nc211

OK, now I'm WAY overdue for a lunch meeting with SWO. I say we make a friendly bet on who pays for lunch! The winner gets to pick the place, and the loser gets to pick up the tab! Steve and I will post up the picture to prove it actually happened! I'll be having a steak sandwich and a steak sandwich, charged to the Underhills!

Too bad the USPS is too broke to actually deliver it!

That's actually right about spot-on. The idle is higher when cold per an EPA request to reduce pollution. A warmed up engine pollutes less. All cars have been doing this since the early 90's. My old 95' LS400 did it too, same idle points. No worries.

Holy Smokes! I just googled it to see what it looked like. That's got to be one of the sexiest cars I have ever seen before in my life! Which means I'll have to ship the kids off to Foxxcom to build a couple billion iPhones for me to qualify for a test drive. Question now will be: Is it fun? Or has it been so heavily engineered to be buttery smooth and ultra quiet that they've taken too much "rawness" away from it to give it a unique identity behind the wheel, for what it looks like it should be? My neighbor was telling me the other night, when discussing his IS350, that he really doesn't like it, and he can't put his finger on why. Sounded almost exactly like what I've said about that GS430 I had. Perfect car, but just can't seem to make that excitable "connection" to it. He came from a MB that had given him trouble. Said he's probably going back to the german cars in a few months, thinking Audi. Said he loves to look at the IS, thinks it's one of the prettiest cars on the road (and I agree), but says it just doesn't offer him the driving experience that he was hopping a car with those looks would give him. Have you seen the Scion FR-S that is coming out now too? That little monster looks like a ton of fun! Looks like someone at Toyota bought themself a VW GTI and took it to the interior design studio at the plant. Red stitching is a classic GTI signature component. This FR-S reminds of when Toyota offered a real MR2. RWD, enough power to be dangerously fun, and probably capable of taking a beating beyond belief. I've always loved that mid-90's MR2, especially when they had a turbo model. Who knows....maybe we'll another Supra from Toyota now? That, would be cool!

I just read an article where in Tripoli, Libya, and angry mob of whatevers have decided to use violence to protest the pending visit of the Pope.... by burning down the friggin' KFC restuarant! :o :lol: :o :lol: :lol: I'm in tears over here laughing!! "Hey, Habibbi, did you hear the Pope is coming?" "What? That's horrible, we need to protest!" "I agree, but how?" "well, first we will enjoy a box of extra crispy from the infadel, then we will burn it down!" "Yeah!! That's a great idea Habibbi! Dog !Removed! to the Colnel" 6 hours later... "Hey, Habibbi.....I'm hungry again... Want some smothered n' covered?" "Yes! And we shall burn it down to protest the removal of J Lo' from Infadel Idol!" :lol: What a bunch of idiots!!!

Yeah, and let's get rid of the blacks too (future gang bangers), and the Mexicans (future drug dealers), and the Germans too (friggin !Removed!'s - oh wait, I'm German), and the Jews as well (too many complaints). Oh, and the British as well, because we all know they're really here for the Queen to take title to the country. French? Bye bye, and take your Freedom Fries with you. Canadian? Get out too for unleashing Celine Dion on us. Let's see, who am I forgetting that clearly poses a future security threat... Well, the democrats have to go, because clearly theyre terrorist lovers. The republicans have to go, because clearly they're eco terrorists with their love of fossil fuels. Southern Baptists have to go, because god and religion plays too heavily in the manner of which they live their lives (don't worry southern baptists, remember, everything happens for a reason, now pop a squat and get to steppin'). The Carholics have to go, because they'd feel too guilty if they weren't included. !Removed! and Ho's have to go, because theyre nagging !Removed! terrorists. So, following your suggestion Lenore, that basically leaves just two left standing worthy of an American education - the Native Americans (none of the !Removed! ones though) and Ron Paul. I'm sure the Indians would love to have their country back, and Ron Paul would love to share a toke on the ole' peace pipe (again). So when is the mother ship coming to pick you up? I'm scheduled for sometime around Kwanza (have to pay my property taxes first). Hey, last one out, make sure you grab the Declaration of Indepence first! Don't need that thing laying around anymore, for the sick, the tired, the poor, the falsely persecuted to stumble upon after we're all relocated back to our home land. Good run America, enjoyed the couple hundred years of existence....

