trinacriabob

A silent engine, cabin, and everything else mean a lot to me in a vehicle. For everyday driving, these engines work well. The test might be one of America's heavy duty prolonged grades. In my frame of reference, that would be the Grapevine, going from the Central Valley floor of CA up to Tejon Pass, and the northern border of L.A. County, where it's about 4,100 ft. in elevation. The small block V8s muster the torque to keep going up that lengthy grade. The 6s (V and I) we've had struggled a little bit. For that matter, the 4.3/4.4 siblings of these 4.9/5.0 GM V8s were suitable for everyday driving, but struggled with jack rabbit demands on them.

But if they can deliver 250,000 miles or more without having a wrench taken to anything other than items appended to them, and close in on 25 mpg in automatic overdrive 4th gear, I'd be a happy camper with either. Two solid old school GM small block V8s.

No caption necessary. This speaks for itself.

Different driving experience, I'm sure of that. However, at least at one point in time, the 305 was a de-bored 350. The stroke was the same. Also, the Wiki article does mention the premature cam wear (on both 305s and 350s) on some Chevy engines built from 1976 to 1980 because of cutting corners on materials and quality control. That was a travesty. I am not familiar with the graphics of the horsepower/torque curves, though it would be good to learn what they display. However, I am on board with the silent but strong whoosh of the Rocket V8 as it pulls away from a stop or accelerates (when the exhaust system is in great shape and it still sounds "factory.') In my case, it would have been the hand me down Olds 350 V8. I used to love putting down the passenger window as I drove across a bridge on a two lane road ... and could safely do so, to hear the exhaust note play back at me. It was music to my ears. I "over-maintained" this hand me down car, so it sounded like that even past 170,000 miles when a farmer near Champaign, IL bought the car from me.

I can see Olds for you. Definitely. Didn't look at Chevy from those lenses, but okay. I can see Pontiac for you. Definitely. Chevy being "too common" is very balthazar! In its own weird way, Pontiac was the most interesting of GM's brands. It stood out more than the others. I see Buick in second place with both of you. With Buick owners, I've either known those with the biggest of Buicks, hence 455s, and even more with Buicks powered by V6s, so I didn't know many with the bread and butter 350. Most of the 350s were in Skylarks (family friends), with some in Regals from the '70s. And I did not know any whose 350s racked up high mileage. I've read stories about Olds V8 longevity and some stories have been impressive. However, from personal experience, it has been owners of Chevy 350s who have racked up the most miles. My one negative experience with a Chevy 305 sidelined me from my ranking the Chevy 350 as high as some of you.

I've had good experiences in Paris. I found a pastry shop that was off the charts. These phenomenal chocolate mousse squares for $3.60 in American money. The locals can be pills. Speaking the lingo seems to help. People in the south of France, and definitely in Quebec, are quite a bit more hospitable. I was in Dublin once. The people were helpful and friendly. It is a small but cosmopolitan city. It wasn't compelling enough for me to go back. I had gotten a phenomenal RT airfare in the off-season. I've made a joke out of the acronym: I'm into PIGS - Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain. I will probably never tire of those countries.

Good on the Quebecois. The Gallic mindset, in general, is one I understand more easily than the mindset of the UK. I've been to London once. It didn't do it for me. I've been to Paris twice. It isn't as high on my list as places in the Mediterranean, but I'd happily go back and visit it again. For one, you can't argue with the food ...

There has been way, way, WAY too much Meghan Markle on internet homepages lately. Too much. Some run of the mill people who create this demand need to get a life.

I am not sure but think there was some nameplate overlap/change at Chevy with the Uplander and the Venture. Either way, when the dual sliding door for rows 2 and 3 came into being, Chevy ran a cool print ad campaign with a dolphin "in flight" going through the supposedly open 2 sets of sliding doors. One doesn't easily forget a visual like that.

