nc211

Didn't Al Gore win the prize for inventing the internet? Or was it for breaking the DNA chain, oh, wait, I know, it was for negotiating the release of Britney! Yeah, that's it. Not that I totally disagree with the argument that man and their machines are having a negative impact on ole' momma earth, but hooking up a cow's butt to a methane machine to save the planet seems a bit over the top. In my opinion, the arrogance of man to think it has the power to control a living and breathing thing like earth, is the biggest threat to mankind in general. When momma' is tired of us running around on her, she'll let us know and it'll all be over. Until then, it's muddin' time with the 4x4. jcrome, I don't think E85 is going anywhere these days. But not so much motivated by the global warming issue, as to ween ourselves from the mideast oil cartel. If we're backing down from E85, that could only mean that we've discovered a new avenue to get oil for ourselves, and a lot of it. No, I think political plays will motive the further development of E85 and other methods. We're simply hooked on the "smack" of Abubu Oily Bohunk.

I remember when gas was 29 cents/gal. :o Talk about the good old days :whistles: Now it's like this 29 cents a gallon? Wasn't that around the time of feed-bags for the family horse&buggie? Hahaha....! GOTCHA'!

Hahaha... I must admit though, when a MB is being a MB, they're hard to beat in terms of driving. That must be one good lookin' girlfriend you got there Mera! My wife could of been a bikini model "before I wrecked it by getting her pregnant", and all she got was a Mazda 3 and a cat! But, they do have heated seats, one electronically, and the other after a can of tuna! Hahaha...

Well, Jolly O' Chap, bit of tea and crunkets? Hahaha.. Aztecbandit, welcome to this side of the pond amigo! I was on your side last September for a few weeks, and had a fantastic time! You guys got some good beer over there! But got the steering wheel on the wrong side! hahaha.... There might be a posting or two from me over on your side of the forum too! WilliamHey....if you are who you say are...are you sure you want your name liked to that newspaper site, in this day and age? Advertising that stuff could be dangerous, ya' know ;) Just a thought.... by the way, what is a Ferrari Scorpio? I don't think I've ever seen one of those. Are they new? I'm not up on my exotics.... I'm more suburbia centered, and about two steps away from minivan-land. Although I do get out to Newport Beach a few times a year for work "and to stalk some of those hotties in Laguna Beach from MTV." Hey, what can I say...God gave me two heads, and well you all know the rest to that joke...

In your condition these days DJ, I wouldn't be laughing about that...Mr. Murphy has a great relationship with Mr. Jinxs. And with Father's Day coming up soon, you might rethink getting that P/O Box changed.... I addition...I heard there is an astroid about 5,000,000 years out...you might want to move to the left a bit..

The ones who will HANG in the near future are the oil traders who are artificially running up the gas prices with manipulating the futures contracts on wall street. Mark my words, once the election picture is clearer, no matter who wins, and Big Oil is out of the White House, the hammer will drop on the oil sector and we'll be back to normal gas prices.....mark my words. But expect to pay the highest ever during this last and final summer of Bush/Cheney.... The Oil guys will take full advantage of the last spin around the golden fountain. This is a quote from me in another thread from a couple of weeks ago.... Here it comes...... $110 a barrel.... Get ready everybody, it's squeeze time courtesy of the boys at Haliburton... Read an article today where Bush "hopes" a visit from Cheney to OPEC will lower prices...what a joke! Someone please explain to me how the theory of supply and demand are even relevant these days, when supply output has remained constant, yet demand is being forced downward by economic pressures. For example, I'll use myself, I have a V8 4runner, and a I4 Mazda 3. Now that I'm the only one making a commute m-f and the wife is now at home, I use the Mazda for my 40 mile roundtrip, which takes about 7 gallons a week. The 4runner takes twice that. Now, I know I'm not alone out there making these kinds of switches. Which when you add up all those making similar changes, how can demand still be increasing??? It can't! and it's not! It's all in the hands of the wall street players, hedging against the subprime losses in the banking/real estate stocks. The worse the losses in the banking sector, the more demand for "life sustaining" investments, like food and fuel... You can call me crazy all day long here. But I firmly believe that if you need an SUV and are able to either use it sparingly or able to afford $100 fill ups for a few months, soon will be the best time to pick one up at deep deep deep discount prices. Supply for those is high, but demand is low, which puts the buying power in the hands of the buyer. Here locally, a Ford dealership is advertising price cuts of over $10,000 for haus-mobiles. I played this card for the 4runner last August, and picked it up for below "fair" rated KBB value, and it's in prestine condition. The guy started on the high side, but when I questioned my need for something so thirsty at the pump, the price fell like a stone to basically whatever I was willing to pay, fairly. Funny, they've only had an handful of SUVs sitting on that lot ever since. Same goes for hotels and vacation desitnations. The big box hotels aren't quite there yet with incentives to get you off the couch and in their hotel lobbies, but the smaller, boutique ones are starting to show up everywhere with specials. For instance, and RXnNC might of seen this one here, the hotel "The Grove" where they filmed Dirty Dancing up in the mountains is advertising here like crazy to come visit. Offers like "stay 2 nights, get the 3rd free" and stuff like that. The Grove is one very swanky place, that hasn't had to do this for a long long time. So, if you or your family are looking to hit the road, there are good deals to be had as well in terms of lodging. Basically, anything "luxury" related, or "disposable income" driven, is about to get cheap. SW03ES....i'm speaking your language here amigo....