I too take these "surveys" with a grain of salt as well. However, I am not surprised by this in the slightest, especially the comments about the A3, which is essentially, the "Lexus if you will" of the VW GTI. I don't think I've got to expand on my own personal opinion of the GTI ;-). Audi has the toys, the latest in design cues, and that fabulous DSG transmission which has finally made a perfect marriage between a manual and an automatic transmission. Factor in the unbelievably fun factor of a car that feels light on its feet, a turbo, top shelf materials, and a design that is unmistable to its manufacturer, and you've got a real contender. As a car guy myself, I honestly do feel that VW has created the absolute most perfect vehicle available with this latest version of the fully loaded "Autobahn" 4-door GTI. Unless If you absolutely need a sedan, or an SUV, it really is tough to beat. I think folks have realized this as well with the upgraded luxury appointments found in the Audi badge. Don't get me wrong, I think BMW is a phenomenal vehicle, I really do. But I think when you put two offerings in the same segment up against eachother, you'll find a bit more "fun" in the Audi badge now, and a bit more "that's cool" factor as well. But at the end of the day, BMW is an animal all to itself. Nobody can duplicate what a BMW delivers to the market. They're solid, they're perfectly balanced, they're unique, and they're classy. I think all the German badges are so unique to their knittings of what they produce, that none of them can really be grouped together in any real way. I think a BMW 335i, with the proper dressings of features, is probably one of the alltime sexiest sedans ever produced. One day, I will have one.

Lenore, you do realize that there is a difference between the muslim religion, and these Islamic fanatics, right? Now, I agree that Sharia law doesn't fit the laws that govern this country. Several years ago, sharia law tried to make its way into the financial sector of the US, and it was laughed at all the way to the curb. Oklahoma has a county that has a sharia population that has been trying to get the Oklahoma legal system to support it, and it has failed time and time again. Saying we have to go invade every nation that supports sharia law because we don't like it, is a waste of time and a circular equation that will end in complete and total death of all involved, on both sides. Why in the hell would I want one of my countrymen to even waste a bullet or a dollar fighting with this garbage anymore? We dont govern the middle east. We tolerate it for economic purposes, and much of that toleration is influenced by our allies who depend on it far more than we do for economic reasons. 9/11 is over, it's settled, we won. In my opinion, I say let that place burn itself to the ground on its own. I also say that we make it clear to them (as we already have demonstrated with Iraq) that if you allow the violence that is within your own borders to spill over to our homeland, we will revert to total collateral destruction far worse than Iraq's precision that was employed to influence Americas positive influence. Beyond that - it's your own problem. Let us not forget that these embassies aren't in Toledo, they're in Lybia, Yemen, and the like. They might sit on soil classified as owned by the US, but they're surrounded by soil that we have no ownership in. Why go to war over a friggin building in a country of lunatics? Cut the aid, vacate the building, leave the country, and let them all expend the energy to kill themselves, instead of having us expend our own energy in trying to prevent them from doing so. Send 'em down the rabbit hole of poverty and 4th world living conditions on their own, while we watch from the sky and paid spies to make sure nobody gets out with a weapon. Find a terrorist camp forming? Daisy cut the f'ers during their prayer session to show now mercy or tolerance for that kind of activity. Hey, life is not guaranteed for any of us. Life is not infinite for any of us. We've tried and tried and tried to make peace, show compassion, and provide freedom to those oppressed. At the end of the day, if all that our efforts produce an endless round after round of hatred towards us and our values, then screw it! As Pauly D' says "you do you, and I'll do me". They want us to leave the alone, so be it. You won't see us anymore "but we'll see you, trust me." Allow the living conditions to deteriorate to Sudan levels, and see how easy it is to buy intel... At the end of the day, so long as Isreal exists, the US will be a target for those too stupid and too immature to just go on with their own lives. I say the time for compassion and tolerance for the middle east is quickly coming to an end, and if this type of behavior is what we can expect going forward, then it should come to an end, in my opinion. They're like that bad drunk at your party who thinks he's respected for acting like an intimidating a'hole. At some point, he either is shown the door forcefully, or passes out and wakes up with parmenant marker all over his face in the back yard, with dog crap on his shirt, and never invited back. I say feed the dogs some beans, and let's get this over with so we can get back to the party! I'm not even that mad about this anymore. I don't have that feeling of bloodlust for revenge anymore. I simply have the feeling of "what a bunch of idiots!"

