Robert Hall

A couple German phrases I know are ' Bitte ture schliessen' (please close the door, which I learned on the Milan to Venice train 20+ years ago, and 'fahrt nicht bumplitz' (do not drive to Bumplitz) which I read on a Swiss newspaper headline and it stuck in my head...

Reminds me of an incident 20+ years ago, was coming out of a Benihana in Denver and a guy came up to me and started asking questions in German. My answer was ‘no spreken ze Deutsch’.

I assume Costco has charging stations..people in my Nextdoor 'hood are freaking out because the local Costco is closing their gas station for 6-8 weeks for an expansion, adding 8 more pumps (they have crazy long lines there on weekends).

Interesting.. we have Circle K and Get Go here in the Cleveland suburbs, and they tend to be small locations. The bigger stations around are Sheetz.

Ah, I misread.

Hmm....I was talking about Lauren Sanchez... they just got married last year. Had been Bezo's girlfriend since 2018. He divorced his first wife in 2019.

She looks like a fake plastic surgery disaster bimbo...no substance there. Just a wannabe Kardashian...

$45k for an appliance FWD CUV w/ a 4cyl in white w/ a gray interior is pretty depressing to imagine. My Jeep was in that price range 12 years ago, much nicer design inside and out and well equipped w/ a V6 and AWD...and with inflation, the equivalent spec to that on a 2025 is about $53k..same engine and transmission, AWD, same color scheme, trim level and options. My sister's '23 Chevy Equinox LT was $34k out the door new at the end of 2022. She got $15k in trade on her 2015 Trax and paid cash for the difference.

Yeah, given Stellantis' quality/reliability issues, a 5000lb SUV w/ a 2.0 turbo 4 just seems like asking for trouble. I just find the current market pretty boring and uninspired. The only vehicles I have any interest in are $75k to over $100k. Which I can afford but really can't justify the spend.. Better to invest in upgrades to my house and maybe purchase a winter home as I approach retirement in the next decade (which I'm having a hard time admitting to myself), keep my current vehicles going indefinitely...

For the smaller crossovers, I've found the Chevy Equinox quite pleasant to drive. Comfortable seats, smooth ride, even w/ the 1.5 turbo 4, decent power for freeway driving. I've driven my sister's '23 LT quite a bit around town and on short road trips the last few years. Good ergonomics and layout, Car Play and Android Auto work fine. More back seat room than my Grand Cherokee. Easy to get in and out of. I haven't looked at the new generation model that came out of '25, though. My sister looked at the 25 when had her 23 in for service, thought the new one was ugly. As for myself, if I were shopping for a new car, don't know what I would get. My Jeep and Cadillac are both in excellent condition and paid for..and working from home, no real need for a new vehicle. I don't think I'd get another Grand Cherokee given Stellantis' quality problems in recent years and that the '26 GC comes with a 4 cyl standard.

There is also Genesis with their 3 sedans (G70, G80, G90) and Lexus still has the IS, ES, and LS.

30 years ago at the U of Michigan my PhD advisor had a dark green '93 Bonneville w/ the tan leather interior.. I don't recall the trim level or engine, but it was a nice car..rode in it a couple times to dinner/etc. He also had a white '92-ish GMC Jimmy 4dr (the square S15-based one). He's now the president of Carnegie Mellon U.

Interesting about Pep Boys..I had no idea. There aren't any in my area, looks like they have a few locations down in Youngstown and in Central Ohio around Columbus. Auto Zone, Advance and O'Reilly are my locals. I tend to prefer O'Reilly, if only because I worked on their inventory system for a while on a project when the consulting firm I was at in Arizona had them as a client.

Always liked those old Dodges...I learned to drive in the mid 80s in a '79 Dodge Power Wagon 4x4 short wide box pickup my Dad had. Very numb steering--no on center feel at all, bouncy suspension, would stall on left turns. Was very clean w/ like 25k miles..silver green inside and out.

Always liked the 00s Impalas..had many as rentals when I lived in Colorado then Arizona and would travel back to Ohio and elsewhere in the Midwest and East...along w/ Intrepids and 300Ms, Grand Marquis, Town Cars and the occasional DeVille/DTS (and drove my sister's 00 DTS a lot). Don't recall having had a Buick as a rental, but always liked the looks of the 90s-00s Park Avenues..