I just moved back to the states from Atsugi, its beautiful over there, make sure you hit up the electronics district of Tokyo, Akihabara. The best advice I can give you, go there, see as much as you can and keep a very open mind to the fact that Japan is still a very much closed society, and if you go into a restaurant or any were and get a crossed arm in the type of x don’t worry about it, just bow your head and walk away, there telling you your not welcome there, but not because your American, because they do not speak English and cannot service you.. Have a good trip. ???? Um, didn't you read the posting you've included in response? :whistles:

I agree about the tires. One thing that could also be off is the alignment, taking into consideration the lateral force of the tires. I know this might not help that much, but attached is a TSB for my 4Runner that exhibits the exact same thing. I'm sure it's probably magnified by the sidewall stiffness of the tire, but it sure sounds similiar to what you're describing as well. I know Hunter has developed a new machine to be used for this specific purpose. Basically, i think what it is, is when the tire's angle of contact to the road is even slightly altered, the tire's grip is also altered which causes the pull. An alignment on a proper machine should be able to fix this. Run a google search for hunter tire machines to find their website and read about something along the lines of "straight track", or something close to that.... Dealers aren't the only places in town that have this equipment these days. If you click on "find a hunter machine", you can zero down to locations around your zip code that have these machines too. Mostly tire dealers, like Just Tire, etc... TS_ST005_01.pdf

What?? You've got to be kidding man! Want my advice? Take the rest of the year off amigo and lay low, because either Mr. Murphy has you in his sights for some Murphy's Law action, or you did something bad against Karma and it's coming around the last turn back at you. My other advice is to wipe your machine. Erase it, dos style, down to erasing the partitions and start over.

Boy, I sure wasn't..... In fact, it takes my current 34 years of age voice in my head sometimes to keep me grounded, even to this day, especially in my wife's little toy Mazda. I grew up pretty well off, with very well off friends. I've been in those M5 situations, going 140+, jamming out the stereo, 17 years old and invincible. Damn, sure am lucky to still be alive, if not in jail with a ruined life. Out off all the crap I pulled, the only thing that came back to me was getting caught for playing mail-box baseball in 1988, and sinking our boat with a real M80' during the 4th of July in 95', in Oklahoma at the age of 21... I was officially NC211 a few months later... In today's world, as a soon to be father for the 1st time, all I can hope is that my son only gets into the kind of trouble that I did, and not worse. It seems like by today's standards, mailbox baseball is cub-scout stuff, even if you did hit a local judge's mailbox, unknowingly... That one went over like Monica Lewinsky at a Democratic National Convention. I just hope I never catch him with a gun. I'd rather bust him smokin' a dubbie and being a sloth, then messing around with weapons. Heck, at least with weed I'll know he's mellow and too damn paranoid to do anything that might attract attention to himself.

