Greetings from Oxford NC.
I took delivery of my first Mini today, a Starlight Blue Oxford Edition F55 6mt (my doctoral program tuition finally got me into something fun).

I hadn't planned on a new car at this stage of life but Bambi did a number on my 2006 Honda Element in October so I placed the order in late November and am thrilled for this new chapter. The first hundred miles were fantastic and I can't wait to get to know this car and community.
Thanks for the camaraderie and wealth of information. It has been interesting to lurk while I waited. I look forward to doing my part in the coming days.
Best, Chris

 

Welcome to the neighborhood Chris. I live not too far away outside South Boston, VA. I drive through Oxford occasionally on the way to or from Flow Mini.
Nice area. I liked it much better before it turned into a bedroom community for Raleigh though. Have you joined THMMC yet?

http://www.tarheelminis.org/search.php?searchid=238085

 

 

Sounds like a plan. Not a lot of action on the TMMC website, but always a good place to ask questions of some local people and they put on some fun events. Also gets you a discount at the Flow Mini parts Dept.

 

Hi and welcome to NAM!
Nice looking Mini!

 

Congratulations on your new MINI.

Does your reference to the doctoral program tuition indicate that you:

• Have just graduated and now have a great job? If so congratulations.
• Have years to go but was eligible to get the Oxford edition as a student? Congratulations and Good Luck. Stick with it, it will be worth it in the end.
• Have just said the heck with the doctorate and now that you don't have tuition to pay you can afford a new MINI? I understand, doctoral programs are hell. I have been there.

 

Welcome.

 

Thanks for asking.
I am in a Doctor of Ministry program at Duke Divinity School. It's a professional degree for those in ministry and non-profit work. I am finished with classes and have a thesis to write. My proposal is almost accepted. I do plan to write the damn paper since I have all the tuition paid. The classes were great but the writing phase is very different.

Since I had a transcript as a full-time doctoral student, even though it is full-time pay and not full-time classwork, I qualified and it was a great way into a new car instead of buying used. I was looking at a 2015 with 50k and decided jumping up from $15k to $22K for a brand new vehicle made sense and was a whole lot more fun. I wish it had more bells and whistles (the base stereo leave much to be desired) but with two kids, dad had to cut some corners in the add-on and amenities department. It is way more fun to drive than my element or my wife's new Outback (which is a hell of a car).

I hope you got to where you wanted to in your program. Or at least finished satisfied. I have learned that while the credentialing of an advanced degree is nice, we better do them for ourselves because most of the rest of the world doesn't care.

Thanks for the well wishes!

 

Craho,

I did complete the program and received my Doctorate in Public Administration a few years back. You are at the toughest stage in the process. The coursework is grueling, (I had a 3 week period when I had 1400 pages to read and 3 15 page papers due) however, we received little preparation for the next phase - writing the dissertation. The courses came with the same types of deadlines we had through the undergraduate and graduate programs. For the dissertation (mine was 244 pages), we were on our own. When we got to a point, we called a meeting of the committee we recruited. When we needed help or advice, we scheduled it. Otherwise they never checked in on us.

Push yourself to get through it as quickly as you can. It is far easier to put it down for a week or two then it is to pick it up again and get back to where you left off.

As for the tradeoffs with the MINI, you forget about the stereo when you are on a winding back road - the best stereo in a Honda will never make up for the driving experience of a MINI on the right road.

Congratulations on your commitment to get the doctorate. It is an accomplishment that you will always be proud of. (Even if most of the rest of the world does not care.)

 

Congrats and Welcome. Starlight Blue is my favorite color on the new F cars.

 

Nice color I like the black wheels.

 

Need to bring it to the minis on the dragon in may.