trinacriabob

I counted Portuguese and French as .5 each. Eu falo quatro e meia idiomas, mais o menos je parle plus o moins quatre langues e demi Still, I couldn't get on effortlessly in France or Portugal the way I do in Italy or Spain/So. America. Cool idea for a thread.

In order of fluency: English Italian (always spoken at home) Spanish (been to Spanish speaking countries and have enough Spanish speaking friends to have pushed up to fluency level) Portuguese (conversant; had no problems last summer in Portugal as a result) French (conversant; 3 yrs in high school with A's, not enough chance to practice, overtaken in desire and ability by Portuguese, also decided I don't like the French now that I've been there, but I do like the Quebecois) Comments: 1 - no desire to learn other languages besides these - the above is NOT a big feat as they are all on the same root and have common words 2 - I'll bet Nick speaks Spanish very well

Try the 3900 on for size. I had it for 1 day in a 2006 Impala rental. Not very refined (downright crude), not that economical and not enough of a track record. There's that guy who comes on the site every now and then, very smart (FS87LT, or something like that) who thinks 3800 will be around a little longer. Why make all this fuss over 195 or 200 or 211 hp? You rarely need it. If I see that 3800 is going away soon, I will purchase either this car or LaX at end of M.Y.

NOS...it's still YOUR day in the Pacific Time Zone. Hope it was a good one!

Yeah, but in which year?

We should be asked to use the word in a sentence. Therefore: Seattlites have monochromatic personalities.

Get another one.

Clever.

Just tossing this out. What's in a dog's make up that allows them to trust a human almost instantly...even from when they are pups? I, mean, we could really be mean to them or even cause them harm (though that would only be the sickest of people), yet they come right to you. Do you ever wonder about that?

Man, I'm in the minority. No way. After getting to 28 to 30 mpg in a V6 powered vehicle nearing 200 horses, it sure feels better on my wallet and in my head than the Rocket 350 V8 in my first car which never hit 20 mpg. Not to say I didn't like the "sound" of that engine way more than that of my trusty Buick V6. I'm not passing judgment. I just think that if we all shaved off a little bit, we'd reduce the usurption of the finite supply of fossil fuel. I'm sounding like a granola and I am the furthest thing from that.

Yo, LA, you said you would post a pic after the auto show? I've seen pix of all the other So. Cal. people except you....someone brazen enough to take on the name of a city of 3.8 million people. What's the deal?

How much were they asking? Divide by 1.18 to get to American moolah. I don't know if I trust the 3.4 DOHC V6 of that era. A friend had it in a 1992 Grand Prix coupe and it was not particularly reliable. Fast...yes.

BV, it should be: "La G6? No, no ES bonita." No SE means "I don't know." How did my thread degenerate to sex? So I will translate: Ocn, ocn, ocn...I have a very nice ass. The G6? No, it's not very nice. Oh...go f*c* yourself. You wouldn't understand. You both live in PA and haven't yet made each other's acquaintance? What's the deal?

Adam and Dr. Drew are funny. They eff around too much in between calls. I like hearing them interact with the callers and get frustrated when there isn't as much of that as I would like. They are pretty good at what they do. When someone comes in with a problem, they are able to "dial it" in fairly quickly...that's an amazing art.

Very, very cool. I'd probably help a cat, too, but a dog needs no second thought. While driving down the street, I ran into 2 lab puppies abandoned on a building lot in a ritzy subdivision in a resort community in So. America over Thanksgiving week. It was toward the beginning of the vacation and my mind was "in scan mode" as to what I should do and whether I should have rearranged my vacation a little to bring them back to the U.S. They were so cute. I sat down on the ground and they were all over me, yelping and licking. I did get a neighboring girl to take them, so I don't feel so bad. I don't know what happened to them. I never will. Those could have been my dogs. I am sure others on this site have rescued animals in distress. It's a very noble thing to do.

One municipality in Southern California had a law on the books whereby black people had a driving curfew. I would like to think that they've taken it off the books by now. (This town has black police officers. Would make kinda hard to do their jobs? ) I would love to know if any of these backwaters laws (particularly regarding morality) have been enforced and whether the charges hold up if appealed to another level of the court system.

Ok, after falling asleep at 7 pm and waking at a weird hour.... Oh, that's right, with Croc being from Indy, that might have elicited a reaction. And it did. To Turbo and Croc, LA does have people that suck in a big way and some women who are truly sn*t*hes. It can be a very hedonistic town and this has filtered into segments of the population you wouldn't think would be affected by it, thanks in part to the entertainment industry. The tough part is not getting tainted by it. A lot of people get sucked into that vortex, sometimes even those who come from normal families....they pick up that LA callousness. Growing up there, I knew a lot of normal people whose the families were of the "nuclear" variety, the kids went off to college and settled down afterwards. It's just that those who are raising families are doing it in the West Valley, Valencia or, God forbid(j/k), in "the 909." If anybody's life experiences have been broad, they'd be mine. I am an LA native but then lived in Italy from 4 to 8, so I started school in a completely different language. Then we moved to the NYC area and back to LA (my Dad missed the palm trees). There are LA people who are not well traveled because we had it all in our backyard and then there are LA people who are very well traveled because of the abundance of nonstops out of LAX to Asia, Australia (it's the US gateway to there) and Europe. So, you are right, I don't function well where it's cold. Ranking wise: I would say I like living in Cali best, without regard to the part of the state, though I did like living in Atlanta a great deal. The weather was mild, the living was easy and I met a lot of great people with whom I am still friends. And, as to shallowness, don't kid yourself because Atlanta has some incredibly shallow people. It's the most important city in the SE United States so it's a place for people to make their mark. Another thing is the Southerners (not all of them). That sugar coated coyness and niceness is something I don't trust. They can be very two-faced. I would easily say that 80+% of my friends there were transplants from the Northeast or the Midwest...they were more genuine, IMO. I never knew any Southern women because the "coy/debutante/decoration on a man's arm" mentality was offputting and I am sure they found me a little raw. All of the girls I knew, again, were transplants. I could be myself with them. This thread went from jokes about California to incisive analysis of California vis a vis everywhere else. Trippy. Crocmeister, do you plan to stay in the general area post SC?

