The Lounge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=Lb4A4q4zYyM&feature=endscreen

Link over here once http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/zero-s/

...if they had, I would have kept my eyes closed more. I have YET to see a Dodge Dart on the road, but I got accosted by this a few minutes ago:

Ah, Fort Myers, Florida. What a good place to celebrate a December birthday. Have a good one! Stay warm!

The Undoing Painted into corners Many hands on the brush Options narrowed Managed Pointed toward anonymity Automatically debited Casually credited Directly deposited Increasingly obligated Invasively secured Collectively herded To some dark and bloodless conformity NO is the answer Less really is more Defiance is mandatory To unwind the web Around each of us alone And all of us together To begin to dismantle A status quo Bereft of all sense And find new freedom Here in the Undoing

My boss invited the few members of my department to attend a conference in Phoenix Thursday through Sunday (11/29-12/2). I'll be staying at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and will be at the Phoenix Convention Center for the conference. There isn't too much free time Friday-Saturday, and I arrive late morning on Thursday. Anyone here from that area, or been to that area, that can tell me if there's something I should most defintely see? I may have free time Thursday afternoon, and it looks like the members of my team may be meeting for dinner Thursday night.

So as I was driving home tonight, I saw a survivor 69 Camaro...funky green, no cowl hood or big tires, slightly faded owm vynal top, hub caps, etc....and then I realized that Chevrolet didn't even have the best styling and design of the 60's Pontiac did IMHO. And in each decade, one winner clearly stands out....my verdict... Teens....Chevrolet....I love how they were able to make such simple design work so well... 20's...chevrolet again... 30's..buick...nice understated, clean design....Cadilla\c hyad some fantastic stuff, but overall buick... 40's...Oldsmobile....49 OIds 88 is one of my all tiem fav GM cars, and Olds design languagfe of the era was to me uniquely con…

Pretty amazing specimen...

Just fabolous...

What you've seen on TV and in the papers pales in comparison to what it's really like after Hurricane Sandy hit us. There are thousands of people who have lost everything... houses washed into the sea, entire neighborhoods burned to the ground, loved ones killed and injured. It will take many years to rebuild, in some case never at all. You can see some of the pictures here http://www.wbab.com/gallery/weather/hurricanes/images-hurricane-sandy/g568/#last So we find ourselves hitting every avenue we can to help raise funds and get help for the victims of Hurricane Sandy here on LI. New York AutoFest is putting on a car show fundraiser on November 25 in Commack, NY with …

Yeah, this week totally blows, and I don't give a rat's ass what side of the political or culinary fence you sit on. First, Ron Paul announces that he will retire from politics, another major war likely looms on the horizon, and now Hostess announces that it is going out of buisness. Yep. That's right. Our collective fat American asses will no longer be able to scarf down the golden sweet goodness of the processed junk food we know and love as the Twinkie. Or slap together a peanut butter sandwich using the whitest of white bread, Wonder Bread. No longer can we swing by a Circle K or 7-11 and grab a handful of Ho Hos or Hostess Cupcakes, nor can we hazily gorge ourselves…

Do any of you DIY guys have experience with ordering from this site? Looks pretty good at first glance...

Something horrifying, that can't be unseen... http://l1.yimg.com/b...ramic/cady1.jpg

Anyone know what I'm fiddling around with in my profile pic?

So, last Wednesday I check my personal email in the late morning and find this message waiting for me: Now I have purchased several items from the GMC Collection web site over the past couple of years (http://www.gmccollection.com/) and follow them on Facebook for updates, to ask inquiries, and to give my suggestions for items I'd like to purchase. I recently inquired about the availability of holiday ornaments, which they offered in 2010 (missed) and 2011 (got both) [note: there will be none this year]. I guess as a result of that latest round of questioning I received the email above. So fast forward to Saturday's mail delivery. This is what I retrieved out of th…

Link: http://www.gocomics....nest/2012/11/11

A letter to the engineer who thought to use pop rivets to secure window regulators instead of bolts. Dear engineer, If I ever meet you, I will put a rivet through your balls. Sincerely, Anyone who has ever had to drill those f@#kers out.

WOW, This is a freakin amazing Barn Find, Watch the Video and sound off. It is amazing how much of these old auto's and motorcycles actually run still. http://www.cooleston...mate-Barn-Find/ Sound off on this awesome find! There are some awesome cars. They spend time on the motorcycles, but some of the old cars are freakin amazing especially the 1949 Veritas by a group of engineers that went to work for BMW.

