Intrepidation

Thanks guys. For whoever was curious about what sort of wheels they are, they're Mille Miglia Uno 18"x7.5" wheels. Took the car on a 240 mile trip today. Was great one way, not so much the next. Got tired about halfway home and it f***ing rained like crazy. Combine that with the fact that it got dark and I didn't enjoy the drive home. Not the car's fault though. The ride up was great. OTIC says I averaged 28.3 mpg. Not too shabby.

I swear by Meguiar's as well, as you saw what it did for my paint. Looks great dude, shines like a new car!

I should hope not since the place upstairs does photography for schools.

So as you guys may know I've been job hunting for well, a while now. I had an interview for a photography and photo editing company in Amesbury, MA last week. The position was for Digital Imager, which means using Photoshop to touch up photos taken by the company upstairs as well as photos from other companies all over the country. I really wanted a job like this, because it meant I would get to use a program I love to work with to do something I love to do. This also seemed like a place I' like to work because it's family owned and it had a very friendly atmosphere. Plus, my commute would be against rush hour, so I basically wouldn't need to deal with it, and the place is really easy to get to. I thought my interview went well. I talked with the boss who explained what I'd do, and we talked about teh software that they used. He explained how he paid, which was to start everyone off at the same level of pay and give them raises based on performance. So if new employees were very good they could see a raise from #1 to $4 in a week. I liked that concept. The second part of the interview is where they actually bring you over to a computer and have you touch up some images and remove the green screen background. It's a good way to test and see if you actually know what you're doing. I had another person supervise me, and when I was finished he said he was impressed. He said he was looking for things to correct/criticize me on but couldn't find any. This gave me some hope, but I didn't want to get my hopes up too high, so I continued looking for other jobs. So I'm surfing the net waiting for my brother to get ready so we can take him to his new college in ME, and the phone rings about 10 minutes ago. I pick it up since it said anonymous call. I remember the first time they called teh ID said that too, so even though it's Sunday I decided to pick it up. Sure enough it was them saying they wanted me on board, and asked if I could come in on Monday, so of course I said yes. So, there a certainly worse ways to start the day!

The Taurus has a better interior than basically all of the cars it competes with in its size and price range. It also has more hi-tech features. In reviews it's likened to b bargain Audi, and when you think of it that way, the Taurus becomes a great deal. The Taurus isn't a volume car anymore, it doesn't need to be #1 in sales, that's what the Fusion is for. The is a flagship sedan, like the Avalon is for Toyota.

I only go to Sears for tools and only if they're Made in USA. If the Craftsman tools are made in China (which there is an increasing amount of) they I get them elsewhere. If I'm going to be stuck buying from China (I have never seen a cordless drill made in USA) I'm not going to be paying the premium just for the Craftsman name.

It's been well established since the car came out that it wasn't a proper Jag, or any sort of luxury car. It's an old Ford Mondeo underneath, with lots of cheap old Ford parts inside, lots of build quality issues and less than decent reliability.

A loaded Silverado LTZ is probably around that price range so they overlap too, clearly.

It is in CTS territory but it's also a look larger and more roomy than the CTS. I would think of it CTS priced but DTS sized...and well the DTS is ancient.

BREAKING: GM Delays Decision on Opel's Future The board of US car maker General Motors has postponed making a decision on who should buy its Opel division, which includes Vauxhall in the UK. Follow the jump for the full story. GM Delays Decision on Opel's Future

