RichW5

Since the original topic of this thread was "Pariahs of our college campusas", I thought I'd change the current political discussion to one that fits the thread. It seems that the University of Delaware has instituted a new "manditory" program (indoctrination) that all students must believe that "All whites are racists". It makes for interesting reading and shows that the "far left-wing" professors and educators in our schools are out of touch with reality and the fact that we should have freedom of thought and of speech in this country. http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58426 While I agree with most of the posters here about both political parties failing the people, our universities seem to be breeding grounds for a "big brother" mentality, and no tolerance for the freedoms given to everyone in our constitution.

Great work of art! I'm even happier to see my '53 Buick Skylark in there.

Thanks for the great pics! I've camped out in most of the major national parks, but Yellowstone isn't one of them. Since the wife believes that camping is staying at a small Hilton, I'll never get out there. Now if we could only hook up that geo-thermal heat to a generator, but .... it's best we leave nature alone.

I have that issue somewhere in the basement storage area and I believe that it was 3.9 seconds, which was exceptionally fast for the era. I'll try to find the issue in the next few days, but it's stored with 50 years of car magazines, so it might take a while to find it.

I thought it looked like a good copy of a BMW in the TV commercials, but I saw one on the road last night and nearly barfed. This has to be one of the ugliest cars I've ever seen. There's no Honda there, but a part of BMW glued on to a Hundai, stuck on to a Nissan. It looked awkward driving down the road, ass up too high and a mismatch of design styles. I gave credit to Honda and Totota before, for copying Mercedes styling, but this thing makes a Volkswagen "Thing" look good.

KC, Get rid of that Bear. As a Chicago fan I wasted energy watching the Bear game last night hoping that they would beat the Cowboys (my step-sons favorite team). We could have saved an iceberg if all the bear fans would stop going to the games and watching them on TV, until they got a good quarterback and offensive line. Bad sports teams waste energy!

My brother-in-law from Florida recently got involved with an MLM (Pyramid scheme) called Team National. He's a smart guy, but was a salesman for most of his working life and a teacher for a short while. Both jobs seem to dumb you down. My wife thinks he's the greatest guy in the world, but I resent that he brought one of his Team National hustlers to our house a few weekends ago. The guy wouldn't let us talk about anything but Team National. He made 5 or 6 calls to other TN hustlers and let them go on about how much money we could make with TN and how TN has changed their lives. Then they left at 5am the next morning, so they could stop at a sporting goods store on their way to Michigan for another Team National promo. What crap. I will never trust this brother-in-law again. His wife (my wife's sister) recently opened a coffee shop and has another scheduled for the first of next year. You would think that he would be working for the success of the coffee shops (Beaners Coffee) instead of hustling for an MLM. Just read in the web that Beaners Coffee is becoming Biggs Coffee due to the use of the word "beaner". I hope the brother-in-law has fun changing all those signs.

Global Warming is a political issue! It's the cause of those who have too much, to be used against those that have too little. It's the cause of the self professed "Educated Elite", to be used against those that they consider to be less intelligent. It's the cause of those that "talk the talk", but don't "walk" the way they talk. Now, I believe that we are in a period of "Climate Change". Has the climate of the earth changed before? The answer is Yes. Do we know that the current warming period is caused by mankind? No we don't. But it's a possibility. I'm not going to lecture anyone on conservation, like those politicians and movie personalities. I live my life by including recycling and energy saving devices in the things I do every day. I teach my grandson to respect the earth and the animals that populate it (including most humans). I resent lectures from those that "Jet" around the world, polluting the atmosphere, while claiming to be "green". The only green they really care about is money.

Most city buses are used at speeds where aerodynamics provide no advantage in fuel savings over the problem of reduced visibility for the driver. Visibility is extremely important to a transit system bus driver (or any bus driver) in city driving. The majority of train engines being used are for freight, where the same principle applies. The cost of making them aerodynamic is more than the cost of the fuel saved. Just think about how much punishment the nose of an engine takes attaching and detaching freight cars. The additional structure for an aeordynamic nose would result in increased cost and weight. High speed passenger trains are where aerodynamics works. Amtrak and Metra (Chicago area commuter trains) have started using engines that are more streamlined than the one posted by Mustang. From what I've read, all new Metra trains will be streamlined as the old engines are replaced. What we really need is "Super High Speed Rail", like Japans "Bullet Trains" or some of the French trains. But who is going to pay for them?

I spent a lot of time in the Atlanta area between 1980 and 2000. The Western Electric (AT&T) engineering center was in the Sandy Springs/Dunwoody area. I'd go there one week a month, sometimes more, sometimes less. It was a lot less crowded back then. Many of my co-workers relocated to Atlanta and bought houses two or three times bigger than what they could afford back in Chicago. I don't believe that there are many southerners in Atlanta, most people in the area have moved there from the north. I got to know all the good places for "Happy Hour" and the best places to eat, since Western Electric paid for our out of town meals. Still, when AT&T asked me to move to Atlanta in 1996, I said "no thanks". I started looking for another AT&T job and guess where the boss was located .... Atlanta. So I spent another four years traveling to Atlanta for business meetings and classes. My biggest problem with Atlanta was the traffic. It was worse than Chicago and when they had an ice storm, the whole city shut down. If you go there you have to see the "big chicken".