The Napa racecar very well may have Napa brakes, but I seriously doubt they're the kind that you offer the general public for replacement parts on a Lexus LS400, that would offer any kind of cost savings versus OEM. Look guys, I understand everyone has their own opinions about things, and some folks are more picky than others about things. Some folks don't "hear" that noise, or "feel" that pull, and they're also the same folks that probably wouldn't qualify for the Henry Ford Auto-nutcase rehab clinic, like I would. But, from my experience in trying to save a buck when it came time to address the brakes on my LS400, I simply couldn't do it, with the pads. I wasn't all that thrilled with the aftermarket rotors either. Under highway stops, the car would groan under the pressure, which was strictly due to the rotors. I had pads that wouldn't accept the anti-squel shims for the car, had pads that wouldn't sit right in the calipers, and upon going in reverse the first time & appling the brakes, they would shift in the caliper seats causing a very noticable clunk. I had clicks, ticks, and when backing down my driveway in the morning I had the worst screaming I've ever heard. I had the ceramics, the metalics, you name it. AT THE END OF THE DAY, I was only satisified after I ditched all efforts and ordered some oem pads with new shim kits, and remained happy until the day I sold it, roughly 20k miles. Bremo rotors are well known for being good on these cars. But, again, at the end of the day, cost differences v. operational effectiveness really isn't that much "if you know how to buy oem parts". Do as you please, but before making up your mind, run some searches on here for "clicking noise" and "groaning noise" and such. You'll see, in almost every single case, cheap aftermarket pads were the culprits, for several years. Maybe it won't bother you, it surely doesn't bother quiet a few people. But for Gurus like DC, SK, and ole' NC, who've taken these cars apart and put them back together a few times, unless if you're willing to spend more for aftermarket performace equipment that is designed to exceed specs, like the Bremo slotted, it's best to just order OEM from the internet and be done with it. The extra $20 you'll spend for shipping and such, in my honest opinion, is well worth the satisfaction of knowing what you've got, is indeed what the architects of the car from brith, designed for the car's performance. I think I spent close to $1,100 learning this lesson, with the final $150 being spend for oem pads and new shims from one of the online guys.

Is there a signed bill of sale with a date on it in this situation? If so, just use that as evidence of transfer. If both parties signed it, but the mechanic refused to register it, then there is no way a jury could find you guilty of anything, in fact, they might just award you "damages" to cover your expenses and time to hassle with this.

OEM if you want to do this job just once...otherwise go ahead and think you're saving yourself $75 bucks, only to realize they make a groaning noise, or scream like a little teenager girl at a Millie Cyrus concert when you're backing out of your garage...which will ultimately irritate your neighbors at 6:00am. Trust us, trust me. I have been down this road, and ended up spending probably 3x's the cost of just going with oem, only to come to the conclusion, that if you want your Lexus to operate like a Lexus, then use Lexus parts, especially the brake pads / shim kits/ fitment springs. You start !Removed! around with Autozone/Napa/PepBoys/etc..stuff, and you'll quickly realize they don't sit right in the caliper and click upon changing direction, make noises, throw the braking balance of the car off, etc.... This will happen, trust me. I went through Napa pads, Autozone Pads, Car Quest pads, Pep boys, and some local shops too, thinking I was going to find a better setup than oem. Nope...not even close. Now rotors, sometimes you can get away with aftermarket, so long as they have centering screw holes so they'll stay centered, otherwise it's vibration city. At least on the LS it is, as was the case for me. I got away with some Mountain Rotors suggested to me from I think wwest? And got away with some good autozone rear rotors. But oem pads & related parts, for sure, no question about it. They're the ones that sit right in the calipers.

You were watching Independence Day today on Encore, weren't cha' DC?

You know you're ready for politics when the bartender has a better credit score than you do. :D Politics.....poly-ticks....multiple blood sucking creatures, that serve no real purpose but to bite you in the !Removed!!

I don't think so Jibby. I think it's the foundation for this country, that everyone and anyone can say, think, believe, and question all that happens. I view our leaders as nothing more than your typical business structure, with ceo's / managers / hr staff / etc... The only exception to my thinking, is that most polticians are failed business people, with more dui's and criminal records than at your local frat house.

I saw an interview on 60 minutes a few weeks ago with the FBI agent that was in charge of interviewing Sadam during the final months of his life. It was a fascinating interview! He said Sadam didn't want to show his cards on WMD to the world, for fears of Iran would know and would invade. He said Sadam was most fearful of another war with Iran, and so long as he kept up the illusion he could nuke 'em, or should I say, protect the possiblity of nuking them, he felt they would stay away. Just another reason why I think Iran has been the primary target of this whole war. God help us all if Iran got control of all the oil fields over there. Then we would all be held hostage by those wacko nut ringers.

