The Lounge

Cuba to cut 500,000 gov't workers, reform salaries AP Cuba announced Monday it will cast off at least half a million state workers by early next year and reduce restrictions on private enterprise to help them find new jobs — the most dramatic step yet in President Raul Castro's push to radically remake employment on the communist-run island. Castro suggested during a nationally televised address on Easter Sunday that as many as 1 million Cuban workers — about one in five — may be redundant. But the government had not previously laid out specific plans to slash its work force, and the speed and scope of the coming cutbacks were astounding. Cuba's official work force is…

Vanity Fair Thousands upon thousands of government employees take to the streets to protest the bill. Here is Greece’s version of the Tea Party: tax collectors on the take, public-school teachers who don’t really teach, well-paid employees of bankrupt state railroads whose trains never run on time, state hospital workers bribed to buy overpriced supplies. Here they are, and here we are: a nation of people looking for anyone to blame but themselves. The Greek public-sector employees assemble themselves into units that resemble army platoons. In the middle of each unit are two or three rows of young men wielding truncheons disguised as flagpoles. Ski masks and gas masks …

Almost a decade now...

In September 2009, I road tripped along the Illinois portion of the Lincoln Highway and Route 66 from Illinois to California. That trip increased my awareness of "old routes" in general, including others like the Dixie Highway and US Route 6. Last year's journey also increased my awareness of the "road ahead". Whether the road is "less traveled" or filled with traffic, looking ahead is most-often fun, in more ways than one. Around the Elgin area, I "exercise" my Monte Carlos on the same "old" roads west of Elgin, including US Route 20: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_20 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_20_in_Illinois Some of those roads, particularly…

Anyone have it? If so, shoot me a PM.

About one month ago, this was my driveway: Since then, the Cobalt was deemed a total loss, my brother's friend no longer practically lives with us (the Grand Prix in the pic), I bought that Olds, and now today, I sold the Millenia for paltry $200. Someone got a pretty good deal if they do all the work it needs. A few random other car related things... My brother hit a deer with his Alero. My Mom is officially looking for a Sunfire replacement. She'd like to find something with low mileage that's newer and fuel efficient. We did find an 02 Cavalier with 50k for $3k, but the seller never contacted us back, so I figure it's sold. Also found a 99 Cutlass with 47k for …

lol funny title. Anyway, the Camaro's gas gauge has its head up its ass. Went out of town, filled it up to a half-tank. It was about a 100 mile trip there and back. My car will go for 400 miles on a full-tank, which a full Camaro gas tank holds 15.5 gallons. That equals up to around 25 mpg in mixed conditions. That's about average gas mileage for a V6 Camaro with a 5-speed. So if this is true, my car could have made this trip on about 1/4 of a tank, right? I've done it before, so it did it again, right? No. Apparently, it took the whole damn half-tank to do it. It also somehow managed to go about 50 miles reading flat empty. So today, I put five bucks in it. It obvi…

Hey all, Does anybody have any opinions to share about baltimore? My girl friend and I are thinking of moving there late next year. We both graduate in may and I can easily get another senior paralegal or project manager job in DC. We both like the idea of Baltimore because it is so much cheaper then the greater NYC area where we live now even though we would both be working in DC and we would be getting paid roughly equal to NY wages. From what I've gathered Baltimore has parts you wouldn't want to be caught dead in but has great parts along the river like Ferderal hill. We're both suckers for row houses and we've been to some of the good areas and really like t…

I got out of my house this morning to discover my car was hit and run. The driver's side of the car was sideswiped from behind, leaving a gash along the rear door, quarter panel, rear bumper, and rear wheel. More worryingly, though, is that the alignment is off; the poor thing now veers right. The Passat has a twist-beam rear axle, and I'm guessing the beam is bent. There really aren't any rear alignment settings for it (I just had the car aligned a few weeks ago, along with new rear shocks). Anyone know if a rear beam can be knocked back to spec, or am I looking at a new axle? I don't have collision insurance coverage on it.

I've been a little beside myself, humbled, since this happened. I don't have much to say. I'm out of a truck now, though. Let me also say, that, if I had hit the power lines going 30 MPH rather than 25 (the speed limit down the particular road I was traveling), I wouldn't even be typing this right now. The force of the hit of my truck was enough to almost snap the pole supporting the lines in two and knock the transformer off of its mountings (only two wires were holding it in place). Totalled. What happened? I can't really say for sure. I just know I came upon a surprise curve and tried to keep myself on the road by slowing down and (perhaps stupidly) downshiftin…

I'm doing my surfing around the 'net and cant help but laugh at the Honda Fit ad I'm being subject to on the front page of GMInsideNews. You've got to be kidding me, right?

