DetroitNut90

That grille is just so...ugh. I can't get over it. I really do prefer the '08 TL, I think it looks so much better. The interior reminds me of a blend of the RL, MDX, and Accord. I really do love Honda's J-Series V6, however.

I've lived in West Laurel, MD for all of my 17.9/almost 18 years. It's home to 4,000 people, is rather green and leafy, and not actually that bad of a place to live, by the region's standards. It's by-and-large a bedroom community, with the exception being that the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (our water company, the 8th largest in the US) is headquartered here. To our east is I-95 and the city of Laurel, home to about 20,000 people. Laurel isn't anything special, just an average small city with much higher-than-should-be crime rates, underperforming schools, spectacularly overpriced real estate, and a really polluted 6 foot deep man-made lake. Laurel is somewhat known for being the place where George Wallace was shot in 1972, at the Laurel Shopping Center. A Bank of America stands today where this happened. And West Laurel has the distinction of having it's main road mentioned on the season finale of The X-Files' 3rd season. We're almost squarely in the middle of Baltimore and Washington. Baltimore is ok, I would never live there, but I like visiting, especially the Inner Harbor. And it actually looks like a proper city, since there are no silly building height restrictions. Washington, OTOH, is the cruelest joke of a national capital I can think of. It has consistently ranked as one of the worst places in the country in terms of crime, traffic, and education. One part of Northeast DC has gotten so bad that they've had to close it down to general traffic. If you can't provide a good reason for being in the neighborhood, you're turned away and a description of your car and tag number is kept with city police. I avoid DC at all costs. Talking about car culture, it's typical of the coasts. The import brands dominate the passenger car market, while the domestics rule the roost when it comes to large trucks and SUVs. The Tacoma outnumbers the GMT-355 twins on what seems like a 3:1 ratio, though the S-10 and Sonoma fare much better. Our market seems to be a pretty intense battleground between the Odyssey and Chrysler vans. They outsell every other minivan here, but it's difficult to tell which is actually the best seller. Chrysler seems determined not to concede this segment without a good fight. Speaking of moving, I'd love to. I'm moving 74 miles to the north to attend college in York, PA, which is bound to be a nice change from the congested horrors of the Baltimore-DC area. I'm pretty much certain that when the time comes, I'll be relocating to somewhere in the Delaware Valley, but there's no doubt that I will move. The Delaware Valley is close enough that I can visit friends and family, but far enough away that I will only have to be bothered with Washington during election season. Delaware has also pretty much been my second home (granted, southern DE, not the New Castle County area), I have family in PA, and the area looks to be really nice, so it's not a difficult sell to me.

How about the excellent Atlas I6 that GM has only used sparingly? This killing of the Zetas is complete financial nonsense, and the indecision is irritating.

We had to have a cancerous gland taken out of our 12-year old beagle back in March. The vet called it an aggressive cancer, but said that it was removed at the right time, before it really had a chance to metastasize. The post-op x-rays were good, so we're hopeful that it's been taken care of. It really sucks when you know that your pets are hurting and there's not much that can be done about it. Best of luck with your dog, Z.

misnomer (they're not really all that comfortable in your lap for too long.)

Yeah, no Camaro-specific survey here as well. The Mustang, G8, and Challenger are in my top 5, FWIW.

I think Olds was starting to get sort of popular around here before the ax swung down; there are still quite a few on the roads, and even one in my driveway.

New: G8 V6, red w/black & red leather, sunroof, upgraded sound system. Around $29K, I think? Old: 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 2-door hardtop, red w/black interior or cream w/black interior, & stickshift. I found a white one on cars.com for $12,900.

Checkers has the best fries out of anyone, IMO. But like all their other food, it's swimming in grease, so Checkers is a very rare treat for me. Sonic is good too, but the only one I know of is in Bridgeville, DE. A little too far out of the way for fast food. I like Subway a lot. Their food has the potential to be pretty healthy for a fast-ish food place, and you get a lot of food for the money.

I'd like to, but I'm not old enough yet. I want to pick up some shares in Ford before they go up too much.

The longest we've been without power that I can remember was when Hurricane Isabel came up the coast in 2003, we didn't have electricity for two days. But it was interesting that we lost power not during the day when the storm hit our area hard, but at night, when it began to move into Pennsylvania. School was cancelled for the day before the storm hit (a Thursday) and during the storm (a Friday). That Saturday, my parents and I ventured into PA to buy a generator from a distant relative. As luck would have it, as soon as we handed over the check, loaded the Briggs & Stratton into the Venture, and got back onto I-83, our neighbor called and told us the power was back on.

I dunno about that. This one at least looks like you could still manage to have some fun with it. And it looks pretty good, too IMO.

A BMW X6 in Isle of Palms, SC with Georgia distributor plates. I managed to snap a picture of it: It's none too attractive, IMHO. A black '09 Challenger heading south on I-95 through Cumberland County, NC. Looked pretty nice. Also, there is a rather large freight truck graveyard just north of Florence, SC, near exit 169 off I-95.

What do a Toyota Camry LE, Hyundai Azera Limited, Honda Accord, and a donked Mercury Grand Marquis (taller than our rental Pathfinder!) have in common? Carriage roofs. The Toyota even had curb feelers. A more pleasant sight was the older Rolls-Royce (maybe one from the 70s) and the sky blue Bentley Continental Flying Spur.

In downtown Charleston, SC today (I'm here for a week on vacation), there was a burgundy 1970 Wildcat 455 hardtop sedan...very nice. There was also a White Hot G8 GT in Mount Pleasant.

Acura is capable of making good-looking cars. This does not appear to be one of them.

The South

I don't think I'm opposed to the name as much as I am to GM's lack of picking a name and sticking with it. It makes them look confused, IMO.

cute

Good to hear, YJ. Hope everything works out in yours and your uncle's favor.

Go Class of 2008! I like the color of your gown...mine was a light blue.

I think the C6 is worthy of the "Picasso" designation (isn't that some sort of trim level that Citroen uses?). It really does look like something he'd paint--kinda grotesque and weird. Myself, I am rather fond of the new C5 Estate. Very handsome styling, coupled with the utility of a wagon. Win.

I'm so sorry to hear that, BV. I remember when we got the news my grandma passed away...not much we could've done, since we were (and still are) a good 100 miles to the south of where she lived. My sympathies to you and yours.

Looks spiffy! Alberta doesn't require front plates, right? So do yourself a favor and get rid of that ugly bracket.

Speculation is such a dirty word these days.