intrigued

What phone do you have? I used to just have a normal cell phone and a blackberry storm for work. I got tired of carying two devices and the blackberry sucked so I got the I phone 4S. It's been life changing. I turned in my work BB and added my work email to the I phone. I'm a bit of an app/media whore and need to be careful how much spend on itunes. So what are you packin? Droid, I phone, BB or plain jane cell?

So I'm back after a few month sabatical and my life has changed considerably since I've last been at C&G. My relationship of three years ended rather suddenlty, though in reality it was heading downhill for a while. It was tough but ultimatley Kate and I ended it on good terms and after a few awkward months managed to succesfully transition ourselves to friend zone status. She is still one of my best friends and we still care deeply about eachother but our directions and goals in life were diverging. She moved out of our apartment July 4th weekend and I moved out at the end of the month since the lease was up. I moved from Westchester county into New York City, into a converted 3rd bedroom in a highrise that 2 of my college friends had been living in for several years. Work was miserable as I had a super dysfunctional sh!t show team of attorneys that I had to prepare for trial in September (I'm a senior litigation paralegal.) I never even had time to unpack my boxes after I moved because I was working so much. I also sold my 05 Mustang GT because I couldn't justify the expense of ownership. I had it for 3 years having bought it for 15000 with 40k miles on it. I sold it to Carmax for 9000 with 85k miles on it and 7k left on the loan so at least I had something to show for it. Best car I've ever had and I miss it dearly but I couldn't justify keeping it. Starting on September 12th I worked for 49 consecutive days. This included the 29 day trial period in Trenton NJ. I worked 351 hours in September and 345 in October. In late October when I got back from trial I found that our building management was trying to raise our rent 15 percent if we were to sign a new lease. On 3 days notice I found a 1 bedroom in Astoria Queens and moved there, I was paying 1250 a month for a tiny converted bedroom and I wasn't going to pay a penny more. I never thought back in June that I would have ended my relationship, moved twice, spent a month in NJ and sold my car all during the second half of the year. Ultimatley I think these changes are all for the best. I made a killing on overtime and paid off all my nonstudent loan debts, and I furnished my new apartment. My Grandmother decided to start giving money to all her grandkids (for Tax reasons, she doesn't want to waste it on the Death tax) I used the 20k she gave me to pay off my higheest interest student loan. I'm still working like a dog but I've had some recognition for my work and there has been talk about me getting a supervisor spot next year which comes with a 50 percent raise. Things are looking up even though I still can't belive where I'm at right now. Who else has had a year like this?

Good luck with choosing your major. I was one of those lost souls who couldn't decide what they wanted to major in beause most of the things I liked were very iffy propositions when it came to return on investment. Journalism was one of m majors and I graduated with a minor in it but it was always an interesting major/ career path.

Bold cars are still in service with the family. Me: 2001 Old Alero GLS (Used) 2006 Malibu SS (New) 2005 Mustang GT 5 speed manny (used) Best car I've ever owned, miss it terribl but there was no point in owning it while I live in NYC. I want to get a new S197 5.0 Mustang for the last year of this current generation before they go modern again. So currently no car for me. My parents: 2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue GLS (New) Sold it to my best friends little brother. Car no has 180k miles with no tune ups suspension replacments or anything. Freaking tank. 2007 Saturn Aura XR (New) 2010 Ford Fusion SE (New) My brother and sister in law: 2002 Old Alero GL (New) 2006 Mustang v6 pony package (New) 2006 Saturn Vue V6 (New)

That's a really cool concept. I'm impressed, not going to lie.

^^^ good one. The 3.5 gets a nice update but I'm unmpressed with the inline 4's. The get a small bump in torque and probably a little more FE but not much else. Either way across the board Honda is not taking the lead with the new updates. They're still settling for "good enough."

Somebody likened 3 3-D experince to being pelted by legos constantly being hurled at your face by a pre-schooler. I saw it in good old 2-d and agree with the above. Best of the the 3 movies.

Olds, See the PM I am about to send you regarding your invention.

Will do. I likely won't be moving there till late summer or fall if this happens. LI have to wait for my family to sell their house first (if they can't sell by september my brother is going to have to let this job go) and wait for them to get semi settled in before I can start looking to relocate.

Heh, he likes opinionated people so he probably would like your posts. Currently he is an assistanat dean of the Yale grad school. He is known as "the assistant dean of doom" in some circles because of his ability to cut through the BS that is rampant in most academic enviorments, often at the cost of lazy grad students who are trying to get their fellowships exteneded.

The main reason my family is moving there is because my brother got a position as the Deputy Dean of undergrad/ grad programs. I here the campus is really cool there. I'd actually prefer to work in Charlottesville because it would be an far easier commute but I don't think the job market will be as likely to offer a good position for me once I start a search.

If I moved down there I'd stay with my folks rent free while I got to know the area, no way I'd buy without knowing if I liked it.