It looks like the Blazer and S-10 still exisit.

The following was taken from a banner at a website. It clearly shows that the Cobain-Suicide humor has either reached a twisted zenith or an all-time high. Possibly both.

Ahh- the smell of model cement !! I spent some time as a kid building plastic models- if any of us hasn't, I'd be surprised. I built maybe 15. When I moved out, my mom tossed 'em all off my 3-tier shelf- I wasn't really upset I suppose. I do have a half dozen of the boxes, as they were usually packed with odds-n-ends; them, I still have. I don't think we've done a thread on this, so perhaps some pics of some favorites would be interesting. Some of mine I built (via Google): The Tom Daniels stuff was fantastic. Others were mostly classics- '30s-40s stuff, nothing from the '50s/60s. Anyone else?

Haven't seen you in a while but Happy Birthday Ven ...

In Afghanistan, a car for the masses By David Nakamura Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, August 27, 2010 IN KABUL Afghanistan, graveyard of empires - and Toyota Corollas. If this war-torn nation of 29 million is a magnet for foreign occupying forces that never seem to leave, it is also the land where old Corollas from around the globe come to die. According to some car dealers in Kabul, 90 percent of passenger vehicles on the increasingly congested roads of the capital are Corollas, some more than 20 years old, with 200,000 miles on their odometers, still chugging along over rocky dirt roads. "Here is the museum of old cars," snorted Abdul Qahar Nadi, manag…

How to feed the world: Brazil's agricultural miracle Economist THE world is planting a vigorous new crop: “agro-pessimism”, or fear that mankind will not be able to feed itself except by wrecking the environment. The current harvest of this variety of whine will be a bumper one. Natural disasters—fire in Russia and flood in Pakistan, which are the world’s fifth- and eighth-largest wheat producers respectively—have added a Biblical colouring to an unfolding fear of famine. By 2050 world grain output will have to rise by half and meat production must double to meet demand. And that cannot easily happen because growth in grain yields is flattening out, there is little extr…

Pictures are from last weekend's Susquehanna Valley GTO (SVGTO) club's 2010 All Pontiac Show, held at Amos Herr Park in Landisville (Lancaster), PA. Thanks to ocnblu for encouraging me to attend the show, it definitely was a worthwhile trip. Enjoy!!

Each year, I do at least one "major" road trip to see places and meet family and friends. I hope to do some "weekend voyages" during 2010, but for now, I'm planning these drives.... ** MC NATS, JUNE 2010 ** I'll travel to Richmond IN for the 25th Annual Monte Carlo Nationals: http://www.montecarloclub.com/Monte_Nationals_Page.htm ** NOR'EASTER TREK, AUG 2010 ** My "major" road trip is a drive to the northeast US. Plans for this trip are developing, but the tentative/skeletal itinerary is below. If you are interested in meeting up along the way, please advise me.... WED, AUG 4 ...Illinois ...to Fort Wayne IN area ...to Detroit MI area THU, AUG 5 ...Detroit MI…

I thought you guys might enjoy this one.... A guy met an older woman in a bar. They drank and flirted and he decided she was pretty hot for a fifty-five-year-old. As they exchanged a passionate kiss, she whispered in his ear: "Have you ever had a mother and daughter together?" "No" he answered. "But it's something I've always fantasized about" "Well, tonight could just be your lucky night." she said, knocking back another double vodka. Scarcely able to contain himself, he went back to her place. She turned the key in the door, put the hall light on and shouted upstairs: "Mom, you still awake?"

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Let's share stories about the state of the infrastructure in the state you live. In this case I'm going to point out the state of bridges in Massachusetts (and some in NH near the border). As of 2008, there were 543 bridges that were structurally deficient "due to years of neglect" in Massachusetts. The state was forced to initiate an emergency rehabilitation and/or replacement program to get these bridges back up to code. Link Here's example of just what I have personally seen/see every day (except the bridges opening up). In Methuen they had to do major structure renovations to the the bridge which goes over 213, and had to close the whole bridge down to do it. Sever…

This here pic is one I spliced together. The B&W shot to the left was taken in 1948, the color shot- this past weekend. I didn't notice either mark until I got home and downloaded my pics and compared them to the older shots, or I would have investigated it close up. It's the same location and the same stone block, right in the middle of nowhere. Kinda spooky- I could see if the fresh marks were in '48, but vice-versa; IDK. Must mean something.

