Another Dilemma
 

Um, exactly how low IS "low rise"?

just wondering
 

I seem to recall there's a weight restriction on the amount of poundage the car can carry. 2 guys over 250 were trying to commute unsuccessfully. I don't know how much you weigh, but that's the only complaint I have ever heard.

From JD Powers 2003 reliability survey - number of repairs per 100 vehicles (Kia is highest a 509 - that's 5 per CAR!).

Brand ......Problems/100 vehicles
Lexus 163
Infiniti 174
Buick 179
Porsche 193
Acura 196
Toyota 201
Cadillac 209
Lincoln 212
Honda 218
Mercury 240
Jaguar 247
Saab 255
BMW 262
Subaru 266
Nissan 267
GMC 269
Chevrolet 272
Saturn 273
INDUSTRY AVG. 273
Oldsmobile 283
Mazda 288
Pontiac 293
Chrysler 295
Ford 295
Plymouth 302
Dodge 312
Audi 318
Mercedes-Benz 318
Jeep 321
Volvo 330
Mitsubishi 339
Hyundai 342
Isuzu 368
Volkswagen 391
Suzuki 403
Daewoo 421
Land Rover 441
Kia 509


Source: J.D. Power and Associates.

Edited to add, Porsche has come up quite a bit in the past few years and Mercedes has really fallen.

Dilemma
 

I think this is what's commonly referred to as ADHD. I would have hated to be your babysitter.

-TL

just wondering
 

Get a helmet.

Get your kids helmets.

Get your dog a helmet.

(Seriously, for the marginal increase in MPG, it's not worth the lack of mass. Get a mid-size.)

just wondering
 

Yes, a white one I believe. And for an update, I understand she is moving or has moved to the Houston burbs - Sugar Land to be exact. Lucky us.

-TL

Another Dilemma
 

Seb, you are so in touch with your feminine side. I bet you now wear a thong (insert image of Homer Simpson wearing Speedos in Rio).

Dilemma
 

Absolutely. My sister always bitches at me for reading catalogs or having the tv on while I talk to her on the phone.

There are cases with fascinating issues. Not many, but they exist. But even on those, there's a lot of bullshit (i.e., boxes) to get through before the interesting issues come into play.

Dilemma
 

I have the same problem. I multi-task all day long. I am capable of unplugging (and I do it far more often than pre-OM).

Now, I am sure to put down the computer and turn off the tv when we are having a conversation. Under any other circumstances, I prefer to have three or four things going at once. That's why I watch reality tv -- no clumsy narrative to follow.

Adaptation
 

It's about time. Thank you.

TM

Watch out Katie Couric
 

Melissa Stark is coming to get you. Melissa Stark joins Today show

Another Dilemma
 

Strange, I usually find that at Banana Republic, I can't find anything but skinny cut, low waisted, metrosexual pants. That's why I buy my khakis from LL Bean

Watch out Katie Couric
 

This reminds me... I turned on the Today show on Tuesday morning to try to catch the interview with Erin from For Love or $$ (I missed it I guess) and was forced to remember how truly awful it is to watch those morning fluff shows. How can anyone stand them? Ugh.

Morning TV show hosts are on my ever growing list of people who are worse than lawyers. Especially that guy on CNN who went on The Daily Show and was (seriously) boasting about how wonderful CNN is and how important his job is. If I had a rock, a rope and a bridge, I could find a good location for that guy's next vacation.

Dilemma
 

Yippee! Now it'd only be cause for some suspicion from people who know I never really watched Seinfeld. But only suspicion.

Facials
 

So I can get rid of the proof that I am an alcoholic? If Tip O'Neill had only known.

Dilemma
 

In best Elaine voice: GET OUT!

It's finally happened. I've completely internalized Seinfeld and don't even know it. What was he explaining? The set up couldn't possibly be the same, could it? I would love to see what was actually said. (Have a link?)

And now I'm wondering if that time I was driving a bus while fighting off a mugger to save a pinkie toe after the real driver had a heart attack actually happened.

