tmp

I have crappy handwriting and I don't have hips to sway. I also don't make sweeping generalisations about the population based upon "studying" 4 men.

this is a clean and inexpensive motel in Santa Monica a few blocks from the beach and convenient to Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Nick's cherished Decker Canyon. Sea Shore Motel

Interesting, the same thing happened to my friends older Prius. Toyota did the same thing, calling it a "system failure". Wonder if it's a trend..

Has anybody seen the Thunder Grey Chromaflair in person? I was wondering what color it shifts to.

since we are having a heatwave I plan on sucking up every bit of AC I can muster: movies here I come!

I saw it. It was a little one-sided. (and I type that as a certified Westside tree-hugging California liberal) The reality is that GM had to do what it did with those cars- the lawyers would never let them just sell them outright, even if the prospective owners signed off indenturing GM against any possible liability. Gm would have to support cars that were in effect rolling laboratories for future technologies that were never meant to be everyday cars in circulation. It was a noble experiment: if anyone is to blame for the demise it's the government of California, who first put in place the mandate that made GM start the whole program, then changed to rules back making it just an expensive experiment. I hope that by 2010 all of those people who went out of their way to bash GM for not keeping the EV-1 program are at their local Chevy dealership buying a Volt. Alexandra Paul, I'm looking at you...

If your father pushes it, tell him the name of the campground, since he clearly wants to know. If not, then let sleeping dogs lie. He might surprise you by being okay with it and you might be hurting him more by not giving him the benefit of the doubt that he would accept and love his son, gay or straight.

You know, that's the first thing I thought when I was invited to dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant, but it was some of the most delicious food I've ever had. For me it's sushi as well. I think I could eat it every day and not get tired..

1. Twilight 2. Ocean alternate Bondhi Blue (Stolen from Apple, but that's the exact color of the first iMac) 3. Claret 4. Sapphire 5. Brownstone 6. Frost 7. Moss

whomever came up with that grey/ brown combo clearly missed out on the decorating gene...

Do they want us to think of Gloria Swanson or Divine Brown?

they are also responsible for this hideous thing

January 17th, 1994: 4.31am

charming story. maybe he'll kill himself, and you can bask in that little bit of "good news" as well.

Good move for GM!

Funny, my friend who had a new beetle did nothing but drive it and the interior was peeling like a bad sunburn two minutes after the warranty ran out. Add in the power window switches that snapped off in her hands, the glovebox door that seized up (they wanted $700 to fix it so it stays closed to this day) and the magic-self-staining seats and you have a disaster of an interior. Which would have been only annoying if the damned pile of crap didn't go through 3 clutches, 2 radiators in 90k miles, now has a shifter that feels like it's seated in warm butter and it eats brake pads like they were M&M's. But it's our fat American latte swilling asses that are the problem....

There's no voice dialing. That's insane. With my KRZR (as with my V710 before it) I can dial by tapping my headset and saying "Call (person) Mobile" It's not only stupid but unsafe to have drivers attention drawn from the road to a phonescreen to dial. An unbelievable oversight, especially considering California's impending hands-free law

Some badging is okay even if it's large- the old Imperial ones from the 50's for instance or the Ninety-Eights of the 60's Others, not so much. Toyota's badging is pretty terrible- the Camry's look like an afterthought and the Tundra pretty much shrieks "erectile dysfunction"

Paulie- take the pills. That's what they gave them to you for. Trust me, they don't hand out Vicodin like it was sen-sen; sleeping your way through this might just be the best thing for you. It's either that or daytime TV

I'm really sorry to read about that- that's really rough...

Sales are declining also because the CTS is about to be replaced by a far better model. If I were in the market, I'd wait. Most people who spend 80k on an SUV aren't that concerned with the mileage. Hybrids in the line would be a good thing though. I think that becoming to ubiquitous in the US is a valid concern: raising sales abroad it the way to go. Bring on the diesels!

Yes, but when Grandpa trades him in on a younger model he'll wish he hadn't been such a grubby little 'ho. Or not. I've found with people like him that self-delusion is the only quality that is infinite in their make-up.

If I live to be a hundred (oh wait, according to my profile I have..) I'll never understand guys like Chas, and I don't think I really want to either.

Raising the tax on gas is not the answer because it hits poor people harder- especially people like small businessmen (gardeners for instance) who have to have a truck to haul their equipment. Closing the "SUV gap" is merely making sure that SUV's are now toeing the same line as passenger cars- the only reason they were not was to give those working people a break. The rules were written before Mr and Mrs 2.5 kids decided that they wanted to drive their Ford ExxonValdez because they didn't want to seem like the sort of people who drive a minivan, and the manufacturers rightly gave them what they want. Now if they can close that tax loophole that pays realtors and hairdressers a big break for buying a Hummer and keep it to the real small businessman it was designed for, I'll be happy. As far as the gas standards- I'm of two minds. The auto industry basically said it was impossible to build cars that got decent mileage and performed well years ago, but magically they managed when CAFE came to shove- so much so that they are touting the extraordinary mileage of their new cars. What both sides of the issue in government is unwilling to do is offer some kind of carrot to help them achieve the goal- like I don't know- leaning on the Japanese to actually let the Yen be valued at what it would be valued at? Maybe having some basic national health system so that companies like the big three who have crippling health costs could pull back from those costs? Or even, crazy as it seems, offer tax incentives for companies from this country that don't move jobs overseas? I know, what crack am I smoking....

I'm 100 every year- after the first 100 years you just stop counting... Thanks for the good wishes!