trinacriabob

I obviously like news like this. Some analysts feel it will bode well for GM. They also say that it will be the dealers that will "take it on the chin." I immediately went to a couple of GM web sites to see how certain cars were priced and then to GM card to see if the allowances changed (downward). I did see, however, that some incentives have been lowered. Well, but that was expected. Do you think that the mark-ups will proportionately be the same? Do you think this will mess with the dealers? DO YOU THINK GM WILL SELL MORE CARS OR THAT THE OTHERS WILL FOLLOW SUIT?

Sheez, Marc, feel free to post every now and then...at least in The Lounge where it's not brand specific. Well, have fun in whatever forum you hang your hat and don't freeze your ass off up in the Finger Lakes. (Sounds like a yearbook comment: Have fun in college and don't get in too much trouble).

I've done the same. My candor and honesty in being a watchdog, or muckraker, has gotten some execs fired...a total of three over my career. They deserved it and, like your friends, people were happy that it happened because these bastards were abusive and, unfortunately, the "abusees" weren't willing to take the issue to the very top. Gotta stand up for what's right. My dad, who is not around any more, taught me not to take crap. If I listened to my mother, I'd be a door mat. Father knows best.

You and I need to talk...let's hold off on that until things cool. (We have some D-B clients and they are not perfect either). By the way, D-B means design-build, not douche bag as some of us around here use that abbreviation.

As a kid or young adult, I didn't have the nerve to do this. Now I do, though I use it sparingly. Our office/firm just lost a bunch of people after the new year. Some picked up their year end bonuses and went to new companies or started their own. When the job market (in a field or in an area) is short on help, job hopping goes up and loyalty goes down. I handle my own client projects and now I "inherited" a few more from the departees. Everybody has been just awesome in understanding and is allowing us more time to complete projects. Except one client who is in the "inherited" batch. In 6 days of working with him (and I jumped right to it to servicing his project), I have received 5 nasty e-mails on how we must do this and that and what happened is no excuse for any tardiness...all with exclamation marks. In short, a real dick-head. Those above me are supportive of the fact that I have to work on all the client projects as time (with some OT thrown in) allows. I may not tell him what I would like to because I shouldn't, but you can let someone know in other ways they don't rank. Those around me hear me raise my voice to him in a firm but still professional manner. Have you ever told a client, a boss, co-worker or teacher to PUT IT WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE? What happened?

First, Zoomer, you spelled it incorrectly. It's Terraza. Second, Buick spelled it incorrectly. It's Terrazza....meaning terrace in Italian, unless they deliberately dodged the connection. Third, Buick's version is too high priced for this segment without the incremental benefit via a different powerplant, or whatever. Let Chevy/Pontiac handle this one (Saturn's rendition should go away, too). Fourth, I agree.

Well, yes and no. The MC has SO much potential...whether FWD or RWD. It sits alone in a specialty segment: a mid sized (sporty) personal luxury coupe which just about anyone buying a new car can afford. I think GM should fix this one and not abandon it. The baby boomer set is getting older, they know the nameplate and more and more people are either single or saddled with smaller families. Obviously, I personally like the Monte Carlo.

Welcome to the adult world. When I was in high school, I thought that, besides differences in the reproductive system and obvious physical differences, the inside wiring, or that of the brain, was the same without regard to gender. Wrong. By the time I got to college, I figured it out. Right at about where you are in your college career. I had this sort of thing happen to me when I was in my mid-20s. I was living in ATL and this girl, who liked me more than I liked her, and I were supposed to do something. I hardly knew her. She managed an Olive Garden near my job...she had a degree in hotel/restaurant management and would always comp my bill....which I was willing to pay for. So, one time, we had plans (her plans) and I had to cancel due to a conflict which took precedence....I forgot exactly what the specifics were....so I left this on her VM a few days earlier OUT OF CONSIDERATION. At any rate, she calls me back later with this "hand the hip" kind of bitchiness saying "WE HAVE TO TALK" blah blah blah...what, after 2 or 3 dates? I wound up telling her to go to hell shortly thereafter. Remember, you retain power by not getting fumed over it and playing cool, indifferent and inaccessible. I LIKE having the upper hand.

Mileage....mileage...and more mileage. This thread is still going? At least the pictures thread is interesting (so long as more people post what their supposed to) and quit the filler commentary. Ok, I'm being a jerk...you can say whatever you want on a forum. I perused a couple of posts above and Enzora makes a very interesting statement. He mentions how acknowledging who, within your own gender, is attractive raises suspicion or can send out wrong signals. I don't think this is tied to sexual preference AT ALL. People know what characteristics are considered attractive. People in Europe, particularly the Mediterranean basin, have no problem making such acknowledgments. So, it's more cultural. Also, over the pond, my male relatives kiss me on both sides of the face when they see me and are big time skirt chasers which they shouldn't be doing because they're married. I think a lot of American sexual attitudes and those parts of our sexual culturalization borrowed from Anglo-Nordic frames of mind can, at times, be stifling. (Scarlet Letter on the brain). The uptightness surrounding sex and sexuality is probably part of that tradition. Why do you think they have a term such as "Latin Lover?"

