nc211

Blake! There is a tear in my beer! I guess I'll have to cancel the strippers for the 500k party :( . Actually, congrats man! Although I must admit, I'm a bit suprised you bought another LS though, considering the interior space and such. I was thinking you'd be cruisin' in a caddy! But, nonetheless, you made an excellent decision! And now just think of all the stuff you learned on your old 95', can now be used on the new 99'. I bet you're really enjoying the additional HP and 5th gear!

Did you do what Jcrome suggested to do?

90', engine mounts are a bit outside of the shade-tree mechanic's skill, but certainly not for dealership labor rates. If you buy them online and find a local mechanic that you like and trust, it shouldn't be more than $300 total. I bought mine online and had a guy I liked at the Exxon station put them in, never a problem. The transmission mount is cake too, easily a shadetree job, and online they're not that expensive. If I recall from when I bought it, I think it was like $30 bucks. Mounts were around $75 each.

The solution to my problem in that old post was the driver's side motor mount. It was so old that the rubber had compressed to a point where enough slack between the mount and hardware was causing a thump. New mounts fixed it and it never returned.

I was performing a site inspection this morning, took a photo from the rooftop of a neighboring tower going up, and got a suprise when I returned to the office to pull it off the camera. It's probably best to download the photo to your computer so you can zoom in to where I've drawn a black line. You want to talk about some serious nerves of steel! WHOLY SMOKES!

Dude...that's a bit more info than anybody needs to know! You've ruined Waffle House for me now. If you ever meet my wife, I think you'd realize I made an excellent choice.

...one more and I'll stop.... all of those "special" things she use to do when in private...you know, that "thing" you really like that makes the toes curl...that "thing" ole' Bubba Clinton got in trouble for.... BYE-BYE....C'YA...AUDIOS HUMM'NDINGOS..ARIVOUR GOOGIE-GOO-GOO.

If all else fails...or you're dealing with a BrideZilla.....proceed to do as done, not as said. See photo for guidance.... And, prepare yourself for the reality of your crap is CRAP, and her crap is gold. Don't care if you live together or not. The second she gets that wedding ban on her finger, "our place" instantly becomes "her place", you just sleep there. But, one benefit is the ability to !Removed! like a WAR-GOD in the kitchen, living room, den, bedroom, garage, car, isles 4-13 at Target, all wooden seats, etc... but never at mom's house.

No problem amigo! Just one other piece of advice....don't get arrested at the batchelor party...especially if it's the night before. We have a family friend who couldn't get ahold of her soon-to-be husband the night before the wedding....because he was in jail on a dui from leaving the strip club. Said "nobody drives my car but me", even though he was the only one drunk out of the 4. You want to talk about one icey reception after the ceremony. He told her while in the limo from the service to the reception... Nice move, eh? The only "lucky" he was hoping for on his wedding night was to still be breathing the next morning. That was one ticked-off bride!

The difference between what you normally feel in a public setting like you described above, and your wedding, is all in the reason why people are there. In a normal public setting like the one that makes you nervous, people are usually in a judgmental mood, looking to focus on something negative about someone else to make themselves feel better. It's human nature to be in a "defensive" frame in those kinds of situations. But at your wedding, you're not walking into a room of strangers, nor a situation where everyone is uncomfortable and on edge to begin with. Instead, you're walking into a room of friends and family, and who are not in defensive moods to begin with, but rather a supportive mood, for you and the bride! Just think of it as walking into your own house party, not a strange classroom or stage infront of a bunch of strangers. Just watch man, you'll see, the second the ball gets rolling, you'll feel quite comfortable actually and really enjoy the moment. All grooms (and brides) get a little nervous during the lead-up to the big day, and within a few minutes everything that you thought would make you nervous, makes you comfortable. For me, my nerves hit the day before during the rehersal. After that, it was nothing but a great moment in my life, and I had a BLAST! You will too!

Ya b*stard....That is the one I was going to buy if I think it is the same one. When I made it to Covington the guy was like, oh I just sold it to a guy from North Louisiana....LOL Blake's think alike. LOL that's too funny! Yep, that sounds like the same car since I do live in North Louisiana. I am friends with the seller, so I guess that's why I got a good deal! You wouldn't have liked this one though, no heated seats!! ;) hehe Wait....what? Blake918, you've got sum' xplainin' to do! What happened to ole' dependable?

