mustang84

The grille looks like something off a '97 Crown Vic.

I didn't realize the Multipla had such a barf-tastic interior as well.

The Fiat Multipla is by far the ugliest car I have seen in person in Europe. It makes the Honda Element look sexy.

Bob: I'm getting to that point here in Rome about the monuments...I've seen most everything and I'm actually tired of seeing the Colosseum everyday on my way to class. But once you get outside of the city into the rolling hills and vineyards, it's beautiful. We didn't make it to Pisa because Trenitalia is having a strike, so regional trains in that area are all stopped. This was AFTER we bought a ticket and waited a half hour for a train that never showed up.

I wish we could have made it to Sorrento. We only had a day for the Naples area so we spent it visiting Pompeii and climbing Mt. Vesuvius, but I've seen pictures of Sorrento and it looked like a beautiful place with all the buildings built into the side of the hills. I'm going back to Florence tomorrow, then Pisa on Sunday. From what I hear, there's not much to see in Pisa besides the Leaning Tower and the church / baptistry...so we're just going to spend half a day there and then head back to Rome.

Venice was amazing. It's so easy to get lost there...I can't even count the number of times we wound up on a dead end street that led to a canal. Even if you have a map you don't bother looking at it much because just finding where you are on the map is a pain in the rear...it's easier to use landmarks like towers to locate where you are. San Marco was nice....lots of people (and pigeons! I'm sure the guys selling pigeon food make a fortune, because everyday there I saw a ton of people with pigeons all over them from feeding them). Athens and Greece was great...I actually thought the people there were much nicer than the Italians (more the Southern Italians I guess...the northerners are pretty nice too). You'd be surprised how much Greece is like the US...since the Greek language isn't spoken by many outside of Greece, most everyone there speaks fluent English that is in any type of service industry. The streets are gridded and I was surprised by all the American chains there...McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, Applebees...even TGI Fridays (which we ate at because we were getting tired of eating Italian food all the time). We got into a lot of ruins for free because we said we had our student ID cards and said we were studying in Rome (EU students get in for free...and they thought we were Italian). Greece is also much cheaper than Italy...a 1/2 liter bottle of Coke in Rome usually goes for 2-2.50 Euro, in Greece you could get it for 80 cents. Naples was a $h!-hole, you were right lol. We stayed at the Hotel Potenza on Piazza Garbaldi (by the train station)...our bus ride there from the airport at night was like going through East St. Louis. During the day it isn't as bad but it's dirty and lots of stay dogs and cats, even in the terminals. We didn't have problems with people trying to con us or pickpocket us (but we also just stayed by the train station), but there are people everywhere begging for money...even as you're buying a train ticket at the booth. I was surprised they actually had skyscrapers though. Once my laptop gets fixed, I'll post some pics of Greece up....it's a beautiful country.

I'm actually pretty satisfied with Dell's service, it's the computer that's pissing me off. I talked to a Dell representative here in Italy and am arranging a time for a technician in Rome to come over and replace the backlight inverter. But out of all the computers we have owned, I have never seen one that has malfunctioned so often as this damn Latitude (D800, by the way). I forgot to mention that 4 months after getting it, the DVD-R drive completely died, so that had to be replaced. But their customer service is pretty decent from my experience...when the motherboard died, they were there replacing it at my house the next day. Now, if I didn't have this 4-year warranty provided by the University for repairs, I probably wouldn't have the desire to purchase anything Dell ever again. And an Apple is out of the quesiton...I can't stand Apples. We have two of them here at the studio and they annoy the crap out of me when I use them...when you've grown up on PC's for 15 years it's hard to switch.

If it's not one thing, it's another. My Dell Latitude laptop JUST had the AC adapter replaced because the previous was going bad...I had a new one sent all the way from the Netherlands. As of yesterday, the screen on my laptop started going dark upon being plugged into AC power...it works fine on battery power, but as soon as you plug into the wall, it turns dark gray to the point where you can see things open but it's impossible to read anything on the screen. Two summers ago I had to replace the whole motherboard (after only 1 year of ownership). A few months ago my Y key fell off (and still needs to be put back on) and the very right edge of my monitor does this crazy flickering / solid bar of white usually upon startup and other times when you adjust the angle of the monitor. What else...my volume button has begun to get finicky (I'm assuming a loose wire), I had to replace the battery because of a recall for fires, and the damn rubber feet on the bottom never stay on. I always heard Dells were good computers, but I'm not impressed. Luckily, mine is a lease computer and still under warranty...but it seems like something is always going wrong! Our 4 year old Gateway is the same way...problems all the time while our old 1992 Gateway still runs perfectly. What brands have others here had good experience with recently? I'm thinking about getting a new laptop after I graduate, but Dell has left a sour taste in my mouth.

I'm a little late on this article, but I had to laugh at the fact that the websites that news station used as examples are actually websites that make fun of emo. But emo is still a stupid trend...my little 13 year old cousin is going through it right now (has the whole Myspace setup and posts 10 bulletins a day about how much life sucks). When I was 13, I was out riding bikes and exploring the woods behind my friend's house, not cooped up behind a computer compulsively checking every three minutes to see if someone responded to the latest blog.

