And so I'm back

[Intrepidation]

If anyone noticed among the quibbling and the politics I decided to take a leave of absence for a little while. My reasons primarily being that the politic engulfed this site (which in and of itself is not a terrible thing), but brought out the ugly side of some members (a bad thing). It's pretty painful to watch just how petty and immature some people got, especially when they are normally level-headed. I decided that with enough issues at home to deal with the last thing I needed was to come to a place that was so disharmonious.

I figured I'd comeback after election day to see if it would finally clear up, people would return to their former sense, and we could actually talk more about cars than politics.

Of course there's plenty of bad news going on thought the automotive industry, which is particularly enjoyable to discuss, but there are good things going on.

And that's where I find myself very disappointed with this site. The Paris Auto Show was barely covered, there isn't even a section dedicated to this year's SEMA Auto Show yet, are we going to skip over it? Someone needs to create a section or it in the 2008 Auto Shows section.

As for personal life, it's been meh. I don't know if I mentioned this on the site before but my parents are divorced, however although my father was supposed to, under the agreement, give my mom 55% of the house's value (he was buying it from us by August 15, it's now November and we still have not gotten the money to get the hell out of here. He has not been returning the my mom's lawyer's calls. Yesterday came a letter in the mail that he owed $12,000 in taxes, and if it was not paid within 14 days the house would be taken. Took said letter to the lawyer today and she doesn't know what to do. Of course she is the most incompetent lawyer I have even seen, I wish we could sue her for her incompetence or at least get a new one who knew what they were doing.

On top of that we found out that the Grand Marquis, which has been flawless up until this point needs a lot of work done to it. Apparently the oil pan is rotted and leaking, the rear axle leaks, the steering box leaks,, and the cat leaks. Oh and it needs 4 tires, though at least we have 2 good spare ones.

This is a problem because we use it to go back and forth to get my brother and take him home from college every weekend, which is somewhere in the neighborhood of 340 miles.

Need to get estimates on repairs, at least the oil pan and the rear axle. I'm betting the oil pan won't be cheap.

So that's life in a nutshell. I'm back for now, as I do miss this place, but if we don't refocus on cars and keep the immaturity and bickering, I may reconsider.

[Lamar]

Looks like you had your own issues, DF. I don't blame you for laying low.

[Intrepidation]

Oh but on the brighter side I got the first part of my master plan to put a 300M interior in my Intrepid. Oh and the Shadow runs better than I ever remember it.

[mustang84]

One thing I've noticed the last few months is that very little news has been covered here. I try to contribute to the Ford subforum when I can, but even the GM forums have been kinda dry lately. I don't know if it's all the bad news lately that has soured everyone's moods or people are just busy, but it seems like both BON and GMI have far more news stories posted these days.

Edited November 5, 2008 by mustang84

[Sixty8panther]

Welcome back, it was nice to get together last night.

Seems you & Jess enjoyed Julie's cooking. It's not

the only reason I married her but it's one of the top

three reasons, next time maybe she can make her

Mushroom Ravioli w/ Bacon.

Don't be a stranger on here.

[cletus8269]

I figured I'd comeback after election day to see if it would finally clear up, people would return to their former sense, and we could actually talk more about cars than politics.

Of course there's plenty of bad news going on thought the automotive industry, which is particularly enjoyable to discuss, but there are good things going on.

And that's where I find myself very disappointed with this site. The Paris Auto Show was barely covered, there isn't even a section dedicated to this year's SEMA Auto Show yet, are we going to skip over it? Someone needs to create a section or it in the 2008 Auto Shows section.

I have been going to jalopnik and edmonds inside line for my sema fix...

i brought up since the election was over hopefully we could get a lil more automotive geared again but was somewhat rebuked for it.

[Intrepidation]

I have been going to jalopnik and edmonds inside line for my sema fix...

i brought up since the election was over hopefully we could get a lil more automotive geared again but was somewhat rebuked for it.

I completely agree that with the election now over it's time to get back to discussing cars.

I've been going to Autoblog for car news, since C&G hasn't been very good at posting news about the automotive world lately.

[trinacriabob]

Yes, Dodgefan, everybody has been preoccupied with the general craziness going on around us.

I hope it gets better for you...and for all of us in general.

[Oracle of Delphi]

I knew where you were, but then I always do. :AH-HA_wink:

[daves87rs]

I knew where you were, but then I always do. :AH-HA_wink:

Keeping your eye on him, are we?

Anyways, it' s good to see you back DF....

[Cory Wolfe]

Welcome back.

I definitely agree on the news front. I stopped relying on C&G for automotive news months ago. I've found that Autoblog is much more reliable and up to date.

[Croc]

Well, the Lounge largely overtook the site around the time I began my hiatus, three years ago. I'm not sure what exactly happened in the interim, but the front page is fairly worthless, and I just link into the forums. But there really isn't much in the way of news.

[ocnblu]

Well, this "big announcement" coming tomorrow from GM has me worried. It's not a good time to be a car enthusiast for any manufacturer right now though. I want to see us get through these hard times and emerge stronger on the other side.

[Camino LS6]

I'm glad to see you back, DF.

As for news on the site, there is simply no one willing to collect and present it much of the time. Several members we had always relied on to do that no longer do.

I've been worried about this and other things at C&G for some time, but the problem is a difficult one to solve when we are all just volunteers with lives that shift and change.

For now, if anyone finds something good, please post it!

We are all C&G.

[Intrepidation]

Thanks Camino...can you you make a section in the `08 auto show circuit for SEMA?

[Camino LS6]

Thanks Camino...can you you make a section in the `08 auto show circuit for SEMA?

I can give it a try, just don't laugh at the results if I fail. :AH-HA_wink:

Our "technical staff" are all AWOL at the moment and I'm a poor substitute.

[Camino LS6]

Done!

At least I think so...