trinacriabob

spring

stray

I don't mind interacting with someone in a public place if you're in a "better place" afterwards. I've met random people in coffee shops, in line, on the train, etc. that you had something bizarre in common with - like both speaking French or Portuguese, or coming from the two geographically closest Catholic high schools in Los Angeles (I now have lunch every couple of months with this lady that went to H.S. 4 miles from me and we are good friends, just from riding the train) and on and on. There's nothing forced about these interactions. In fact, there's almost like a "sixth sense" that you've both crossed paths before. It's kind of cool. The person who harasses you for an unwanted business situation or religious conviction is the ultimate unwanted nuisance. They don't know anything about you professionally and I subscribe to a religious denomination I plan to keep. I invariably chase them off and sometimes even raise the decibel level to embarrass them if they were real jerks. Being "hit on" is annoying, but I guess it's more flattering than NOT being "hit on." LOL. BTW: Once upon a time, I was sitting at a *drum roll* Bob's Big Boy in a desert community in SoCal with my parents and the people at the next table were Italians (from a town less than 20 miles away from my parents' hometown in Sicily) now living in another part of Southern California. My parents exchanged numbers with them and remained friends until my parents moved to the PNW. They were very nice and very normal (relative term) people.

+1 (a la dave) Eggplant. Disgusting. I hate it. One of the biggest disappointments is when you walk up to a serving line and find out that what you thought was a thin slice of chicken parmigiana is ACTUALLY eggplant parmigiana.

For some reason, when I think of healthy cuisine, I think of Middle Eastern or Greek food, minus some of the lamb dishes and desserts, because of all those healthy ingredients and seasonings so prevalent in their cuisines. Just well-seasoned, not necessarily spicy, so that works well. Actually, Portuguese folks who live in coastal towns have eat extremely healthy food - platters of fresh fish such as the local catch or cod, potatoes or rice, local vegetables and hearty soups. Simple and delicious food. For me, anything spicy or anything that takes work to eat it are out.

I love most food. I don't like the following: Any meat you have to work (ribs) or that is too red, but love tri-tip, sirloin and London Broil, for example Any fish you have to work (mussels, clams, crab), but love swordfish, halibut, and shark, for example Hate pecan pie Can't tolerate any spicy cuisines like Thai, Indian or Ethiopian - guaranteed to be "out of commission" in 2 hours, but like Cantonese Chinese and Japanese What are specific food items or cuisines you won't eat?

Teutonic

I would be scouting out Intrigues via private parties, then. And you would have to take the cars to get checked over. In the Midwest, that shouldn't be as much of a problem. (Out West, where Japanese cars seem to be the norm, finding them would be more challenging.) It would take a little more work and the occasions may be less frequent, but I'm sure there are some true finds to be had.

that's great!

The price is too high...even if you got to deal it down, your starting point would still be too high. I don't like "candy apple" red as an exterior color, but that's just me. It blends in too much with the color of the taillamps, which need to stand out. It looks like it has a cloth interior, which I like. I think the 3.5 was sorted out by 2002. What does Consumer Reports indicate? Even though that's one of my favorite car models of all time, I'd still keep the decision-making process on the logical side...the price is just too high for a brand that is gone and an 8-year old car that was a staple, as opposed to a specialty vehicle. Snow:......what's that?

far

Ok, I'll give you Cracker Barrel for the unique set-up and reliable comfort food. However, my favorite will always be Bob's Big Boy - not the Big Boy's such as JB's, Fritz's, etc. that you might find in UT, MI or PA which have slightly different menus, but the ones with the more or less unchanged menus that used to dot California, Nevada and maybe even Arizona.

I've been to that Denny's in S.J. too. That place is always packed. I think Denny's is marginal, but I think Waffle House borders on disgusting.

LOL. Note the bold...and read my post. Well, we just got back from Denny's. We drove to one about 4 miles away. We got there at about quarter to noon. They said 25 to 30 minutes of waiting. It was 40 minutes. We were the ONLY "office types" there. Most others were either college students or "gang bangers" or "who knows what." It then took about 10 minutes to get the 3 free Grand Slam breakfasts. We made it easy on her - 3 Grand Slams and 3 glasses of water. We had to chow down fast...I mean REAL FAST...in less than 15 minutes to get back to the office so that our longer lunch went unnoticed. We tipped $3. It was pretty funny when we got back into the car and reflected on the absurdity of going through all that trouble for 3 FREE Grand Slams!

side

Ok, of this I am certain: there are Denny's from Boston to Barstow. That being said, they are doing the "no coupon - no strings attached" Free Grand Slam breakfast today, from 6am to 2pm. I'm walking over there with 2 co-workers for lunch to get a late breakfast (LOL). Anyone else partake? While not Bob's Big Boy, their food is at least edible.

Happy Birthday, Dave! It's STILL your birthday in my time zone. I hope you had a great day!

About the service being THAT bad, it's happened a time or two. I usually leave the obligatory 15%, and maybe a little less at a self-serve buffet because I'm the one putting the food on the plate(s) and taking it back to the table. Yes, I ALWAYS remember that the servers need the tips to bring their income up to reality. But, back on topic, I can't stand people in these establishments who feel they can encroach on NORMAL boundaries.

wax

Not about the drinking part... ...but the actual Super Bowl. Good going, New Orleans. No real loyalties since I don't geographically identify with either team, but what a shot in the arm for New Orleans. Actually, as a kid, I thought New Orleans had one of the best team logos, but that was about it. I watched the first quarter and thought it would pave the way for the rest of the game. I then went to the last Mass(!) (Pacific Time) and came back and it was the 3rd quarter. Indianapolis was still ahead. At that point, I thought the game would play itself out in the same manner. I did chores for about another hour and then went on-line to see 31-17. Unbelievable.

San Jose

Yes, moltie. They compared the headlights to sideways Coke bottles. And, true, the 95-99 were 2-door Luminas, just like the Riviera was once a 2-door LeSabre. In the right color, such as white, the last-gen Monte Carlo with the bigger 5-spoke alloys can look sharp.

I hear you. Those have more of a creepy leering quality to them. This had the "gotta close the deal within a finite time" element, as do the Starbucks/Borders/B&N cafe multi-level annoyances.

True, that's what's always kept me behind the wheel of a 2-door GM mid-size coupe. First, it's nice NOT to have a door pillar in your peripheral vision...a large door makes for a large window! Second, these set-ups with a console make for a cockpit style seating arrangement, which can be nice. When the Monte went to blue lighting for 06-07, it was even nicer.

Wow, I am +1-ing an ocnblu post. True, the very last revise was a clean fix and that front end works better on Monte than on the Impala. They could have easily fixed the rear hump. The CHMSL could have gone inside the back glass, or even in the upper part of the trunk like as they did on the last 2 gen Devilles/DTSs...either way would have worked.