From the world of YouTube music, I bring you another smash hit from questionable means: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvgJEznqtms&feature=player_embedded#! I can just see it now ... pure driving EXCITEMENT!!!!!! scooting across a TV screen ... probably black in color ... chorus comes in and pure driving EXCITEMENT!!!!!! does a skid on a wet track ... then Don LaFontane or James Earl Jones comes in with, "Feel fly in your G6 with this new attractive lease offer of $1400 down and $199 a month."

Parking in rear.

No, not the show with Johnathan Frakes. While hunting down some evidence to build my case to walk away from Hyundai of Somerset with an even Camaro-for-Dakota swap, I found this interesting little piece: http://knoxville.craigslist.org/ctd/1898512894.html It's an '89 Dodge Dakota with 1 mile on the clock. Yes, 1 little insignificant mile. I don't know if I believe that, but the truck sure as hell looks clean as can it be.

Missing centenarians cause angst in aging Japan Japan prides itself on the world's longest life expectancy but is struggling with a disturbing footnote to that statistic - revelations that hundreds of people listed as its oldest citizens are either long dead or haven't been heard from for decades. The mystery of the missing centenarians has captured the attention of this rapidly graying nation with reports of scamming relatives and overworked social workers and sad tales of old people, isolated and forgotten, simply slipping out of touch with society. The story unfolded in late July when police discovered that Sogen Kato, who would have been 111 and was thought to be T…

My Mom and brother told me about this restaurant near home. I will have to check it out on my next trip back to Ohio...looks like fun--a lot of automobilia, gas station signs, gas pumps, car dealer signs, some 1:1 cars on display ('68 Biscayne, 56 Chevy 2dr wagon, '62 Biscayne or Bel Air, etc). Hot Rod City

Pictures say it all but this. My boyfriend is looking for a car and we found this.

Huge ice island could threaten shipping lanes Another Titanic? Scientists scramble to plot path of massive chunk that broke off Greenland STOCKHOLM — An island of ice more than four times the size of Manhattan is drifting across the Arctic Ocean after breaking off from a glacier in Greenland. Potentially in the path of this unstoppable giant are oil platforms and shipping lanes — and any collision could do untold damage. In a worst-case scenario, large chunks could reach the heavily trafficked waters where another Greenland iceberg sank the Titanic in 1912. It's been a summer of near biblical climatic havoc across the planet, with wildfires, heat and smog in Russia …

Apparently, there's a rapist in Linkin Park. I'm betting on the DJ or maybe dude who raps. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua-OqYZC1DA&feature=related And, of course, the dudes who brought you Strutting Ass with Autotune and the Double Rainbow song turned it into this delightfully catchy tune that might just be Billboard Hot 100 material. Mr. Dodson might just have the raw talent to rival T-Pain.

So this week I've been hauling a lot of junk into my favorite scrap metal yard, Ace Iron and scrap. Weird group of cars there... A group of Alfa Sedans...a bunch of older Benzes, from the 80's and 90's, some odd stuff... A Suburban with 24" expensive wheels that was in decent shape, expensive wheels left on the thing when it went to the crusher for some odd reason... A really clean 944 Porsche, that had a claw put through it's roof... Several clean FWD Cadillacs. a few with low mileage and nice... Several Jags... A WRX (2004ish) that had been built into a rally car of sorts....was crushed, so I couldn't get a good look at the cage...but somebody had a bad day racin…

Let me just say. F-U-C-K. Since that is out of the way, here's the story. Myself, Dallas, and my brother Zack decided to hit up NYC for a day. We left around 3 am to be there early and give us as much time possible. Pa was a breeze. NJ was until halfway through. After that it was traffic, traffic, and more traffic. Lots of bumper to bumper with random bursts of moving. Mostly stationary with a bit of 2 mph for a good hour. Things started to speed up again right before I-280 started. A little lane changing to get through traffic quicker and then we merged onto 280. Not long after that we came to another halt. Sped up again... and then suddenly the cars in front of me sto…