TM

just wondering
 

People who drive SUVs have no respect for human lives other than their own.

just wondering
 

And the lives of their passengers.

Watch out Katie Couric
 

I've been MIA for a while and totally missed the finale (I think). Who "won", or what happened, etc.? My secretary does not have time to read through all the posts I missed to see whether this was covered.

I am also interested in a recap of the past two weeks of Making the Band II.

just wondering
 

You're referring to the ones who swerve through traffic, gabbing on a cell phone while drinking coffee, eh?

just wondering
 

They have marginally more respect for the lives of their passengers than for the lives of third parties, but obviously when they get out and continue breathing/living, and the passengers die of heat stroke, they aren't really showing a ton of respect for the lives of their passengers.

just wondering
 

If I'm in my Suburban and my passengers are properly seat belted, I can be swerving, talking, drinking coffee, listening to the radio, and taking bong hits, and my passengers will still be safe. Unless I drive off a mountain road, it's all good.

just wondering
 

The one I'm looking at is a four-seater, so I'm hoping it can carry more than 500 pounds.

I'd prefer the size of an Accord, but they're not making it in a hybrid. And "marginal increase"? The thing gets like 50 mpg. I hear you on the size thing, but the Civic isn't that small. I thought you were at a real risk in the smallest cars, but that you were OK with sizes about that. Until you get to an SUV, which is liable for flip for no good reason.*


* We've had this debate before, I know.

just wondering
 

Remind me to shoot out a couple of your tires next time you cut me off.

Watch out Katie Couric
 

What we got this week was the part 1 finale.

s
p
o
i
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e
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s
p
a
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Rob picked Erin despite the fact that he was virtually assured that Paige would pick him. He didn't think a realtionship with Paige would work out I think. Then Erin told him about the money and she chose the money. Then Rob told her that if she had chosen him, they would have split it. Rob walked away to search anew for love with someone who is willing to overlook his JAG indiscretions.

Then cut to 3 weeks later. A limo pulls around with Erin in it and the host guy (Jason?) escorts Erin out and tells her that she can go double or nothing -- she'll woo 15 guys and if she gets the last one to pick her instead of the $$, she gets $2 mil. If he takes the $$, she gets nothing. So next week the second phase of the show begins with Erin deciding what guys to keep and cut.

Extreme Survival
 

OK, here's today's extreme survival quiz (sorry, no Kayaks). It's pretty clear that if attacked by an animal that I will surely die. However, I will be OK in a hostage situation.

Extreme survival quiz

edited to add, that I'm alive but badly injured or maimed for life, with a little effort I can be a survivor.

just wondering
 

I had the exact same issue with my dog. He would park his paws in the center-console cup-holders for a secure ride and stick his head forward so that his hair neatly covered my glasses while I drove. Must be the "I am Lord of the Universe" thing.

He was also known to simply kick the front-seat passenger into the back of the car so he could have that seat, to improve his view. :)

edited to remove breed identifiers, as my dog's unruly behavior is well-known

just wondering
 

I call it "evolution in action." It applies equally to 13 year olds who shoot themselves with Daddy's gun, and to the spate of kids killing themselves emulating "Jackass." Unfortunately, most donorcyclists have already procreated and passed their deficient genes on to future generations of taxpayers.

Moving On
 

I thought, that the point of Punch Drunk Love is that there is someone for everyone---a proverbial lid for every metaphorical pot (or vice versa). I also thought that it was some kind of allegory about the healing power of love (the repair of the organ) and inspiration strength (fight with 4 hoods) and sacrifice (trip to Utah) that one goes through for the right person. Buy maybe I am just a romantic simp. A teary-eyed little nancy boy who believes that two people can make it in this crazy mixed up world of ours--even if one of them uses phone sex. I am sorry to see that you are so jaded that you didn't appreciate Mr. Sandler's caring sensitive side. Maybe he should keep playing silly clown-like caricatures for your amusement. He should be like the crown that cries on the inside b/c you and your SO won't let him act outside the box that his early roles placed him in. Let him be free, SEC. Maslow would want him to self-actualize--if he were still alive--and I think should want that for him too. Be a humanist just this once :P

just wondering
 

So did Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. (Someone here says it was around before that, though.)

