Robert Hall

My last company (big fortune 500 company) was like that...they had to change their policy in my division to match that of the small company I worked for that they acquired..that company started out new employees at 3 weeks, and added one per day per year until you hit 4 weeks (at 5 years). 2 weeks is pretty stingy these days, a lot of companies around here have gone to 3 weeks minimum, at least in the software industry.

I'll probably go see them when they tour. VH was the first band I ever saw in concert, in Miami on the 1984 tour.

My last job had 20 paid days vacation plus 10 company holidays.. but after almost 5 years there, I was bored out of my mind. I usually took 2 weeks off together in the summer, or 1 in spring and 1 in summer, plus the other 2 weeks scattered around here and there--4 day weekends, time around Thanksgiving and Xmas. At one point at that job, I was working 60-75 hr weeks. But the last year, I was working strictly 40. Now I'm a contractor again, working hourly, no paid vacation. But I have a good hourly rate and good benefits, so I plan to take off a month next year plus the usual holidays and some 4 day weekends (Labour Day, Memorial Day).

I like the Mutt... I've long been an AC/DC and Def Leppard fan (20+ years). Speaking of POUR ...SOME.... SUGAR.... ON MAY, I drunkenly kareoked this song, Hysteria, and Back in Black (with William Shatner enunciation and dramatics) at the 3rd Annual Drunken Canadian Horseshoe Tournament and BBQ 2 years ago.. one of my former coworkers has it on video...truly horrifying. The 5th Annual DCHT&B is coming up this Saturday here in Denver..fun, fun, fun...the Jaegermeister, Kokanee, and Canadian Rye will flow freely. My favorite producers are probably Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno, and Rick Rubin.

I don't recall ever watching that show...however, I did watch 'Head of the Class' when I was in high school (Khrystyne Haje--hot!) and I watched 'Beverly Hills 90210' in college.. (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen in an NSX...even hotter).

In 60+ years of driving, my dad probably had about 20 cars. In about 60 years of driving, my mom has 5 cars that were specifically hers and not shared w/ my dad. In 40 years of driving, I think that my brother has owned about 50 cars. He has 6 currently. In 32 years of driving, my sister has had 10 cars. (has 3 currently) In 21 years of driving, I've had 6 cars, 3/4 currently.

Isn't the 4.7 used just in the Grand Cherokee? I didn't think the Ram, etc used it since the Hemi came out..

Whatever...the LS1 is a corporate engine. The GTO has the Pontiac badge, was registered as a Pontiac, and thus, is a Pontiac. It's not 1970 when each division had their own powertrains..

Speaking of Audi, it looks like they are getting back into the subcompact market with the A1 and S1.. Audi A1/S1

The cheap runty end of the market would be a depressing place to be. I think if my budget was that limited I'd get a larger late model used car than a new death-on-wheels econobox...

'350'? The GTO used a 5.7 and a 6.0 GM V8..they haven't used cubic inch designations like '350' in decades... But the GTO/Monaro was badged as a Chevy Lumina in some markets. However, it's not a rebadge of a US market Chevy the way the G5 is a rebadge of the Coblat.

That's probably how the next Pontiac Wave will look... They could also do one a waterfall grille with chrome bars for the Buick version, one with a large chromed eggcrate grille and vertical headlights for the Caddy ATS, and a butch one with a slotted vertical grille, bulging fenders, and big tires for the Hummer H6...

I wonder if the US will get this dopey restyle..

Bigger..that first link in the thread (Auto Report) had just one tiny head on pic.

More pics on Global Auto Index. Chevy Aveo

I saw a black '79 AMC Spirt AMX today..very clean condition. Didn't have a camera w/ me.

Mmmmmm...'72 Riv...drool. If I had to pick a favorite Buick, it would have to be the boattails..what a design.

Dillon Aero GMC w/ Gatling Gun (YouTube video on John C. Dvorak's blog).

It's just a blingy truck..nothing special.

68, can you stop harping about B-pillars? You've ranted about this wierd fixation of yours for months, years. If you don't have anything meaningful to contribute to a thread, please don't.

I saw a Cobalt coupe this morning that didn't have the gold bowtie on the deckid, but instead, C O B A L T spelled out across the decklid in chrome letters. Interesting..haven't seen one like that.

There is definitely an appeal to that...my folks bought their place (we called it the farm but we didn't raise anything) as an early retirement place... big classic Amish bank barn with room for 10-15 cars (between myself, my brother and my folks, in the '80s-90s we had a Winnebago, tractor, and 10-12 cars...loads of room to tinker. At one time we had 3 homes--a house in Steubenville, Oh (about an hour away), the 'farm', and a house in Florida (where we spent the school year when I was in jnr high/high school). I love traveling, in the US and abroad, and ultimately I see myself having two homes...a primarly place in the suburbs of a large metro area and a weekend getaway place in the mountains..some place an hr away or so. I've been in Colorado for 10 years now, and have been thinking a lot lately about staying here or moving somewhere else.. trying to decide careerwise what I want to be doing the next decade or so (I'm getting closer to 40).

I doubt if it was ever officially imported..probably some footballers bought them for the bling factor....that POS is out of place anywhere except a war zone (and it's not very good there either).

I don't go to junkyards, so it doesn't bother me... I learned long ago it's not healthy to get too sentimental about material things, though I can get sentimental about people and places, times in my life. I enjoy a car while I own it, then trade it for something newer and better and move on...

Having lived rural (Amish country of Ohio) for a large portion of my childhood, it's not all that it's cracked up to be. The negatives far outweigh the positives for me. Pretty scenery, lots of open space...but you are always at war with the weather...dealing with brutal cold, deep snows, power going out, etc. I remember lots of mud also (the lousy weather in Ohio). The isolation works against you--it's a long drive to basic things like hospitals, groceries, etc...and little things like appliance repair, etc is a pain because of the distance. Culturally, it's pretty dull...and the people often tend to be pretty conservative, people I don't like being around.. For the good six-figure jobs and amenities (bookstores, restaurants, etc), I need to be in a large metro area.