This, too, got a down vote from the resident man child?!? It's a time worn expression. It means that, for everything and everyone out there, there's a "buyer" or kindred soul. Or maybe he has never been to Atlanta ... The Confederate carving on Stone Mountain, about 15 to 20 miles east of downtown Atlanta: One can see downtown Atlanta's skyscrapers in the distance from atop Stone Mountain: One can take a cable sky ride up to the top ... and walk down ... or walk in both directions: This is Midtown - not even downtown: This is Perimeter - not even downtown: This is the soon to open Delta museum, where one of their retired 747-400s will be available to tour: In short, it's a very cosmopolitan metro area and full of people who know the score. Only $50 or so each way when on sale from many Northeastern airports. Highly recommended to broaden one's horizons.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I'd had the bad dream that I've either missed a test or was late getting to one ... only to wake up and find out that everything is peachy and it's a new day. Dream analysts seem to ascribe meaning to all sorts of bullsh!t ... and their analyses are probably just that.

That's one creative "Cake Boss."

This is far more about ignorance than it is political, but is it ever funny. I still remember it, so I looked for it ...

Interesting day, by my boring standards, anyway ... Friday, on a two-lane country road: Last Buick LaCrosse with the smaller, blacked out oval grille, so probably 2007. It was silver. It was immaculate. I thought the grille was weak, but having it blacked out is a nicer treatment. I wish they had partially blacked out mine instead of all the shiny metalized plastic bling. Right behind it ... a Monte Carlo LT coupe of about the same year. It was also silver. It was also immaculate. Good to see those were in it for the long haul. In two different country bumpkin driveways, a red Alero sedan and a silver Alero sedan. Both were spotless and shiny. It's nice to see that these little 2.4 Ecotec sleds have been so reliable for people, lasting some 17+ years, when some early Mercedes 190 sedans turned out to be problematic throw-away cars. Again, I once had a rented Alero coupe out of Spokane Airport and also drove it into British Columbia and Alberta, and it was fine, but I never would have thought it would have made for such a durable vehicle.

^ Haha. Like a Southerner in Atlanta once philosophically said to me, "Every pot has its lid."

Great! Is this a "shaken, not stirred" sort of dude? J/K

How did I miss this? It again reinforces the notion of what it's like to deal with the "don't know how much they don't know" crowd.

I like the symmetry here, David.

Q: What's the first thing a sorority girl does in the morning? A: She goes home.

Some incredible culture in L.A. decades later with the Getty museum complex and so much more. But, yes, you are right in that the culture in Los Angeles, and South Florida, appears to be conspicuous consumption and flash over REAL culture. I remember that it was often annoying. @oldshurst442 It would be interesting to have the full list of who's been on the casting couch. The only person I can recall who has been brazen about admitting it is Madonna, now out of the spotlight and living in Portugal, I believe. She fared far better than most University of Michigan dropouts. And, even though she's Italian, I have always disliked her.

This is an old joke, and far less applicable as the years have gone by ... Q: What is the difference between Los Angeles and yogurt? A: Yogurt has culture.

The Wilson sisters are touted as Seattleites, and they are/were. But I believe they were born in San Diego. Thinking "Dreamboat Annie." "Smooth Operator" might be my favorite Sade song because I heard it while crossing the GW from NYC to NJ, but this one is fairly slick.

Life is definitely not fair. There are so many examples of this but one that really disturbs me is that a person who survived the 9/11 WTC attack died 2 months later when that flight between JFK Airport in NYC and somewhere in Latin America crashed in the borough of Queens. Clearly, horrible for everyone in both events, but you want to cheer on a person who survived 9/11 to embrace life going forward after such trauma. On a better note, it is very cool to open the mailbox and have a $6.99 Great Clips coupon staring at you right about when you are thinking of getting a haircut.

These are the toughest of people to deal with ... the ones who think they know everything but really "don't know how much they don't know" ... a keeper of an expression!

Along with Pit Bulls, Presa Canarios, and Rottweilers, these make the list of challenging breeds to own. I was actually surprised to see German Shepherds on the list, given that they are part of the working dog and herding dog family. However, the write-ups go on to say that they are very smart and will finally have had enough if an owner were to mistreat them and can turn. Most German Shepherds I've been around aren't the friendliest dogs. And, since it looks like and is a close kin of the German Shepherd, the Belgian Shepherd (comes in about 4 different breed name variants, which I have forgotten or can't readily spell) gets the same sort of marks. They are also used for critical and important work, are aloof, and aren't recommended for families with young kids, since they won't be accommodating when rug rats start pulling their tails, playing with their ears, and all that.