I had my first MINI Cooper S from 2004 – 2008, but traded it in once I started to have some air conditioning issues, which may or may not have been related to other electrical issues (which may or may not have been the result of hitting a raccoon 6 months before trading it in). 4 years old, 80K+ miles, various issues, a big dent in the front from the raccoon, a keyed scratch down the passenger side, and I still got half of what I originally paid for it.

My second MINI was a 2008 MINI Cooper S. I had this one for only about a year and a half before the dealership contacted me about paying top dollar on used MINIs – 125% of trade-in value. At first I didn’t know why I’d want to bother trading it in when the car was barely a year and a half old, but then I did the math: trade-in value was enough to pay off my car loan, pay off a credit card, and still have enough for a down payment on a new MINI (with better finance terms, I might add).

My current MINI is a 2010 MINI Cooper S with the same options as the 2008 model, except with a better stereo, and a different style of stripes down the front and rear of the car so I can tell it apart from the 2008 model in pictures. This picture is from before they installed the stripes.

On Friday I mailed in my last two car payments and requested my car’s title. Third car I’ve paid off in ten years!

I read today that a casino emailed promotions to compulsive gamblers, and in unrelated news I found this in my email inbox:

I can quit any time I want.

Yesterday I went to the gym because I thought I had a personal training session. Either it was yesterday and my trainer thought it was supposed to be today, or it was for today and I thought it was supposed to be yesterday, but either way there was some confusion. (I’m glad that if it was supposed to be today that I showed up a day early and not a day late!) So, I worked out on my own: 5 mile run, rowed 3 kilometers, and pedaled on a cycle for 10 miles.

I remembered too that with today being Veterans Day that it’s been one year since I first tried yoga. Well, the first time I tried it and knew what was going on; I had once previously attended a pay-what-you-can yoga class and had no idea what I was doing and just tried to imitate the other participants. I took my first class a year ago at Yoga District (figuring since I had the day off for Veterans Day that I wouldn’t have to worry about packing a gym bag to take to work or worrying about getting from work to the studio in time, etc.) and enjoyed it. Which reminds me, I have a credit on my account for a class that I need to use.