Hollingsworth

What are the current Cadillac ads? I don't think I've seen one for ages.

It's $65? The VW/Audi dealership I go to does it for $40. The Saab dealership does it for around $42. Why the $25 premium for BMW?

It looked more like a BMW and less like a Pontiac to me.

Or a Mac. Outside of gaming, there's virtually no excuse not to buy one anymore.

My three are UT, Carolina, and Boston U, since I attended all three in the course of my 8 years of college. But as a native East Tennessean, there will always be a special place in my heart for the Vols. I'm partial to Georgetown and UConn, too, ironically. I have to keep the latter a secret, as my wife would consider my supporting TWO Yankee teams grounds for divorce. Anyway, back in '96, the College Republicans took a road trip to San Diego for the Republican National Convention. I rode in an old BMW E28 (5 series) with almost 220,000 miles on it. We had to stop every hour and a half, because it would overheat and start smoking. Climate control was non functional. Radio was gone (stolen). Good times!

I went to UT for one semester, then transferred to South Carolina. But I still supported Tennessee (and still do). There's no better sound than "TOUCHDOWN TENNESSEE!", followed by Rocky Top. Yeah, my blood runs orange.

Welcome to East Tennessee! What town were you in, BTW? 'Cause I-81 turns into 40 quite a few miles east of Knoxville, right around Dandridge. We took the Passat to Boston this Christmas. 1,600 miles round trip. 139,000 miles on the odometer. No problems whatsoever.

I found the most glooooorious bumper sticker today! And only $1!

his: 1999 Passat (152,xxx) - 6 + hers: 2004 9-5 SportWagon (28,xxx) - 4 _________________________________ 10

I'm guessing it's an NPR station. Those are the only stations I can ever find that play classical. In fact, they're usually the only ones to play bluegrass and folk, too. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Although NPR News can be a tad too liberal for my tastes, it's still the best news anywhere on the radio. And they have A Prairie Home Companion, Car Talk, and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. What's not to love?

I use a Mac, so...

I'm more of a quiet, Indie-ish rock person. And classical. Bluegrass and folk on occasion. Hey, I do own a Saab...

My worst dealer experiences have been at the Saab dealership. I don't know what pisses me off more. The fact that they give you condescending looks if you pull in the lot in a 1995 Plymouth Neon, or if the Neon in question is the loaner car they give you when you have your 9-5 SportWagon repaired there.

Yellow. That Volvo mustard yellow-ish brown color. Orange. Black. I like white and beige. And dark blue. I know. I'm boring.

Yeah, it's most likely a result of something the driver installed. VW's reliability problems usually stem from electrical and computer problems that result in weird flashing lights and etc, not engine fires.

At least the cargo is safe and sound. That's what made these models so appealing to businesses.

You said you rented a Jetta that made weird engine noises. I'm curious, did yours have the 2.0T or the 2.5 engine?

I see nothing wrong with this, nor do I see it as strengthening the President's power. The purpose of this NSPD is to ensure that government still operates properly and accordingly in the event of a catastrophe. The extent of the "expanding power" of the executive branch is only to make sure that the other branches (namely Congress) are doing their job. Furthermore, this NSPD is designed to make sure that the rule of the Constitution is not suspended during a national emergency, as it states in the first sentence of paragraph six: "The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government." This directive was brought about partly as the President's response to criticism of slow action in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It's really a no-win situation. His opponents then argued that he did too little. His opponents now argue that he's doing too much.

Reminds me of the Steve Ballmer Windows 1.0 commercial. "Riversi! That's right! All these features and riversi!!!"

What makes you think that sales won't be just as high if the DTS were rear wheel drive? Do the 70+ crowd really care if a car is RWD or FWD, as long as it's silent, smooth, and conservatively styled?

I think my boss at the former place where I worked took the cake for "least compassionate boss". He was detached from reality and didn't make any attempt to understand how outsourcing or large lay offs affect people and communities. Once at a business meeting, someone cautiously brought up "Sir, you know, don't you think we've cut out enough jobs already? I mean, there's a limit and good families have lost all their income." His reply: "We can't all be winners." Then, we had a "scandal" over our company's scholarship program excluding children of minorities, and in particular, hispanic workers. His response to the whole thing: "They don't hop across the border to go to college. They're here to screw in the damn bolts." Ironically, the idea that he so embraced was the idea that ended his career. He failed to realize that if all the labor is outsourced to India and China, there is no longer a need for an overseer for that division, so he too was let go. Unfortunately, that applied to the rest of middle management under him (i.e., me).

The Good: The next Cadillac CTS - Especially because the new interior is worlds better than the old. And oddly enough, I like the revised front end. SRX - it's high up on my list if I ever decide to get an SUV The Forgettable: STS - The exterior is ok, but the interior kills me, especially considering its competition. The Bad: DTS - Clearly I'm not its intended target market, so I won't be too harsh with my judgement. Escalade range of vehicles - My friend describes it as "the de facto vehicle for new money everywhere". Though it rings somewhat true, I dislike it just because I've always thought it was ugly, looked disproportionate, and well, was just generally tacky.

Yeah, I didn't quite get the homosapians/rednecks comment. Apparently, Toyotas are for people who lack the ability to make valid comparisons and analogies...

Haha, I thought it was sort of funny. And sadly, it is partly true. Though GM still employs more Americans and has more factories located here than Toyota, the latter's manufacturing facilities in America are more in line with modern American factories, i.e. non-unionized, decent to above average wages, reduced benefits (compared with factories of yesteryear), and foreign owned. With that, I think "We're a prime example of today's manufacturing in YOUR country" is better suited than "This is our country." Except it doesn't sound as pleasant to the ears.

My grandfather drove a W126 from the early 80s for many years. IMO, that model (along with the W124) represent some of the best in German engineering in the past thirty years. Look on eBay motors for 300SD models from the early to mid 90s. Most have 180-250,000 miles on them. They're indestructible. Of course, that was back before everything was digital and computerized. Now in the S and CL classes, the "analog" speedometer is a computerized representation on a display screen. And you can't even change the radio station without using the Comand controller. With all that electronic gadgetry, lots of things are bound to screw up.