Robert Hall

Ya, it's a huge, complex state with a lot of distinct regions and demographics...I've visited many times over the last 15 years... always enjoyed my visits to the Golden State ranging from San Diego--(downtown, old town, Pacific Beach, La Jolla), OC (Aliso Viejo, Irvine, Newport Beach, San Clemente), LA area (LA, Santa Monica, Studio City), and the SF Bay Area (San Francisco, San Jose, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Milpitas, Emeryville, Oakland Hills, Napa Valley, Petaluma), and Sacramento... I have a number of friends in the Bay area that I enjoy visiting, and I do regret sometimes that I didn't move to San Jose in 1997..would have been fun to have been there and been part of the dot.com action before the bubble burst (I had 3 job offers there in '97-99). I want to take the time and go explore the national parks. I find California more interesting than probably 75% of the other states in the US.

Nice..it's very much like that here, but not as warm...the highs have been in the low '70s and sunny, with the occasional low 60's and raining...supposed to be that way this weekend. It's been very nice here in Phoenix this winter.

I've thought the wind/solar farm idea could work on my parents' property in Ohio. 150 acres of land, partially forested, w/ a couple lakes. Has it's own natural gas well, so Mom doesn't have to pay for heating in the brutal winters (there is a fuel oil backup furnace for if the gas goes out due to frozen lines from the well). If she had her own electricity, that would be cool (there is a large Onan gas generator for backup when the power goes out, as it did last week). My Mom has 2 German Shepherds and an Australian Cattle Dog for guard dogs (though there is a gate at the end of the driveway, which is almost a mile from the house), though my preference for guard dogs are my 3lb Yorkie puppy (very alert) and my Australian terrier (the 'bitey beast'--sort of a tiny hairy piranha)

Interesting old car...the styling reminds me of the Batmobile from the '40s comics. With that monster steering wheel, I couldn't imagine it would be very pleasant to drive today. The shape reminds me of other teardrop shaped, finned designs of the era, esp. one from Talbot-Lago. I have Hot Wheels of it, not sure the name of the car (Atlantique?). In a design with some similiarities, I love the Chrysler Atlantic concept from the '90s..I wish they had built that car... I much prefer it to the Viper as far as outrageous Chrysler cars go.

How about car pr0n--photos of engines taken apart, inside transmission cases, other dirty bits?

Was behind a black Genesis sedan this morning with the license plate 'BOOLR'. No idea what it means. First Genesis I've seen upclose in traffic also...the design is a mix of M-B, BMW, Infiniti and Lexus styling cues, IMHO...

Wow...my electric bill in Phoenix in the summer is only about 1/3rd of that.. $350-450/mo is common, with the A/C running 24/7 in July-August...

Thanks.

Nope...not until end of April in Colorado (often some of the biggest snows of the season are in April there). And in Phoenix, I suppose winter is over when we have our first 90 degree high (April usually).

'themselfs' is not a word. Can we buy gm4life a spell checker?

I use Google Maps all the time, and like Google Earth also.. haven't tried Windows Live maps on principle (it's Microsoft, therefore, avoid). For commercial use maps and imaging, I've heard Digital Globe's products are quite good (www.digitalglobe.com)...(and it's a Colorado company, and I know a couple people that work there).

Dodge Garter... baby brother to the Viper.

Damn..that is a very slick package. Bring it here!

Sure we do...she's an incompetent, unemployed ho who has no business having 1 child, let alone 14. I've read that she supposedly wanted a big family because she was raised an only child. Maybe in Utah. Anymore than 4-5 children has been considered large in the US for decades.. At the taxpayer's expense. Ridiculous. It's ridiculous for people to have children if they don't have the financial means to support them. Haven't they heard of birth control?

Fiat's in Mexico? Cool..didn't realise they were in NA at all. Maybe I'll see some here in AZ...I see Mexico plated cars around frequently..

Nice change from the predictable...the Corvette's been the IPC for what, 15 years straight?

People on welfare should be sterilised after they have a couple of kids. They shouldn't be allowed to have huge litters; the world is overpopulated the way it is.

Nah, Key West is too dinky (I grew up 50 miles from there), and has the little problem of hurricanes (and 1 road in and out, and a tiny airport). Maybe Phoenix or somewhere in the LA area..

I hear you... walking to the parking garage after work yesterday, it was about 72 and I was wearing a light jacket...it felt cool. I've become acclimatized to Phoenix, would probably freeze to death if I tried spending a winter in Ohio or Michigan again.

Heh-heh...was a pretty good game... was rooting for the Steelers, waving my terrible towel at the TV.. loved the half time, some decent commercials (not as many good ones as past years, IMHO).

1 midsize SUV left from GM, 4 midsize CUVs, 4 fullsize CUVs, 10 fullsize SUVs....seems like too many. But they cut 5 or so more midsize SUV models in the last few years (GMT360s)..

Ya, it's probably the most diverse state in the US in many aspects--demographics, topography, climate, geography, etc. At least the parts I've spent time in are all quite different from each other...

Red state scum... they claim to be so patriotic and pro-American but sell out to foreign companies.

Sounds like severe incompetence..she should have been sterilised after the first 6...a bit absurd to have such large litters today...maybe in third world countries or in ancient times people needed large families, but not in modern America.

By the way, 43 states are currently facing budget shortfalls: CNN Article: Recession has 43 states facing budget shortfalls