Don't think about it, don't worry about it, don't, don't, don't..... Just enjoy it, becuase no matter what, something will always be off a little, and if you let it, it can mark the memory of the day with a negative. Just let it be, and enjoy the moment! Don't try and memorize anything, because you won't remember any of it when the time comes. Getting married is one of those moments in your life where the moment itself will dictate the words, the actions, and the feelings. No amount of preperation will even come close. When I got married back in 06', everything was perfect, the location, the food, the weather, even the two swans that floated by the gazebo just as we were saying our vows. But, as murphy likes to impose his laws at the right time, as we were saying our vows a big-!Removed! bumble bee came in and buzzed around us. My wife is deathly affraid of bees! But, she grinned and beared it through, and now just laughs at that bee. So, no matter what happens, just know that something will always be off just a little. Be "the man" of the day, go into it with that attitude in your head and enjoy the spotlight. Remember, it's your day, and everyone there is there to applaud you and your new wife! It's about you and her, only. So, just enjoy it and have fun! It's a kick-!Removed! feeling! PS: That theory of consumating the marriage that night...well....GOOD LUCK! You guys will be so tired and spent from all the adrenaline running through your system....little comando will probably be on R n' R. It happens...and it's better in the morning anyway!

replace your rear differential fluid with a quality synthetic fluid. Lots of info on here about that, run a search for differential fluid to learn more.

Right amigo, not super tight. Sorry, i missed this one earlier. You want some slack, but not like a loose piece of string. If you notice hard engagement with the a/c running "since it kicks up the rpms", just put a turn or two of slack into that line to counter balance the effect. The dealership showed me this one shortly after I bought mine. It was really kicking into 2nd and 3rd under normal acceleration, but was smooth as glass under heavy acceleration. Two turns of that little nut and no more problems...

This is PERFECT for this thread! Click the link below and enjoy! http://www.jibjab.com/originals/what_we_call_the_news

Thanks guys! That's great to know about the settings within the gaming consol itself, Dens & SWO. That eases my worries. Honestly, I thought about it some more last night and came to the conclusion that no matter if it did hurt the TV a little, it's just too cool of a gadget not to be hooked up to the big screen. I was, and still am, prepared to sacrifice the plasma for it. Hey, if it does hurt it, it'll give me reason to just dedicate it to gaming purposes and move it to the bonus room, and step up to a 52' 1080 "P" in the den! Hahaha... My wife is going to kill me one day, I just know it. It'll probably be when I come home some day with a 1988 560 SEC as my new project "toy".

The VW probably would've made it to LA, had it not broken down! Hahaha... The Prius's strength though is in an urban setting, city driving etc. Diesel is the ideal over-the-road fuel by far in general. But, none the less, over 700 miles on a tank is quite impressive! I'd have to fill up the 4runner more than twice to cover that distance! $160+ in today's prices. FYI: Oil has dropped nearly $20 this week alone... Bush has lifted the executive order of banning off-shore drilling, and the FBI is starting to raid some investment houses for illegal market manipulation. In fact they just raided the HQ of Wachovia Securities today in St. Louis. I'm wondering if perception is starting to take to the stage and we've finally entered into the Fight or Flight instincts. It may spike again for Memorial Day, I wouldn't be one bit suprised, but I think this week has definetely hurt the creditability of the "it can't be stopped" arguement. Especially since stocks have gone down sooo much. In the past, when capital "money" exited the stock side, it went to the commodities side to hide "oil". But this week, both have tanked. Maybe some of that oil money is finally exiting the commodity section (hiding out) and coming back into the stock side while prices are down. Who knows, but it certainly goes to show the influence of the speculator has on oil prices, versus just supply and demand alone. Remember, oil trading is based on the future, not the current. So today's excessive supply doesn't necessarily mean tomorrow's supply will be above demand "for argument sakes", which is what oil trading is all about. Prices at the pump today were set yesterday, not today. And since we just had two+ weeks of record highs, be ready for a bit more of an upward tick at the pump before current prices can get cycled through the market and to our wallets. But the supply and demand alone guys could form an argument against my case as well. Saying high inventories matched with the current conservatism thinking of drivers could let that high inventory watermark roll forward a few weeks. But, again, it's all about who is defining the future decption of demand. That's the "X" factor. It's been the "analysts" in the big investment houses of late.

