The O.C.

Even more so....! I'll also be handling the ordering of all the new Cadillacs at the store......something I'll enjoy as well....... DI CTSs seem to be the strong-seller at this store.....I'm surprised how many people are moving up to the more expensive engine. That's good. However, they have a good mix of FE2 performance-package cars, but not a single FE3 (summer-tire) package. I wonder if that's on restriction for some reason? STS does almost nothing at this store, and they sell a few DTSs.....but most DTSs are the "granny-mobile" with the luxury package and the bench-seat/column-shifter. I'll have to try a few "performance" package DTSs and see if they move.....they don't have a single one on the lot now. Escalades? Uh......those behemoths are STILL selling like hotcakes.....although I have to rant a bit on GM's product planning decisions..........when I was at the store last week, I overheard a middle-aged, obviously well-to-do couple talking about the Escalade they just test-drove. They are also looking at the GL450. The woman was short, and of small stature.....and was complaining about how difficult it was for her to reach in, or get inside the Escalade to lower/remove the third-row seats. Of course, she was raving about the power-folding rear-seat in the Mercedes. She liked the Caddy and thought it looked really sweet......however, with three small kids, she'd be using the third-row quite a bit....up-and-down....depending on when the kids were all in the truck, etc. She said for this simple reason, she was most likely going to get the GL450. Also, she was complaining about the lack of cargo space with all seats in the "up" position.....said the Mercedes also had more room. (An ESV was "too bulky" for her to drive.) I've said from day one that this lack-of-IRS in the GMT-900s was a bonehead decision.....and have wondered how many sales Cadillac (and Chevy and GMC) have lost to Ford and the imports due to this........(forcing a cumbersome-to-fold/remove third-row seat, and swallowing up third-seat roominess and luggage capacity.)

I'm most likely going to rent it out. I just bought it in September, and they are still selling new units here, so I don't think I'd do too good if I tried to sell it right now.......

I can HARDLY wait......!!!!!!! And it opens on my birthday!!!!!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzvAJg7gThU

Well, looks like I'm doing the Las Vegas thing.......(lordy...) But I think it's a great opportunity.......now, since I'll be working for a Caddy store, I have about 1.5 years (on the CTS lease) to figure out what to get to replace it......CTS sedan 6-speed, CTS Coupe, etc..... Part of me still has a hard time seeing myself living in Las Vegas.....with all the fakery and tourism crap...... But I do have to admit, away from The Strip, it's a whole 'nuther Las Vegas.......beautiful actually........and there's lots of outdoors stuff to do in the nearby mountains and Lake Mead. Summerlin really is a nice area.....although granted it's all less than 15 years old, or so it seems......but it doesn't seem "generic" suburb as there are many of the high-end stores and shopping you also have on the strip, and some really great restaurants it seems.....not just typical "chain" suburban-fare.....(although there's plenty of that too.) The area has to cater to the people that live there.....it's where most of the entertainers and casino executives live. Plus....no question if I'm looking for a show to go see, or a fancy club or bar, it's all down at The Strip. Wish me luck! Hopefully the job will work out, and hopefully I can enjoy living somewhere different I've never lived before....at least for a few years......

I lived there for a few years as a kid (talking 4-5 years old......)

......but so do San Francisco and Chicago.....and even smaller cities like Seattle, Portland, Boston, and Philadelphia offer all of that as well........(maybe in smaller doses in some cases....)

Did they have to shave portions of your chest.....where the pads went....? In other words.....do you know have a patch-work of shaved round "holes" in your chest hair...?