Lenore, it just happened yesterday man, and it's a "fluid" situation today that is expanding. Nobody is letting anyone get away with anything, because there hasn't been enough time to determine that fact. I think this whole Arab spring movement of toppling governments is going to blow up in our face. It's too much and too quick. I like the idea of freedom and liberty being spread. However, I'm starting to wonder if certain places in this world shouldn't have freedom and liberty, because they can't seem to control themselves. Seriously, violence over a cartoon and an internet video? Really? Sharia Law allows a man to beat and rape his wife when he feels it's appropriate, and even kill his own children, yet some idiot with an ipad creates a cartoon somewhere, and all of the sudden we have war? I don't want anything to do with these people anymore. Racist as that sounds, and I probably can't defend such an accusation against me for saying it, even though I know that it's wrong, but my word folks, this is just beyond insane behaviour we're seeing from a part of the world that seems to take our hundreds of billions of dollars with their left hand, while dragging the corpse of the cash-truck driver behind them with their right hand. I'm sick of it, and I'm done with that whole part of the world. If it went "boom bye bye", at this moment right now, I'd probably feel relieved, to be honest with you.

Reagan didn't beat the Russians out of pure strength. He beat the Russians out of pure debt with making more nukes than Russia could make. Russia was the first to blink economically, and it was good timing, because we were about to do the same thing ourselves. While history has adorned Reagan as the Gold Standard, let us not forget that not all was rosie and happy for a lot of Americans during is 8 years. The poor got whacked pretty hard during the 80's, as did the farming community. I remember as a teenager in 87' leaving Oklahoma City for Miami when Oklahoma was nothing more than one vacant strip mall after another, the energy sector ended up in a nose dive. Bush Sr., basically lost to Clinton because he had no choice but to raise taxes to keep us afloat after the cold war ended. Now, we have an aging stockpile of nukes laying around that we don't need, and Russia's inventory ended up going to God only knows after they collapsed. Reagan, as a republican myself here, didn't walk on water. Basically, as a student of the economy myself, Bill Clinton is probably the only man alive today with the clout and resume to back it up to speak on how to correct economic hardships. The fact that he handed Bush Jr. not only a balanced budget, but a surplus, after Clinton walked in the door in 92' right in the teeth of a CRE recession, gives Bubba, in my own opinion, center stage rights for as long as he wants it. I wish he were electable today, I'd vote for him in a heartbeat. Even with a bus full of Arkansas trailor queens lined up in the Rose Garden... I'll admit, I'm waivering here now with my thoughts on this election. Clinton made a very good point last night - nobody is capable of turning around what happened in 2008 in just 48 months. Missteps by all happened, but that is yesterday's argument. I do think the longer the government is heavily wooven in the fabric of the private sector, the slower the recovery will take. But, if what Obama is pursuing is a conclusion similiar to what Clinton left us with, then I have to really think hard about this again. For the record - I always thought it was just plain stupid of Bush Jr. to send me a $300 check in 2000 from that surplus. One of the dumbest moves I've ever seen, and I was pretty stupid myself back then (some say I still am..) Even I could figure out that $300 to me personally, wasn't worth the loss of the surplus to the country. This is going to come down to regulations for me. I read an article on Bloomberg last week where Wall Street doesn't want to toss out all of Dodd/Frank, but to make it more user friendly. I like that idea, because I think it's a jagged knife for a process that requires a scaple. For instance: to regulate all banks the same way to control derivative traders, is too far reaching, especially when only a few banks earn their revenue in the derivatives market. Telling a community bank who earns revenue on loans to community participants that they have to play by the same rules that JP Morgan now has to play by, is going to crush the community banks across the country, period. Heck, my employer just bought on last week that has now pushed us over $100 billion in assets. We're now in the big boy leagues, yet we don't have a single penny earned or lost in the derivates and credit default swaps world. Yet, one of the reasons we bought that outfit was to blend and dilute ratios to get these crazy federal equations under control. I'd say there are probably 3,500 people about to lose their jobs because of this deal, simply because what that bank did to earn revenue, we're better at. If Obama and the democrats would just ease-up on this stuff for a little while, this wouldn't be an issue for me at all, I'd stay the course. They've got to be willing to sit still for a couple of years, in my opinion, and let all of this change work it's way through the fabric of the country. I'm not hearing this though from them. I'm hearing "we need more regulation and government control of everything, and we need it today". That, is just a deal killer for me. Slow it down, way down...and we can all make this work well. Keep moving the goal post though, and eventually the kicker just says "screw it" and either leaves the field, or turns around and starts kicking towards the other goal post on the other side of the field. Oh, and get the gas prices under control! Jeezzz man, how many times do I have to say it! The one and only universal number in the maze of numbers that drive an economy that every single person knows, understands, and budgets for in their discretionary spending habits.....is the one and only number lit up on nearly every friggin' street corner in every friggin' community in the country..... GAS PRICES! Can't get "movin' and shakin'" if you can't afford to cross the county line. Man, it's just so simple to see it too...