In response to the WMD theory. I think I might of posted this a few years ago, but can't remember. Anywho, I have an old high school buddy who went the army career route back in the late 90's, made it up to Captain. A few years ago after returning from Iraq and hanging up his boots for good, he came up for a visit to Raleigh from Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville. I bought him his first "civilian" meal, and his first "civilian" Budweiser. He was part of a recon team that went into northern Iraq through Turkey about 3 weeks prior to the kick off, to simply watch and some other stuff he wouldn't tell me about with the kurds "preperation stuff I believe". Anyway, he told me point blank, stone cold sober, that they literally watched convoys of military trucks mixed with civilian trucks rolling out of Iraq into Syria between midnight and 4 am, for days upon days. They couldn't do anything but watch, report, and photograph with night gear. He told me, that he suspects and heard through the grapevine that much of that stuff was indeed weapons in nature, chemical stuff, lab gear, equipment gear for lab gear, and what he though was the early stages of early nuke making gear, being smuggled out and back to their rightful owners.. I was stunned, but I've known him since we were teenagers, and believed him. When I asked who was the "rightful owner", he did not confirm, but instead asked me to think about what nations at that time were adament that we not invade, and tried to stall it within the UN security council. He said, and I quote, "some of those passengers in those trucks were the whitest Iraqies I've ever seen". Later on, as we all learned, that oil for food stuff was so diluted with fruad, and given the economic hardships of Russia and the blackmarket for weapons after the fall of the USSR....well...kind of made sense to me. I'm not totally convinced there weren't some WMD in there. I think we just agreed to cover it up so as to not embarrass others that clearly got caugt with their hands in the cookie jar. I think they were either intercepted later down the road, or we knew about it right before kick off and told them to "get your stuff now, we won't say anything as long as you don't mess with us while we're there".

Maybe I've been looking in the wrong sections over there, but from what I've seen, it's a lot of show n' tell, with some modification questions here and there, and very little actual mechanical repair solutions, with only a few responses. I like that site, love the pictures and such, but I don't seem to get a lot of good feedback. I've gotten some, but the technical stuff hasn't really impressed me that much... Or I could just be a LOC ho'.

You two better stop fighting, or I'll turn this car around right now! Hahaha.... I'm just practicing my pending parenting skills! Either way, liberal, democrat, republican, indi, or, um, some dude named Ron Paul who wants to blow up the IRS? I think it's pretty safe to say that we're all ready for a new direction in the White House. I've been a Bush supporter over the years, as some of you remember my old avatar "that I took down after the VT shootings due to Bush allowing the assult riffle bill to expire". Bush is a war president, plain and simple, which I think for a while after 9/11 was the right thing to be. But, when it comes to the economy....he's a complete moron. I don't think he understands how things spin, roll, flow in the economic world, what so ever. And I for one, am looking forward to something different. I'm sad to see what's going on in the economy today, but I am thankful Bush won't be around much longer to deal with it. Anyone who made thier money from bankrupt operations, isn't a long term player in the terms of business. If you recall, Bush made his millions off of bankrupting the Texas Rangers baseball team. I can't recall how it all went down, I do recall reading about it in the 2000 election. Rolling Stone magazine did a great piece on him, and he was known as the "hatchet man" during his father's administration. Because he was clueless on so many things, that everything he touched ended with the thud of a hatchet. Honestly though about this e85 stuff and corn, it's actually a good thing for North Carolina, as it has given alot of the failing tobacco farmers a new crop to grow and profit from. We're a changing state when it comes to agriculture, as I'm sure RXinNC can attest to. Head out into the countryside, and although you'll still see tabackie, but you see a lot more row of corn now too. And we've got biotech companies coming in to set up shop everyday now to support the emerging biofuel industry. I don't know fellas...so much is changing now, people are being forced out of their comfort zone...the dust is definetly up in the air... But, with change, comes opportunity. If you don't have change, you end up with stagnation. The only result of stagnation, is elimination....and that ain't good for anybody