Whole story Here

I'm starting to wonder if, perhaps, I might have gotten scammed in some fashion and if I should go ahead and get a refund. Here's the story. Let's see what you think. On Tuesday, July 27th, I purchased a guitar from eBay, an '84 G&L Superhawk (for those of you who are familiar with Alice In Chains, Jerry Cantrell uses the one-pickup version of the Superhawk called the Rampage). I was previously the high bidder in the auction (ended on the 26th), but the auction closed with the reserve not being met. I get a message through eBay the following day (the day I bought the guitar) with a Second Chance Offer, the seller saying he would let me have the guitar for $360 bucks…

It's been more like two plus years now, but here is the story with the original intro... Almost exactly one year ago, a friend challenged me to answer a couple of questions. What you see below is one of them, followed by my answer. As you can see, I got a bit carried away. I may return to this someday as it took me in a new direction. Or not. -Camino ************************************************************** Allow yourself to assume the role of Dr. Frankenstein. You have the ability to pick and choose the best traits of humans to create the perfect man. Which traits and characteristics do you [imbue into] this new and better man? The base you are using to con…

Warning: Some colourful language. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B55uUwMGorY And now a remix:

There are rumblings in various states about legalizing pot. I think it's only a matter of time before it happens nationwide. So, I'm just curious, if pot becomes legal and generally available, would you start using it if you don't already? If you already use pot, would you use it more? I tried it a couple of times in college and didn't like how it affected me. I say legalize it if they want, but I won't be using it.

Hope it's a good one!

___WHAT___ 3rd Annual MidSummer Chitown Gathering ___WHEN___ SATURDAY ... JULY 24, TwentyTen ~10:30a ... Start! ~11a to ~12:30p ... Drive! (route details to be determined ... maybe a "poker run" of sorts) ~12:30p to ?? ... lunch! ... meet'n'greet! ... dinner! RAIN OR SHINE ___WHERE___ STEAK'n'SHAKE 290 S RANDALL RD ELGIN IL 60123 http://www.mapquest.com/maps/290+S+Randall+Rd+Elgin+IL+60123/ ...just south of US Route 20! ___WHO & WHY___ Everyone ... because meeting people and spending time with friends is AWESOME! THIS IS A FAMILY EVENT. ** WILL YOU JOIN US? ** ___COSTS___ GAS FOOD ... Steak'n'Shake will provide coupons. To save $, try Steak'n'…

Boogie Boarding :: Nags Head, North Carolina "Going down da shore" is Philadelphia-ese for vacationing at the beach. It usually means heading to Cape May, Wildwood, Sea Isle City, or Avalon, New Jersey--great beaches all, with amusement parks and boardwalks and plenty of places for family entertainment. And many thousands of people do seek out these relaxation spots every weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day. But if you're "going down da shore" early in the season, when ocean temperatures in New Jersey are typically in the 60s, you need to head to more southern locations. North Carolina's Outer Banks lures many of these early vacationers. Read more at: http://aut…

Enjoy!

Should be the name of a horror film based on this summer's weather.

Allow me to introduce my daughter, Sierra Skye!! Born Wednesday, July 14th at 10:56 PM. Weight: 6 pounds, 13 ounces; Length: 20 inches. Mom and baby are both doing well at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (Hamilton Township, Mercer County). Both big brothers, Justin (4) and Anthony (16), are very happy to have a sister. As for the name, it should be no mystery where "Sierra" comes from (still to this day I'm surprised the wife went along with this choice!), and the wife always liked Sky(e) (yes, from the roadster!) as a middle name. My last name begins with a "R", so that makes Sierra's initials SSR too!!

Discuss.

=/

Built right! Check the power figures on this sweet little baby. <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

So I finally treated myself to a proper camera (Rebel 550D/T2i) and I've been just taking some random shots around town... figured I'd share a few of them here. ...and of course a few mildly edited shots of my car.