Man, I sure do love these cars! I'd have to say, the 2013 4door GTI is probably one of the top 3 vehicles on the market in general these days. Fun, excellent build quality, stylish, comfortable, extremely versatile, deceptively fast, and economical. Hard to argue with this kind of MPG's in DC commuter traffic with less than 2k miles on the car in general. True, it takes the premium fuel. But who cares, when $30 bucks in gas can go for an entire work week on a 42 mile round-trip daily commute in general. Probably the best $30k I've ever spent for any vehicle I've ever owned. Now, the Volvo XC90 - not so much... Probably won't have that one for very long. Comfy, yes. Safe, yes. Quality of materials used, not really. Not impressed by the leather seating, the hard plastic rattles, the floatiness, and the hard ride over bumps that seem to come straight into the cabin. Safety first for that one, and that's about it, after 9 months of ownership. Can't figure out how to turn of the oil change light for the life of me (been on since July). The transmission has a false sense of slipping (common complaint I guess), the engine power "pulses", and for 300hp, it just doesn't feel very gutsy. I think it'll probably become something else within the next year or so. The Audi Q7 sure catches our eye, and I have no concerns over quality with the Audi/VW outfit anymore (although would still not buy one w/o the CPO warranty). But the GTI - that one stays with me for hopefully forever. I'd love to make it my 3rd car in several years down the road, my toy when I get the itch for fun...

...oh, there's Bubba! One hell of a speech he gave tonight. The Democratic party should just give him his own 747 with the tailsign "3B1" as in Big Badass Bubba One! Too bad he's not actually running for President though.

SW - It's definately when you're quoting in your replies that you're text is blacked out on the iphone. This one above, blacked out. The one prior to it with no quotes "That's wierd....looks normal to me..." is fine on the iphone. All is fine when viewing on a computer too (like i'm on now). Something is goofy with the quote responses. On the other points of your response, amen brother, amen indeed! I think if Obama wins in a landslide, the tax cuts will be allowed to expire. If it's a squeaker though and he wins, I bet he delays them and instead eases into the budget cuts at first. The $250k crowd are also the ones with the most disposable income to inject into the economic cycle as well, which has a more local and direct impact on the economy. He's got to see that. I don't think anyone doesn't expect a nailbiter this election, heck we might even have ourselves another 2000 situation! But, I say this about a guy who also has some pretty big gahonnas to make big and bold moves pretty quickly too.