Hey guys, So I've decided that the northeast, and especially the NYC area, is just getting too pricey for my tastes. I've been feeling that way for a while but couldn't really think of where I might consider relocating to since everyone I know lives in this area and I’m not keen on the idea of moving somewhere on my own just for a change of pace. My family situation has finally given me another direction to consider. My parents and my brother and his family (wife and 3 kids) are relocating to Charlottesville VA. They have lived together for the last seven years to their mutual advantage since my dad has MS and he and my mom need help around the house while my brother gets to live in a house that’s nicer then he could afford on his own. I’ve been saving for a house and paying down my debts the last two years. Currently I have about 70k left in college loan debt but my car is paid off and I have no other debt. I have 75k in my saving account and I know that would be a substantial down payment on a nice little house in VA. I could move in with my family for a year or two to save even more money, get myself my new mustang at the same time and if I like the area I can buy my first place using the full 75k I have now towards a down payment while saving up another 30-50k for remodeling and emergency savings. Also If I find myself not liking the area I could always move elsewhere before I buy if I find myself not fitting in. What I need to know is what it the Charlottesville area like as well as the Richmond area because those are the two places I’d look for a job. I’m definitely looking forward to milder winters and it will be fun seeing my family on daily basis one more time before I settle down, especially my nieces and nephew. I don’t see this transition as being to difficult because I tend to have simple tastes in life I get fed up with the NYC life fairly often. Basically I’m just trying to get a feel for VA while I ponder my options…

This is scary. GM is on a decent path back right now, Ford is on a roll and even Chyrsler is doing better then expected, all while (due to a combination of recalls, brand perception and natural disasters) the Japanese brands are faultering. Enter Hyndai, the destroyer of worlds. This brand is turning the auto industry inside out.

My 05 Mustang GT functioned equally well as my fun car and DD for almost 3 years now. Unless it's a blizzard out I even drive it in the snow.

Update... I'm planning on ordering my mustang much sooner now 3-6 months from now! I decided I want to relocate to a more afordable area of the country and this would allow me to get a new car.

Mustang GT premium, 6 speed stick, 3.73 rear end, brembo package, HID and NAV. Black exterior saddle interior. Fortunately my dream car is not super expensive and I will order a custom build in the next year to 18 months from now. It's going to be my reward to myself for finally finishing my undergrad and paying off all my debt besides my school loans. The only other debt I will have is a mortgage hopefully since I am looking to buy a condo in the same time period.

Do you think we'll gets some decent details regarding the powertrains and their output this coming monday at the malibu debut?

Ditto on the storage cubby behind the nav being cool. I'm sure they have a USB in there so you can hook up your mp3 device and store it in a logical place. I like the look overall. I give it a solid B+ for looks with points for refinement, polish and clean lines but points taken off for being a clear evolution and not being really daring. As I said before I am VERY curious to see what powers the new Bu. We know it's going to be all 4 cylinder but what versions it will get is the big question. 2.4 DI from the 'Nox with the 2.0 T from the Regal optional? that would be uninspiring in terms of acceleration and fuel economy for the class. Will it get the rumored 2.5 with 200 hp maybe as a base? Will it get the updated 2.0 T that we hear is coming? I could see this being a Sonata killer and picking up more Camry and Accord sales if the drive trains are as good as the car looks and the interior comes together as well. The biggest threat to derailing the new Malibu will likely be the new Fusion that will launching soon afterward. Just like the new Focus could potentially be big trouble for the Cruze.

Oh yeah. Very important details I forgot... It will be black with a saddle interior.

Well I'll be saying goodby to my 2005 mustang GT this month. I have an offer on the table good till the end of the month from carmax and I'm just waiting for my title to get here from the DMV since I'm an idiot and I lost my original. It's been the best car I've ever owned. I'm the 2nd owner having bought it 3 years ago when it was at 48,000 miles. Now it's at 79,000 and over the course of the cars entire life (according to what the oringinal owner did) It's had 1 new set of tires and brake pads (on his dime shortly before he sold it - also it's still original rotors) and a new battery and parking brake cable on my watch. Only other repair it's ever has was a throttle body adjustment to eliminate rough idle that was covered under warranty for the orininal owner. Pretty great for an early build first year car that was new from the ground up! Anyways I'm moving closer to the city and won't need a car to complicate things right now since I would never consider street parking int he burrows around NYC. That said I like taking trips too much not to harve a car longterm and the rest of my family is moving from CT to virginia within the next 6 months because my brother just got a job at UVA. Between my trips and wanting to drive to see my family I'll need a car again soon. So sometime 6-12 months from now I am going to indulge myself and get a custom order 2012 mustang GT premium, manual with HID, nav, brembo package, 3.73 gears and a few other minor options. Its going to come out to about 37500 MSRP and I plan on putting 12 down, financing through my bank so I can get the most I can back in cash incentives and also getting a ford X-plan through a friend which will hopeully enable me to get this pony with no more then 20k financed out the door. I plan on keeping her forever.... So I'll miss my current mustang which ahs been a great car to me but I can't wait to get my new 5.0 sometime over the course of the next 12 months.

I really like what we see of the styling. That said I am still concerned about weight and powertrain issues. I don't care if it's all 4 cylinder but the turbo model needs to be the update 2.0 from the get go. It has to have good mpg and acceleration.

I can sing a mean Bon Jovi, fav songs are Livin on a prayer, It's my life and Wanted. After that I can range far and wide from Guns and Roses to Billy Joel. I enjoy a challenge and I can pull songs most songs off pretty well but every now and then I crash and burn.

Everybody saving money! Great little car Blu, can't wait to see pictures.

I like the profile a little more then the past spy photos. I'm still more concerned about it having mediocre drivtrain performance. If it has the same 2.4 DI and 2.0 turbo tunes as the regal it will not be class competitive in either acceleration or fuel economy which are both very important in this segment.