The board of US carmaker General Motors has postponed making a decision on who should buy its Opel division, which includes Vauxhall in the UK. The Detroit-based firm said directors had met on Friday to discuss the options but "no decision was taken". An assessment on whether to start exclusive talks to buy German-based Opel had been expected at the weekend. The race to control Opel is between the Canadian component manufacturer Magna and Belgian financial group RHJ. The BBC understands that a number of stumbling blocks have emerged to delay the final decision. The German government - which has openly preferred the bid from Magna and has offered it bridging finance of 4.5bn euros ($6.4bn, £3.9bn) - is thought to have added further conditions to that support. Magna has publicly promised to cut fewer jobs in Germany, where 25,000 people are currently employed in the division. Buy-back option Germany's economy minister said he regretted the failure to make a decision. Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg was also quoted as telling the online edition of the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper that "there is still room for an agreement". UK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has been critical of German Chancellor Angela Merkel for politicising the bidding contest ahead of federal elections in the country, at the end of September. Earlier this week Lord Mandelson said GM needed to look for an "industrial outcome based on the long term viability" of Opel. Lord Mandelson has also said he would stand by the UK carmaking industry - in particular Vauxhall, which employs more than 5,000 people directly in its plants in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, and Luton, Bedfordshire. He did not specify what level of financial support, if any, would be provided and he has also warned there would be some job losses irrespective of who gains control of Vauxhall. There is also speculation that GM, which only recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a host of new US government-appointed board members, may prefer to exercise a buy-back option in the future. That could see it re-acquiring Opel and Vauxhall within a few years at an advantageous price - an option which may be unpalatable to any potential buyers. German media has also reported that GM may be also toying with the idea of placing Opel into insolvency, though that was played down on Saturday by a spokesman for the US company. Source: BBC

The little Neon cleaned up quite well!

CARFAX has been hunting down & suing forums and individuals that allow this kind of misuse of their services. Posting a thread like inquiring about someone using their CARFAX for you, especially if someone then looks up the info & posts it back, puts Cheers & Gears at risk for lawsuit. It is for this reason that we request that members do not post such threads. CARFAX may seem like a ripoff for looking up one VIN, however a lawsuit would be far more expensive in the long run. Thank you for understanding. -C&G Staff

Happily everyone in our house is in agreement: over.

Happy Birthday!

Big Lots is an interesting store. Some of the deals they have are very good, such as on furniture. I saw a really nice desk there that would have cost $300+ at Staples for $100. I've also seen very nice solid wood bedroom furniture. But I've also seem some really weird, and really cheap stuff. For example, they have some weird off brand toy series that are remolds of old Beast Wars Transformers toys. I also saw this line of ultra cheap rippoffs of Zoids there.

eBay is your friend.

It only has one Concorde part in it, and that may not last.

Well actually, all of the 2nd gen LH cars had different dashboard save maybe the plastic trim at the base of the windshield. The gauge clusters are interchangeable if you change the lens, and the switchgear is interchangeable, but vents and all other panels are not. However, you can change out the entire dash on them. Not being a GM expert I don't know if this is possible, but are entire dashes swappable with platform mates? If you you could put in a dash from a platform mate that has more readily available parts. Of course at that point you'd have to spend a good chunk of time and change to do an entire dash swap.

Great writeup! Makes me want to do reviews for our cars.

Agreed.

I agree, as far as those types of stores go, Target has always been the "trendiest" but more importantly, the cleanest and best organized. Nice thing K-Mart is doing though.

I actually looked at one the day I bought my car. I'v always liked the last gen exteriors. However I sat inside of it and it was such so horribly cheap. It had a black interior. Everything was rough, poorly textured, poorly fitted, and hollow feeling. Completely pales in comparison to the quality of the car I looked at afterward, and ended up buying.

That sucks not being able to find parts you need. On of the nice things abut owning the cars I do is that parts for them are easier tof ind. Although there's not too many LH cars without 2.7's that end up in the yards, i's still fairly easy to get upgrade parts. Have you searched eBay? I'm willing to bet that one or two of the yards near me might have parts, but the cost of shipping them might be tough, also I'm not too familiar with GM assemblies.

See I think the health care reform could go better than C4C because let's face it, the current health care system is utter garbage and full of corrupt corporations. The var is set very low. In fact one of the few benefits of living in MA is Mass Health / Commonwealth Neighborhood Health Care. Very low income families can qualify for Mass Health, which is basically free health care. Commonwealth Neighborhood is for people who make over a certain amount of money, and how much you make depends on how much it assists you. Plus it can supplement current health coverage you have. Thanks to Commonwealth Neighborhood, my girlfriend, who is unemployed, was able to get a damaged tooth pulled and her teeth taken care of. Anyway, back on topic.