Turbo, you're from Chicago? I'm sorry. (I can say that as a Univ. of Ill. grad that went there from L.A.). I design stuff for a living (buildings, specifically) and I have been saying this all along...the Red Line should continue out to the Westside as one spur and the existing north spur going out to NH should stay under Ventura all the way out to Warner Center. The other major issue is the SFV. A line needs to go along Sepulveda from the top end of the Valley along 405 and at least catch the Blue Line in Long Beach. That's it. Those 3 spurs (very costly) would at least give an LA a fairly complete transit system. It's a travesty that LA does not have one. On the topic of Chicago, the issue I have with it is that most people from there have a severe chip on their shoulder. They have to keep on defending their city in a militant sort of way (per my U of I experience). No one from LA or NY EVER does that. Beyond the architectural gem that is the Loop, the rest of Chicagoland is not particularly inspiring...and I couldn't wait to get away from that weather. Look at greater LA or greater NYC on a map and look at all the possibilities either have to offer. I think the residents of either of those 2 cities know they live in a truly dynamic place. Yes, Leykis is a hot headed jerk but sometimes he's more interesting to listen to than music. The other thing is those bone-headed "beeper dudes" that call him. They can be equally entertaining to listen to for how thick skulled they are. A "beeper dude" is a not very smart guy with a decent service or sales job where he has a beeper, who goes to the gym, who doesn't drop the frat boy inflection when he gets well into his 30s, who drives an SUV or a sports car and who hangs out in chain operated "fern bars" chasing skirt. Those are the morons that call him and relay how chicks have walked all over them and their wallets. If Leykis senses you are intelligent, he can't work with that and finds a way to short fuse the call. Ok, nuff said. Oh, yeah, when one jerk prof at Univ of Ill criticized LA in an urban planning class by showing aerial shots of it cloaked in smog, I raised my hand and asked: "How many people do we know that have voluntarily moved from Chicago to So Cal and how many people do we know who have voluntarily moved in the other direction?" Nobody says it better than Randy Newman: "I Love L.A."

Please don't tell me that's true! I think that they have to make enough 3800s for more cars than just Lucerne, so I think it will be around a little longer. I, too, am in the same situation as the author of the thread. I really like the GP... save the Smokey and the Bandit front end and the too high beltine at the rear passenger window. So, are we talking at least 2008 before a change, right? Please confirm, someone!

Not to digress - so I don't have to rent it: 40 y.o. Virgin - well...does his "status" change by the end of the movie? The only movie I have seen in the last 5 or so years along the lines of a BM type theme was "Far From Heaven" and it had to do with saving face around the sexuality/alcoholism issues of an executive-type husband in the 1950s. Actually, a pretty decent flick with talented and recognized actors/actresses. Ok, back on track.

I sure would like to know what this accent is. Aside from the Jeff Spicoli of "Fast Times at Ridgmont High" (1979) stoner accent which is a trademark of any So Cal loser, Californians speak in standard broadcast English. There is no difference in accent that I can tell between Denver, Phoenix, LA, SF or Seattle. Now, in the East, they change more rapidly. The Southern states have different accents, I'm told. I can definitely hear differences between NYC, MA and PA. Yo, Ocn, say "Put a coat on" and "I went to Villanova" in a Philly accent. Yikes.

There is?

BV, refresh my memory. I think we had this one in high school or somebody gave a book report on it. It's about 2 school friends that are very different from each other, though I don't recall there being any sexual heat that was tangible as being right on the surface. At any rate, haven't seen "BM" the movie (doesn't that mean "bowel movement" in medical shorthand?). The last movie I saw was "Sideways" - yup, almost a year ago since I last set foot in a movie theater. I raved about that one and all the ...(clearing throat)... California coastal scenery and references (other thread). Also, what are those movies Moltar referred to all about? Aren't they somewhat prized right now as well?

Tough. I, too, would buy something used such as an Intrigue and baby it. However, if that wasn't an option, I would probably go Daimler Chrysler. They have one car that I've stumbled onto as a rental which is the Chrysler Sebring hardtop coupe (NOT the convertible). I remember it as being likable and fun to drive. (It doesn't price competitively against better equipped and larger GM midsizes, so you don't see too many around). The question is a head scratcher. Hey, Zoomer, nice of you to put up a thread that doesn't deal with sexuality or flirtations with others on the board! :AH-HA_wink:

NO!! Can't be! I love "THE 909." It's shrinking. The guy who is in the next office, who is an Inland Empire transplant, gets pissed off when I call someone a "909-er." It's in good fun. He and I get along. Credit Tom Leykus for coining that one.