Robert Hall

Red states, Bible Belt, etc...

Ya, I hate Texas... I wouldn't miss them one bit, along with the rest of the South (except for S. Florida).

I try and stick to a standard 40 hr work week, M-F 7:30-4:30, since as a contractor I bill by the hour and avoid overtime. This week, I'm working 6:30-3:30 a few days, which is nice because it makes my commute quicker. When I've been a corporate salaried cubicle dweller, I did way too much overtime, too many 50-65 hr weeks. I like to disconnect and avoid thinking about work when I leave the office..working through the weekend and evenings sucks.

It's pretty good...I started reading it about 3 weeks ago, got busy and haven't gotten very far..going to pick it up again this weekend.

Semiconductor manufacturing? I think we still have some of that with Intel and other companies...

Voted for the G3 and G5...keep it all Pontiac Excitement!!!

Disturbing thread...sounds like some people on this forum may end up on CNN some day in one of those 'armed gunmen kills a lot of people' stories...

I do some clothes shopping online, like shoes from Zappos and occasionally shirts from the Gap or Dillards. Though I usually prefer to shop for my staples (khakis, jeans, button down shirts, polo shirts) in person, esp. w/ pants (not all 38/32s fit the same way). As far as wearing sweats in public, I avoid it, though I will occasionally on the weekend roll through the Starbucks drive thru in a pair of black sweat pants and matching hoodie (or my blue U of Michigan sweats), covered in dog hair.. I draw the line at getting out of the car and going in a place in sweats..just looks slovenly, IMHO, esp. when I'm unshaven and haven't taken a shower yet (like at 7am on a Saturday). As far as shopping in general, I do enjoy trolling the aisles at Target, Fry's Electronics, Borders, Best Buy, and my local grocery..I like Ace Hardware and Home Despot also.

reef

Speaking of Daewoo hatchbacks, the G3 provides Pontiac with the most EXCITEMENT!!!!!!!! in the compact hatchback market since the LeMans! ! ! (anyone remember that car, about 20 years ago?).

Another one tonite--a white Kia Soul on the freeway..very, um, distinctive looking. Didn't realize they were out.

The Aveo may have done decent against a Malibu, but how about a Tahoe? a Suburban? a Kodiak? That's the kind of collision that makes any small car look bad..

Saw an interesting group of cars tonight-- an orange Solstice GXP, a red Sky, a black HHR SS panel, a silver CTS--must have been a base model w/ the plastic inserts in the fog light area and tiny wheels. Also a dark green NSX-T (sweet, great sounding exhaust), and a minty clean Medium Canyon Red '87-88 Mustang GT that was identical to mine...so nice to see a car like that in clean, stock shape and not tastelessly modified or worn out as most seem to be. Saw a black Genesis coupe, first one I've seen, not bad!

Hmmm...if it were a real AMG that would be a CLS55 AMG....maybe someone added the AMG badge to a regular CLS? I saw a black SL65 Renntech tonight.

Been thru there, don't recall going very fast...I've been on Mulholland a few times, during the daytime the traffic was heavy and slow-going...Angeles Crest Highway was fun..

Well, if they still have many left over at the end of MY 09, they can do a buy 1, get 1 free deal with Denalis...'buy a big expensive truck, get a commuter car'.

Haven't tried public transportation in the LA area, but one thing I've noticed over the years is how cheap rental cars are at LAX, at least compared to Columbus, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and other cities I've rented at frequently... I usually get a Mustang convertible, a Grand Marquis, or a Town Car in LA, but on my last visit, I had a 350Z from Hertz..was pretty sweet.

True, not what the brand needs, but what the BPG dealers wanted..they wanted something cheap enough to compete with Chevy.

Maybe a G3 GXP Extreme model would amp up the EXCITEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! quotient to the EXTREME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elantra

I've been to Hermosa, driven through Manhattan, haven't spent any time on the beach there....will have to check it out next time I'm out there..I've gone to Santa Monica and stayed at the Loews a few times...once I was there on Labor Day weekend, the beach was pretty empty and the weather great! For about 8 years in a row, I usually have gone on July 4th weekend or the weekend before (which is my birthday) to either San Diego (Pacific Beach, LaJolla) or Santa Monica..not sure where I'm going this year....thinking of doing something different, Seattle or Vancouver for the week between my b-day and the 4th.

I've been to Hermosa, driven through Manhattan, haven't spent any time on the beach there....will have to check it out next time I'm out there..I've gone to Santa Monica and stayed at the Loews a few times...once I was there on Labor Day weekend, the beach was pretty empty and the weather great!

Put some GXP badges on them, paint them bright colors, and advertise them!

I remember one time when I was out there, starting in Hollywood I drove out Sunset Blvd and thru Brentwood and Pacific Palisades to the Will Rogers State Park, kind of a nice park..the up thru Malibu and then took one of the canyon roads over the mountains back to the 405... Another area further south I like to drive around is the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the in-laws of a friend of mine live in Rancho Palos Verdes, was over there a couple years ago for dinner w/ them.

Or he's jealous because the G8 is such an infinitely better car than his mediocre, outdated W-body