LOL....c'mon.....projectile weapons and nuclear bombs would be no match for phasers and quantum torpedoes....... I always thought that the new BSG had an interesting take on weapons technology for what is envisioned to be "the future." If any of you have seen the new BSG, their ships all have "projectile" weapons......kinda like futuristic machine guns. The big "guns" are simply nuclear weapons/bombs. The Galactica doesn't even have "shields" as we know of them from Star Trek. Of course it's heavily armored.....and seemingly can withstand multiple nuclear missile hits.....so there's some futurism in the armor she has.....but it's interesting, and perhaps a vision that BSG is not as far into the future as we seem to think it is. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see! It kindof makes me think that earth was the first colony (of the 13 colonies) and perhaps the earth WAS populated by intelligent humans prior to the ice-age. Then, when the meteor collison was imminent (one that killed the dinosaurs) the early-earth humans escaped to the heavens....and populated the 12 colonies from BSG. But, that being the case, where did all their technology disappear to? Or was it all so decimated by the meteor impact that nothing was left to be discovered over the centuries? Or are the early-earth "cities" at the bottoms of our oceans, yet to be found by us? (Atlantis.) Perhaps they were land-based cities and the meteor impact changed the nature of our oceans to such a great extent, the cities that used to be on land are now at the bottoms of the seas..... (God, I need to lay off the caffeine this morning......)

LOL don't worry.....I'm not entertaining that..... Besides I can rent out my condo for far more than he could afford to pay me.......

NYC used to have a lock on the cultural and vibrant lifestyle. But alot has changed over the last 20-30 years. Alot of cities have caught up (or begun to catch up) with New York's mystique. Hell, even in Las Vegas.....the country's most "faked" city, I'm constantly astounded at the (high) level of dining, shopping, and entertainment to be found there now. That didn't used to be the case. But MUCH of this new-found "culture" actually originated from NY (and southern California.) Many top-rated NYC chefs have opened up restaurants in Vegas.....and as for shopping? The most exclusive "names" are located in Las Vegas now..... Chicago certainly doesn't deserve it's title as "Second City" anymore. Los Angeles, for so long a seemingly "cultural wasteland" will stand toe-to-toe with NYC on ANY front today with regards to culture, enterainment, and societal impact......make no mistake. It's still an interesting and intriquing place.....and I enjoy every chance that I get to visit......but I wouldn't necessarily want to live there (even if I had enough money to live in Manhattan comfortably.) Take the "mystique" of NYC out of it, and there are too many other far-more-pleasant places to live these days. (Realizing "pleasant places to live" is entirely subjective depending on who you are talking to.)

It's funny.....it's even not so much the culture, but alot of the people themselves......(and I'm one of them, and my whole family is from there....so not "throwing stones.") Alot of people from Oklahoma that I've met, are the absolute sweetest people in the world. But alot of them, that have never travelled much, or never lived in other places like either of the coasts, etc., just seem to have a certain naivety about the culture alot of us experience as a result of where we live, or where we have lived. When I first moved to Detroit to go to college, even Michigan (of all places) seemed somewhat foreign to this "OK/TX" boy......not to mention what I thought when I first came to California!!!! There's plenty of culture in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. They are major cities/metropolitan areas......with highrises, concert halls, theatres, good restaurants (although you have to look WAY harder to find them....lol) and upscale neighborhoods. It's just that it's not embraced there NEARLY at the level more, shall we say, "well-travelled" people in other parts of the country embrace all those "things." 'Partsgirl......you and I seem to be one of the, I'm sure many, exceptions to the rule......but that's kinda how I see it. (My birth mother and her family are prime examples of this.) They simply don't have a comprehension of what it's like to live in California or NYC.....for example. It's kinda like many of us (me included) that have visited perhaps but never lived in Europe or Asia. I, as well, simply don't have a solid comprehension of what it's like to live in other parts of the world. Make sense? Sounds like I'm bagging on Oklahomans.....when I'm REALLY not......it's just a different way of living.

Edge. (Although it's a tough choice.......) Edge seems slightly larger, and should perform about the same in regards to speed and MPG......... Edge just seems a class higher than the VUE........whereas VUE to me seems like a CR-V/RAV4 competitor.

I think "convenient" is the right word to use for my solution to the other.....ahem, problem I'm dealing with........ I'd really like to see about staying with my friend, and keeping my SoCal condo without having to rent it out. That way, I can drive back on my days off and enjoy a respite from all the sinning and grinning...... I'll just have to see how much money I'll be making.....my mortgage here isn't cheap..... But worse-case scenario, maybe I can convince the "bf" (for lack of another word) to stay in the condo for me, pay me, and keep it up....... Then....I'd have some money coming in at least on it......AND would still have a place to come back to on my days off......

LOL not at all........... I'll post on here again when I get there or when I get home and let you all know what it's like............. NOW....I'll just have to try to make bookoo-bucks the next year or so......so that I can trade in my CTS for a CTS v-Series when it comes out......! I have pull.....I know 'da boss....LOL

I have the actual nekkid pic.....with uncut pee-pee and all....!!!!!!! If anyone wants me to share, PM me wiht a personal email address........LOL

So Ron Moore admitted that the Galactica WOULD find Earth before the season is all done with. But he didn't tell how or why.....and he even said not to expect that it would necessarily happen in the series finale either.....so it COULD be somewhere mid-season. So....the question is....what will BSG's "earth" be like? Will it be "our" earth as we are today? Or something in the past? Or something in the future? I know what I'd like to see.......I'd love to see them find a wormhole, or something to take them across the galaxy near earth.......and plop them down......directly....in the middle of......the Federation....! Those cylons and their crude nuclear weapons would be NO MATCH for a Galaxy-class starship!

I saw "Superhero Movie" tonight.....(VERY funny if you are willing to accept that it's nothing more than a very stupid movie)......and the extended-version trailer for "Speed Racer" was shown.....and I damn near popped a woodie in the movie theatre! I'm SO excited to see Speed Racer. It's like an icon to me from my childhood.......! Plus, the special effects look awesome....and there's some great people in the movie.......

Well, The company I was working for went belly-up.......so I've been back on the job market. Ironically, one of my closest friends (who has owned his own dealerships before, and ran a BMW and a Mercedes-Benz store here in Orange County) has moved recently to Las Vegas and is running a Cadillac dealership there.....and he wants me to come work for him and build and run his internet sales department! This could be a great opportunity, I'd be working for a Caddy store, with one of my closest friends (whom I've worked for before at Irvine BMW....so we know we work really well together) and it would be a fun career change. What do you guys think? I'd keep my condo here in SoCal. I could rent it out.....or, a better option in my mind, is not to rent it out and keep it here to come back to on weekends. My friend, who I'd work for, leased a big house in Summerlin (really, really nice suburb of Las Vegas) and it's just him there in like a 3,500 square foot house. (His wife and two girls are still here in Newport Beach and he commutes home on days off.) So he's even offered to let me room with him. That way, I could afford to just keep the SoCal condo to come home to. If this thing works out, and I decide I want a more permanent life in Las Vegas, then I could rent out the SoCal condo and get my own place in Las Vegas. There are some super nice areas outside of The Strip such as Summerlin, Lake Las Vegas, and to a lesser-extent, Henderson. And L.V. may still be a tacky place to be, but thanks to the recent infusion to the economy within the last 10 years or so, you can find just about any level of shopping or dining that you can in the L.A.s, Chicagos, and New Yorks now. I'd love to buy something there.....but don't know if I can qualify after having the mortgage already on my SoCal place. The housing market is in shambles there right now with all the foreclosures......a TRUE buyer's market right now......and it's relatively cheap. That being said, the actual economy is quite strong and the car business seems to be doing relatively well there right now. There have been a big influx of companies that are locating regional offices (and even some headquarters) to Las Vegas due to the cost-of-living and the good weather. The economy has REALLY diversified over the last 10 years or so. So that's nice to know. I've been to Las Vegas more times than I can count......for business mostly......I know it like the back-of-my-hand. I never could see myself living there.....especially after living in SoCal.....but for something interesting to do for a few years, and if I can keep my place here to "come home to" then it might be a fun run. I at least know living there CAN be really nice.....if you are away from The Strip. We'll see.....I'm driving out there tomorrow for a couple days (it's only about a 3.5hour drive) to see the dealership and hang out with my friend to get a feel for if I want to try this.....

