cmattson

Okay, first off: it's *not* an olds-person's disease. It's basically a hereditary condition where your body makes too much of something called Uric Acid. It crystalizes in a joint (most commonly your big toe) and causes you a intense pain. The first time I had it, I couldn't stand the weight of my bed-sheets touching my big toe -- yes, it hurts that flipping bad. Well, it appears that I've got it in my small-toe -- and it hurts like a mother. Just got out of the doctor (they also found a lump in my wallet, badump-bump) & picked up my prescription. It's soooo lame to be tied up by something so small! I once had it in my knee (and the doctor needed to take a fluid sample). Son of a #($( did *THAT* hurt! Anybody else been aflicted with this miserable sob?

I beg to differ. You give me 100 miles to use every day & allow me to recharge it at night, and I could use it as a commuter vehicle for YEARS without every using the gasoline engine. It'd be a perfect "2nd vehicle" for any family.

Better-armored Humvees saving U.S. lives: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060626/ap_on_...GZhBHNlYwM3MjE- Try that in your Tundra, biatch!

No offense, but I'll wait until a more reputable news source has a story. Newsmax is about as bent as they come.

What do you mean acting? j/k. For the most part, I've been a good guy. Sure, I did some dumb stuff when I was a kid (which I'm not going to itemize), but I like to think that I've matured out of most of that stuff... except for speeding. I routinely go faster than I should, but nothing like my Camaro days.. anybody wanna know how fast you can move a '79 Camaro? I'd like to let you know but the speedo in that car 'only' went to 130mph. The car could quite willingly peg the needle between the 'p' and the 'h' at the bottom of the speedo gauge. The car really ran out of pull in the high 120's, so I doubt I was going much faster than that. My buddy's ex-undercover highway patrol car (a '94 Camaro) could burry its speedo at 140 - and was still pulling strong. THAT was a scary sob! Way too much power for everyday driving. The car used to tear up $60 transmission mounts because of all the engine torque (let's see *any* Toyota pull that off). BTW, here's a Police (LT1) Camaro chasing down a BMW M3: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6386278938406609507

What fond memories! My dad owned a white, 1990 Olds Tornado Trofeo. An excellent car - a combination of class/elegance and sportiness. I used to sneak the car out almost nightly. I seem to remember that the digital speedometer (just the speedo number-part) would flash when you took the car over 100 mpg.

Comedy: Airpline, Stripes, MP and the Holy Grail, Johnny Dangerously, Caddyshack, Top Secret Horror: The original B&W Night of the Living Dead Drama: Not sure -- I'll let you know when I see one (whaddya expect, I'm a guy)

I use Mobil1 full-synth in both the Malibu & the Suburban. The only motor I had die on me was my '88 Lebaron, and at the time I faithfully used Castrol. As it is, I can't blame Castrol for the untimely engine meltdown: I probably shouldn't have kept the car in the yellow-range of the tach for an hour.

Is this related to Chev. getting a Lambda-based SUV? I'm thinking a Chev offering somewhere along the lines of a Honda Pilot. It's a mid-sized SUV that rides like a car. You need a BOF SUV? You can't do much better than the Tahoe, IMO.

My personal opinion here is that GM is making the right choice: fuel prices have bled 'want' buyers out of the market; leaving only 'need' buyers. Sure, there will always be a market for a truck-based, or BOF SUV: and for those you have the GMT9xx vehicles. As it was, the Trailblazer competed for sales against the Tahoe. I'm not terribly saddened by this decision.

Sorry to hear about the crash; that does suck. Metal and plastic can be replaced: the important part is that nobody was injured.

First the G5, now this. 2 steps forward, 2 steps back. GM is saying the right things.. but actions speak louding than words, IMO.

I'm with you on this Ven; GM doesn't need this vehicle for Chevrolet.

So, let me round out my earlier list: For people-movers, Chevrolet would have (by the end of all this): Malibu Maxx, Equinox Trailblazer A yet un-named Lambda Crossover A yet un-named Lambda Minivan Tahoe Suburban The 4-door pickups & the Avalanche Seems like a bit much, doesn't it? And that's before you dilute it by bringing in the other GM brands. Gee, it's no wonder GM is stretched for cash. You could at least justify (somewhat) a Lambda Crossover for Chevy if you killed the TB; but I think the decision makers at GM can't bring themselves to do that to a high-profit vehicle with sales northward of 250k/year.

I checked out Ted's code page ( http://www3.sympatico.ca/tedkrygier/future.htm ). The GMT965 is halfway-mysterious; but otherwise I just don't see a Chevrolet Lambda-SUV there (or is that the idea -> there isn't one)? It's not like MotorTrend is out-front on a lot. Personally, I just don't see the need for one. Why spend your resources to further dilute the Outlook/Arcadia/Enclave's? Chevrolet aleady has the Equinox, Tahoe and Suburban; how much more can they need? How about a competitive minivan? Perhaps a mini-Avalanche to take on the Ridgeline? I'd give either one of those two a higher priority than a Chevrolet Lambda SUV.

