trinacriabob

You've gotta do what you've gotta do. That dashboard inset in red is kind of interesting. Yes, don't sink too much money into it. Drive it into the ground and then get something to reward yourself for finishing school.

energy (those windmills they are putting up in rural areas)

I'm fairly opinionated so I may get jumped for my (incorrect) perceptions. For starters, I like New England a lot. If I could afford to live in a Boston suburb, I would. I'd shovel the snow. But I can't afford it...at least, the last time I checked the prices. It is colder than the tri-state NY/NJ/CT area and colder than S.E.PA. I think that their (un)employment rates are about the same. I've heard NH has some tax breaks, though the tax picture shouldn't trigger a drastic move, unless it's to retire. Correct: Southern NH is an extension of the Boston metro area and Northern NH is an extension of...Quebec...which could be a good thing. What I've experienced and had said to me is that New Englanders are more aloof and more reserved than tri-state people. They would consider the direct approach of the tri-state area to be brusque. I kind of like the in-your-face tri-state area approach, since I am familiar with it. When I was visiting my uncle in northern NJ about 10 miles west of the G.W., people would just BS with me and ask me questions wherever I went...amazing for being in the shadow, literally, of the Manhattan skyline. When I was in New England for about a week in 1996 (Concord/Lexington, MA, Danvers, MA and Portland, ME), nobody was like that. It was waaaay more aloof. I liked the whole area, but I know if wouldn't be Jersey. I bet the Philly exurbs are more like Jersey...unless that's what you want to get away from. Economically, I think it's a wash and shouldn't steer a PA-to-NH move. My .02.

buffet

I saw my first 2010 LaCrosse last night at a dealership. That's why I started this thread...to see how everyone viewed this car. All of my opinions from viewing the photos remain because I think we saw enough photos to where the physical presence is no surprise. My opinions remain exactly the same. The only pluses are the updated grille and a dashboard/interior that is functional and asthetically appealing. In fact, the fact that the dashboard tapers away makes for a great feeling in the cabin. I will add the only new thing I noticed: the side sculpting on the upper fender flanks is unique and complements the car. The minuses continue unchanged: the BMW side-front marker lamps, the Lexus rear (a co-worker said "it looks EXACTLY like a Lexus" -- is this good? No), and the biggest demerit--the squashed greenhouse and practically horizontal backlite. I detest it. The fit and finish are excellent and the quality appears to be high. Since I was disappointed, I immediately made a beeline for the Ford dealership in the same auto mall. There was no Taurus, but I did see a silver one at the airport rental agency last weekend (I went to Tahoe in an inexpensive rental). It was nice; however, the Fusion makes the most sense to me and, damn, I see so many on the road. People seem to love the Fusion/Milans. They make a helluva lot of sense and their reliability has been stellar. If in the market right now, I'd buy a G8 in V6 form for the loyalty factor, but then would quickly steer to the Ford dealership and pick up a base Fusion in the medium metallic blue with a cloth bucket seat interior, alloy wheels and the upgrade into a walnut applique dash instead of the brushed aluminum crap. Sorry, you folks know I've driven nothing but GM cars, but right now they have nothing I like.

+1 agreed

MWAHAHAHAHAHA... I saw a mid-90s Subaru wagon as I was on I-80 in the lower Sierra foothills Saturday. I was looking for the driver. I COULDN'T SEE the driver, initially. Wait, the steering wheel and the driver were on the PASSENGER SIDE. In ambulance (reverse) style, the words U.S. Mail were etched on the front of the hood. I couldn't take a picture while driving.

When we lived in Italy for a few years when I was in grade school, Nutella was in every kitchen's cupboard. I loved it. Now, it probably tastes too rich for my blander taste buds. It was delicious, as I recall. We would put it on pieces of toasted, fresh-from-the-bakery bread rolls. Damn, Italy and food...

insurance

deer

The investment/payoff ratio is comparable to an orgasm.

