trinacriabob

There are 2 dealerships in Northern Cal that I have had service my car. The first was Roseville Olds-Buick in Roseville CA. They were stellar and very friendly. The guys who were working on my car in the service bays would always talk to me about cars and explain things very well. However, they capitulated into the chain set-up (somebody bought the franchise, evidently) and I did not like the new owners at all. One experience at the "chain" auto dealership and I did not go back. The other is Reliable Pontiac-Cadillac in Roseville CA. Not as exceptional as the Roseville Olds-Buick experience, but nevertheless good. Prices for routine service items seem to be in line, work is done in a timely manner and is apparently performed correctly. Incidentally, two Buick dealerships in the Portland area (Breslin-Wallace and Jim Weston) have always performed without fault. I rarely go to the dealer anymore, though. I go when I find a "special" for standard menu items such as a tune-up, a transmission fluid change and a coolant flush/refill.

My palms sweat just reading that one. My uncle lives 9 or so miles west of the GWB. But, you made it. It could have been worse....you could have stalled on the Cross Bronx Expwy. at Jerome Avenue. I know that I once drove my first Cutlass Supreme with about 140 K out East and back to Cali with just one flat tire in south Georgia and I took it across the Cross Bronx; in fact, I went quite a ways out on L.I. with it, to the point that it actually got rural there but didn't know where I was, except for the AAA map that was with me. God, there was a diner on the Sunrise Highway in Valley Stream (South Shore) that had a cheesecake and huge portions of food that I still remember.

I do not feel like a complete person. My best friend from college who now lives in Sandy Eggo said, "As much as you hang out in coffee places, you need a laptop." I think he's right. I will get around to it. Congrats, CARBIZ! So it was $ 2K CDN, eh? *trembling as I divide $ 2K by 1.08, the most pathetic exchange rate for us "colonials" that I recall*

double decker

death what graffiti artists deserve

Well, I can always stereotype a little more and add excitement to the thread! I know how much you like that. Love you too, babe.

spray

I was a little on edge Thursday, as I would be taking the Regal, with some 236,000 miles on it, up to Portland OR to park it in Mom's garage as I go to Europe and then come back to relocate/job hunt. I had a sensor and a tie rod end replaced the week prior, so I had spent some money on it. The tie rod cured the slight shimmy, but there was still a road drone which was atypical and it changed with the movement of the steering wheel. I said "WTF, I'm setting out on the 600 mile journey." As I got past Mt. Shasta, it got a little louder. About 20 miles south of Eugene OR, it started sounding like a helicopter and it was 8 pm. I proceeded at 50 to 55 mph, with the trucks, and it made it. Yahoo! But the next day, I got a wheel bearing assembly replaced and the car is quiet again. Incidentally, I got 29.36 mpg on the first tank and 30.23 mpg on the second tank. Unbelievable. That's what it got when it was NEW. That tells me that freaking engine is still tight! Have you ever ventured far from home in a high mileage vehicle? Made it? Problems?

I think he's obsessing over Richard Gere's ass and projecting it onto yours. Gee, I still remember some terminology from Psych 101. I think that rumor about Richard Gere had to have been generated by some seriously bored and petty individuals. Some people need to get a life. Threads are morphing again...ocnblu needs to be slapped around. We went from Erin Brockovich to gerbils and asses. *shaking my head*

You're a crazy man, Reg! Funny, though, most chicks think architects make money because they see the big buildings and that it produces more income than crunching numbers. On the uterus comments: nah, she can't have any...and doesn't want any. She knows me too well, I've known her most of my life, and both of her parents are Italian!

litter

Yes, an expensive one....with ornate brickwork, a manicured lawn around it and "un cancello."

He hasn't been around in a while. I wonder if he ever moved out of Toronto to one of the provinces out West, as he was inquiring about months ago. Can't say happy birthday in Polish, so to a Torontonian, the world's most ethnically diverse city per capita I say: Happy birthday Buon compleanno Feliz cumpleano Bon anniversaire Feliz aniversario

+1 It's NOT a chick flick. It's a legal drama...with some element of comedy. In fact, some dude I used to work with in Seattle said the same thing after I told him what I did over the weekend...I had to correct him. Two comments: 1) I can't stand Julia Roberts...her looks are very pedestrian and she makes waaayyyy too much for those looks and "B" acting ability. I think that "Mystic Pizza" (saw it on a plane) or "Pretty Woman" are more her speed. 2) I love the part where she drops off her kids to that fat lady babysitter. I saw it in Italy the second time at an outside screening and it was dubbed. As she is walking up the stairs of an apartment complex in some God forsaken part of the SFV, I tell my cousins "now look, this lady who will open the door is standard issue 'white trash'." My cousin turns to me and says "Well, isn't Erin Brockovich 'white trash', too?" I guess Europeans learn quickly.

Dharma and Greg

Having rear struts put on my Regal today and there is a Pontiac dealer down the street in Portland OR. I walk over there. I saw TWO 2008 Grand Prixs, labeled as such on the sticker. No change whatsoever, except about $ 200 more expensive.

There's the absurd pushiness of trying to be lured into buying quite a ways from your home town. Then there's this one -- the judgment of what you should drive based on what you drove onto the lot or what you are wearing, even worse when accompanied by a smart-ass comment like that. I encounter the other situation -- I was in Chico, at a Pontiac-Cad-GMC dealer looking at GPs and the salesman was saying he could picture me in an STS, saying that would "fit me" better. Let's see, that's an 18K spread between the base level cars described immediately above. He wasn't pushy, though, as he knew I was from out of town.

Very, very important, Frank. You have to ascertain the other's motivation. I hate being in that conundrum. Mine have fallen into the blend zone every time, at about a 50:50 mix:They like me romantically. I like them as a friend. I like them romantically. They like me as a friend. Given what you posted initially, I'd say move on. I've never had problems doing that once I finished college at 21 and a half. That way I don't waste time, energy and money. As companionship becomes more important when you get older, I am finding it a little easier to get on the level playing field lately...as one of my never-married childhood friends (w/o kids !) is in conctact with me again.

BLACK. Ok, it's appropriate for some cars in that it makes them look sinister or elegant. This is a given. I don't like it because it doesn't highlight a car's good styling lines, is hard to keep clean and, to some extent, is less safe than a lighter colored car....you almost always see a white car at night, even though that's not quite my favorite color. Your least favorite car color?

I was thinking U.Va., mint juleps on the verandah and Rolls Royces My response to thread: Miami Beach

genealogy

Charlottesville

Lucky you! Enjoy! What a great opportunity. And be sure to report back as to whether the French really are arrogant! I missed two opportunities to go abroad with school. In undergrad, I could have gone to either Italy or Germany; however, it was better suited to BSBAs (other than those in accounting and finance where courses have to be sequenced a certain way). In grad school, they did an exchange with Versailles, France. Again, I didn't go because I was taking a 3.5 year program down to 3. The Versailles program instead pushed the 3.5 years to 4 full years. So, what have I done about it? Go to Europe practically every damn year.

Hardly!My response to thread: third world

"Un preservativo"... a preservative, or maybe a preserve....like marmalade.... where did they come up with a word like that?