Robert Hall

Daimler AG does have many brands, though... only 3 for cars (Smart, MB, Maybach), but several truck/bus brands incl. Freightliner, Western Star, Mitsubishi Fuso, Setra, Thomas school buses, etc.

July, August and Sept are usually the worst here..though June's was $430.

Solar water heater would probably work here. Have just a conventional water heater out in the back carport. Water bill is higher in summer from refilling the pool every few days (lose water due to evaporation) and from running the sprinklers every night.

BTW...the Impala conv is a '71, and the Lincoln a '66-67..some cool sightings. Didn't see anything today, worked from home, haven't been out. Maybe the wife was out in the Caravan or Durango and hubby needed some tofu or soymilk.

I actually liked The Village. Haven't seen Lady in the Water or Last Airbender, heard they were dreck. The Happening was weak.

But will going green make you bitter instead?

canny

Saw a '77 Buick LeSabre 4dr this morning so clean that I think it was an unrestored original. Bright red w/ white vinyl top, red interior, whitewall tires, stock hubcaps. I was over in So Cal for the weekend, besides the usual assortment of BMWs, Audis, Mercedes and exotics (saw a couple Bentley Continental convertibles, and someone hooning around in a white Ferrari F430 convertible), I saw lots of interesting oldies, incl: Red '64 Falcon convertible, top down w/ surfboard in back seat on the PCH in Capistrano Beach seen from my hotel balcony.. teal '64 Falcon wagon w/ woodgrain trim, same location several nice '64-66 Mustangs, incl. 2 red '66 convertibles, an Ivy Gold '65 coupe w/ vinyl top, a white '65 coupe customized '61 Lincoln 4dr ht (b-pillar removed, 20 inch or so chrome wheels, two-tone beige and maroon) customized '62 Lincoln 4dr conv black /w black interior, top down, 22 inch or so chrome wheels Chopped, custom '37 Ford tudor in black bright red '59 El Camino w/ Cragar SS wheels Minty maroon '66 Chevy Impala ht, stock silver '63 Chevy Impala hi rider on dubs clean black '69 Camaro SS '72 Cadillac Coupe de Ville rat rod in primer black w/ red steel wheels full of tatooed skater punks very clean black '70s MGB Several stock and modded vintage VW Beetles and Karmann-Ghias

I forgot the obligatory comment on the interior plastics. Overall, decent, many of the surfaces were hard, but generally didn't feel cheap or flimsy..seemed tightly put together. I do wish the sides of the huge center console were padded, though, I did thwack my tight knee on it a couple of times.. I like that airport..easier to deal w/ than LAX. First time I'd been in and out of there, I've always gone in and out of LAX or San Diego airport when visiting So Cal. I should have studied a map closer, got turned around and lost a couple times leaving the airport.. I liked the shifter. Put it in manual mode a couple times to play w/ the flappy paddles. I didn't really notice them..kind of an overused detail in recent years, I think. Not sure..I like the Charger and 300, esp. for the RWD and V8 availability, but I've never driven either of them. Sat in them, ridden in a 300 a few years ago briefly. I like the Taurus more than the Impala, I've driven a couple recent Impalas. I might try and get a rental Charger on one of my trips in the next few months.

I put a couple hundred miles on a metallic black w/ charcoal cloth interior '10 Taurus SEL in Orange County (Ca) over the weekend. Picked it up Friday afternoon at John Wayne airport (after some confusion w/ Thrifty-I'd reserved a Charger, almost had an Impala that was low on gas, then got the Taurus). Had a nice mix of freeway gridlock driving, city driving, beach town driving, winding roads, etc. The car had 28,xxx miles. Impressions: Big, solid car. Love the dash design and detailing. Lots of useful cubbholes, cupholders, etc. One of nicer cloth interiors I've seen recently. Wished it had a sunroof since it was dark inside. Positives: Very comfortable. Distinctive exterior design...I love the detailing on the lighting and the profile overall..the dark color helps reduce the visual thickness and slabsidedness. Looks tall and narrow from behind. Plenty of trunk room, short decklid. Negatives: thick pillars, some blindspots, (upper part of the A-pillars are very thick), can't see the ends of the car when parallel parking, smallish rear window view. Some inconsistencies in the options--power drivers' seat, but manual passenger seat! Confusing HVAC controls at first, but figured them out. Definitely noticed the size in some tight underground parking garages and crowded parking lots. Driving: Quiet, very smooth. Reasonable acceleration. Good steering feel for a FWD sedan. Gave it some welly on a few winding roads above Dana Point, made the front tires sqweal and got some mild torque steer. All in all, a very nice package. It would be my choice for a good all-around daily driver amongst the current mainstream FWD sedans (then again, the only other recent ones I've driven is the '10 Fusion and the '09 Sonata). Not sure which interior trim I'd gravitate towards, the faux turned aluminum in the SEL or the plood of the Limited. I think I'd like a lighter tan interior. Snapped a few pics this morning.

reality

Mmmm...CTS coupe and CTS-v coupe. Pointy. Loving that Morgan Aeromax..haven't seen one in person..love the rear design. I've only seen one Aston Martin Lagonda over the years...that was quite the radical design 30+ years ago, remember seeing it as a little kid in Road & Track.

Sounds fun. I haven't taken a road trip vacation in years...the last few years, I've been taking 3-4 day long weekend vacations..fly somewhere Thurs or Fri and come back Sunday night. Haven't taken a week long vacation in 3 years...too busy.

Auggghh....I had a horrific experience for a couple days late last summer when the cooling system failed on my Jeep..it was in the shop two days for radiator, water pump, hoses, etc....I drove my sister's old 500SEL and couldn't let the A/C run when below 50 mph or it would overheat...so on a couple 115 degree days I was driving w/ the windows down and sunroof open.. the desert outside of Chandler, AZ looks like the surface of the moon and feels like the surface of the sun on days like that..should have rented a car. My A/C is still fairly cold in the Jeep, but not as cold as it was new..I need to get it recharged. 116 and 30% humidity today.

I've driven 2 rental '10 Fusion SEs this year so far, they are very nice...very quiet at idle, smooth, comfortable. My only complaint is the inside rear view mirror and the distorted view it gives (both I drove were like this).

Yes, you just never know. Was driving down a street earlier I've driven down hundreds of times, saw a silver Mercedes SL550 pull in the driveway, garage door was opening and I got a glimpse of a red '71 Caprice in the garage I hadn't seen around before. Also saw a primer gray '66 Caprice 4dr ht in traffic...

Lovely..worse than Phoenix..it's rarely that hot and humid here.

Chrysler

Felt really humid outside around 5:30 this morning..supposed to hit 112 today, 114-115 by Thursday. Chance of monsoon storms over the weekend. Going to the beach Friday..

Then there is heat index, which I'm not quite sure what that is..

Speaking from past experience, even w/ the ocean breezes, Miami in July is pretty steamy...the humidity is very close to 100% when it's not raining...likewise for eastern Ohio in July-August.

Saw a silver 1st gen CTS-v, a black S5, a dark blue A5 and a silver CLK AMG Black Series all within a mile a few min ago. Sweet.

Yeah, I've come to accept disgusting heat from May through Sept as part of the price of living in AZ. At least the rest of the year the weather is great. Having lived in both humid climates (Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, S. Florida) and dry climates (Colorado, AZ) there is a big difference---95-100 degrees with 98% humidity feels worse than the 110 w/ 20% humidity here does.

Yeah, he has a 60 mile round trip commute, so the Prius is his daily driver and the Challenger his toy, the Outback the wife's car.

There is a restorable gold '66 Toro parked in a driveway nearby...seems to be solid w/ a little rust. Love the design of the '66-67.