Big Brother 4
 

Daily updates and live updates at Joker's site -http://www.jokersupdates.com/articles/BBUSA/BBUSAPauly3.html

True Story
 

Either way, I don't feel that bad about it, if I have co-opted part of his bit because they did the same to me (I'd like to believe).

I used to work out at the Health and Raquet club here in New York (midtown) during the show's run. Mr. Costanza (Jerry Stiller) also worked out at the club. I was always telling everyone my idea for a character on the show and how it would be funny. The Sentence Finisher. The idea being that Elaine would date a guy who would anticipate the end of everyone's sentences and finish them perfectly (even better than the person who started the sentence). Everyone would always be impressed, except George or Jerry (makes no difference), because he would always finish that character's sentences incorrectly. No one would believe that he was wrong and that character's frustration would increase and hilarity would ensue.

I told Mr. Costanza my idea for that character and he thanked me and went back to working out. Then, in the last season, lo and behold, they had a sentence finisher. It was a minor plot line, but I still take credit for it (even though, I'm sure I had nothing to do with it).

TM

why not, he's a celebrity
 

Kobe Bryant -- guilty or not?

True Story
 

And I spose that Jackie Childs, the only black man on must see tv, was your idea as well?

Did you go to the NYHRC on Lex and like 45th? cuz I was there too!!!

Extreme Survival
 

Apparently, I will die of a snakebite or be sucked out from under an overpass in a tornado. Otherwise, bring on the shark attacks and waterless desert adventures baby!

why not, he's a celebrity
 

what exactly is he alleged to have done? Given his image, it sounds like a possible shakedown. But if it's more than an untoward grope, there'll either be evidence or not. He's already gone for DNA testing.

Extreme Survival
 

OMG, I picked overpass too! I will also die of a snakebite and will be killed by a shark.

Speaking of animals...those of you who let your dogs tear apart the inside of your cars need to get them an appropriate place to sit - like an Hermes dog bed
pampered pets

July 10 — Once, the dog house was a familiar fixture in cartoons such as “Peanuts” and “Tom & Jerry.” As recently as 2000, one popped up in an episode of “The Simpsons,” occupied by a vicious badger that shredded Homer Simpson’s entrails. But it is a long time since the kennel was seen in real life. Gradually, dogs have progressed from the back yard or garden to increasing levels of comfort in the home: from an old blanket on a cold kitchen floor to the coziness of a padded Hermès bed in a corner of the master or mistress’s bedroom.
to a recent Euromonitor report, the number of pets in the U.S. rose by 29 million, or 9 percent, to 366 million in the four years to 2002, more than twice the rate of increase in the human population over the same period.
They are dressed in fashionable clothing and accessorised by design houses such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Chanel; they are provided with homeopathy, acupuncture, special grooming products and cosmetics; and when they travel, they get car booster seats, frequent flyer points on Virgin Atlantic Airways and groveling service in some of the world’s most luxurious hotels.

Facials
 

I am so fuckin lucky I don't get the capillary problem. I have a bunch of friends with it, and it looks like hell.

Of course, its probably nature's signal that the liver is being destroyed and you should stop, so maybe I'm genetically defective in that my warning lights aren't working.

Oh well, as long as its an easy death... I can't be expected to stop drinking. That just umpossible.

Extreme Survival
 

Likewise. 11/17. I think I'm just going to hole up in my office for the rest of the day.

The fake chuckle
 

Just laugh like you never heard something so funny. And yes it works. Daily.

Penske (phoney baloney) Account

why not, he's a celebrity
 

EAGLE, Colo., July 10 — Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant flirted with a 19-year-old Colorado woman hours before she accused him of sexual assault, according to sources at the hotel where the incident is alleged to have occurred, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/935503.asp?0dm=C14VS

Apparently not enough evidence to arrest him yet.