It’s been a while, I know, but I hope you all are doing well. Life has been busy for me over the past few months. After a $7000 AC replacement bill, my track budget for 2009 pretty much vaporized. I had to miss Sebring last month and I am having to cancel my plans for Daytona later this month . But alas, the house is now cool, which is important in South Florida!

The MINI scene around here has been pretty much non-existent over the past few months. I have heard similar stories from other regions as well. Some believe the new MINI owners buying cars are not as enthusiastic about the MINI and its culture. Of course, there ARE enthusiasts out there buying new MINIs, but I would have to agree that the numbers seem much lower.

Take the wave for example. I still wave to every MINI I see on the road. In the past I would usually receive an enthusiastic wave back. Now-a-days, I usually get nothing back. Sometimes, I even get some weird looks. What sucks is the lack of enthusiasm and activity has really put a damper on my own MINI enthusiasm. It is kind of hard to get excited about your car when you can’t go out and hang with other MINIacs.

If I lived closer to Miami, I would make it a point to go hang out with Minis of Miami. I hear that their club is still going strong. I suspect it is because they started as a Mini club, rather than a MINI club, and most of their members own classic Minis, and are as enthusiastic as ever.

With all that said, I did get an opportunity to hang out with some great MINIacs a couple weeks ago at Mickey & MINI 5. It was nice to be around familiar faces that I don’t get to see very often. The weekend proved quite adventurous for me and my MINI. Stay tuned for my weekend recap on Mickey & MINI 5 and I’ll show you how my MINI broke down and how yours might too.