I have always believed Iran was the target from day one, and the military planners saw the door open to put troops along thier border at 10:00am, September 11, 2001. Iran has consistantly been a thorn in our side for decades, but with no way to get to them directly due to our inability to "justify" invasion of Afghanastan and Iraq to do so. When Osama and his girly chicken-sh*t possee hit us, they effectively put the blueprints for Iran in play. If we wanted Osama dead, he'd be dead. But if we had indeed killed him off in Tora Bora, we could not have "pimped" him out to the rest of the world for the invasion of Iraq. I honestly beleive Osama has been kept alive, and used as, the poster boy for the basis of not taking down Sadam, but for the ability of the United States "and the rest of the world" to establish direct access points into Iran, if need be. Something we have never had, unless you were to come up from the Gulf, or down from Turkey. But, as you all know, when you push a jelly sandwich together, the jelly runs out the sides. Which is something that we couldn't handle in a war situation with Iran. Tell me one nation over the past 20 years that has needled the free world with war chatter, hijackings, hostages? Tell me one nation that has constantly rattled their sword for war? Iran use to have a buffer zone with Afghanistan and Iraq, and in the event of a war with the west, could ally up with Iraq. But now, that has all been eliminated, and Iran is now a lonely, little, nation all by itself, surrounded by world military along all borders, with riffles and missles facing directly across the border, and the worlds most bad !Removed! airforce circling the borders on a 24 hour cycle, just waiting for the orders to hit 'em. Iran has essentially been neutralized, with nothing left but this nuclear chatter. Do you really think we'll let them have the bomb? But more importantly, do you really think it will be the USA that stops them? I don't. I think it'll be Europe that will use these new entry points to wipe out Iran, if they push too hard. Iran can't !Removed! anymore without it being recorded, video taped, and broadcasted around the world in real time. No more secrecy to Iran. Which, in my honest opinion, has been the goal of this entire campaign, from 9/12/01 to current day. And I for one, am quite pleased with it. Sadam was in the way, burned one too many bridges, and was doomed. He knew we wanted Iraq for Iran, and knew the tab for BS'n the world for years upon years, had just come due, pay in full. He knew he was toast. WE even gave him the option to save his life if he would just leave the country and go into exhile before the invasion, but he refused. He knew he was a dead man, one way or the other. Granted, Iraq and Al queda were not connected, we know that now. Sadam did not like Osama, feared his pressence as a force of unstability, and Sadam knew Osama would and could wake up the sleeping giant, which he knew could easily destroy him. In my opinion, invading Iraq served a two fold purpose. One, as I described above. Two, it provided us a battle field to fight Al Queda. No country has ever been able to successfully invade and hold Afghanistan due to the severe terrain. And with years of preporation by the Taliban and Al Queda to establish thier hold points in those mountains, and their constant call for a war with the west, we basically set up shop next door, in the wide open desert, and said "alright you pu**ies, here we are, let's get it on!" Iraq gave us a more suitable playing field, actually, gave us the advantage "like we needed it anyway?" Iraq is the warzone of the next decade. Anyone who wants to fight with us, air out their grievences with us, can buy a ticket and come on down to the price-is-right battle ground. We're there, ready to rumble, and ain't going anywhere. If there is one flaw with the war, in my opinion, is that Rumsfield was too stupid and arrogant to listen to the commanders from day one, and ignored the call for more troops. At the end of the day, the west cannot defeat radical islamic belief. It's got to be defeated by the peaceful sector of the islamic culture. For us to defeat these guys, would require the elimination of the "politically correct" war plan, and simply load up the 52's, wing tipped to wing tipped, and bomb the entire damn place with no mercy. That, I hope won't happen. The other way is starting to show signs of success, with numerous Iraqi civilians defecting from the insurgency and starting to fight against the insurgency, realizing if they don't, their country will forever be nothing more than a war zone between to fighters, neither of which are from Iraq heritage. At the end of the day, in my honest opinion, what will be of the middle east will be like Vietnam today. Peace will exist, tourists will replace terrorists, and little pink umbrellas will be served in your drink at the Four Seasons along the Persian Gulf of Iraq. And there will forever be a US military base or two around, just in case, and to serve as a reminder, and the locals will embrace the presence of that stability.

