mustang84

My grandpa used to have a '59 Bonneville like the one below. I like the wide slab look that Pontiac used to have back then.

I want to have kids, but not until I have a job and am settled down...which won't be for a few years. I have a bunch of high school friends that are already getting married and one is even pregnant, and I just can't contemplate being weighed down with all that responsibility at this age (and I'm only 21...most of them are 19 and 20). I have decided that I only want a max of two kids...no more than that. Three or more is too much to handle and too draining on the finances. One wouldn't be so bad, but I think they should have a sibling to grow up with rather than being an only child. Two sounds about right.

Spring break for me has been going around doing internship interviews. I just got back from one today, but I really wasn't impressed with the interviewers. All the other interviews I have been to so far, the people were warm and friendly...but the one I just got back from now, they just seemed kind of cold and distant. It didn't feel like a place I would enjoy working for three months. I was supposed to go to San Diego with a friend, but a wrench got thrown in that when I realized my class trip to New York was going to cost a lot, and I figured I should stick around and try to get an internship for the summer. So I'm stuck here in Iowa, but the weather hasn't been too bad lately. Today it's supposed to be sunny and in the 50s. A few of my friends took a road trip down to Atlanta in a wheezy old Caravan that's probably sitting on the shoulder of I-75 right now. Kinda glad I didn't go on that one. Last week was hell for me though. I had 3 tests (two on Friday), a model due Friday, a project due Thursday, and a job interview Friday afternoon. I went to that interview with only 1.5 hours of sleep in me, but it went over really well so it must've been all the Vault soda I drank beforehand. A little off-topic, but has anyone tried Vault yet? I picked up 4/$1.00 at the grocery store last week and it's not too bad. For the price they're selling for 20 oz. bottles, you can't beat it.

Link Lori Queen, General Motors executive on C/R: "the most unprofessional group of people I have ever worked with." "They are totally nonobjective and go to great extremes to paint a picture for their paid subscription readers". "They buy the cheapest car they can find and then base all their opinions on a limited sample." More at link

Well, at least somebody gets it. I'm pretty sure the only reason Toyota got in NASCAR was for the PR and so Midwesterners will see them as a "good 'ol boy" brand so they can steal truck sales away from the F-150 and Silverado.

Fugly.

It looks like a mid-60s Bronco...Ford started producing them in August, 1965 as 1966 models. A classmate from high school had a '66 that he restored to pristine condition...I think he sold it when he went off to college, though. It wasn't really the first SUV (I'd give that title more to Jeep), but it was one of the early ones.

Here's another famous one I forgot, the Villisca Axe Murders house in Villisca, Iowa.

I've always liked listening to ghost stories ever since I was a little kid. I've never actually seen a ghost before or had any ghostly encounters, but they still intrigue me. It's said that late at night here at ISU in the Memorial Union, you can hear low moans in the Great Hall, which has names inscribed upon its marble walls of Iowans who died in WWI and WWII. I haven't actually noticed any noises, but sometimes when passing through there late at night you can feel a slight breeze even though the doors are closed. -------- Also, near the town of Mount Ayr in southern Iowa, there is a small cemetery in the middle of a grove of trees called Tedrow Cemetery. Most of the graves are from the late 1800s when this area was first being settled. A man named Cylus Tedrow haunts the cemetery, a late night guardian against curious visitors. Legend says that he was an evil man that led a small cult who would do rituals in these woods late at night. Somehow he was murdered and his coffin was placed on top of a tree for all to see. Anyway, if you go to this cemetery at night, you will hear moaning coming from the woods and sounds like a sheet of metal being banged against a tree. If you traveled by car, your car may not start if you are parked within the gates. And apparently if you don't leave fast enough, the ghost of Cylus will follow you around throughout the night. It is said that his dark figure can be seen in the woods, with glowing eyes and holding a blue lantern.

Was this guy being serious? I kinda find it hard to believe. Go back to solid rear axles, carb'd engines, and screw fuel economy? Yeah..... American cars need to get the attitude back, but there's no need to be resurrecting stone age technology in 2006.

80s by far, followed by 70s and some 90s.

Ebay Motors

I avoid eating meat on Fridays more out of tradition than anything else. Sometimes I forget that it's Friday and gobble down a double cheeseburger on accident, but I have never felt like I am going to Hell for something like that. I guess it just shows you how different parishes/congregations can be within one religious sect...I've never experienced the "fire and brimstone" that many people think of when they here the word "Catholic." In fact, I knew my priest really well in middle school because he used to play golf sometimes and he would tell me how his game went on mornings before Mass when I served as an acolyte. There's a more human side to the Church than some people realize.

Man that's a nice Monte Carlo...t-tops and all. I would so rather have a G-body than my W-body.

Bob, I agree with your statements. I'm pretty much the same way...I'm happy being a part of the Catholic Church and if someone doesn't like it or doesn't consider me Christian, whatever...no skin off my back. Actually, I remember the first time I went to that student religious group, the person next to me asked me what religion I was. I said "Catholic," and she kinda grimaced for a second, and then began lecturing me on how I should come to her church on Sundays (Southern Baptist). I was actually offended. I guess I don't see what is so bad about the Catholic Church. The media focuses on the child molestations, but none of the parishes in my area never had anything like that. For Sunday School, many times we would go out into the community and help rake leaves at elderly peoples' homes, collect canned goods for the local food pantry, and just do general good deeds and charity work. Sunday school wasn't about memorizing lines from the Bible so that you could repeat them word for word; instead, we were taught values like being a good friend, family member, and community citizen. Sometimes we even discussed things like alcohol and pre-marital sex and the consequences associated with them. It wasn't a scolding session; instead, it was a casual, open discussion to raise our awareness and teach us to make good choices. Now that I look back at it, our Sunday School was very progressive compared to what my Protestant friends told me they discussed on Sunday mornings.