Braums? LOL, LOL, LOL...... It's a great place to raise a family......it's clean, relatively-crime-free, cheap to live....but damn there is a serious lack of culture there. Before I left there, I never knew life existed past a strip mall or chain-restaurant. I've never been anywhere else than Texas and Oklahoma where the "chain-restaurant-mall-store" ideal is more prevalent. Here in CA, even in suburban O.C., we have a serious lack of chain stores. Oh we have the major ones, of course, your Olive Gardens, Chilis, Lowe's, and Home Depots......but I was shocked how many fewer we had here than where I grew up in TX and OK.

While I sympathize with you......there are a gazillion "bad habits" out there, besides smoking, that tend to impact peoples' lives. I have smoked before......but I love how California has approached smoking......that it's illegal inside any public place. And the funny thing is.....here, smokers really don't bitch about going outside the bar or restaurant to have a smoke. Even smokers appreciate not having their clothes/hair smell all like smoke. Banning it from ANY public place, however, is I think going a bit too far.....or else I'm going to suggest banning people with bad B/O....or with poor eating habits in restaurants.....or banning buzzed/drunk people from bars.....etc, etc. You can only take it so far. I'd have to say....if you have a problem with people smoking outside, it's easy enough to avoid them.

I used to smoke.....haven't during the last three weeks. I was the kind of smoker that would smoke pretty regulary......but it was habitual for me......when I was drinking, first thing in the morning when I was having coffee, or when I was stressed. However, I'd go away on a business trip, or my parents would come visit.....and I could stop smoking on a dime and not even have the urge to light up. That's what is really wierd. I think my smoking habit is more habitual than nicotine-addicted........I haven't smoked at all the last three weeks while Joe has been here.....nor have I had any urge. I'd say at my height, I was smoking a pack every three or four days or so......

And what's with all this reality-show crap? I'm probably the only one that thinks reality shows are the worst thing to hit network TV.....ever......I....can't.....stand.....any.....of.....them...... Okay.....I watch alot of HGTV, which I guess you could say is a total "reality" channel.....but at least it's a whole channel focused to one topic.....houses..... BSG is the ONLY regularly-scheduled show that I watch. Other than that, I have old DVDs in playing of Star Trek, Golden Girls, Frasier, and Nip/Tuck. I'd rather go out to the DVD store and buy old seasons of old sitcoms that I used to grow up with (Alice, Three's Company, etc., etc.) then watch most of the crap on TV today. So that's what I end up doing. Music is the same way. I hate ALL this Britney "crap" they pass off as "music".......I use "Britney" as an example.....but they are all like her. No true singing or writing talent....IMHO, they are nothing but marketing tools. What happened to music and groups like we had, even in the 80's...? Not all that long ago? Not to mention the GREAT music we had in the 70's and 60's. All I do now, is listen to talk radio.....or CDs that I have in my collection. I don't even own a radio in my house......just the DVD player I can play my CDs through. OK....enough of my rant on today's "pop culture."

.....and Bionic Woman was cancelled and we get this....? I thought BW was an interesting re-imaging of the original......I've liked David Eick's and Ronald Moore's work on the new BSG, and I liked this BW. The Knight Rider pilot, however, totally sucked.......yuck......

Hmmmm....it's not so much where it shifts, but more a factor of the engine's eagerness to rev. Say, for example, you hold it in first or second gear and floor it until it revs up to or close to the redline......how "eager" is it to get there? It's like the difference between the engine feeling like it's a proverbial "boat anchor", heavy, struggling to pull the car's weight......versus something that feels quite a bit "lighter", seemingly faster-moving.......I'm talking about the feel and pull of the engine, not necessarily how fast the car is accelerating. Boatloads of torque will get you moving quickly.....but won't necessarily make an engine itself feel any more eager to "play." Even modern diesels can fast-revving. Don't mistake this with the engine's actual redline. They maybe don't have a high redline, maybe 4,500-5,000 rpms, but the Alfa 1.9L TD I drove in Europe was quick, energetic, and willing feeling through it's (obviously narrow) powerband. (Edit: I'm trying to describe this in layman's terms......as I am certainly no technical guru.....)

All I'm saying is......from personal experience......the Mazda version of the 3.0L was hardly "gruff" or "underpowered"......especially compared to GM's V6 pushrod competition it was facing.....