trinacriabob

It's Texas's Berkeley! When my cousin came over from Italy in 2002 and we were sightseeing around San Francisco, I told her: "OK, we're going to get on a BART train and ride it to the other side of the Bay for about 20 minutes...there's something I want you to see." Put it this way, the word "granola" has now become part of her vocabulary.

philanderer

It's not the quantity/frequency, P-C-S, it's the quality. Women that are not educated and have someone else's kids (baggage) are ubiqutous...how FAST can I run?And you're back to using THAT emoticon...

I'll bet.I'm all for "second-tier" metropolitan areas. As much as I enjoyed growing up in L.A., I think that chapter is closed. New York is waaaayyyy too much. And I don't like Chicago's geographic position and weather. And San Francisco is waaaayyyy too expensive. Ok, so where does the second tier begin? Probably 2 to 3 million and on down to about 1 million in the metro area. This would include Atlanta (which I loved), Seattle (too Nordic and uptight) and Portland (too close to Eugene, OR and too filled with hate for California transplants). I have to live in a metro area because I require more mental stimulus than what a small town can bring. Plus, I like the whole multi-ethnic patchwork that one can't find in a small town.

Brando...well, yes, later in life...My response to thread: Rosie O'Donnell

Leverage for what? Bad sex or ...no sex? Where's the door??? My best friend from college who now lives in S.D. had this periodic holding out from his now ex-wife. Well, after he had had enough, he "walked." He was so glad they had no children. Now, she regrets it but he says he's glad to be on his own. We've had these kinds of posts/threads before. And, Reg, you know where I stand. Repeat after me: 1 in 7 - yep, I saw it on Oprah or some talk show, where a panel of experts was up there, while I was on summer break from architecture school: 1,2,3,4,5,6...7 1,2,3,4,5,6...7 1,2,3,4,5,6...7 That's how many girls have been subjected to sexual trauma. I am NOT interested in paying for it. Put out....or GET OUT. We've had these discussions/threads about attractive never-married professional women. My theory: 1,2,3,4,5,6...7 I mean, we can make light of the situation, but it's actually quite sad and the implications are far reaching. Delta, do what you want. But, eventually, you will have to figure out a solution.

I'm sorry, but the mother-in-law in a thong visual is...well...NOT inviting. Water sack tits in holsters and a dental floss bikini on a woman approaching retirement... Masturbating since 9? Really? Don't most of us wait until puberty for that urge to kick in? I thought they coincided. As for as the abstention from sex, I am wondering why. I hope it's not a religious thing. I knew this chick when living in ATL who was a C.A.P. (Catholic American Princess) who had no trouble putting out; however, her performance left much to be desired (read: laid there like a board). So, something is keeping you around...I know, it's the cooking!

biomedical engineering

The resident W-body aficionado will now weigh in: all models are DOWN except for the Impala which is UP. I wonder if the minor touch-up will help the LaCrosse pick up some steam in the next M.Y. I had lunch with a friend from work today (it's actually the "alumni club"... LOL...who have departed the firm I used to work at who get together once a month) and I was talking about VVT. He quickly told me that his full-size Toyota pickup truck has it and it's no big deal. The 3.5 VVT is not only in the Impala and the MC but powers a good chunk of the Auras ought there, which also appear to be selling quite well. Go General!

nanosecond

Personally, I would always use a clutch (never personally driven a motorcycle, though). It's there for a reason. The only time I don't use it is if I park a manual transmission car in a perfectly level spot (garage), at which point I put it in neutral and set the parking brake. Never had a problem. On a grade, I will usually put it in first and apply the parking brake. So glad to have an automatic trans. Whew.