Oh Lenore, have a drink my friend, we shall all survive without civil unrest. ;-) last thing we need in this country is more bullets! Oddly enough, I read an interesting article tonight on Fox News (can you imagine!) about just exactly who we owe this money to. We like to villianize China for this, but according to the article, over 2/3 of this debt is actually held internally to the country, from entitlements and munis to treasury buying. I guess I had forgotten that, or simply didn't realize it, but did find comfort in it. Internally, it's much easier to manage, albeit still going to be painful. I saw some of the DNC tonight. While I like what they say in terms of social issues, and passion in thier love for the country, I still can't get myself past the facts on the table today. After 4 years, gas prices still spiked at the top, unemployment still spiked close to the top, municipalities going BK (with more to come), and so much government influence in nearly all aspects of life now, it's just too hard for me to accept more "hope" as a means to an end to this. The Bush tax cuts are going to be extended regardless of who wins this thing. Obama isn't going to start his second term, his legacy term, with a sledgehammer right out of the gate, especially when the economy is still so shaky and weak. Romney won't allow them to expire either, cause that's his platform in general. This issue is going to be kicked down the road again, no doubt in my mind. I think the best zinger I've heard so far in all of this was from Clint Driftwood, with his comment about replacing leadership from a lawyers perspective to a businessman's perspective. Thought that was pretty funny (even if he didn't realize where was at the time...)

$16,000,000,000,000 debt hit today... :snoooorrrtttt: $15,600,000,000,000 GDP estimate for 2011.... Time to buy that snorkle...

On the computer, it appears normal. But on the iphone, it's all shaded out and can't see it. You can barely see the quoted text if you look hard enough, but your text, is blacked out..

For some reason, SW, your text isn't coming through on my iPhone. It's like it's set to black, with the background also black. It's been that way since you're post on 10:52am on the previous entry. What's up? You...um... Gone Rouge on us?? Ha! Seriously though, all I can see from the post above, is "talking heads" which is now in blue and a hyperlink to the band on Amazon.com.... Everything else - blacked out.

....and in other news, not to be outdone by the Koreans, Toyota today has announced a new turbo version of the Prius.... :whistles:

Well, the RNC is now "in the can" as they say in the movie business. Personally, beyond the haze of stupidity that surrounds the approach of "we're Americans who need to take our country back", which is news to me that it was ever stolen from us , I liked what Romney had to say. He has a soft approach to the way he speaks, which I respond to. In business, their are two types of approaches: The bull in a china shop tactic of freaking out and causing undo panic to get things done, which usually results in a singular result (because those who gained the experience of getting those results, tend to not want to do them again under that type of approach), and then there is the cool calm and collected approach, which tends to build confidence and comfort in generating multiple results. That approach, attacts a good team. I like that, and try to mimic it myself the best I can (although, I'm still a work in progress... ). Clint Eastwood, god bless you sir. I'm not sure if I enjoyed your comments, or felt a little uncomfortable with the fact that one of my alltime favorites is really starting to show his age a bit. Felt a little sad actually, but did enjoy some of the humor. Now, it's the DNC time. I just read an early release of some of the speakers on the list. Let us all make sure we take our Asprin beforehand. Don't need anyone stroking out here (I'll be doubling down myself)... Nancy Pelosi - Only other woman I know that can make Sara Palin seem "honest". Love what her husband has done with the commercial real estate firm CBRE. I can tell you, something is sideways with that whole arrangement. I think he's getting sued over something in this regard actually, but not quite sure. Harry Reid - All I've got to say is two things about this dude. "That's a Clown Question, bro'", and "Iraq is lost, we lost, we're worse than Vietnam, we're losers, surge won't work, we can't win, we lost...." John Kerry - Um...you lost already. Hey, make sure you call your buddy John Edwards while your down in Charlotte! I understand he has a spare "love nest" in Charlotte that I'm sure you can borrow (assuming it's vacant, of course). I'd also take a pass on the free boat tours through town. You know, wouldn't want you getting any flashbacks or anything... Rahm Emanuel - hold on folks, he's still stuck at the airport trying to get his Chicago Cub's luggage through the metal detector.. I'm sure he'll just "murder" his speech! Whatever you do folks, don't make any sudden moves, as his security detail is a bit, um, shall we say, trigger happy, given the great crime record of the past two years in ChiTcago. Doing a great job there, Mr. Mayor. Crip love' yo'! Hmmm... who esle... Oh wait, I see one (SW is going to kill me for this) - Martin O'Malley, the Governor of Maryland. As a recently new arrival to the DC area, on the Virginia side, I'd like to personally thank Governor O'Malley for heading the charge with all of those new property taxes that are driving up my property value on the Virginia side, as folks flee across the Potomac to our side of town.. Ok Steve, let me have it amigo! But....where's Bubba? You know Bubba gonna be there, if for the BBQ alone. But, what don't I see on the list.... Oh yeah, that other Clinton. You know, the one with an actual job that is producing actual results around the world, who probably has the biggest set of brass gahonnas in DC politics.... Guess Behrain is just too nice this time of year to pass up for the re-election of her pal... Ok... I'm done.... Let me have it! :P Oh... hold the phone folks... one more I see on the list as a representative of the model of society... The Mayor of..... Newark, NJ. That's right folks, the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Cory Booker. Newark. Really? Newark New Jersey? Do you know how you earn a living in Newark NJ? You park your car in a public place and then wait for the insurance check to arrive in the mail... As my wife told me last night as she was rolling her eyes at the TV screen "well, at least the Democrats have Clooney"... Just roll him out onto the stage and get it over with already!