A local chain in the Twin Cities is called "Broadway Bar". It's the best thin-crust pizza in the area. It's excellent. Back to little Ceasars: they were a fav of mine just for their tv advertising. They have one of the best commercials I've ever seen. The commercial was advertising their "2 pizza's and a movie" deal, where if you purchased 2 pizza's from LC's, they'd throw in a coupon good for a free movie rental at blockbusters. The announcer on the tv ad was going on and on about how it was better than all of their previous deals. It was even better than their "2 pizza's and a perm" deal. The commercial then shows this family of four + the family dog, all with these super-tight perm (including the dog). The dad is chewing on a slice of pizza's while saying "it's gonna be tough to beat that one". It's laugh-out-loud funny.

Maytags are overrated, IMO. Hey, what a coincidence..

I'm in a bit of a tough spot. My work has decided to switch healthcare plans. We used to have CIGNA (which sucks - see story below). Anyways, the bittersweet news is that we are getting a new healthcare plan - which I'm all for. Anybody is going to be better than CIGNA. The bad news: it's United Healthcare - one of the big scandal-ridden, rip-off healthcare companies. United has routinely made the news for their ridiculous executive compensation and now their CEO is getting bad press because his stock options were back-dated to coincide with the 52-week low-price for stock each year (for 4 years straight). So why do I hate CIGNA? Let me give you an actual example (yes, this REALLY happened): Our CIGNA plan is a 70/30 PPO - which means this: if your doctor/hospital/whatever is in the CIGNA "network", then CIGNA takes care of the bill, minus whatever co-pay and sometimes you have a deductible you hafta cover as well. If you go to a doctor/hospital/whatever that isn't in their network, you pay 30% of the cost. This is all pretty standard stuff.. so nothing unusual. When my wife was pregnant with our first child, we did some research and found that the hospital we liked (and was closest to our house) was an in-network hospital. You can have the hospital "pre-registered", were you can fill out all of the forms in advance of the blessed event so that everything is ready to go. My wife had a very normal childbirth - everything went great - no complications - everything 100% ordinary. CIGNA didn't pay for 10 months. I got bills and phone calls from various places for 10 freaking months - and CIGNA always had an excuse. I called them and called them and complained - and it went nowhere. The last straw was this: my son received a letter from CIGNA asking if the medical charges listed were the result of "workman's comp" injury. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I ended up throwing it in the file folder with the rest of their b.s. Another month went by and he received a second letter - with a nasty, threatening tone, warning that his correspondence was required. At this point, I photocopied everything and sent a copy to the state's attorney general's office, the better business bureau, and CIGNA themselves. The packet of crap was so big that I had to take it to the post office & have them meter it. I never heard from the BBB. The state's AG's office called a week later and mentioned that I should wait 4-6 weeks and if things weren't resolved, for me to call back & they'd pursuit things on my behalf. CIGNA ended up paying up at that point. How ASININE is that? 1) Mailing a 10-month old, 2) asking if his childbirth-bills was an on-the-job injury. Bastards!!!

Rumor I hear is that the Tahoe, with the 6speed gets 24 on the hwy -- not bad for a high-hp, high-torque, 5,000lb vehicle.

Can we speculate that this program is due to the success of the 'stripper Camry' where only 2 of the 6 gears are omitted?

Some people, with documented receipts of oil changes at the specified intervals were having sludging problems - so the problem wasn't solely due to people who abuse/neglect their vehicles. Toyota didn't design/engineer their vehicles to allow for the extremes in routine use and then aggrevated their problem by using a ridiculous 5,000 ("normal use") / 7,500 ("severe use") oil change interval policy in a vain attempt to have a lower cost of maintenance than their rivals. It bit them in the *ss. Yes, 15k without an oil change is ridiculous - owner's like that deserve what's coming to them. But ask yourself this: Do you think those poeple are exlusive to Toyota, or do you think there are owners of EVERY brand that abuse/neglect their vehicles? I have a hard time believing that people like that are exclusive to Toyota.. which leads me to: why aren't other manufacturer's having the same sludging issues? I've heard of some issues of it with the 2.7 DCX engine and the 1.8l Turbo VW engine, but not nearly to the level that Toyota experienced with BOTH of their 4cyl and 6cyl engines.. which leads me back to this: Toyota didn't engineer/design an engine to meet & exceed real-world use & abuse.

Absolutely!! I feel bad for leaving her off my initial list -- especially with *that* picture you posted.

In no particular order: Natalie Portman, Reese Witherspoon Amy Smart Jennifer Love Hewitt, Neve Campbell, Tina Fey (SNL), and lastly... make mine a double (as in): the Olson twins. I can hear the "Doublemint" jingle right now: "Double your pleasure, double your fun.."

Zarella was GM's president of North American operations from 1994 - 2001(?). I know he started at B&L in 2001 and that the press had discovered a 10-year old "resume error" that caused B&L stock to drop in the year after his hiring. Problems seem to follow Zarella around... imagine that.

I just received an e-mail from Bausch and Lomb. If you've been following the news, you'll probably know that Bausch and Lomb sells a contact-lens solution called "Renu MoistureLoc". This product has been possibly linked to a rare eye infection (Fusarium keratitis) - which has caused them to recall (and stop producing) the product. Why is this interesting on a car forum? Their CEO is Ronald L. Zarrella. Here's his message in case you are interested: http://www.bausch.com/us/vision/about/news..._15_recall.html