A record low here in the Chicago area last night (39 degrees, lower in the suburbs), maybe 90 by midweek. I guess that's why they call it weather!

Maui in the winter, Chicago suburbs in the summer. I need to be in the Chicago area to see that my grandson gets a proper upbringing in "How to love Cars". At 6 years old, he's mostly there, but needs about 5 years of car shows before he will be as crazy about cars as his grandpa. After that, it will be Maui in the winter and Wisconsin or the UP of Michigan in the summer.

Congrats! That's my color. My wife likes our Diamond White, but red is the only color for me, and our next CTS.

My best friends Dad owned a '56 just like it. It's the car I learned to drive with a stick shift (3 on a tree).

I should have added that I'm set for a new CTS in about 1 to 2 years and an Acadia about two years after that, when the Trailblazer is paid for. I have plans (cash) for two more cars after that, then one of those battery operated scooters old folks use to get around. I want the model with dubs and a navigation system.

I hope you're wrong, but my wife and her sons "live like they were dying" and are deep in debt. When my wife dies, the 30 year old will probably die too, since his bank (his mom) will be closed. The 36 year old will lose his house and have to stop the dope smoking and video games until 3 am, every day. He may even have to work more than 9 months a year. His wife will have to sell at least 100 pairs of her spike heeled shoes and stop the long distance phone calls to her family in Jamaica. As for me, I'm set until I hit 89 years old, by then my house will be sold and the cash left to my grandson (my buddy) who believes in saving, since both his Mommy and Daddy are broke. Everything else goes to charity.

One of the problems with my 03 CTS has been the dial you have to turn, then press, to view or change any of the DIC functions. I haven't had a chance to check out the 08 CTS yet (maybe today or tomorrow) but some of the dials on these proposals look like the same crap. I have questions about the retractable NAV screen. Is it another costly repair problem when it gets jammed? The XLR needs a space age dash to go along with the art & science styling! Where is it? Nice try GM, but your vehicles need these dashes right now, not 10 years down the line.

Aluminum Overcast is owned by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Check out "EAA.org" and go to "B17 rides". Every year a bunch of us EAA'ers go to Oshkosh to do volunteer work about 3 weeks before the big airshow (end of July). One year they gave us a tour of the B17. It was in for repair as it landed badly and needed engine and landing gear work. It's a great plane. There's another B17 along with a B-24 and B-25 touring the country right now. They were in Illinois/Wisconsin about a month ago. It was amazing to see the see WWII planes fly right over my house (only about 3 miles from the airport).

Too Much Traffic, Too many people, too expensive to live there. I love the San Diego area and Napa Valley, but can't afford to live there. My sister and brother-in-law live in San Jose, but have to rent because they can't afford to buy. He's a sometimes employed software engineer (programmer). My niece is in real estate in Murietta, out east from Orange county and is close to losing her home. Her husband is also a sometimes programmer. As much as I hate our midwest winters, which aren't so bad thanks to Al Gore, I think I'll stay right here!

My Dad sold his 71 Mercury Monterey to my brother-in-law with 30K miles on it. My brother-in-law drove it to 325K miles before he got rid of it. The engine (351 I think) was still going great, but the compression was less than it should be. He did put lots of brakes and exhaust systems on it, also ball joints. It was a great car, for a Ford.

Congrats! I'm really jealous. My 03 CTS is a little over 5 years old and has been almost perfect. I don't regret (well a little regret) trading my 98 Vett for it. I can hardly wait for your delivery, pictures and details on your driving experiences with the new CTS. Maybe I can talk my wife out of a vacation and into an 08 CTS a year from now.

A good friend of mine just bought a new 07 Camry. What a nightmare! When it was two weeks old, it refused to start in a parking lot of the company where we both donate our time building tricycles for handicapped children. He couldn't even get it to start with jumper cables and had to call a tow truck. The Toyota dealer replaced the battery and said that it was a common complaint with the battery installed at the factory. The tow truck damaged his front bumper and it will have to be repaired also. Now he's discovered that his side trim rub strip is pealing off the car at the back end (another trip to the dealer). He's been in the shop with this Camry, more than he's been on the road. Since my friend is 85, it will probably be his last new car. His 92 Oldsmobile was in better shape when he sold it than the Camry is, brand new. I'm sure he's sorry he listened to a pro-Toyota old fart in the shop. I won't say much to him as he's a true gentleman, who was mislead by a friend.

In the mid 150's (156-158mph) in an original 427 AC Cobra, in 1967. One of my army buddies was storing it for a friend who was in Nam. We took it out on the highway near Bakersfield, Ca. It's probably the most awesome car I've ever ridden in.

Why can't you select the silent generation, is it because they are all dead? Maybe that's why they are silent Holy Sh**! I never realized it, I must be dead. I owned three Fords in my life, so I probably can't cross over until I pay pennance for that transgression. Still, My 63 Galaxie 500XL convertible was a very nice car!

Welcome to the "Real World", but believe me, it will not get "Worse" unless you want it to. It fact, it will (should) get better.