Oh man, Lex, this is just beyond a sad day for you and those around you. My heart goes to you and the family you're not only raising, but to your neighbor's family as well. They're lucky to have such good people around them like you and your family. They'll need it for quite some time going forward. All the blessings to you! This really puts into perspective just how frivolous all of these debates and issues being beamed into our living rooms from the talking heads really are. At the end of the day, the world and the life that we all strive to enjoy, is that for which is sitting at our kitchen kitchen tables, no matter if that table is made from cardboard or granite. Both can only be as equally strong as those who are sitting around it.

This one is for you mi' amigo! New campaign slogan - "It juss duz"

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wells-fargo-fires-iowa-worker-for-minor-1963-crime.html Granted, not quiet what I'm talking about with all of these new regulations, but you get the point...

Beer wont do it, try Vodka and juice on the rocks...really helps everything. Oh noooo. One thing I've learned about me, is to stay away from the hard stuff. I don't even drink beyond the ultra-light beer anymore, because I know that I'll get too tired before I get too "couragous" to do anything stupid. Last time I stepped away from that rule of thumb, I voted for Clinton and this happened (1995 - I took the picture)... Moral of the story - being a liberal democrat is too much fun for me to handle! I literally have to be a conservative republican to stay alive! I've probably amassed enough evidence to actually warrant a "doctor's note" to this effect... :D I mean, look at my avatar for cryin' out loud! You want ME to join the liberal movement? Ha!

We can all relax now. I have located Spaulding, and he is doing fine. He is currently in Tampa for the yacht club intervention convention.... Did anyone else catch the convention coverage tonight? Yikes! It looked like the collection area for the BMW 325es fan club! Seriously, even the 3 black people I saw as the camera panned the crowd, looked a little suspicious, in a Carlton Banks sort of way... I have a strong desire for a PB&J all of the sudden, with the crusts cut off....

We can all relax now. I have located Spaulding, and he is doing fine. He is currently in Tampa for the yacht club intervention convention.... Did anyone else catch the convention coverage tonight? Yikes! It looked like the collection area for the BMW 325es fan club! Seriously, even the 3 black people I saw as the camera panned the crowd, looked a little suspicious, in a Carlton Banks sort of way... I have a strong desire for a PB&J all of the sudden, with the crusts cut off....