Sales Figure Ticker - December 2012

Random thought and pet peeve: Why the f*** do they position ellipticals so you're staring right into a ceiling  height wall of mirrors?  For 20 to 30 minutes?  I wouldn't have wanted that when I was 20 or 30.  It's obnoxious. I've seen the glass or mirrors be located behind the ellipticals or treadmills.  Maybe they worry that someone getting off them might move too far back and hit the mirrored wall.  That's the only thing I can think of. There is a lot of crappy design and layout of exercise facilities.

I vote for real folks who don't speak English, please. Learning Spanish as rapidly as I can.

The LaX would have been 17 today. I was trying to have fun with it and eke out a 20 year old car.  With so many 2002 to 2004 Aleros on the road, for example, and in great shape, that tells me it was feasible. I've moved on, but the memories are fond.

It is a little out of control.  A lot of rich foreign buyers have these units.  They probably don't live there and I wouldn't expect the towers to feel all that neighborly. I will say that driving down the A1a and Collins Avenue from Lauderdale to Miami Beach is a feast of architectural eye candy.  A lot of it is flashy but a few of the structures, both older and new, are nicely done.  The Fontainebleau is one, for damn sure.  (Think "Goldfinger.") A room at the Fontainebleau set me back $99 before taxes in '99.  Is a pool/ocean view available?  Ha.  Not for that price.  The room looked out onto Collins Avenue and toward the Intracoastal.  No complaints. The problem with South Florida is also the sprawl, with so many 6-lane boulevards where people drive too fast and endless swaths of soulless office parks. Then there's San Francisco and its Millennium Tower with its issues. Miami was once "reasonably" priced.  It has gotten much more expensive, especially in the last 5 to 10 years, yet also far more stressful to live in.  Then, take your pick - plastic people or people who don't speak English ... not much else. Hey, doesn't that sound a lot like the L.A. of today?

This is an amazing car!