SW03ES

I know just how you feel, I had just started to like HS and feel like I belonged there when I had to leave. I had a tough time adjusting to college. Basically though I found that all my worrying about college was wasted time, because it wasn't anything like everyone said it would be. You always hear "In college you won't be able to do this" or "in college you won't be able to do that" or "in college nobody's going to care" and while that may be true in some schools, it wasn't in mine nor was it in any of the colleges my HS friends wound up going to. Dealing with Professors and advisors is completely different than dealing with HS teachers. Profs will treat you like an equal, like an adult. They WANT to deal with you and help you. One thing that you really have to get used to is the downtime. When I was in HS I spent 8 hours a day in class. In college you'll spend 3, maybe 4. Maybe less. It depends on how you do your schedule. So that means there is a lot of downtime and a lot less structure. You're tempted to just loaf around and wait to the last minute to get done what you need to get done, but you have to manage your time. Let me put it to me this way, I had time to grow a successful business, detail cars for profit, AND go to school. Thats why kids in college get into so much crap because they have so much downtime. Another thing you'll have to get used to is being responsible for your own life. Being in college is really like having a career. You have to be shrewd at times, get into the good graces of the right people, suck up your pride sometimes, and make decisions about which direction you want to take it. Where you end up at the end is entirely up to you, you choose the path you want to take and how you want to take it. This I never experienced but dorm life is really an adjustment to make. I spent a lot of time around dorms and in dorms, its just an entirely different lifestyle. In a lot of ways its going to seem childish, dealing with roomates, who'se space is who's, whats Jack going to do about his girlfriend back home, he said she said etc etc. But in a lot of ways it seems to be a real test track for life. You learn a lot about how to deal with people and how to deal with yourself. College is going to be a great experience if you make it a great experience, MUCH better than HS. This time next year you're not going to be able to imagine how you endured a day of HS.

Everything looks great! I have a couple new products for you to try and see if you can hide some of that stuff, Meguiars NXT tech waxed topped with Meguiars #16 paste wax. Both have a lot of blemish hiding capabilities.

Good to see you again Todd! blake- If you ever have the opportunity in college to take a Persuasion course, its under Communications take it. Thats the class where I learned about all the advertising, why they do what they do etc. Its a great class (although I suppose that would depend on the Prof and the school). At GW it was really hard, one of the top 5 hardest, but a very interesting course taught by the chair of the Comm department. I'll scan in some of the ads tomorrow and post them. I'll post them first unhighlighted to see what you can see ;) There are a couple of books you can pick up, Subliminal Seduction by Wilson Key that talks about a lot of ads and gives examples, and Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman that talks about the declining state of integrity from advertisers and product companies, again using real world examples.

That thing is looking great! Talk about $570 well spent! How has the paint situation worked out?

man im in highschool but i cant think of what punctuation marks are HELP haha You won't learn it in HS, then your profs in college will mark you off for not knowing it and expound in class about how they have to deal with the pathetic products of Americas schools. Thats the wonder of our educational system lol ;) blake, but see thats the trick, its SUBLIMINAL stimuli, you don't know that you aren't supposed to precieve it conciously. You ARE effected by the subliminal stimuli that is embedded in advertisements. I have some that have the stimuli highlighted that I will see if I can post. I took a class on this in college and its about the most fun you can have with 30 minutes and a magazine, its like solving a puzzle or doing a magic eye. Some of the things they put in ads are downright unbelieveable. Once you see through the veil they put up, you'll never look at an ad or a product company the same way again. Masters of manipulation.

I thought the wheels looked fine too until I looked back at mine or towards another ES on the lot. The silver wheels look SO much better.

We need to get GS some punctuation marks, I think he's all out ;) I think we did help him, but that doesn't mean we can't debate amognst ourselves. blake, thats just my point, you have to examine WHAT you are getting for the money. Different people get different things out of products. The description of "getting what you pay for" is different for everyone. My point is you have to make up your own mind as to whats important to you and don't let advertisers and companies do it for you. Next time you find an ad, for anything, be it TV or print look at it closely for a few minutes and see if you can identify a few things. MOST ads manipulate people with imagery, even subliminal writing and pictures (most ads include the word "s*x" imbedded somewhere, and most have some sort of sexual imagery imbedded in them, ESPECIALLY car, alcohol, cigarette, and perfume ads). Think about this, if their product were really so great, and you really had to have it, why would they have to resort to subconcious influence to sell it? A lot of what you "want" you really don't want at all, you've just been programmed to want it. SRK is exactly what an "informed skeptical consumer" should be. He has decided for himself where his priorities are, and refuses to let advertisers and product companies manipulate him into buying things he does not need or want.

Bear in mind that just because they say the kit won't work doesn't mean it won't.

Well I don't know about THAT ;)

And with the feature content of the Maxima that bests the ES, it should be interesting to see what they bring out in the new I35...

Well as long as the prepwork is good, then any product you use is going to look good on the car. Its all in the quality of the steps.

Very nice!

Maybe it was 03 then...

Check in the display menu and see what contrast setting the screen is set to in night mode...

Huge improvement over those rims!

Some people may think the FX is ugly, but at least they have an opinion. Thats been the problem even Lexus has struggled with, indifference. When you have people that dislike a design then that means you're taking chances, which is good. You don't succeed unless you take chances. Lexus is JUST NOW starting to take some chances with their cars and I think its great. Personally I think the FX is one of if not the best looking vehicles on the road. Its totally unique, which is such a rare thing nowadays. Cookie cutter designs like those put out by Acura and Lexus in the past generate the sales, but they don't create an image for the company. I don't think Infiniti needs to hit anyone in their styling department over the head, they can't keep the FX or the G series on the lots. They get nothing but praise from the press. Their main problem is marketing. The M and Q don't sell well because they aren't advertised, no one knows they exist. You see ads all over the place for the FX and the G.

Thats true of most cars with rear disc brakes.

Check out the thread by the same name in the ES forum, we really get into discussing the problems with MBs. She thinks the LS is an old mans car but the S Class isn't?!?

That really depends. First of all they're all different years. The Platinum only came on the 2000, the SportDesign only on the 2002 and 2004. The GS was redesigned somewhat in 2001. The Platinum has the 9 spoke machined rims, black pearl badging, birds eye maple trim and royale leather. It also came with a free year of the Platinum American Express Card. The 02 SD came with darker finished wheels, a special color (Graphite Grey Pearl), alluminum trim inside and I think stiffer springs. The 04 SD has special headlights and a new saddle interior option, plus a rear spoiler.

I park on the street a lot downtown and I always fold the mirror on the street side in. I can definately see a use for having the mirrors fold automatically in, even when parking in a lot.

MAYBE ;)

Sounds like slightly warped rotors to me...

The Mothers chip repair kit? I've used it as Langka, its the same thing. Works well on non metallic paint.

Cool

That looks just like the M45 to me lol