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In a famous meetup, the Eyesore of the Seas, the Ungainly of the Seas, and the Tacky of the Seas.

Since it was almost 80 and sunny today, went to the beach after work then out for seafood for dinner. Restaurant is in a building from 1865 that was once a hotel.

The Disney(Dream is what we were on) ship was impressively nice, as it should be for 2-4 times the price. We were docked next to a Carnival boat at one place and that just looked like a dump i comparison. Just looking at the Carnival boat made me never want to go on one.

Agreed. Your caption is funny. I saw this yesterday. (Still, these group photos are always sort of cool.) This is the largest segment of the Royal Caribbean fleet. People derisively call them floating condominiums or cruise boxes. They are sad in that they are too big and mostly all about bling and bells & whistles. Traditional ocean liners were noteworthy and memorable because they were designed with the forecastle pushed back far enough from the bow and with rear decks that tapered nicely behind the funnels, and with the outdoor pools were typically placed on ample rear decks. On the British and French liners, there were also additional pool(s) indoors, on the lower decks. On the Italian liners, all the pools were outside. The QM2, the only true transatlantic liner today, had to do a balancing act. It was required that the bow was sleek enough, that the forecastle was pushed back enough, and that the rear of the ship would be tapered while upping the number of exterior and balcony cabins compared to the outgoing QE2. That was a tall order, but they did a good job with the design. Sadly, the QE and QV are part of the Cunard fleet, were built at Fincantieri near Venice, are boxy, are used primarily for cruises, and fortunately are NOT the Cunard flagship. This shows what I'm talking about, with the QM2 in the middle, looking pretty darn nice to me: Again, people respond to good design even though they may not be able to verbalize what they like and dislike. Many ships come into Quebec City during the cruise season, but the area's citizens generally only turn out in significant numbers to see the arrival and departure of the QM2.

I said I'd never do a cruise either until the gf's parents took us all last November. I still don't think I'd ever pay for one myself but it was an overall very enjoyable experience. Ours was a Disney cruise and it surprisingly wasn't overly kid oriented like I was afraid of. I mean most of it was geared towards kids but they still had adult only areas and MOST parents didn't let their kids just be sh!theads.

I would hate to be on a boat with 10,000 plus people in a cramped place and not be able to clearly get away from everyone.

Two possibilities - 1. The battery is toast, you just haven't hit totally dead yet, and the alternator is working overtime to try and keep it charged. Drive this way too long (a couple weeks to a month) and you'll toast the alternator too. 2. The voltage regulator is toast (this means you'll need a new alternator) and will eventually kill the battery too if driven for even just a week of normal usage. You can potentially fry other electronics in the car as well. Easiest step is to take the battery to be tested somewhere. If it tests good, schedule an electrical system check somewhere and be prepared (or warn your parents in this case) for an alternator replacement that could be coming. The graphics being wonky are probably just a symptom of abnormal electrical system operation.

I'm laughing my ass off. I vaguely remember the occasional older pastel/enamel salmon, pistachio, and baby blue cars toward the beginning of my life! Yesterday, I saw TWO 2006 or 2007 Monte Carlos within 15 minutes of each other. Both were LTs. The first one was silver and the second one was charcoal. Both had the substantial bucket seats I liked in gray cloth. Both were in great condition, considering they were 11 or 12 years old. And, at about the same time I saw that boat tail Riv, I saw yet another Monte Carlo and took a photo of it: This one was in the metallic bronze color with slightly tinted glass. It was also an LT. Seeing these sets off more cognitive dissonance than seeing Grand Prixs. I still like these cars a lot. I've basically driven nothing but this genre of car since I got my driver's license until owning my current GM sedan.

How easy would it be for Toyota to build a 4Runner EXT?

I would rather stick with a body-on-frame pickup truck, much more rugged. The Tacomas are nice. They just seem to go on and on and on. The SR5 Access Cab 4X4 V6 comes nicely equipped.

That.... is unfortunate.

Not a huge lovefest for the 'bathtub' Packards (to which I would concur). They are well built and the I8 was buttery smooth, but IMO they just had no snap, pizazz or moxie. So when I see one (this is a 1948 Super 8), sometimes my mind's eye wanders. I think the I8 could be moved rearward, making it a mid-engined Packard 'Road Slug' :