Well, tonight I was checking out the facebook and noticed that my cousin updated his profile. And to my surprise, he has become a born-again Christian. This is the same kid that, not more than a year ago, hated G.W's guts (I don't want this to turn political...so that will be my last mention of him), drank excessively, and generally just got in a lot of trouble. Now his quotes section is filled with quotes from the Bible and his page has been cleaned up. I guess it's just strange to see people change ideologies entirely overnight. He's a member of a student Christian organization on campus...that IMO sometimes seems more like a cult. I went to a couple Wednesday meetings for this organization my freshmen year since I figured I could find some people to go to church with me (I'm Catholic), but it was just a little too weird for me so I stopped going. It seems like everyone I know that attends it has become a born-again Christian. In fact, this girl I really liked last year started going regularly and now she has become a born-again Christian as well. I have no problem with someone wanting to be religious, but it seems like so many of these born-again Christians lose the ability to be open minded and accepting of people once they cross over to the other side. In fact, that one girl (who used to drink alcohol) now refuses to hang out with anyone that is drinking, even if it is just something as simple as one beer at a casual get together with a small group of friends. They become highly judgemental and condemning toward others. They also tend to read the Bible literally word-for-word, even though it is a document that was passed down via word of mouth for hundreds of years by many different people. Just like when you tell a friend a bit of information, by the time it passes through mouths of 25 people, you wind up with a story that is anywhere from slightly accurate to completely bogus. I see the Bible as a general guide for good behavior, but it should not be looked at as the absolute document of morality like so many born-again Christians do. When I see these people with 20 quotes from the Bible on their facebook account, I can't help but think they need to step back and look at the big picture the Bible presents us rather than feverishly focusing on bits of ink scribbled on paper. I don't know, I guess I'm just a little shocked to see so many people suddenly becoming born-again Christians literally overnight. It's not the desire to be devoutly religious that bothers me; it's the few nutjob Christian organizations out there that spew propaganda and practice hate in the name of God, meanwhile brainwashing more and more people to join their cult. Any thoughts or comments to add? (please keep it civil)

IMHO, just like cars from the past evolved into what they are today, retro cars will also evolve, but probably in a different direction. Retro doesn't mean road block. I can think of plenty of things that would make the Mustang look better and keep it fresh...and I've heard the '09 will have rear flanks this time. I think auto design has evolved so much that we're left with either cars shaped like bars of soap or quirky boxes. The interesting styling cues and attention to detail autos had up until the 70s has sort of been lost in the age of mass production and mass marketing. The innovative or striking designs are few and far between. I personally like the idea of going back to a time before bread and butter, and evolving in a different direction from that starting point. And as new technology comes along that we can use in our automobiles, we'll incorporate it in like was done in the past. Let the Japanese and Germans do their thing, but American auto companies need to get back to their roots of bold and brash styling. It's pretty much the only way people will take a second look at them these days.

1985 Cutlass FE3X concept

"I've got shoes fa' hands...everybody!"

This is the first I've seen this image...I found it here:

Cadillac Fleetwood - refers to the Fleetwood Metal Body shop in Fleetwood, PA, which originally produced custom Cadillac bodies in the 1920s and 1930s. The plant was destroyed by fire on December 24th, 2005.

I saw that earlier...the Tom one is great! It reminds me of the party scene from Old School.

Anybody notice how if you want to look at models, prices, or specs, you have to open a PDF document? I don't know about everyone else's computer, but I get annoyed opening PDF's everytime because you have to sit there and wait for Adobe Acrobat to load. I'd rather have info quick and instantly on a normal HTML page. I'm guessing it's because they haven't finished the Camry page since all the other cars don't have PDF files.

Revenge of the 70s and 80s shoeboxes yesterday: 1978 Pontiac LeMans 1980 Chevy Malibu coupe with bright yellow paint 1982 Ford LTD 1983 Chevy Caprice Classic Plus: Big 'ol 1967 Buick LeSabre that looked like something out of a post-apocolyptic urban assault movie...rust had touched every inch of sheet metal and it was rolling on some big beefy tires with no wheel covers Sightings last week in New York: Maserati Quattroporte A decent showing of Ferraris Bently Continental GT Thousands of black Town Cars 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible in great shape Aston Martin DB9 Quite a decent showing of new Fords; Five Hundreds, Milans, Montegos, and Freestyles were around more than I expected Decent showing of G6s Cadillac DTS 1955 Chevy Bel-Air 1967 Dodge Dart Little MG roadster car

Well, it happened again...I forgot to turn my lights off and the battery died. I posted this a while ago after my car had been stalling at intersections due to a computer chip needing to be reset, and somebody posted the procedure here. I can't remember exactly how it went and the post was lost when Cheers & Gears went down. All I can remember is something about letting idle for a certain amount of time, stepping on the gas for a certain amount of time, etc. If anyone could help me out, I'd appreciate it!