I look at it that these labels were probably evaluated over and over before the research got released and this stuff became widely used. I am definitely ESTJ/ISTJ and reading the description of the Myers-Briggs types is interesting. The *NFP's don't describe me. Right, like reg said, when they use this to label you at work and HR/management makes it fairly public, then that's not cool. At the last firm I worked for, they did Emergenitcs profiling. There were 4 aspects: conceptual, social, analytical, structured. It's done so the 4 areas total 100%. A few of us got close to 25% on each of these, which is considered good. The head honcho and a widely disliked bitch in middle management got less than 5% and 5-10% on social, respectively. Oh yeah, people posted these on their doors or at the entrance to their cubicles. One guy with a 67% conceptual worked for me (he talked like a stoner, good material for imitations)...and he was worthless ... too 'effin conceptual to do the detailed work that was assigned to him. But to avoid getting him in trouble, I took back his incomplete work and completed it. The less than 5% prick that ran the place was Machiavellian to the point of diminishing returns. All of his most talented workers eventually left the firm. Not only that, he was self-righteous about his involvement in his parish and how many kids he had. So, yes, for this motley crew, the Emergentics profiling seemed to work. And the Myers-Briggs we are talking about probably works as well. Also, these are mostly used for career exploration in school/college...they shouldn't be doing these at work on people they've already hired, IMO.

Most of all...relax (easier said than done), take a deep breath, be professional, be yourself and congrats!

stones

Well, you do live in

We talk about all kinds of meaningless crap in The Lounge - why not this? Everytime that the douche bag cleaning people come into our office and put in new toilet paper rolls, they place them so they dispense/roll from the bottom. It bugs the hell out of me, especially at a critical time. At home, the roll dispenses from the top. Virtually any household I've ever been to has the toilet paper dispense from the top of the roll. Does this irk you as well?

I've always wanted to go to Kings Island or Cedar Point in OH. They are known for having great coasters. Some people from grad school had organized some road trips to these places but I had to pass because, IIRC, I was going somewhere else for those days.

There were some late 70s/early 80s style that were just as clevagey. In fact, the whole get-up harkened to that look: Cherokee (LOL) wedge shoes, tight Jordache (LOL) jeans, v-neck t-shirts with capped sleeves...and Farrah Fawcett hair.* *I'll have to find a picture I think the level of boobage is about the same and, IF it is different, it IS because of plastic surgery, which is now consumed more and more by the rank and file. Where was this Six Flags / Great Adventure? (Six Flags recently filed for bankruptcy). I haven't gone on a loop coaster for at least a decade. Also, Great America (Santa Clara/San Jose) had a loop coaster (where your feet dangle) lock up on them while it had riders on it.

Definitely. I see. They would be on the same "axle."

I was thinking about the SAME question, but someone asked it. I am going to Costco tonight to rotate the tires on the '92 (260K). If they continue wearing at their slow rate, they might get me up to 285K or 290K. I'm NOT going to do the Costco $350 to push it to my intended 300K milestone. I'll start with tire stores, but I've rarely seen a matching set of 4 there.

Dollar Store

I told a co-worker about this. He took it and got ESTJ ... no surprise there. All of my friends over the years have been in very practical occupations and were probably ESTJs or ISTJs. The website goes on to say how the *-NFP type complements the ESTJ or ISTJ type. I don't know about this. I would see it as a headache.

The general seat shape in 97-03 had flatter bolsters and was easier to get in and out of. For a medium-sized person, this was more comfortable, but the protuding bolsters of 04 and beyond annoyed me. The hollowed out-headreast was a sporty cue. I'll admit it's not comfortable, but I generally don't lean back into the headrest. It looked good, but it didn't look comfortable. The GP that just departed would have been much better and more successful if it blended: 97-03 front fascia 04-08 rear lights 97-03 seating config with filled-in headrests 04-08 dash and console design 97-03 dash and console workmanship (better, at least) 97-03 slightly taller roofline It was too polarizing.

TV commercial (Oy vey, "gold for less")