The bundle kit I bought from Circuit City comes with that Mario Party 8 game, along with an extra control/nunchuck thing. I'm watching some video now on the Wii at nintendo.com. Question: in the videos, they're all using flatscreen TV's, infact most of them use mine in it "silver 42' Panasonic 1080i". I was thinking of having it hooked up in the bonus room to one of our older normal TV's "27'" because I am worried about "burn in". But, it seems like to me, the only way to really play these new game consols is in HD. Should I be worried about burn in if we do hook it up to the plasma? As an example: if my wife watches too much TV with the side bars, you can see the sidebar lines when you switch over to full screen, but it fades away after a while. Same thing with gaming? I worry that if we do hook it up to the plasma, that I'll forever see someone's score and power meter in the bottom right of the screen, while I'm watching normal TV.

Now that's what I call some serious appreciation!

Found this photo of a public swimming pool in China... For those of you who have seen the classic movie Caddyshack...you're probably thinking what I'm thinking... :D B)

Actually, nevermind, I found a way to order from Circuit City. Any suggestions though on fun games?

My wife loves that Nintendo Wii, and i'm thinking of getting her one for her birthday next month. She's at home with NC Jr. these days, bouncing off the walls bored. But where on earth can you get one? This thing sounds like the fountain of youth, as it's sold out at Best Buy, and only seems to come in "Bundle" packages everywhere else I look, with crap we don't really need or want and at steep prices. Any suggestions?

a little more info needed. do you hear the tick with the car just sitting at idle? If so, get out and put your ear to the gas cap. Make sure it isn't a loose cap that is hissing/ticking off the pressure. Also, how much fuel do you have in the tank? how much do you usually have in there? run it close to empty a lot? I ask because the fuel acts as a coolant to the pump that's inside the tank. If you run the tank on E a lot, you're actually letting the fuel pump heat up. Also, it works harder too when on E to capsure the fuel sloshing around in there.

I think that new Chevy is called the Volt. I think I saw it in an article in Barrons a few months ago. I'm really excited to see what the automotive makers are going to do with all of this hybrid technology. I think we're really in for a treat! To justify the impact of just turning off the gas engine at the light and in slow moving traffic, just check out the Suburban Hybrid. MotorWeek gave it some kind of award a few weeks ago for being one the best and most useful hybrid vehicles available. In all honesty, I'm seriously thinking about buying some GM stock right now, for a longterm investment. It's soo cheap, and you know they're not going to go under. Plus, they've really invested in this hybrid technology over the past year or so. I'd love to see a company, even maybe the manufacturers themselves, come out with an "adaptive kit" for those who don't have a hybrid, don't want to give up their current car, but would like to enjoy at least some of the hybrid benefits. If Toyota came out with an accessory for 4.7 V8, that cost about $1,000 to buy and have installed, that would allow the engine to shut down/start up flawlessly at the stoplights, and run on just 4 cylinders at cruising speed, I'd be all over it! I think there is a real niche' market there for some smart guys to corner. Hopefully they won't call it the Hurricane, the big brother to the Tornado "Turdnogo". SWO: $75 to fill up the ES! OUCH! Knowing your business, I bet you're not happy to see the Exxon station across the street 3 times a week!

I do think the world is gaining a valuable lesson with this oil crisis, especially the US. I think demand levels will be lowered for quite some time too. I think this because of the same lesson from the gas crunch of the late 70's, which introduced us to the Datson 210, the Honda Accord, Civic, Mazda 323, etc... The shift then was from the ineffecient Chevy Nova/Malibu/Delta88 type car to the more effecient imports, and it took hold and has lasted for quite some time. Now, with the population boom of the past 25+years, a new version of the import vehicle is being introduced...the hybrid. And I think it will forever change the automotive landscape. It's such an infant technology that I'm very confident time will play in it's favor and only continue to grow. If we could just get the gas engines to just shut off while at the stop lights or crawling in traffic, that would help tremendously! Match this new technology with Brazil's new 8 billion barrells of oil they just discovered, Iraq's pipelines coming back to the market, and the possibility of the US starting up the pumps again, I'd have to say we could face an over-supply in the next 3 years. In fact, I would almost have to say the sheer idea of the US pumping more oil, considering how much we have, could spook the market enough to stop !Removed! with it. We're one of the main players of the economic balance of the world, which isn't suprising considering we're also the world's #1 consumer. But, that's pretty far out, but it is there. However, I doubt the scholars of the 80's - 90's in the oil business will make that mistake again.