I put this trailer hitch and tire trailer setup together this fall to give myself a little piece of mind when I take my car on trips to the track. I will feel much more comfortable making the trips to Road America and Heartland Park (I currently live near Chicago) next year knowing I have a full set of wheels and tires with me. Tire trailer did great on the highway, couldn't even feel it back there. See you at the track.

I'm curious about the '67 Chevy pickup in this picture: It appears to be a Bill Mitchell special project. It has many design/styling features that were not on the production model. Does anyone have any information about it, or additional pictures? Thanks!

I attended the very last car show of 2012, as far as the shows I'm aware of at least. It was the BOP-APALOOZA (Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac) show held at the Atco Raceway in Atco, NJ last Saturday, November 5. Prior years this was a Pontiac-only show, this year it was opened to Buick and Oldsmobiles (however, a majority of the cars in the show were Pontiacs with an almost even split between BOP on the drag strip). I present approximately 60 pictures that I took:

All sorts of pics with cars & vans from my youth...

Couldn't wait for the official thread to post this one: Sorry it's a bit blurry; I was kind of loaded when I snapped the shutter.

Hi all. I'm truck shopping. Getting rid of the mini-van now that I need something to better meet the family needs. I've looked at all makes, questioned new owners, examined build-lists, optioned-together glorified "I wish" truck builds, came back to Earth, and started searching for deals. The 2012 clearouts for 0% financing held few to be desired, so I waited... until I saw an ad at the local dealership for an "End of the World Sale" - one day only. They're discounting everything on their lot, including 2013 units. Test drove a 2013 SLE with the 1SB package and a couple add-on options and liked it, but stopped cold when I saw an All Terrain with the Offroad package …

I'd love to see my C&G friends at the track! I've been driving in the Philly region SCCA autocross season this summer...and the last race was postponed (because of that little lady we called Sandy) until November 11. And I know a bunch of you are in this region! Come out...bring your rides...sign up for the race. Show us what you've got! We'll be in the parking lot at the Dover Speedway. In the meantime, I've posted some stories about what I've learned on the track. Check out part 2 at: http://automotivetraveler.com/jump/4289 And tell us your racing stories...legal ones, please.

So, I pull into the driveway and stop to collect the trash cans. I use the dash switch to open the rear hatch in my new Tahoe and load in the cans. Truck is running while I do this. I close up the back and go to the driver's door. The Tahoe has locked itself with my only key in the ignition. I try multiple "tools" to get at the lock switch on the door while I try to balance on the running board. I slip. I smack the side-view mirror with my hand, breaking it. After about an hour and a half of trying, I manage to operate the lock switch. One direction - no result The other direction - no result So I go for the window switch and finally get into the truck. I have s…

...GMC pickup and Chevy car, a day at the beach.

So what kicked off this search was my reading Oldsmoboi's post, "If Mazda survives that long", and thinking, "What a wierd thing to say!". It got me thinking, I wonder if Mazda is only doing well here in Canada. So here are some graphs I dug up. Mazda outsells Nissan here in Canada, where in the US they get beaten almost 4-to-1. Also, note the American GM-Ford-Toyota podium vs. Ford-Chrysler-GM in Canada.

jajajajajajajajajajajajajajaja!!!!

A precious little girl walks into a pet shop and asks in the sweetest little lisp, "Excuthe me, mithter, do you keep widdle wabbits?" As the shopkeeper's heart melts, he gets down on his knees, so that he's on her level, and asks, "Do you want a widdle white wabby or a thoft and fuwwy bwack wabby or maybe one like that cute widdle bwown wabby over there?" She, in turn blushes, rocks on her heels, puts her hands on her knees, leans forward and says in a quiet voice, "I don't fink my pet python weally gives a thit.

'...NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, called NuSTAR, has taken its first glimpse of our galaxy’s supermassive black hole, thanks to a recent flare-up at the galactic core. NuSTAR, a state-of-the-art, space-based X-ray telescope, was aimed at Sagittarius A*, a compact radio source identified as a black hole, for two days in July. The goal was to better understand just what makes our galaxy's central black hole so different from others. Compared to other galaxies, the Milky Way’s black hole is relatively calm. While other supermassive black holes devour gas and stars around them, releasing large amounts of energy in the process, ours only seems to have the occ…

... you wouldn't understand it.

You're internationally known! Have yourself a good day, sir.

