Robert Hall

Back in the first dot.bomb era, when I was a crazy 20-something and felt invincible, I drank Shock Coffee, Jolt cola, Vodka and Scotch in the evening, all the while on Prozac (later Zoloft). Fun times. I'm old and mellow now, can't be that intense any more.

No smog checks?

I'm up by 5:30, and wouldn't make it until noon without some caffeine. I usually have a cold Starbucks doubleshot or caffinated Mocha drink, then head to the office, where I have 2-3 cups of coffee before 9:30. That keeps me going the rest of the day...sometimes I have a coke at lunch.. Over the last year at my last gig, I had a tradition of a Red Bull and a candy bar in the afternoon most days... staying conscious at that job was difficult (painfully dull, slow pace to the projects.. but I had a great bill rate so I stuck it out for 9 months). I now usually a cup of tea around 3. A couple of guys in my office drink the Monster energy drinks quite a bit, I tried one, didn't care for the taste.

There are probably people that think Europe is a country.

I'm sure we will see 10000 pointless rants from SixtyEight...ugh.

It's kind of cool..would make a nice Lexus minivan here....who knows, maybe the luxury minivan market will take off here in the post-SUV era..

They got screwed out of their jobs by the union bastards...

It's a cool looking car also, besides being very high tech. Too bad they are limiting it to the LA area for now, it would make sense to sell them in places like Silicon Valley and SF..

Interesting observation... well, it looks like the new car will have an aggro face appropriate for these mean, nasty 'f*ck you' times...

I have a number of friends that had Jettas of that generation, and overall, they liked them...though some had a few electrical gremlins to deal with the usual peeling off of the side door trim.

Saw a sharp red and cream '55 Chevy Bel Air ht this afternoon.

I wasn't saying they explicitly copied the Grand Am, it's coincidental, no doubt, because throughout the '80s BMW was making their front ends smaller, more aero and moving away from the forward leaning, tall noses that they had in the past. Quite likely...

Ford dropping the Focus wagon and hatchbacks was a mistake, IMHO. Very short-sighted of them..

Wow..that's in nice shape. I haven't seen a decent one of those in many years. In the '80s-90s in Arizona, my sister was a real Z fanatic--she had a '77 280Z, followed by an '82 280 ZX, followed by an '85 300ZX 2+2 and lastly a '90 300ZX turbo. Then she moved to Boston and bought a SAAB Turbo.

The older BMW grilles ('80s and before) were taller and narrower, kind of like kidney beans, which is probably where the nickname originated. It wasn't until the early '90s that they adopted the late '80s Grand Am style nostrils/squircles.

For a truly bizzare sighting, this morning I saw a Ford Model A Fordor. Maroon, restored in period style. Driver looked young, maybe 25. Very unusual to see something like that in traffic.

In the mainstream, I like some Ford/Lincoln/Mercury products, some Chrysler products (esp. some Jeeps) and some Hondas. In the premiums, I like esp. Audi and BMW, followed by Infiniti and Acura. And M-B a bit (though the CLS is the only semi-affordable one that I really like).

Cool..something like that would be perfect to rent for my HS reunion next month.

That is a good question...and how about all the people out there that have never owned a domestic, and their only experience with them is rental cars at the airport? I know many 20- and 30-somethings that never owned a domestic...they are happy with their Nissans, Hondas, Acuras, BMWs, Toyotas, Audis, VWs, etc...why would they switch? It's an uphill battle for the Detroit 3, certainly...

Yeah, they are wierd...I think M-B or Audi started that a few years ago... I don't get the point of them (less reflection on the gauges?).

I recall seeing a DTS in this color in June, 2005 when I was on vacation in Telluride, Co...

At the Post Office this morning, I saw a silver Merc CLK 63 AMG Black Series....drooool.

Speaking of '73-77 Collonades, I was at a Dave & Busters for a company bowling event yesterday afternoon and when I came out, in the parking lot a distance from me I saw a white vinyl top on a '73-77 Collonade something (I couldn't see the rest of the car)...it was just strange to see a mid '70s design amidst all the modern cars in the lot (a mix of Toyotas, Lexuses, SUVs, etc.)

I think Denali is followed by Ultra (counting the number of blue boxes).

Well, I'm an 'Ultra Member'. Not sure what that means. Is there a list somewhere of where (# of posts) each level begins/ends?