Well, I'm back (I hope)!  I won't bore you with all the reasons *holidays* but suffice to say *baby stuff* I've been busy...

With the baby just around the corner, I need to start thinking of how to squeeze an infant seat in the MINI.  :)

The first thing I'll note is that trying to perform a straight search for such a thing can be elusive--resulting in results like:

(Nov 18 update:  Hmmm...found this post in my drafts, so I'll wrap it up and publish.)

Long story short, we went with the Britax B-Safe car set with the B-Agile base and stroller.  The base and the seat work just fine behind the passenger seat; although, it would be a tight squeeze to actually include a passenger along with the baby for any ride.  The stroller does not fit in the trunk nor in the other back seat behind the driver.  It may not fit in the front passenger seat either...I don't recall.  In any event, I take the baby with the car seat to the store, etc. and I just haul her around in the car seat in a shopping cart and that works great for our needs.  :) )

Low Pressure

Yea, I know it's been a while.

In any event, I got to experience MINI Roadside Assistance for the second time this past week.

I took my MINI in to the dealer for its first oil change.  A service notification popped up on the dashboard at around the 7,500 mile mark.  In general the service call went smoothly--in and out in about 30 minutes--but they did inform me that I need two new front tires.  (Already?!?)  I declined (for now) and headed home.

Later that night, while running an errand, an urgent message popped up on the display:

	Engine oil pressure too low. Possible engine damage. Switch off engine. Continued driving is not possible. Please contact the nearest MINI center.

Long story short, the dealer originally thought it was a bad solenoid.  While driving it home after the "fix", the error message popped up again.  I brought it back to the dealer.  After nearly two days of diags, tests, etc, it turned out to be a defective oil filter.  The dealer had heard about some bad batches of filters but had never experienced one before my issues.  Yay me.

I'm Still Here

I haven't forgotten about this blog. I've just been VERY busy: new tires for the wife's car, new water heater for the house, holiday dinner parties, birthday for the wife, birthday for the father-in-law, Christmas, planning for the new baby, etc.

I did want to stop by briefly to report that I had a 6'4" friend in the front passenger seat and a 5'9" friend in the back left seat today. It was a bit cramped, but we made it work! :)

Also, I'm over 1600 miles now.