This is NOT pertinent to anything mechanical or functional with your R57. It's just a tale of woe that I solved this morning. And because it involved my MINI Cooper S Convertible, it shows up here.

No, the photos I took with my phone didn't come out, so I guess some folks will say this didn't happen. But read on and you decide....

Arrived at my car this morning - top up because I don't leave it overnight outside with the top down - and I saw a GIANT spiderweb strung between the antenna and the roof. The span was easily 18 or 19 inches and the spider was the size of an original MINI Cooper...or so it seemed.

Immediately I cursed myself for not having replaced the antenna with a stubby antenna yet (have had the car only since April). But that's now on my list of things to do right after replacing the run-flats with normal tires and right before adding new struts and shocks.

Regardless, I weighed my options. Having treated the top with RaggTopp sealant, I figured I could vacuum up the spider, web, and all pollen and stuff that had fallen on the roof overnight. But then I realized I didn't own a vacuum and I would have to go out in the car - TOP UP - and find a car wash.

Well, the story doesn't get much more interesting other than to say I decided to do a full car wash. Full on soaped everything, roof and all, cleaned up the sides and wheels and then sprayed the roof clean of spiders and lions and tigers, oh, my.

THEN, after driving to breakfast in the 74-degree sunny day, I parked the car while I ate and let the roof dry completely. It was a glorious black without any detritus or bugs or leaves or pollen...which I then put down and rode in for the next two hours all over the South Shore as the sun beat down on my smiling visage.

How was your Thursday?

Jeff

 

Only thing better than that is to sit quietly and watch one of those orb web spiders spin their web. Absolutely hypnotically fascinating. The one on our deck, couple years ago, would be all tattered by morning and come evening put all back to rights. She had it up there five days in a row.

 

The MINI could have been a bug catcher

 

I think the spider built a Dream Catcher for the Mini.

 

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