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Glad to read that you are okay, but I think you should see a doctor about your pains. And a Lawyer.

The only car I've ever driven that did not gain speed downhill (including my old FIAT, my current Honda, and my friends VW and Toyota) was a Mini Cooper with that weird-a$$ CVT transmission, and I did not like the effect, thanks. That's why cars have brakes...

I think big companies routinely place-hold names.

Is the timing chain really that expensive? I just had the timing belt (nothing as fancy as a chain for a Civic) and water pump done for about $300. Of course when you're broke that might as well be $3000. Perhaps you could ask your Mom to do a fast fade for a few hours while your Dad is there? Or even (k, going out on a limb here) they could be civil to each other for an afternoon in the interest of helping out thier kid? Or perhapsif it's not importuning on Sixty8 or XP, maybe the work could be done at someplace they know of?

Telling sn Avalanche owner to trade for a Ridgeline is like telling a hungry puma to drop that meat and try this nice tofurkey. It's not going to work out well...

Happy birthday!

I'm not wild about the execution of the two woods. To me it doesn't look inlaid- it's just one wood next to another.

Unless we have a perfect storm of earthquake, fires, floods, riots and OJ again, the prices in my neighborhood ain't gonna be very affordable any time soon...

Glad you had fun! Where in West Hollywood did you stay?

I belonged to a gym for a while, but I have a gym at work, so I use that now. When I did use the gym I never left anything in the lockers of value. I kept my wallet and keys in a small bag with me and showered at home.

And make sure to neuter whatever's left of them. That's a gene pool that needs to dry up...

BMW to revive Triumph brand? Look familiar?

I would like it if the drivers door did this (unlock no matter what) and the passengers doors did not.

I saw my first '08 in the real world this morning on Doheny Drive. It really has presence.

Those are pretty extreme examples (although in her defense Miss Taylor has done a great deal of charitable work). There are 1000 working actors, singer and musicians who are nice normal people for every freakzoid you can name.

I actually thought it should have been a two-hour premiere. It went by too quickly- she went from disaffected barmaid to super-woman in 46 minutes.

I'm there with you on the cooked carrots- ew! I don't really care for boiled vegetables either. I like them roasted or raw.

I don't remember which car mag it was but I distinctly remember one of them ragging on the Solara convertible for having far more body flex than the last generation Sebring ragtop- so much so that they preferred the older Sebring over the new Solara, thinking that the rattle-trap Solara would only get worse over time. I think the new Sebring isn't bad in convertible form and the G-6 is actually quite nice. I think most people over-rate "useable trunk space"; what are you hauling? I don't believe I've even opened my trunk in the past 6 months and I know that in 5 years of ownership I have never used the pass-through.

Jeebus! Glad to read that you are all right!

Because we have free speech, and the president of Columbia, Lee Bollinger introduced him by saying "Today I feel all the weight of the modern civilized world yearning to express the revulsion at what you stand for" before allowing the pinhead to hoist himself with his own hateful rhetoric. Bollinger basically asked him hardball questions and (as opposed to 60 Minutes on Sunday) didn't leave him any wiggle room. He let him show himself for what he is.

Ah, the joys of the "free market" and outsourcing.

I don't mind them. I sort of wish that designers would just take into consideration that states have them and design around it.

Oh, and it is bizarre to be there after 9/11. I lived and worked in the Village/SoHo are and I used to navigate by those towers: I always knew where South was when I got off the subway. And yes, I was one of those obnoxious people who thought of themselves as from "The City" with my 212 are code. I was even more obnoxious- I considered going above 14th Street a chore.

I lived there for a few years back in the day. I think it's something that I could do again only if I had serious money. I have a friend who lives there and makes conservatively four times what I make a year, but still lives in a place that's a quarter the size of mine. The crowds are crazy-busy and I kind of don't like the person I become when I have to deal with them. I'll take my comparatively quiet little bubble here in LA. I'm going next month for a week, and she's already making plans for the both of us to get "away" to New England for a few days of that week.

Everyone already covered the LA neighborhood pronunciations, so all I have left are streets: Rodeo Drive is Roh-DAY-oh, but Rodeo Road is ROH-dee-oh Benedict Canon Drive is CAHN-yon, but Canon drive is CAHN-on All of the street names that aren't trees are Spanish, but never pronounced with an accent. Wilshire Blvd is pronounced WIL-shur, not wil-Shire And if you want to fit in when you visit NYC there's the notorious Houston Street, which is pronounced HOW-stahn