The O.C.

Sir...you are living in a fantasy world. GM hasn't really enacted ANY sort of real "change." Or at least the real change that will allow them to survive for another 100 years. There are a handful (re....just a handful) of products that can stand up to the industry's best......stand up....not BEAT necessarily....and the rest are woeful alternatives...... Sadly, in too many areas.....perception IS reality....when it comes to GM products (as a whole.)

The fact of the matter is......GM is an old-school dinosaur of a corporation. Major things need to change in order for the "new" GM to survive. Will a "bailout" do that? Or do they need to tread water through bankruptcy? I don't know the answer......but after 20 years of failed "reorganizations" and (mostly) failed product plans....I don't have much confidence in the corporation's (re: current management structure's) ability to turn this around....at all... What I do know is.....throwing money at the "same ole, same ole" will do nothing but seal the fate of this company. When are the REAL paradigm shifts within GM going to begin?

LOL..... Well, although the winters here aren't like a midwestern winter, they are far from paradise......it can get really breezy/windy here in the winter....and combined with highs in the 50's to mid 60's, far from ideal.....and lows at night can get down to 40....or even below.... Damn these deserts......hot in the summer.....cold in the winter.....lol

Yeah, but you are quite the slim and trim guy.....you can afford to sock away a breakfast like that....

I remember Michigan summers being warm and relatively sunny......but lord were they humid! We've been sunny and in the mid-to-upper 70's for the last few weeks here in Las Vegas......and looks to continue at least through the weekend.

Trucks haven't been perfect themselves either though.......we still don't have power-folding third-row seats in the GMT-900's as one example.....

Thanks CD.....lol..... I wanna see that thing erect....... While we are all in this overly sexual thread......I have to ask the question......what do you all think of "shrinkage?" LOL......... My ex, if totally, uh, un-aroused, would be, uh, quite unassuming. But damn....get him excited....and....damn that $h! got BIG.....

Let's say almost 5-series' sized..... But it's more relevant to compare it to the like-priced 3-series......CTS runs $36K to $50K.....right on top of the 3-series.

I've never been a fan of the XF. It just doesn't do it for me. I don't even like the supposed "innovative" interior. The flip-over vents and rising round shifter just scream "gimick" to me. And I don't find the interior especially plush, either.....(another issue I have with the XKs I've sat in.) In fact, I find the CTS to have a much more stylish, and just as well-built interior as the XF. Plus, XF is really tight inside....tighter than a CTS in my opinion....and the XF gives off the impression of being a much larger car, even if it's not. Plus, while I don't find it's exterior unattractive, it just doesn't seem to be a Jaguar to me.

Flint.....(or Flint area....Grand Blanc and Fenton) from '88 to '93......then north Oakland County from '93 to '95. Truly a depressing place to live......even Oakland County was not all that it was cracked up to be. I go back for the auto show every January and can never see myself living there again. (Although I do confess quite a bit of fun hitting the gay bars in Royal Oak and Detroit.....and one particularly rough gay bar in Detroit, GoldCoast, which has some of the hottest go-go boys in town.....and boy let me tell you about what they offer for a lap dance.....WOW, oh WOW.) I agree with Moltar.....Ann Arbor is about the only redeeming area I've ever been to in SE MI. (Edit: Royal Oak is actually pretty neat too....if you HAD to live in the immediate Detroit area.) Actually spent some time on the west coast, Grand Rapids area......and that seems like a world away from SE MI.....actually a nice area....and Grand Rapids seems like quite a nice town. Downtown had lots of bars and restaurants....and condos/lofts with people living down there.

My mini schnauzers will fart.....then turn around and look at their ass and wonder "what the heck was that?" It's the funniest thing in the world....

Only Satty could make a thread about farts.......and have it last well into two pages..... I personally think farts are funny......but the worst part about farts is when you are in the early stages of dating someone, and you start sleeping at each others' places.....and that typical middle-of-the-night gassy buildup occurs in your lower intestines....and you are scared to death to let any of it out with your new love interest laying right next to you..... Then, all of a sudden, your relationship matures to the point where you know you are close to someone when you can fart in front of them.....