I needed my own thread. I was in Detroit again this weekend and saw even more cars than the last time. Pictures of some to follow, noted with (*). Alfa Romeo 8C * Aston Martin Lagonda * Aston Martin Rapide * (!) Aston Martin Virage BMW M1 Buick Regal Cadillac CTS coupe concept * (!) Cadillac CTS-V coupe * (also watched a start up and take off by a GM engineer) Chevy Corvette ZR1 Chevy Corvette Callaway C16 Supercharged Chevy Corvette Callaway B2k Twin Turbo Chevy Corvette Specter GTR Chevy Corvette LMS Racer. DeTomaso Pantera GTS Ferrari California (start up) Ferrari 458 Italia (!) Ferrari F430 Scuderia Ferrari 360 Modena Ferrari 575 Superameri…

In The next month I will be in the USA. I will be making my personal fleet changes and ordering 2 new 2011 vehicles... OUT 2005 Chevy Equinox LT AWD 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix GXP IN 2011 GMC SLT-2 Terrain in Carbon Black 2011 Chevy 2SS Camaro in Synergy Green

Check out this article on vacationing in North Carolina. It's more about the road trip to go on vacation and incidentally about the trip to Nags Head. What do you think? http://automotivetraveler.com/jump/1920

Can't wait for Friday, 117 degrees and 80% humidity. I should be getting paid triple for this.

My dodgefan moment...we got a lot of runs at the last autocross, and got to ride along in a Viper driven 'in anger." I still like the Z06 a little better (it feels like a little more of an animal) but...ohmygodwhatacar My Balthazar moment...pulled up in a rural driveway in a service call to fix some electricd...guys is an old fart from New Jersey...has a 62 Pontiac Grand Prix with 64,000 original miles, dark marron, nice shape...sitting in the driveway. Guy spent most of his life in New Jersey before moving to Ohio...he also had a 69 Mach 1, a 67 Mustang fastback, and a 65 Mustang convertible. My sixty eight panther moment...was doing a service call at a truck stop...…

In early August my girlfriend and I will be driving to Florida. Along the way we will be passing through Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. We'll be heading through Alabama on the way back since we're going to stop and visit her niece near Huntsville. I've been to all mentioned except the deep south states like Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, so it should be a fun trip. How inundated was Nashville with water? I was thinking that would be a great halfway point, but if it was anything like the flooding we had here two years ago, we'll probably stay somewhere else instead. I want to check out Atlanta, but I don't really know what there is to see o…

it's an internship with unilever in Sikeston Mo. been working a few days. helping impliment S5, TMP and generally better inventory oversight. dont' know what else i'll be helping with, but it pays 2x what my previous jobs did, and while i don't get any benefits, other things are keeping costs to a minimum. thought some of you might like to know that...nice to be able to say too.

Linkity I guess free market/globalization is coming to an end.

I don't recall this being posted last year when this piece came out. I kinda like it, tho I imagine the practicality is non-existant. My linkClicky

Whose been keeping up? It's shaping up to be a great series, and this Sunday they test the Camaro. Should be fun.

...with a Jaguar E-type. The E-type that has been hanging around the "car barn" with the Healeys is bound for driver duty, so I guess I'll be getting to know all of its deepest secrets going forward.

I bought a PS3. I've had the urge to lately, but wanted to wait until GT5 was finally released. Yesterday, I decided to act upon this urge and purchased one along with the game 'Fallout 3'. I'm hitting up Ebay for more games as I type. I probably should have splurged for the 250 GB model, but I figured I would never really use the extra disc space anyways and went with the cheaper 120 GB model. With my slow internet connection, I can't see myself downloading a bunch of extras. We have a well rounded household line-up now. PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, and even an old Sega Genesis. If I still had my Sega Dreamcast, it'd be even better. I'm looking forward to some fun gaming, …

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Happy Birthday to JamesBond! A birthday so secret, we almost didn't catch it!

Enjoy it.

Clicky Sounds hellish.

So, anyone planning to attend? I will be there on Saturday (6/26), unless the wife goes into labor before I hit the road ( ), and this year I'll be alone as the little guy has his last T-ball game and pizza party. Anyone else planning to be there? Show info & details: http://www.carsatcarlisle.com/ce/events/gm-nationals/ PDF of the show's program (great pictures of the special vehicles that will be on display): http://www.carsatcarlisle.com/ce/pdf/2010_GM_Directory_Web.pdf

OK I'm in traffic yesterday in Ocean City, MD. It's like 3 lanes wide. Summertime, everybody's there to have a ball. Pull up to a red light and this PERSON in the truck next to me has a song blaring. Here's a snippet: "Smokin' cigarettes and watchin' Captain Kangaroo Now don't tell me There's nothin' To do..." Please help me uncover the mystery! What is the name of this song?

...to go to a dragstrip.