The O.C.

Well the truly strange thing is.....drive 15 minutes inland over the Bay Bridge.....and over into the East Bay.....the weather will be totally different...! Warm, sunny, and clear. Gotta love California's micro-climates.......

Ooooo....I'm SO sorry your "american" experience was northeastern Ohio......LOL (no offense to my Ohio friends....)

I totally disagree. I've never been treated better than when I went to London for a week's time by myself. I've never felt more welcome........ I think all this crap we see on TopGear from Clarkson making fun of americans is not indicitive of the country in general. (And I saw just as many "fat" people in Great Britain as I see here....LOL) One of my best friends is British too....and he says they pretty much LOVE americans....they just hate Bush and his policies......

Egads GM is so behind-the-times with this "chrome-wheel" thing. Chrome wheels (plastic or otherwise) are pretty much "out" now.....at least here....unless you are talking big SUVs and stuff with 22-inch tires.....but on your basic cars, nope.

I'm surprised at the low CLS-Class numbers......I didn't think they sold that few of them.....I see them everywhere around here.....

I haven't lived in Houston, but been there quite a few times for business, etc.....and it seems WAY more cultured than Dallas where I grew up. I haven't lived in Dallas for 19 years, but I went back a couple of years ago and couldn't believe how boring it was. There was no nightlife downtown, Deep Ellum seemed deserted (used to be a great grunge-type area to go for somewhat seedy but definitely lively nightlife) and the whole rest of the city and suburbs were one big strip-mall after another......no pretense even at the culture you find on the coasts, etc. I live in suburban O.C....and even here, withOUT going up to L.A., there's tons more to do and way more culture than from where I grew up in Dallas.

Happy Birthday bud....!

Dale Jr....? I'd LOVE to taste his "Big Mo"

It's a GREAT show....I've watched it from the beginning.....a wonderful update on the original......

I've never found the seats themselves as bad....most are quite comfortable. I just think GM uses some questionable color combinations. Like the grey interior in the Cobalt spells cheap to me. Not the actual cloth....but somehow the hue of grey they use (like the past-gen Malibu in fact) is just so bland. The best interior combos I like are found in brands like BMW and Audi. On certain models, you can specify a beige, or grey (or even red) interior and alot of times the interiors have colored seats and door panel inserts, but black carpets, dash, door panel tops, etc. These look really good to me.....much better even than the Malibu's two-tone combos.....

Problem is....I can never see the Quandt family (if that's how you spell it) letting that happen.

Hell I don't know....maybe they both had a 6-speed.....but damn it seems like I remember going from a 5-speed to a 6-speed......oh well......

It's funny....to us....it seems so simple. Makes you wonder where their heads are at? (btw....I was a Buick District Manager from 1993 to 1999....and worked for Buick in Flint from '88 to '93.)

The Prius I had as a rental one time only averaged 37mpg in mixed L.A. driving. Plus, you could even argue that you could get into a bigger, nicer Camry L4 and probably still have to keep the Prius 5-6 years to make up the difference.....

Nah they're not like that.

Well, they all saw what happened to me as a result of my last relationship.....and I'm sure they are just worried for me and don't want to see me make the same mistakes. When it gets all down to it, they are all supportive......but just very vocal with their concerns. They like Joe....(the ones that have met him).....and each of them made me sure that they will welcome him into our friendships.... They are just being SO overly cautious....

You know.....normally....I'd totally agree with you. You guys don't know me on a personal level, but let me tell you that I am just about one of the most rational/reasonable guys out there......not prone to making "rash" decisions. But that being said, for some reason, this just feels different. I can't explain it, so it's hard for me to justify it to you guys or even myself other than to "go with my gut." It's tough to explain the very close connection he and I have built since the beginning of November.....yes....even with only six visits together (although we talk numerous times, every day.) I guess I look at it this way.......we are never going to grow this relationship to a higher level with him up there and me down here. We all know what long-distance relationships can be like....especially when they START as a long-distance relationship. It happens to be a time in his life when he's in a great position to move. Doesn't have anything tying him down up there. AND he's always said that he's considered moving to SoCal for many years even before we met......he grew up in NorCal and it's time in his life to move on and start anew. Maybe if things were different, we'd do it slower.....but sometimes you have to go with the options that fate gives you. At least this is a great opportunity for us to explore our relationship on a level that we've not had a chance to do. We've both had numerous intelligent conversations over the phone about this....and I think we both know what we are getting into....and the challenges that will arise. But there's also a lot to look forward to in being with each other...... And you know what? God forbid it doesn't work out......I haven't sacrificed anything other than some emotional hurt. (edit: btw....I didn't push this at all. But I always left him an "open door." He's the one that decided to step through it.....and I welcomed him.)

I'm sure yours was steady-state freeway cruising..... They were most likely using the car in very mixed driving......