The fog lights are only available with one of the two performance packages (all-season or summer tire.) Stupid in my mind.....but it is what it is. We probably sell at least 50% of our CTSs without the performance packages.....for one reason, the base CTS setup is now so good, the performance package isn't needed like it might have been in the past. We don't get many complaints about the 17-inch wheels, but at least they could make foglights part of one of the lower-line packages or something. We have many $40K - $44K CTSs with the standard wheels (and no foglights).....because many people want alot of the toys (sunroof, navigation in particular) without having to buy a $48K - $50K version. That being said, $48K-$50K CTSs aren't that difficult to sell either......with our mix being maybe a solid 40% sold equipped like that. It's nice to see a GM car that can sell in optioned-up form......and not just on a low-ball price.

.....'cause you are the same way, or MY tendancy worries you?

A man TRULY after my heart!!!!

I was a beer and wine fan. Sometimes I will still have a nice glass of red wine.....usually when out to dinner. But recently, I've been into tequila. I'm not talking about doing shots......I'm talking about sipping it out of a snifter or something like that. No chaser. No lime. It kinda worries me because, I can go home after work, and drink it all night long while I'm reading car mags or doing whatever....and I get a pretty good buzz.....but don't get "drunk" from it......and I go to sleep and wake up in the morning with absolutely no hint of a hangover.....in fact, I usually wake up quite bright-eyed and bushy-tailed......and having felt like I had a good sleep.... Could I really have built up THAT good of a tolerance for it...? I still get a really nice buzz off it.....but no hangover!

I'll say a little prayer for you and your family tonight, PCS........ Hurry back to us soon.....

Well, if you remember.....there was some (let's call it what it was) "McCain/Palin bashing" thread.......and long into it, after I decided to rant about my negative opinions of Obama....that thread was locked too.....needless to say....that was AFTER someone on that thread actually asked me to explain why I was against Obama....so I did....it went back-and-forth for a bit....then it was locked. Keep in mind......I didn't bash anyone on C&G personally......didn't commit any posting "wrongs"......but simply became vocal about my opinions about Obama. (I guess there was a certain admin that couldn't handle it, and locked the thread) I think for the most part, (some of, most of) the admins do a good job. However, I think the real point of The Lounge is to allow us to discuss things in a private forum just as we would if we were all sitting around together. I think The Lounge ought to be allowed WAY more leeway before threads are locked (even more leeway than we have now.) Again......if a particular individual doesn't like the topic of a certain thread, then by all means.....don't enter it....don't contribute to it....

My final rant on this subject is..... I hate it when people refer to themselves as...."African Americans" or "Asian Americans" and so on. If you live here, are a citizen here, why can't you simply be an "American?" My heritage is German. But I don't refer to myself as a "German American"........

C'mon now.....you know it's not a "I hate (Latino) immigrants" debate....... There are scores of immigrants, hispanics included, from all over the world that have come here for a better opportunity....and have assimilated (okay, poor word, but I don't know what better word to use) to our culture. But it just seems like the vast majority of those that don't assimilate are hispanics (seemingly mexicans.) Doesn't mean people don't like mexicans or hispanics in general.....

.....but the draw of the "American" or "Canadian" way implies that you, as an immigrant, are going to assimilate a large part into our society.....otherwise, why would you be drawn by the "American" or "Canadian" way of life?

And you don't think asians that immigrated over here didn't have as hard or harder time learning english?

Croc you are totally missing the point of what's being said in this thread. It also has something to do with national pride.....something that's also been way lacking in the recent past and present. We've always been a country of immigrants. That's what we are proud of. But from my vantage point, we've never seen such a large disrespect for our country as this relatively recent influx of hispanics that in many cases (not all) don't attempt to assimilate into our culture. Why is it when you are given a language choice (at the ATM, or when calling a 1-800 number, etc.) the ONLY choices are english.......and spanish? How do the asians feel about this? Or the French? Or any othe Europeans that have immigrated to our country? Or the middle easterners?

Again.....I agree. If I moved to, say, Germany, then I'd feel the responsibility upon myself to learn German and speak it.....as difficult as that may be.

I agree.....it pisses me off too..... So does the "....for English, press 1..." $h! that we have to deal with anytime we go to the ATM, or call a customer service phone number, etc...