Oh dear lord....we're off to a grand ole' start now! Actually, I had lots of Cheetos and Beer last weekend with the "Bubbas" down along the coast. And, got between the swells a bit too, about 5 miles out into the ocean. But, after the 8th beer, no more Cheetos, and swells growing to about 5 feet, the ole' shins couldn't take it anymore, and lunch was closing in on the exit, via the entry, if you catch my drift... It was my last weekend with the amigos before I become a responsible father who "sets" the example, one last time to "be" the example. :chairshot: Now it's all baby stuff, and hoping things level out soon economical wise..

In light of some recently hijacked threads, I start this one on a free-flowing basis. Discuss as the topics evolve. Up first, a continuation of the "should i claim insurance" thread, regarding the state of the economy, and how Bush is responsible for Britney Spears downfall, and some speculate the pregnancy of Halle Berry...that dog... Economy is in the tank.....why?

Boy oh boy, have we hijacked this thread or what?!?!?!? I'm going to start a basic discussion thread now, open to all chatter....

I completely, totally, 110%, 5by5, agree! I think it's worth noting that the vast majority of these residential foreclosures going on, aren't infact actual occupied residences. But instead, are people's "flip" investments that hit the saturation point of supply. You'll know we're lining the park benches with homeless folks when your local bank's parking lot is full of repos. People will give up everything they can, before they give up their home, and that just hasn't happened yet. Even though all of this economic doom and gloom stuff is litering the press, negative percentages, yada yada yada, what you don't see a lot of times is the timing points of that negative number. Of course everything is going to look bad when placed against a backdrop of the past 24 to 36 months, it was the top of the mountain. But when comparing against figures against a more stable point in history, say 2004, it doesn't look that bad actually. There are pockets of course that are wrecked, Ft. Myers Florida being a good example. But overall, to date, when compared to times of more responsible banking regulations, we're not that bad. SWO, I agree with your statement. I think Bush screwed the pooch on giving away our surplus, but water under the bridge. I think he'll screw up the recovery with this new stimulus package and home bailout stuff too. Small brush fires are needed sometimes for the forest to survive. Stall the small fires, and the entire forest can go up in smoke at a later date. I think the ones to blame for today aren't in the oval office, but down at the fed and on capitol hill, with relaxed investment criteria, unclear manuals for the public to understand, and a blindeye approach to that stinking pile of crap in the corner humping Freddie Mac's leg. Put a few trillion in Bubba's pocket, yet you don't explain the responsiblity of it correctly before going off for vacation, well, expect to come home to one hell of a wrecked home. RX, I understand your comment about the gas prices, and can see where you're coming from amigo. But I think we're gonna have to agree to disagree on that one. I do think gas prices are going to tank in either late 4Q-08, or 1Q-09, I really do. In times past after a bump in the road, prices spiked then fell. After the 92' recession, prices were quite high for the times, but then 18 months later, they were 95 cents a gallon. The oil crunch in the late 70's early 80's, then tanked by 83'. Just seems like a pattern to me. I think the arguement of "global" demand can be somewhat mitigated by the sheer size of this subprime mess globally. If everyone is taking losses, or about to, then we'll all be sitting home on Friday nights instead of cruisin' the strip, which could drop demand quite a bit. But, it's in China's hands, so we'll see... One good thing the analysts did do "depending how you look at it", is they spread the risk worldwide with thier hybrid structuring of securities. If this were 100% US based only, we might be some deep do-oo. The whole reason for securitization of real estate is to prevent liquidity crisis, to keep the funds moving. It was designed for commercial real estate only. But thanks to relaxed regulations, everything from residential rentals, to movie scripts, to NYC taxi medalions, have been pumped through there. Hell, EVEN weather forecasts! You want to point the blame at the real reason, just head on down to your nearest Morgan Stanley office and give them the middle finger. I do think someone needs to explain to me where in the hell the Iraqi oil is going, that we're protecting with our troops. That just doesn't make sense to me 1 bit. I smell Cheney's rotting boogers on this one. I gotta' get back to work. I have to explain to a developer in upstate NY why his office project that earns $2.1m a year of income, can't handle payments on his requested $37m loan. A couple of doctors turned investors, who apparently have never heard of debt-service-coverage ratios. As in... "It makes $1, but owes $2"...go figure. And clearly have no clue about interest rates.