Marc lives in Upstate New York in the Finger Lakes area (probably near Ithaca, I think)...a completely different world from THE CITY...or downstate New York. I have cousins who live in the Niagara Falls area, in addition to those living near the city, and you might as well be on two different planets. Hey, razor, does he live around you? I can only think of you two in that immediate area. Did Marc ever come back after the big crash? Lord Stafford...an interesting and unusual dude. I think he contemplated pursuing a PhD in something ethereal but not at all practical. But, hey, why be normal? And...what exactly is normal?

Well, come on, not all of our mothers are beautiful and sexy (that would be so Oedipal)*, they just need to have plumbing that's in working order. Hey, kudos to the female of the species for she has to put up with the hassle of being bloated for 9 months, pungent morning sickness and then....never mind...too much P-A-I-N to think about... *as long as your Dad thinks/thought so....I once eavesdropped on my parents from the bottom of the stairs when I was a teenager...(knees turn to jelly)

DITTO. The new Wynn, with its shape, is now a notable feature on the LV skyline. I can have the best time there...and do it without gambling. Viva Las Vegas...on many levels.

All these K-I-D-S, sheesh...

All of us December babies are cool, aren't we? I'm a handful of days later than you. Obviously, the year differs. Born in the decade/era of the first Mustang, Camaro, hippies, Nixon and when purchasing a home in the San Francisco Bay Area was doable ( to the latter).

Yellow Dart ... I saw Key Biscayne on one of the signs and thought WTF ...aren't you a northern boy? I effin' love Miami. Here we go again...here's mine...very predictable for those of you who sort of "know" me. Miami makes you feel warm... and this takes me away from it all to somewhere else I'd rather be.

To hide stretch marks? :AH-HA_wink:

Not my experience: Those that are indignant usually are offended - like a lot of C.A.P.s (Catholic American Princesses) - and don't have time for that kind of prudishness (is that a word?) Those that laugh and want to hear more - well....

Welcome back. I don't know you that well, but, what I do remember is you going to a club in LA where you had to dress in latex...or something like that...that is no longer in existence. Selective perception, I guess.

So am I. However, certain "demographics" within humankind are higher on my offend (or just "make fun of") list than others.

Thank you. Well said. I don't mind fastback styling. It's kind of cool. It's just that, in this one, it's kind of clunky.

I can't wait for the backlash to hit on political correctness, but I don't think it's coming anytime soon. I tend NOT to be politically correct. It's a form of censorship. Europeans, for example, are nowhere near as politically correct. They stereotype their "neighbors" all the time. South Americans...they are even worse in this regard. I will say that I am diplomatic around clients and there are some that are fairly casual so you can be the same way - heck, some of our clients are salt-of-the-earth builders. At work, I tend to hang around people with whom I don't have to be politically correct. Socially, I prefer to be around people with whom I don't have to walk on eggshells. Life is too short. LET ME GUESS: I know which way Satty and razoredge will vote. I know which way Akwan would vote (remember the dude who was supposedly an MD whose wife forbade him to do this and that?)

I was looking at this car at the auto show. It rubbed me the wrong way. Camry Solara coupe revisited. My apologies to anyone I may have offended.

I just went to the auto show. As some of you know, I am looking at the LaCrosse and the Grand Prix. I am somewhat pissed off with the poor visibility in both. I then sit in a Malibu. The cabin is so user-friendly and the greenhouse is awesome. I have rented about 5 of these. They are nice enough, though I have more confidence in a GM V6 than I do in a 4 cylinder. I went over to a Saturn salesman and he said they inagurated this engine. He told me of clients who have put beaucoup miles on these without a tear down. Any bits of information or stories on how Eco-tec 2.2 litre 4 cylinder fares over the long run?

Wrong on the planes - they are about 2.5 miles south of you and their roar is somewhat relaxing -- at least for me Right on the choice - I think it leads to better connections over the long haul

I just read that this Australian girl was killed a mere 50 feet offshore and that the culprit(s) was/were (a) bull shark(s). This species is actually more aggressive and less discriminant than the great white. It is also more likely to keep coming back at you if you spar with it. Remember the summer of the shark? That was 2001. Before the WTC disaster, the Florida Gulf Coast was hit with a rash of shark attacks. The panhandle was also hard hit this way. In fact, in 1999, I went swimming near Pensacola quite a ways from shore where my feet couldn't touch and it was approaching dusk. I will NEVER do that again. I always think about this danger when I go into the water. As a result, I rarely swim in the ocean anymore. Some key facts: Pacific Coast - mostly great whites, but further out, more intelligent and thus more discriminating - really prefer blubbery stuff to bony humans Gulf Coast - mostly bull sharks, said to have their young near the Mississippi delta - actually the most lethal for humans Atlantic Coast - both bulls and great whites - the former was treated in the Matawan NJ calamity and the latter was the focal point of the "Jaws" series Hawaiian Islands - tiger sharks, they often attack surfers there because of how they perceive their boards from underneath