trinacriabob

pleated

Ok, I was thinking a lot about this over this Labor Day weekend. While driving out of town, I stopped at a Ford dealership along I-5 to get a brochure. Interestingly enough, a salesman who had been a mechanic in dealership service departments since 1995 approached me. I explained I was NOT from the area and I was curious to see a new Taurus up close and get a brochure on both the Taurus and the Fusion. He was very courteous and understood I was on vacation, so he did not push at all. In fact, we talked for quite a while about car mechanics - the transition from cast iron to aluminum, the 3800, the Ford Duratech, electronic throttle control, variable valve timing and the intake issues on the Series II 3800 GM V6. Ford has it all over GM in the mid-size segment right now. I would own a Taurus or a Fusion/Milan over a LaCrosse/Allure or Malibu at this point in time, if I was in the market. The Taurus is so damn distinctive...it doesn't copy ANYONE. (I will say, however, that I do not like the seating position in it since I don't like a console that is raised so high, especially since I'm about 5'10"...the car made me feel small once I got inside). The Fusion/Milan look great from every angle and make sense for so many people. I once rented a Milan and liked virtually everything about it. While coming back to town on Tuesday AM, a new slate metallic blue Taurus pulled up in front of baggage claim/passenger pick-up. Quite a few people were looking at it with interest. That's a good sign...the "new" Cutlass Supreme got the same "hmmmm" when they reskinned it and picked up the rectangular lamps and waterfall grille in 1976. Kudos to Ford. Gotta give credit where credit is due!

Oh, heck yeah, if the bill is small...$4 or $5, then I leave a buck, making it at least 20%.

wild trout

massage

Wikipedia (ok...she lived to be 92!)

Flagship big sedan named Invicta to replace the Park Avenue and larger than the current LaCrosse - unique spirited name, which could handle being "resurrected" after such a time gap - with the intense competition in the $35K to $40K range, it would have to be perfect and there is no margin for error Riviera (no apologies) - niche coupe - I don't believe for one minute that the market doesn't have room for a personal luxury car, at times when more and more people live alone and are living longer - if they could pull off a premium coupe in the $25K to $32K range that's a show-stopper and NOT UGLY like the CTS coupe or gangsta like the last-gen Monte Carlo, people will buy it LaCrosse (Allure in Canada) - an entry is, and always will be, needed in this crowded segment, though I don't like the new version of this car Regal - Epsilon II based and similar in size, and price point, to the Malibu, etc. I would not be heartbroken if the Regal name went away. While they've been great dependable cars since the day they were born, the name has a "frump" factor to it. The names Century, Skylark and Skyhawk are even worse in this regard. However, back to the line-up, currently Buick does not have a true entry-level price point vehicle Three platforms (or one version, stretched and shrunken, with suspension modifications), but many shared production components....the Invicta and Riviera could definitely be on the same platform...

omelette

Did I miss this? Is Allure now LaCrosse in Canada, thinking the Quebecois would get over it?

parched

I always enjoy seeing full-size GM cars in Europe, with their horizontally long license plates, but never have my camera handy. IIRC, the most memorable sighting was an 87 (to 89) Pontiac Bonneville sedan on the boulevard in front of the port in Trieste, Italy.

It was Tio Pepe on Commercial Drive. What a mistake. Nothing special, chips salty enough to send you to E.R., and overpriced. (On Commercial Drive, I should have stuck with LaRocca, which is always reliable, but I was trying to eat at the PCOV, Portuguese Club of Vancouver, for its down-to-earth authenticity, but they don't accept credit cards). The Greek restaurant I mentioned was actually in Bellingham WA. Their food is excellent, but priced ok for lunch and priced too high for dinner. The Greek restaurant I was trying to visit was Tsoulas (sp) Greek on Hastings, near Nanaimo or Victoria, IIRC, which is unremarkable from the outside, but their portions are tasty/good and their prices are reasonable. On Labor Day, it was closed. Kalamata, near Broadway and Cambie, is also very good, though more expensive, but was also closed this Labor Day.

Three words: OH MY GOD Beautiful. And there's a beautiful dashboard inside to match! P.S. as people here know, and make fun of me for (), I would very much like to own the stock, upscale version of this car, which is the Grand LeMans, but with a small-block V8 and not what's under this hood.

In today's economy, when restaurant receipts are down and there are fewer people in restaurants, those who work there should provide the same, if not a higher level of, customer service since tips are their livelihood...unless they're depressed. No excuse for what I've read above.

Yes, a whole bunch of cars spotted over the Labor Day weekend: - a new white G8 on I-5 south of Seattle and near the airport, as I was driving north to Vancouver...I was in an adjacent lane and the driver noticed I was giving the car the once-over, so he smiled in appreciation - a new red G8 at a dealership north of Seattle in a granolafied college town. I took pictures of it. A woman noticed I was taking photos of it and said it was nice. Already knowing how she would answer, I asked her what car she was looking into. She beamed, "Subaru WRX sedan." MWAHAHAHAHA. Life can be so predictable. BTW, with a sunrood, its MSRP was only $29,290. - a red 1967 or 1968 Pontiac Firebird with a 400 V8 parked at a meter on Broadway, east of Cambie, in Vancouver Canada. It was in perfect condition. - a new red Saturn Astra coupe at a crosswalk south of the Cambie Street Bridge in Vancouver Canada. As I was walking by, I gave the driver the thumbs up sign. He stuck his head out the window and said "Thank you very much!" - a new red Camaro on I-5 soutbound near Everett WA. The Camaro looks great in rear 3/4 view. Beautiful. They got this right. However, I feel that the roof rail didn't have to be as thick, and they could still keep its great profile. Also, I think the front lamps should have a squarish shape, complementing the rest of the oval/squarish features in the car. Of the pony cars out there, it is clearly the best. However, I would have been curious to see a "twin" Firebird, since I liked Pontiac more than Chevrolet. - oh yeah, at 6:28 pm, as my LaCrosse was leaving Vancouver, a British Airways 747-400 crossed over me on the Oak Street Bridge at the Vancouver city limit with Richmond, their airport suburb. Still, and always will be, the world's most beautiful aircraft. The LaCrosse ran like a champ, got gas mileage and I have some nice photos of it with Vancouver as a backdrop.