maid

Balthy has a penchant for older things, houses included. :AH-HA_wink: You make some good points. I remember driving around ATL when I first moved there and, in some of the intown neighborhoods, they have those ALL BRICK homes with the 12:12 (or higher) roof pitches, with dormers and all kinds of other projections, that are beautifully detailed and you think "Wow." In your area (I only know North Jersey around Teaneck), they would have those homes in Forest Hills - Queens or Jamaica Estates - Queens and they too hit the "Wow" factor. However, they are frumpy on the inside. They smell musty. The amount of light let in is depressing. The house plan that "breathes better" and is more interesting is a more recent phenomenon. It used to be that room plan geometries were very rectilinear and formal, and I find that boring. And, unfortunately, that same formality is still sought in the Southeast, for example, and appears to thrive in New England as well as a "saltbox" colonial. In the West, the "5-4-and a door" colonial just would not sell. Here, the market demands real varied geometries, both on the outside of the house and in the rooms. (Interestingly enough, so does Florida, as I can see in the floor plans builders are doing down in that area). Simply put, the idea is to get the craftsmanship of old with the conveniences of new. It creates a challenge either in lining up the subs to pull it off OR it makes for a very expensive house! What we are talking about can be found in new construction of houses that are on slopes overlooking Lake Tahoe but then, people who commission those homes could put dollar bills on their toilet paper rolls.

Friday

I guess I'm conservative with cars...DUH. Well, I think about the rental cars out there. Once put into service, they don't know who will be driving it and how and I think they change the oil the very first time at around 7,000 miles, per the owner's manual. When I got my new car, I drove it real "easy" the first 1,000 miles or so, mixing both city and highway driving. Then, I took it in for a "break in" oil and filter change at about 1,500 miles and then returned to a regimen of changes every 2,500 miles or so. The car has been awesome. I really believe that any "impurities" in the oil or the engine will be flushed out with an early oil change and that things will seat / seal properly. At $ 29, why mess with "should I/shouldn't I." At any rate, I would do both of these upon getting a new car. But, do you need to? What is your input?

xenophobia

You're not kidding! I DETEST the older housing stock that people regentrify/refurbish. I LIKE the newer suburbs just fine, and always have.

Boy, the first place is unbelievably white. LOL. I've never seen it, really. Is it tucked away or near I-25? I guess it's affluent, right? How much will a nice house set you back in Greenwood Village? Is the second place near Castle Rock or Castle Pines (Castle something)? How's that compare to Greenwood Village for housing? Is DEN really a likable place to live? How cosmopolitan is it? I remember the beauty of The Front Range as being dramatic, but that it seemed dry. For some reason, extreme green (like ATL) seems to have a pacifying effect on me. Some parts of the West are just too brown and it almost puts me in a bad mood.

Benito Mussolini

It's very "weiss" and, at that level of household income, not much "weisser mull." Seriously, though, when you posted your Calais picture in a driveway, it looked like it was in more of a Sunbelt location. Where was that? Ok, folks, I live in the foothill suburbs of Cali's capital city, which itself I find distasteful and boring -- a serious miss in city planning since it ought to have been laid out in grand style a la Pierre L'Enfant -- that's why I live a ways out. But in two weeks, I will put my stuff in storage and be based out of Portland OR, especially while I go to Europe for a month and a half. Advantages: the area itself is nothing special but, in less than 2 hours, one can be at the waterfront in San Francisco, on a beach at Lake Tahoe, in the upper part of the state such as Mt. Lassen, Chico and all those towns, or in the pissy "Wine Country," which is pretentiously boring as hell. Beautiful areas are even closer in the Gold Country, as near as 45 minutes away. Disadvantages: there are a lot of stupid people in the north central part of the state with the better labor pool living in So. Cal. or the Bay Area. The mountain areas have rattlesnakes, bears at higher elevations around Tahoe (Bear Xing signs, seriously) and the lower elevations of the Sierra have one of the highest concentrations of mountain lions in the West (I still get weirded out that a woman went out for her nightly run on one of the state park trails by the American River in 1994 and never made it home - she was ambushed by a mountain lion and killed). I guess the thing that gets to me the most is that it's not Walnut Creek (Bay Area) or Woodland Hills (So. Cal.), either of which would suit me just fine.

megalomaniac

There was a thread once as to what nationality people are...and I have a good memory.

C'mon, Delta, don't tell me you don't speak Italian fluently?

economical

intimidating