trinacriabob

I had an intermediate car rented to drive down to the South Bay/Monterey County and was fully expecting to get Ford or GM stuff. Not so. I was given a Hyundai Sonata. My initial impression of this car was to scratch my chin - some good, some bad. The overall proportions make it easy to park and maneuver. It has a lot of room within its dimensions, both in the seating areas and in its deep trunk. Its seats are comfortable and its controls are very logically organized, though the layout is boring and the elliptical forms seem dated. The seats are well-formed and reasonably comfortable. I always appreciate a good greenhouse and this car has good visibility and few blindspots. The shift gate trans lever on the floor felt like it was falling apart...either it was crappy or too many soft drink liquids had made their way into the housing. The handling is fairly nimble but wallows over bumps and pavement strips. I was wondering if I had a six, but the raspiness indicated it could be a four. It was a four. It accelerates nicely from a stop but is weak in a high speed pass or going from 60 to 75/80 on the freeway. Mileage is not bad, based on needle movements. This is one bland car. I see a lot of them on the road, though. They appear to be reliable. I don't know what its competition might be. It can't hold a candle to a Malibu or a Fusion. No way....those are more nicely finished and more fun to drive, particularly in V6 form. The few things I liked were lots of storage compartments, an intelligent dome lamp control that is "off-door" and then a separate "on" switch for intermittent operation of the interior dome lamp. As stated above, I liked the greenhouse with a lower beltline than is usually encountered nowadays and normally proportioned windows. But that's about where my interest stopped.

Japan

C'est vraiment un piece de merde tres drole...

Vietnam (isn't that where that word came from?)

burst

implants

job market

QUOTE (Croc @ Mar 10 2009, 10:05 AM) OK, Carla... Who's Carla? (I can't hold a candle to you for pop culture) I hear this phrase at work to describe people who are (in reality) disliked. But wait, PCS is ok. Unique, that's for sure.

March 5th - had to drive down to the "South Bay," south of San Jose, so I took a rental car, a Hyundai Sonata which I will review. On that day, I saw a: (1) 1981 Cadillac Eldorado, from the 1Cxx### original (!) CA plate sequence, in that lighter subdued cream/yellow color. It was badged with the V8-6-4. I was thinking there was no way that could be the original engine, effortlessly humming along at 70 to 75 mph. They had probably dropped in something else. The license plate frame indicated it was probably sold in the East Bay. In it were 2 unusual ladies: the driver looked like Whitney Houston and the passenger was this pasty white lady in a bonnet and Jackie-O sunglasses looking like she was going on a picnic in the English countryside. The car and the 2 ladies in it were definitely "different." (2) Later that night, in a Safeway parking lot, I saw a mint 1975 Lincoln Mark coupe in the darker baby blue with the white top and oval opera window. The guy told me he was the original owner. I asked him if he remembered the Cutlass Supreme of that year. He nodded and smiled.

When I hear euthenasia, I think of something with more levity. While in HS in LA, one of my friends walks past the college counseling/career office and sees a flyer on a bulletin board. He tears off one of the info request stubs. It was about doing an exchange somewhere in China or Japan. He hands it to me and says: "Look...Youth In Asia." It became a stupid sophomoric inside joke.

Just think, Carbiz, once you master Portuguese, you can move onto Spanish, Italian and French. It's easy. Watch: Portuguese: merda Spanish: mierda Italian: merda French: merde Bottom line: $h! under a different name still smells the same!

You mean Joao Pessoa (sp) - that's hilarious, that means "John Person," but Pessoa is a common Portuguese last name anyway Sao Paulo e P-E-R-I-G-O-S-A. Don't underestimate that about Brazil. I've been to Rio once and the "look over your shoulder" concern didn't make for much of a vacation. Saw all the sights and got all my pictures, but it was a sigh of relief to land in Buenos Aires and actually have someone ask me for directions on la Peatonal Florida in the city center.

QUOTE (Pontiac Custom-S @ Mar 9 2009, 06:01 PM) I'm German on the inside (makes me smart), Italian on the outside (makes me handsome) ... - I'm smart and I'm not German - you mean that Teutonic belief in superiority hasn't abated? - handsome? with that monobrow? Nothing but love, PCS, nothing but love...

this is a keeper response to thread: PDA (public display of affection)

Capitol Mall

QUOTE (Pontiac Custom-S @ Mar 9 2009, 04:07 PM) Only with those Southern Italians Bobby Boy ... Northern Italians on the other hand (che bella) ... Yeah, but your Italian 1/2 is Southern Italian...and your German side is hardly a dominant gene.

You and I can't think alike. We just can't.

Carbiz, Great to hear from you. Hey, I'm happy for you. Seriously. And I'm kind of jealous, too. I love South America, though Argentina or Uruguay would be more my style...Spanish speaking, less hot/humid and calmer. Where specifically in Brazil are you going to be "based?" Boa sorte e atelogo.

good: Venice, Rio de Janeiro, Lois Chiles bad: the parts of the film while "in orbit" - that was a low point for the series

And that brings up another line: Bond: Uptown, please. Cab driver (bad guy in disguise, 73 Impala): We headed into Harlem, man. Bond: (hands him $20) Cab driver: Fo' 20 bucks, I'll take you to a Ku-Klux-Klan cookout. Unbelievable. The 70s produced the most entertaining Bond movies with interesting international locales and the script lines that are most apt to be remembered.

Nao conheco. Seriously, right now I'm kind of burned out on cars after the exhaustive research and deliberating I did to purchase to LaX.

From reading a lot about the series, Lazenby's head swelled from this role and he was hard to work with. He was not asked back. I saw one Dalton film and thought he was competent. But, within the range of James Bond actors, he was kind of in the "mid-zone."

I used to think that the death penalty was the ultimate punishment, but now feel that life imprisonment (preferably in solitary) would be more wretched --- that you get to be alone with your thoughts, forever...

How could I miss this thread. My favorite movies were "OHMSS" through "View to a Kill" Great lines: Diamonds are Forever: "Good shot." "I didn't even know there was a pool down there." Live and Let Die: "Who's funeral is it, anyway?" "Yours." Moonraker: "James Bond, you appear with the tedious inimitability of an unloved season." For Your Eyes Only: "Who are you, anyway?" "He killed my parents." Octopussy: "That should keep him in curry for a while." The World is Not Enough: "Put me down...put me down" (dumps him from helicopter into smokestacks)

You know, I've been over there (Europe) and rented them (European and Japanese makes). I neither like their styling, nor their appointments nor the way they drive. Heck, it's a stretch for me to get into a Ford or Chrysler product. When I get into a GM car, it feels like "home" and always has. Admittedly, while I like the Pontiac G8, once inside, it, too, feels kind of weird. But still, it's a beauty.