Agree. GM asked for it themselves.....tried to jump on the "Hybrid" (as a word) bandwagon with an inferior product.....and now consumers and reporters are pissed because GM's "Hybrid" Malibu gets like 1-2 more mpg overall..... The mild-hybrid isn't a bad system.....it just should have been marketed differently.....

LOL.... Well to be honest, not to "insult" all those Angelenos to the north.....I really don't see L.A. county (or S.D. county for that matter) all that different in ideals than a good portion of The O.C. Really, you pretty much only see the lunatic "fringe" that gets CA all it's bad press up in the Bay Area.....and really only then in the city, Berkeley,and maybe some of Marin County to the north. When I lived in the East Bay out in Danville, it was pretty much a carbon copy of Orange County.....moderate-to-republican. Alot of San Jose/Silicon Valley is the same way. The valley cities like Fresno, Bakersfield, and Sacramento? I believe mostly moderate to republican.....from what I've heard and seen. It's like being gay. The vast majority of gay people are like me, I believe....pretty-damn normal. It's the 5% "lunatic fringe" that gets all the media and gives gay people a "bad name." It's kinda the same with the state of CA. People that haven't spent much time here just see the lunatic crap that comes from a small portion of our state and then people think everyone and everywhere here is the same...or that we believe the same. <ugh>

Well, I'm PRETTY sure the '05 had the GM 5-speed and the '06 had the (ZF I believe?) 6-speed. Reason is.....we got the same X5s down to equipment and color and I remember us trying to figure out what had changed between the two years.....and one was the silver "rings" around the gauges....and another, I think, was the tranny gaining a gear. That was it for the differences.... Maybe I'm wrong though.... But in any event, never had ANY problems with trannies.....(granted we didn't keep them like 100K miles or anything) and in fact I LOVED the 6-speed in the '06. I loved the way it shifted, loved the way it performed in "Sport" and manual mode, and especially loved how adept it was during trailer-towing our two seadoos out to The River. I've always been a HUGE fan of BMW engines as well.....of any sort. Loved the V8 in the X5s, and loved the I6s I had in the 330s. To me, they've been the smoothest, best-performing engines of their kind. The 225hp 3.0L always felt like it had WAY more power than quoted and the smallish 4.4L V8 never felt like it was lacking in torque.....even in the heavy X5. As far as problems, I/we've had five different BMWs (two X5s, 330Ci coupe, 330Ci convertible, last-gen 530i) over the last, oh, 4 years between the two of us and never have had any problems with any of them of any significance that I can remember. GRANTED we didn't put that many miles on them......maybe 20K each.....although the 530i had miles on it 'cause it was used.....I think 60K miles....but never had problems with that car either. So I can't comment on long-term reliability......but if you are in the new-car market, and you lease, BMWs are AWESOME because the warranty AND all scheduled maintenance is covered cost-free for 4/50K.....and usually leases certainly don't run past that. (edit: Just took the A4 in for the 21K-mile service.....the dealership quoted me $388....!!!! I was pissed. I told them only to do the L.O.F. and forget all the "diagnostic checks" and &#036;h&#33; they were going to do. If it had been a BMW, I wouldn't have cared....I'd have had them do it all.....'cause it's free of charge.)

....I understand....and no relationship is perfect.....and they all take work and effort. Hopefully she shows you how much she loves you and cares for you in other ways. It's up to you to figure out where that line should be balanced. We all have to do that.

DAMN.....not to drag my own thread on.....but was over at my friends' house last night and both of them were telling me not to let him move down....and how much of a mistake it would be.....and to "cut it off" right now. My best friend on last Thursday said he also didn't think it was a good thing.....and that he's worried about me..... Why is everyone so down on this? Especially when they all know how much I care about him? Everyone thinks he's "working" me and "using" me.....that's everyone's overriding feeling. I guess I figure that THIS time I'm in the driver's seat.....I'm not giving up anything to let him move down and see if this will work. It's not like with my ex when I sold my house and bought one together with him and THEN it all went to hell-and-a-handbasket. This time, I can try to do this right and not make the same mistakes I did last time. He certainly doesn't ACT like he's just "working" me or "using" me. But true love is SO tough to find these days......how can you not pass up the opportunity to be with the person you care so much for? This, I think, is a perfect way to find out just where our relationship is going to end up going. And if it doesn't work out, or I find out he had alterior motives, I've lost nothing.....except my heart.....but anytime you go into a relationship and fall in love, you always risk a bit of emotional hurt.

OK....I admit at the sake of being blunt...... Why would you want to be with someone that admits they do stuff on purpose to annoy you? Is that what love is really about? I'd be done with that, oh, in about 30 seconds..... You sound like a great guy....and definitely deserve better. But....I'd be the first to admit that sometimes love can make you blind......(it certainly did with me and my ex.....)

DId you try backing out of the driveway? Then it would be like driving a front-wheel-drive car.....