* Are you IN? To spend time w/people, including YOU!, & celebrate anniversaries... ...1st of my 4th open heart surgery, 11/11/2011 ...9th of my 3rd OHS, 01/06/2003 ...20th of purchasing my 1st car, my 1979 MC, October 1992 ...25th of my 2nd OHS, March 1987 ...35th of my 1st OHS, November 1977 WHEN/WHERE? 11/11/2012, Sunday 11a = pre-lunch (place depends on weather) 1p = main event, lunch @ NICK'S PIZZA & PUB 990 S Randall Rd Elgin IL 60123 http://www.nickspizzapub.com/elgin/ After lunch (3p?) = Car cruise/visits? If you ARE joining us, PLEASE CONTACT me so I have a general # for Nick's Pizza: faithcubsmc2691 @ aol.com (or) 847- 337- 9897 …

So, despite previous worries that the Astra wasn't going to hold up, it seems it may be here to stay for a while. At the moment, it's still having random issues with the fuel gauge and range readouts going out of synch (further investigation doesn't point to a weak fuel pump, but rather issues with the CANBUS controller), but otherwise it hasn't stalled or quit since having the camshaft sensors replaced. I realized some time ago that I didn't want to spend much money on the car, however there are "attention" areas that I'm going to deal with in the near future on the car. First, I've realized driving a car like the Astra makes it an absolute hell to drive at night when s…

I honestly do not know what the hell this person is thinking on doing this to this vet!

As my mother ages, she's gotten pretty frightened of thunderstorms, especially if there is a tornado watch involved. She lives in a trailer park, and keeps her little place neat as a pin. I guess having seen some of the destruction on the news over the years from storms in the midwest, has hightened her awareness. I usually use humor to try to calm her, and try to cite probability to show her that she'll be OK. Friday night, a tornado that was embedded in a thunderstorm, along with some destructive straight-line winds, blasted through her area, to within a mile of her home. She lost power, and said she heard a thunderous, constant roar for a while, but that she didn'…

Or is the front car an olds or buick...can't tell given the size of the pic....still funny...

So I drop by my buddy's body shop today, and tghey are starting on two interesting projects...a 1968 firebird that is badly in need of a resto, but all original and untouched, a 350 4 speed numbers matching car. I can see that...I'll post pics if I get a chance... Second car is a HARD hit that the owner is sentimental about, and is making a large cash payment in addition to the insurance to repair. Car was hit so hard that it ripped the passenger door completely off the car, buckled the firewall, bent the A pillar, shoved the windshield out of the car, bent the dashboard, buckled the passenger floor boards (although not irrepairably) buckled the trunk floor and inner wh…

Take 'er easy and have a good one, sir.

So I posted about what I made for dinner over at Facebook, and two chicks I went to school with are fighting over me. What did I get myself into?

I crave it

The internet is a vast and interesting place, a new frontier in and of itself with plenty of dark and obscure corners begging to be explored. Some take some digging to reach, others can be stumbled upon simply by running a Google search for whatever trivial topic pops into your mind. The following sketches of a few interesting GM cars and concepts were found using the latter method. These designs were all done by industrial designer Jess Bailie, who was the lead designer for the Buick Verano at GM. He also played a major role in influencing the design of the upcoming Buick Encore/Opel Mokka, as well as the Cadillac XTS and Hummer HX concept vehicles. The following images…

...In Lisbon to be exact. So I am driving my new Megane GT Line wagon (purchased June 2012) home after I stopped by the mall to buy a new TV and all of a sudden I distract myself with the radio screen for half a second... When I look ahead, I see a car stopped at a crosswalk. I hit the brakes hard, but since the road was very very slippery due to the 1st real rainfall after the Summer, the car slides and hits the car in front at between 30KPH and 40KPH... No injuries (thankfully!) and the car is running well, but from what I checked in my garage when I got home the repair will include a new front bumper (the fron parking sensors went nuts), new right front headlight uni…

[...] But those involved hope their ambitious goal of simulating the tangle of neurons and synapses that power our thought processes could offer solutions to tackling conditions such as depression, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's. The Human Brain venture is the next step in a long-running program that has already succeeded in using computers to create a virtual replica of part of a rat's neocortex -- a section of the brain believed to control higher functions such as conscious thought, movement and reasoning. Scientists at its forerunner, the Switzerland-based Blue Brain Project, have been working since 2005 to feed a computer with vast quantities of data and algor…

Have a really good day in Minnesota, sir.

So my dad sent me an email that I loved but found it hard to swallow that someone would sell off a sealed barn full of auto's for pennies and not look to see what was in it first. Yet here is an amazing barn find. http://www.intuh.net/barnfinds/ Here is the research done to get a better grab on the story, but I have to say I would love some of these old cars. http://www.sportscarmarket.com/columns-blogs/news/2709-portuguese-barn-find-fact-or-fiction What is your Favorite? This sealed Barn has 180 cars in it.

This is not your father's birthday greeting. Have a good one, sir!

Anyone identify what this truck is? Can you Identify this car? Can you Identify this car? How about this weird little number?