A group of us went to Venice for a few days, then hopped a plane to Athens...stayed in Greece for 4 days and visited Aegina Island, then hopped a flight back to Naples and visited Pompeii and climbed to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. That was one hell of a spring break! We also rented a car on Aegina Island...a 2006 Renault Clio with a 1.2L 4-banger for 40 Euro. The other choices were Daewoo Matizes (which we didn't want) for 30 Euro or a Suzuki Jeep-like thing for 35 Euro. That little Clio actually had some pep for only have 136 hp. Ours was a manual as well. We filled it with 10 Euro worth of diesel before we left and only used up about 7 Euro worth after 5 hours of driving up and around mountains, so they're pretty fuel efficient as well.

According to Alitalia's little magazine they have on each flight, Toyota already surpassed GM as the world's largest automaker.

Sure beats the 1970s wood-panel B-P-G dealership in my hometown.

My hometown's fire department has an 1878 Silsby Steam Pumper that they still run every year for the fair parade. They also have a 1917 Model T and a 1919 GMC fire truck.

Most of Ford's disappointing sales numbers are due to the old Taurus being gone...but look at the Fusion trio and Edge / MKX go! Hopefully the refreshes coming out this summer will help pick up the Taurus / Sable sales and Escape / Mariner. I don't see things being all the great for '07 with the loss of fleet sales, but Ford is on the right track with the new product. I think '08 will be much healthier for them.

Iowa State is pretty much the same way....Tri Delta, our Delta Zeta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Pi Beta Phi are known as the ones with the hot sorority chicks while AOII and Kappa Alpha Theta are known as the nerdy sororities. The girls I know in the "hot" sororities are exceptions to the stereotypes, but generally most of them are pretty absent minded, ditzy, and the ones that will find a rich husband and live off his income. You have the same things with frats too...the popular kids vs. the biology and engineering majors. The Greek system has been in decline for a number of years at ISU....they're having a hard time recruiting new members and many jokes are made about them by the general student population. I never had any desire to go Greek, but I know some take it seriously and it's too bad looks play such a huge role in recruitment at certain ones. I don't see this ever changing...the same thing happens in the real world as well.

Landsburg's comparison of nationalism being like racism is laughably weak. Of course Americans should support workers in Detroit vs. those in Juarez...race has nothing to do with it. Manufacturing of goods is a key element to developing and maintaining an economy as well as maintaining national security. The US can't survive solely on a service-based economy.

What features distinguish the looks of a southern Italian from a northern Italian? From what I've heard, my ancestors came from northern Italy around Milan, so I'm assuming I must have the northern Italian look.

Hmm...not good...I just learned that a guy from studio who went down to Naples by himself on Sunday was mugged and beaten and is now down at a hospital there. We just found this out a few minutes ago and no one had heard from him in days. Yikes...

I heard Naples is a little rough, but I didn't realize it was that bad. Our hotel is in Naples, but we're only staying there for one night and our sightseeing will be outside of the city. Isn't Naples where the Italian mafia originated?

Sorry to hear about the loss of your family aaantoine, this is the first I heard about it. That is a terrible tragedy...my condolences.

I'll be about $40,000 in debt by the time I get out of college...all because the state keeps raising tuition prices every other year. Gee, and they wonder why education levels in this country are going to hell.

That's what I want to know too...how much of the surrounding roads, piping, sewer, etc. was paid by Mississippi taxpayers? Another $400 million incentive package like Kia got for its plant?

We heard it may be coming, now it looks like it's almost official. I wonder if DCX hoping that if these partnerships grow, Chery may be interested in purchasing Chrysler from Daimler? DaimlerChrysler Supervisory Board Approves Small-Car Agreement Auburn Hills, Mich./Stuttgart, Germany - The DaimlerChrysler Supervisory Board today approved the framework of a limited partnership to develop small vehicles between the Chrysler Group and Chery Motor Company of China. The deal is still contingent upon approval by the Chinese government, but the final pact of the framework is expected to be signed by the end of March. Under the non-equity partnership, Chery-built vehicles will be distributed under Chrysler brands, primarily in North America and Western Europe. Chrysler Group indicated that the partnership would allow the company to become a bigger player on the global automotive stage by giving it access to products in new segments more quickly, with less capital spending. Small vehicles such as these will allow Chrysler Group brands to compete in segments in which the brands do not currently compete, and which are especially important in price- and fuel-economy sensitive markets. Some 67 percent of all vehicles sold outside of North America are in these segments. Chrysler Group's major competitors in the U.S. and Western Europe have similar arrangements with Asian manufacturers for vehicles in these segments. http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A.../702270350/1148

We rode the train to Bracciano so I don't remember the name of that town...is it near the railroad tracks? The ride from S. Pietro station near the Vatican took us about an hour by train...I'm sure if would have been quicker if we hadn't made so many stops though. Bracciano was a beautiful town though...there's a huge castle up on the hill that we toured and has a great view of the lake. I'm thinking about making another post soon with some recent pictures, I'll probably include one of the view. But yeah, being outside of Rome is nice...it's so quiet and you aren't constantly putting up with the noisy diesel cars and motorini. Oh also, next week we're heading to Venice for a few days for a class trip, then afterward is our spring break so a group of us are flying to Athens. We'll stay there for a few days, check out the Acropolis and Temple of Poseidon (plus some of the modern arch. since there's hardly any in Rome), then we're flying to Naples and going to see Pompei, Heraculaneum, Mount Vesuvius, and maybe Sorrento. I've been doing a little crash course in Greek language the past couple days...it's tough! I'm hoping to get some basic words down, but since they use the Greek alphabet and don't have all the letters we have, it's a really screwy language.

YES!!! That's the one! Thank you!