,000 miles.

Happy Birthday Rumali and Happy Father's Day Dad! How did I spend your day? Motoring home from MINIs on Top. I just made the exit for rt. 84 from Rt. 93... I was so busy keeping an eye out for the exit and the roads were crowded with speed demons and it was a hot hot day and I was anxious and I knew I had to keep my eye on the odometer and I... just missed the milestone by 2 miles. do'H!

7th of July - 15,000 miles.

After a boring day of work, I rewarded myself with meeting up with peeps and partying away in the City (that's New York City folks). I was on the Newark Bay Extension when I hit this glorious milestone.

1st of August - 16,000 miles.

I was heading home after a night out with friends bowling at the Bowl-O-Drome in North Arlington. It was my birthday, and I stayed out a lot later than planned... and the shot I took was taken while I sat in horrendous overnight construction traffic. Where was I? Western spur of the New Jersey Turnpike north of exit 15W.

19th of August - 17,000 miles.

Driving from my parent's place to Virginia. I spent the weekend with my cousin, his wife, the Redskins and the Jets. I specifically mentioned my parent's place because I travelled local county roads to get to the southern end of New Jersey. I was on one such road when I took this picture.

30th of August - 18,000 miles.

Driving to work... hands down the second best event for this lazy Summer day. Best event... driving home from work DOI!

16th of September - 19,000 miles.

Driving home after a failed attempt at paintball. I had lots of fun getting shot (those pellets sting!!) and I'll definitely do it again :)... o, I was on Rt. 278 heading southbound.

5th of October - 20,000 miles.

Major milestone!!! Not-so-major event. I'm heading home from work LOL. I was already in Bayonne (my hometown) when I hit 20k... in fact, I was just one mile away from my condo. The last ten miles were the hardest.

2nd of November - 21,000 miles.

I'm heading up to Dutchess County to take part in the Fall Nutscapade Run. LOL, I actually reached the Dunkin' Donuts starting point along Rt. 22 at around 20,991 miles but continued northbound for approximately five more miles so I could take the 21k mile picture before the run. I had a odd feeling that taking pictures during the run might not be such a good idea (and it wasn't... but that's for a future post heheee).

2006-11-16T16:33:00.000-05:00

21,648 miles - Mr. March (or "Tail of the Dragon" Part II)

Democracy rules! Just as the American voting public ushered in a new political environment for Mr. Bush to navigate through, the folks in the OL have voted Leroy to be Mr. March for the 2007 MINI Owner's Lounge Calendar.

The picture was taken during an early morning run through the Dragon. I wanted to photograph MINIs breaking through the fog, but there were few MINIs chasin' the Dragon that early Saturday morning... so I took a few shots of Leroy instead.

A few notes;
1) 3d_geek, who organizes the OL calendar, edited out the telephone pole in the center background for the calendar. Thanks 3D!
2) The picture, titled 'Dragon Breath', placed third in total number of votes received... the May and June photos tallied higher. Over one hundred pictures were eligible for voting.
3) I actually submitted two photos, the second one was the MINI JCW GP line-up seen below (the right pic doi!), but it was not eligible for voting. Not sure why and I never asked.
4) I ordered two calendars... one for work and one for home :)

Motor on!!

2006-11-15T22:20:00.000-05:00

Monkey

For the past few months I have lived with a monkey on my shoulder... whispering into my ear during those random moments of downtime where I find myself free to do whatever comes to mind that I have a blog that needs serious updating. I have been meaning to post for as long as I can remember, but only when Summer became Fall that I realized just how urgent the situation has become.

I have not updated this blog in almost five months.

Not that there hasn't been anything of substance to scribble down. I have just been lazy, plain and simple.

So for now, let me state that I am currently working on a few entries for this blog which should be posted within the next couple of days. I am also working on the mother of all blog entries LOL. This one may take awhile, but I am aiming to complete it by Thanksgiving. We'll see how it goes.

Well, that is it for now. Time for me to preview, edit, then post this odd addendum... with any luck this will assuage my monkey.

motor on everybody...

2006-06-13T21:56:00.000-04:00

13,052 miles - 10,000 miles

So finally, after much stress and lost sleep, my MINI had its first scheduled maintenance done this morning... read this. I was getting worried that my OBC would hit zero while I was up in New Hampshire this weekend. whewwww...

T - 3 days

motor on everybody.