Drew Dowdell

bah! never! pick another letter... they can't have this one... *channels 68*

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Everyday problems aren't what one goes to a shrink for.

The trouble you're going to get into with this is how you count certain brands. Are Mazda/Land Rover/Jaguar/Volvo/Saab foreign or domestic? What about imported Pontiacs or Saturns? I'm going to live in Germany next year. If I buy an Opel, am I buying domestic <Germany> or am I buying domestic <US>?

My CTS is the smallest car I've ever owned. My previous cars were: '94 Cutlass '85 Contientnal '83 Caprice '85 Toronado I'm 5'10" 150lbs and I crave another E-body.

My vote is "I'd consider one, but not in the market currently" for Euro and Asian. Euro/Asian cars I'd consider: Mazda RX8 Subaru Legacy GT Subaru SVX Volkswagen Pheaton Audi A6 or A8 Alfa 159 <actually, just about any Alfa> Peugot 407 coupe Most of the Citroens Ones where I'm not sure how to count them: Opel Astra Twintop Opel Vectra Jaguar XJ Saab 9-3 Cabrio or Combi and "Absolutely, own one, and happy with that decision, willing to do it again" for domestic.

What about "I'd consider one, but not currently in the market"?

Sadly, I think this article is right. Good thing the new cars that are coming are much improved.

I'd make one if I could get video footage of those vehicles.

Cadillac posted a 30% sales jump in Europe. Astra is the best selling car in Europe. GM is kicking Toyota's ass all over China. GM practically owns South America. Tundra has stalled as more and more problems are found that don't include it's pricing structure. Scion as a brand fell dramatically this month. All of Toyota's North American sales are being held up by the Camry, Tundra, Prius, and ES, everything else is dropping.

You know why Toyota will never win the "branding war"? Because they will never be able to run a commercial like

Did he write this in 2001 and just release it now or what? GM has some of the strongest and most recognizable brands out there! Hummer, Cheverolet, Cadillac - all super strong brands, easily identifiable, they may have some product weaknesses here and there but as far as image, they're set. Saturn,GMC - only slightly less strong as Chevy however they enjoy a nearly cult like following. Denali commands respect. Saturn has overnight transformed their image into an upscale family car. Buick - Brand in recovery but coming along nicely. Enclave has waiting lists and Lucerne is still outselling Toyota's "better Buick" Avalon. Pontiac, Saab - Brands that are just starting their recovery, however once the product is there they'll be back. And as far as holding up Toyota as an example of how to do things..... How'd that Scion brand do last month?

If you want to try meditation, might I suggest The Meditation Podcast. I use the falling asleep one regularly.... but all of them have been helpful in their specific areas.

fixed. but still. the CTS is a sedan with two different engines available compared to the multiple body styles of the 3er.

the answer to the question no one asked. rollin on 11s yo!

It takes 23 variations of 3-series to outsell the CTS by 3,000 vehicles?

6416 > 6042 CTS FTW!

Well... Toyota is a major stake holder now.... so I guess it was only a matter of time.

Try again. The entire housing market meltdown is a major indicator of this. We aren't talking about just the bubble markets of SoCal and Miami. Pittsburgh is getting hit also. No one is immune. I want to clear something up though. I'm not in favor of protectionism. I am in favor of reciprocal agreements. If the Japanese want to sell their goods here then great! However, our companies must have equal access to the Japanese market. At that point, may the best product win. Until we reach that point however, we are not in a state of "free trade". We should threaten to close or tariff our markets until trade barriers with the other countries are removed.

I've been seeing one weekly since my breakup back in January. It helps, but you really need to develop a connection with the person. I didn't care for the first therapist I saw and I searched for another. I like the one I have now much better. It helps, but you have to keep at it for a while. It's not going to be 5 trips and you're done. Full disclosure: I refuse to take meds. I feel that they simply mask the underlying problem. Unless there is something chemically wrong, there is nothing meds can do that other non-medical methods can't. I'd be happy to discuss any of this further in PM.

Correlation is not causation. unemployment rates and GDP performance are worthless numbers unless you put them in context. Let me ask you some questions that require more thought than just reciting two statistics. 1. What does the unemployment number truly measure? Answer: Persons are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work. Follow up: What happens to the people who have just given up looking for work? 2. Should someone who has been laid off from a skilled trade, be it textile or automotive, now working at walmart stocking shelves, be considered fully employed? 3. GDP is a measure of productivity. A statistic was recently released saying that Americans are among the most productive employees in the world. However, at the same time, we work more hours than anyone else and take the shortest amount of vacation. Often vacations are "working" vacations where employees are expected to carry cell phones. Employees report that they are expected to do this in order to keep their jobs. How do these statistics improve our quality of life and make us wealthier? So, yes, GDP is up. Unemployment is down. If you're incurious enough to dig further, those statistics would make you happy.

We've heard about that too....

I didn't leave the company due to downsizing. My job is still there, I am not. All the people who were downsized were textile workers. Some of them had been at the company for 20 years. There aren't a lot of opportunities for someone like that other than Walmart greeter.

No, the electricity is not stored. The technology exists, but generally isn't used. In most PV setups, the house produces so much electricity during the day that it's not a big deal to the owner to run off the grid at night. In fact, the net effect is usually such that the home owner gets a check from the electricity company each month. There is, however, a new device that takes advantage of the new system of timed metering <electricity costs more at certain times of the day>. The device charges the batteries off the grid during the cheap time and discharges during peak time. I'm sure this could be modified for solar. It is substantially more costly to retrofit an existing house than to build a new house with solar. If a new house is designed right, it can be built with both photo voltaic AND solar water heat for ultimate energy savings.

I want my 500kb back from downloading this page. :hissyfit: