Robert Hall

I like gin once in a while...though for martinis I prefer vodka.

The Taurus, MKS, and LaCrosse looks like they were designed w/ the standard in mind..they seem as high as an SUV at the cowl..

I remember a sign like that from childhood from Montgomery Pontiac-Oldsmobile, Steubenville, Ohio, circa 1975-1980. This dealer was in my neighborhood, across from my elementary school. Used to walk past it every day on the way to school..remember the downsized '77 C- and B- bodies first appearing, the '77 Can Am, the various Trans Ams and 442s...

How about a road salt ban? Road salt is bad for cars.

Does the tach needle move when it's started? Does pressing the accelerator result in any noise (when sitting in park after starting)? The silent treatment sounds wierd to me..

With SYNC, have the default bootup sound be the sound MS Windows makes when it boots.

Good point. Must be the Consumer Reports affect. For absolute driving safety, I always think Mercedes-Benz then Volvo.

'Plainsong' by The Cure. And old favorite from college.

Saw a very clean '68 Olds Cutlass 2dr ht in white w/ black top, white and black interior. White wall tires, hubcaps. Saw a very clean '81-85 Impala 4dr in a burnt orange (was an '81 Chevette color also) with black steel wheels and hubcaps. '80s detective car look..very sweet. Saw two clean '65-66 Mustang coupes in a driveway, one a pale yellow, the other dark red...haven't seen them before, and less than a mile from home.

taxiway

I don't get it.. I also don't like the starter button nonsense..what's wrong with a key that you have to twist to start and stop?????

Those last-gen Toronados had some pretty cool styling, esp. the rear quarters and roofline...and the lighting detailing front and rear. Haven't seen one in ages....

I saw a black Malibu Maxx SS tonight, a rather uncommon car..don't see those very often. A while back, I saw 4 Pontiacs at one intersection....a white G8 GT, a black Solstice, a yellow '04-06 GTO, and a blue early 3rd gen Firebird.

The more I read about Toyota and their troubles, the angrier I get at them and the sheeple that have bought their boring product for so long. I used to be pretty neutral on Toyota, but now strongly dislike them.

Problem is it's hard for large, multinational corporations to justify manufacturing in the US, when cheaper labor/etc is available elsewhere. I'm struggling to see what 21st century manufacturing will look like in the US in 10, 20 years...

Looks like a fun ride...I'm interested in the visceral impressions...how it sounds under acceleration, feels going through the corners, shifter/clutch feel, braking feel. How's the cars' driveability and livability? Sounds like you are going on a road trip with it..should be good for those kinds of observations..

I didn't say anything about 30 years ago..the contruction boom went on in AZ pretty much continuously the last 50 years...esp. strong the last 30. Gone bust now. As far as AMC, well, it got absorbed into Chrysler. The reality is that certain parts of the country have had explosive growth in the last 20 years--parts of Arizona, Texas, Florida, Nevada, southern California, the Front Range of Colorado, to name a few. Mostly the South and Southwest. Other parts of the country have had a lot of out-migration...particularly the rust belt--Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, etc. The Midwest and Northeast hit the hardest. It's coincided with the decline in the manufacturing economy and the rise of the information and services economy. The transition from a 19th/20th century economy to a 21st century economy. That's just the way it is, good or bad. Reality of the times.

Denver, no question. I'd still be there now if I hadn't made certain family-related decisions a couple years ago. I much prefer the climate and the nearby mountains, and the people. Today is my 1 yr anniv. at my current client in Chandler, AZ..contract extended through September, so I'll still be here a while. My impression of Cleveland was that it was still in decline. Recently named 'most miserable city in America' by a Forbes study. I remember Akron and Cleveland being grim when I lived in the area from '88-94, still looked bleak the last few times I've been there. Yeah...Pittsburgh is still on my radar. The area has a lot of appeal to me. Yes, too much growth too fast... The overbuilding is causing the Phoenix metro a lot of problems..the Phoenix metro was hit hard by the foreclosure, etc crisis..Huge amount of homes on the market, unfinished subdivisions, unfinished commercial projects, empty strip malls, etc.

Golf courses. There were a lot of construction jobs over the last 30 years with the infinite suburb growth, but that has tapered off. There are also plenty of tech jobs here also, not as much as a Seattle, Austin, San Jose or Denver/Boulder, but a reasonable amount...plenty of big employers like General Dynamics, Intel, Motorola, some major bank operations centers, lots of smaller tech companies as well. Certainly more action here than there was in NE Ohio or SE Michigan (where I was prior to Colorado). There are plenty of retirees in the Valley of the Sun, but there are plenty of non-retirees also..4 million or so people in a desert...it's a strange place, but I've been calling it home for a couple years now.

AMC has been gone over 20 years, so that's a moot point.

I wonder if any company makes or has ever made a DVD player in the US. I've only bought two over the years--a $550 Sony 5 disc one 11 years ago that I still use, works fine, and more recently, a $350 Toshiba HD-DVD player. As much as I'd like to buy stuff made in America, the best mainstream home electronics still seem to come from Japan Inc.

I think some people have an idealised view of the '50s based on old black & white TV shows. Happy white people, picket fences, giant cars, men with hats and suits..

As the Rust Belt cities have declined over the last 30+ years, there has been a great outmigration to growing places in the South, Southwest, and West. Witness the population booms in states such as Florida, Texas, Arizona, Nevada etc. It's all part of the deindustrialization of America...it is what it is.

Maybe a squarepusher or special tool to pop it off. The one on the front bumper of one of my sister's old Mercedes is missing.

These are hilarious..I shouldn't have listened while eating dinner, though..almost horked up spaghetti and wine...