+1 Yes, that needed to be mentioned. The fact that they were BOTH drinking speaks volumes and brings their character issues under the microscope.

We live in a sick society, one that still expects (1) men to be breadwinners and pay for dates, while AT THE SAME TIME (2) having to treat women like equals. I'm referring to the judge, who could amount to more poison thrown into the equation. Especially if she's one of these tough butch types. One time, while channel surfing, I landed on Dr. Laura. She's annoying (and even hypocritical with respect to her own life) but she commented on how today's situation for men of having to be simultaneously traditional (old values) and deferential (new values) is a mess. She was siding with the men. Claiming date rape is a hefty allegation. They need to look for the use of FORCE. They will probably find NO EVIDENCE of force. Without that, it's consensual...especially when you have two under-age kids porking.

Hey, we all know that tipping in America means about 15% and up to 20% +/- for exemplary service. This being said, I almost always tip a hair over 15%, usually to make my total an even .00 or .50 dollar credit card figure. Now, at a buffet in Vegas or Reno or Tahoe, I usually tip 10%, since they don't take the order nor bring you food. I figure 10%, in that scenario, is ok. This past weekend, in Vancouver, I had two eye-opening experiences and I tipped LESS. 1) trendy Mexican restaurant in a run-down Bohemian area. The food was overpriced and late, for an almost empty restaurant. In the process, I consumed the salsa and chips. I pointed to the chip bowl and the Chinese chick (the waitress was from Mexico) said, "You wan' 'mo chips?" "Yes, thank you." So I get the bill. There was $3.25 for these overly-salty chips and salsa. When I got the bill, I saw this and said, "I wasn't told this was extra. Every Mexican restaurant I've been to brings chips once you finish, especially if the wait is long." She apologetically smiled. And I wrote in "zero" on the CC slot for the tip. 2) family style Greek restaurant I've been to many times. Good food, and they do lamb souvlaki right. The dude brings out 2 big slices of pita in the basket. Again, the food took a while, so the pita slices were G-O-N-E. When my dish arrived, he brought out no extra pita bread. Like what, it will kill you or it will break you. I tipped to close out the tab at $22.00, giving him about 12%, instead of $23.00 which would have taken him over 15%. Bottom line: Chisel on a small item like chips/salsa or pita bread, and I'll chisel on your tip. I swear... Your stories? Overly generous? Have you stiffed someone?

I like Jersey, too, mostly for its PEOPLE - what you see is what you get. Out West, wherever I've worked, my best friends, beyond some Californians I've known for a long time, have always been in-your-face Northeasterners....I roll out the welcome mat for them....others, not so much. However, for the Jersey negatives, TAXES on REAL PROPERTY - WWWWWWWWTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Am I missing the boat here? What exactly are fruit snacks that cost so much, since I eat lunch out virtually every day (Subway, Safeway deli, local grub places, a salad bar buffet, etc.) Which brands put these out? Also, if they are really expensive, think advertising. A sizable portion of consumer products revenues are cycled right back into advertising and promotions. Are we including the plastic bagged craisins and diced tropical fruit that re-seals and one can throw into their morning oatmeal? This is the only kind of fruit "snack" I buy.

Ditto. Atlanta had more good points than bad points. I lived in North Atlanta, barely inside the perimeter from Dunwoody. It was scenic and, once off the main arterials, super quiet. And, if I ever needed to see an ocean, Florida was only 4 hours away by car.

With me, a lot of it is about the aesthetics. I cannot stand the Southwest. It could be sunny everyday but the desertscape or dry Ponderosa vegetation (in the higher elevations) would be guaranteed to depress me. When I fly into LAS or PHX and look out the window, I want to And I'm not touting my place of origin, either. Except for the sweeping coastline areas you see in postcards of LA, SF or San Diego, the appearance only 30 or 40 miles inland is very bleak. I don't like it. That's why I've only purchased housing in Atlanta and Seattle. In Atlanta, I liked the pine forest canopy that practically hid the city. And, no, I didn't know anybody remotely conservative. Most people were transplants with middle-of-the-road political and religious views who come down to work and to own a decent home. In Seattle, it is obvious it is much prettier, but I had to deal with depressed, stoic, flatlining politically-correct people, constant cloud cover, and Subarus and Birkenstocks, the latter of which would make you an outcast in Atlanta. Bottom line: I need to live in a perennially green environment to thrive....not a yellow, beige or brown one.

Parenting doesn't come with instructions. Some people have good innate parenting skills, and some don't. Unfortunately, most bad parenting is generational and people replicate a lot of patterns. I see so many tiny kids on the commuter rail hanging off of (unqualified) people who evidently reproduced to create props for their self-esteem. Seems selfish to me. I come from a nuclear family (i.e. parents that remained married until death); however, I did not get along with my parents because of (a) the gap in age, (b) the gap in education, and © the gap in culture (they did not assimilate to this country). It was a "bit" much. I chose not to have kids a long time ago. Thank God there are good people out there who will take on the responsibility of responsible child-rearing.

area (if you've ever driven up and down I-5, you know how a snooze can save your life)

I would be ecstatic to have just ONE of these in sedan form...the price gets close to $30,000, which is the most I would ever spend on wheels...