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Homecoming 2000 Survivor Shag  Big download ~ 20.2mgs mpeg Lunch at the food tent, browsing the Make-A-Wish Silent Auction, I know I made it to the Performance Center with MW and DaveT, I met Jayne, another Z3 girl there, and aieee and the Other Tom. Two of our instructors were Paul and Joaquin (sp). One of the things I learned there was that there ARE different settings on the ASC, from more passive to more invasive. These settings are placed at the factory where they are produced- not a BMW part- and can not be adjusted by the BMW factory or the dealers. This explains why Emmy never kicks in the ASC- except when it's needed, and a nearly identical 2.8 I rent in Hollywood has it on nearly all the time. So, no, it's NOT that I don't "get on it" enough in Emmy ;p. Last year at Safety School, I was trying so hard not to do anything wrong that I didn't learn as much as I could have. This time I killed two cones and apparently nearly passed aieeee on the Skid Pad. Hey, what can I tell you, every time I asked the instructors for advice they told me I was doing fine. :) Barely back in time to visit the Tech Clinic (my heros) we couldn't tell if I had a hole in my exhaust or if some noise from Emmy and rough running was due to the CAI. Then run over to the vendors, man, it was already around 4pm.... just time to visit HMS and owner SolutionZ booths. It started to rain, so it was time to go get dressed for dinner. How can we be at the Saturday night dinner already? Time races by at Homecoming. I was following Robert and JohnB to dinner, lost them at the first light. Z3 girls met up for our first Z3 Girls at HC Group photo in the K Platz of the factory. This was the first year they allowed cameras in this far into the factory. The K Platz is the heart of the complex. Ja ja, the theme was Mardi Gras, they was handing out colored beaded necklaces, sending us fire eaters and stiltwalkers, clowns on tall unicycles, green frosty drinks and tons of food, wearing masks. The speakers and awards were great, but the best surprise for me was the new President of Manufacturing for BMW in the US. Maybe I have that title wrong (help?) and I don't even have the guy's name (help help?) but he was just great. He obviously had gone to great effort to craft a sensitive, thoughtful and funny speech for us in English. He gave us an opportunity to applaud the associates who apparently had signed up in record numbers to give up their holiday to work with us. He told us that our enthusiasm is partially responsible for the success of the Spartanburg plant, and that that is important- and somewhat legendary- to BMW in Germany. He mentioned several times that the relationship between the Z3 Club and the BMW factory at Spartanburg is solid as a rock, referring also to plans for Homecoming 2001... and especially Homecoming 2002. Then he told us we were crazy, and we all happily agreed. There is some poetic justice that the same woman who won for the most miles on her Z3 (93,000?) was also the woman who brought her smashed-in hood to the Tech Tent in '98. Someone had kicked in her hood, and it was beyond repair. That was before Shane, the amazing associate worked his magic on her hood. It's fine now, and the bond between that Z3 owner and the factory could not be stronger. Another fellow I met in the food line had his door smashed in. Beyond repair. Fixed at the tech tent. Ja, no doubt about it, my insanity for this car came from Homecoming 98. Before Homecoming, it was just a car, now it's a car, 2000 Z3 owner friends and 2000 BMW associate friends. That is something else the guy had said in his speech... that he thinks it's more appropriate to address us as "friends". Just as things were winding down, Bryan grabbed a mike and asked Jean to marry him. Mazel Tov y'all! OK, enough of this, it was time to think about leaving. I passed on the heaps of Chocolate Pie and King's Cake. I went to bed kinda early, in hopes of taking a few more Extreme Twisty roads on the way to Flat Rock. |
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5 Shag Survivor Pages Part 1 ~~ Part 2 ~~ Part 3 ~~ Part 4 ~~ Part 5 ~~ Part 6 ~~ |
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