Robert Hall

torn

Interesting developments this week may lead me eventually to Irvine, of all places. I've been steadily moving further west from NE Ohio since '94, maybe the OC is where it's at.

When did cars start offering turn signals and when did they become standard on most cars? I've seen old cars with semaphores, but that's a different animal. I'm guessing late 40s, maybe? It seems cars had parking lights before turn signals..

I've had jobs where the interviews went great, got a good offer, started, and within a few weeks it was like 'WTF was I thinking???'..totally hating the place. I've had others where the interview went great and I never hear back from the recruiter.

Besides the usual Dice and Monster, I'd check out SoloGig.com also..good for freelance work.

Sorry to hear that. Good luck in your search.

A twumor! I've seen tweets to that effect also.

I like the Camaro Dusk for the color scheme, wheels, and cabin tech.

That's the Jay Leno TT V6 concept. Pretty cool car.

Didn't realize the '10 LaCrosse had been on sale since Sept...still haven't seen one.

I'm not sure if the Cimarron was ugly, more like mediocre and forgettable, like any '80s GM J-body (or X-, FWD A-, N-, etc). Prowler was pretty ugly. Pinto was homely and hunched up, likewise for the Mustang II. The H2 definitely belongs on there, but I'd add the vile H1 also. For the Avalanche, they showed the pic of the toned down one..the original one with it's more squinty front end is fairly ugly. The Avalanche and Escalade were more examples of overwrought excess than ugly, IMHO. 'Ugly' is kind of a personal reaction to styling, though. No uniform measurement or 'index of ugly'.. Styling is very subjective, everyone has an opinion on what's ugly. My list would be different, as would everyone else's. These kind of dumb lists are an end of the year slow news week thing we get every year, over and over. And they get discussed ad nauseam over and over all over the Internet, every year.

I think Red Green did it also...and it was done in the James Bond movie 'View to a Kill' with a Renault.. One thing the video proves is that they have rednecks in Germany also.

Having a 50 mile RT commute now, and once years ago having a 140 mile RT commute reinforces importance of reliability + keeping up w/ maintenance for me. Makes me very wary of anything I didn't buy new or nearly new. I wouldn't want to get stranded by the side of the road in the void in a snowstorm or on a 115 degree day...

My Jeep I bought brand new, have kept to the factory maintenance schedule, so I know it's history and trust it to drive cross country without failing. Similarly w/ my '87 Mustang, got it new, know it's history, know what's been replaced. Not a used car with a questionable history...like...sister's '84 and '91 Mercedes, both were bought used w/ over 100k. Both are total money pits that I barely trust to drive around town. They break, and they break often, and it's always $1000-1500 in repairs. Old and worn out. I wish she'd unload them and get a new car. (since she's a traveling consultant home 2-3 days a week, she doesn't drive much..hence the old cars..she always drove new cars when she worked normal local corporate jobs). Enough w/ the family dysfunction frustration, though. I hate cars that I can't trust, and want nothing to do with them. And most old used cars fall in that category. For a daily driver, I'll never trust something that I didn't buy new or as a low mileage CPO.

True, but the newer they are, and the lower the mileage, the more likely they are to be reliable than something 25 years old. In my experience, old high mileage cars are more often a source of pain and misery than joy. Old and cheap usually means worn out.

El Paso would argue they are Southwest, like Tucson. Houston is deep South in my opinion, while the panhandle is central like Oklahoma or Kansas. Texas is big.

Moral of the story, with old used cars, don't expect reliablity and 100% driveability. Get a new Cobalt, Corolla, etc if you want that in your life...old used cars are money pits and can make decent occasional use cars, but are not suitable as daily drivers.

IMHO, the '78-80 were probably the ugliest of Montes, followed by the '00-05. Those side creases that looked good on the '73-77 just looked very awkward on the hunched up downsized model. The '78-80 Grand Prix, Cutlass, and Regal were much better looking midsize personal luxury coupes.

Saw a white SS w/ red stripes at the post office over lunch. It looks so good in white.

That's too cool. My Mom, who is getting close to being an octogenerian, has been talking about getting a new Mustang GT for her birthday in January (she's had 6 Mustangs over the years, all V8s, first being a '65 289 hi-po coupe...

The Vista Cruiser has been seen in a metallic lime green, a brighter lime green, and white..all w/ woodgrain on the sides. 3 different wheel variations have been reported, at least on the met. green one. The ambulance is white w/ red graphics on the side. I haven't found one yet, only seen pics on the various diecast forums.

I had a similar vantage point recently...was standing on a bridge above the garage entrance at the airport, and a dark red one was sitting in the queue below...the view from above is spectacular, esp. the curve of the rear quarters and where the roof meets the quarters...just beautifully shaped.

Perfect gift for my friend Steve...will have to send his wife a link to the video.

I've thought a lot about Chicago...I have ties there, lived there briefly while in grad school, like the city and the west/NW suburbs. Also maybe Pittsburgh (lots of family ties there) or further East. Then again, I may go back to Denver or to one of the West Coast extremities. Getting restless in AZ, want to repot myself in '10. I want to be in a big metro area w/ plenty of software engineering opportunities, a major hub airport, and more greenery, w/ hills or mountains nearby and an ocean, rivers or lakes nearby.

And avoid driveways, parallel or curb parking.