miscellaneous words--Re: leather, BBB, X5, Mark, USAA, etc.

[Alix Kay Sebesta <asebesta@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Everyone please forgive if this post is long/rambling; I just had a lot to
say!  

Regarding taking care of leather... Without a doubt the best cleaner for
leather is Murphy's Oil Soap.  This stuff is great!  Those of us familiar
with equestrian sports, where there is leather on literally every piece of
clothing/equipment imaginable, wouldn't imagine using anything else.  As
for oil, Lexol is the definite favorite.  We use these rather inexpensive
products on everything from a $10 lead rope to a $3000 saddle.  While
horses are obviously much dirtier than your car's interior, this is still
the best way to go!  Oil soap, as far as I know, is good on every type of
leather.  It has a really interesting smell that you might not like, but
it will go away in about 30 minutes.  Choose the type of oil that suits
the kind of leather you have.  Its very important to keep the leather in
top shape to avoid cracking and fading, plus it feels sooooo much nicer
when it's not hard and cracked.  Oil soap is everywhere, and you can
usually get a better price on Lexol at tack stores than at car stores.

Regarding the BBB--please remember that if you have a complaint about a
company and they don't attempt to resolve it, or do not resolve it in a
method that's satisfactory to you, you *need* to contact the Better
Business Bureau! This is not only to resolve your immediate problem, but
to protect future customers.  Before doing any significant business with a
shop that you're not familiar with, check with the BBB!  This can save you
a lot of time, effort and money, for the price of a local phone call
(Read: FREE!).

The X5--doesn't look so bad for an SAV(SUV in disguise).  Sorta a 5
series touring with some *beefy* suspension.  Today I saw a Subaru "SUS"
which I assume stands for Sports Ute Sedan.  I have so much more respect
for that than an SUV.  But that's just me.  I thought a few months ago
SUV's were going out of style?  Maybe being replaced by tourings?  I must
have been (wishfully thinking) imagining things.

Mark--Please shut up!  There is no discussion of the ERAM left on the
digest.  There never really was one.  When you post 10 posts and someone
replies to one of them, and then you post 10 more in response, that is not
a discussion!  There is no one on this digest that wants to hear anything
more about it.  We have been hearing about your widget since digest
#449, we're at 537 now and you keep talking.  There have been appx 275 
posts since you spammed us the first time, 11 days ago.  Enough!  Take
your converstaions private please. Also, regarding your tapes, remember
that advertising must be paid for, and the cost of spamming the digest is
$10 per subscriber, or $40,000.  Watch out!

Regarding USAA--you can hope to come out not too far behind.  They are
certainly the most customer oriented (tho a little pricey) insurance
company out there.  Best of luck to ya..

Regarding parking backwards--Since I've been having trouble with my
transmission recently, I've been parking backwards so that I can see if
there are any fluids leaking on the ground.  This is very helpful, and I
think I'll continue to do it, even after I get my tranny fixed/replaced.

If anyone is actually reading this far... I want to get rid of an old
factory radio/tape player from my '86 325e.  YOu pay shipping, otherwise
free. It has some gremlins (which is why I'm not using it anymore) like
the volume is muted sometimes, and the tape player likes to switch sides
by itself.  If anyone wants this for any reason, please let me know.
Otherwise it's getting trashed.

Thanks for the bandwidth!  

Alix Sebesta
'86 325e  

------------------------------