I can't drive 55

Of course, small efficient high power autos were always better. Although I cannot agree with you that Europe (especially England) always had efficient powerful auto. I, in my much younger days, had an Austin-Healy Sprite and a Triumph, neither was what I would call powerful or efficient, a lot of fun, but not the rest.

One thing the US autos have over most of the rest of the world is comfortable, low cost cars. Now that I am older, I much perfer a comfortable car that I do not feel every bump and pot hole. Very small cars are not for me.

My friend's wife is from PR.

1/3 want independence
1/3 want statehood
1/3 want the status quo.

in almost exactly those ratios

New Jersey isn't bad if you stay to the highways, but go local with foreign plates and you're a cash-cow to the local PD.

They love to stop foreign or out of state plates. Theres a good amount of profiling going on as well in some of the small town fiefdoms. Especially, in western NJ.

AV

Of COURSE the Democrats know whats best for the rest of us. Thats why this state is almost bankrupt. ?:| I've gone out to some bars in NJ where the police are right near the door when you come out. I was astonished that they have the right to do that. I think its major harassment and one step closer to prohibition.

AV

But if you're only doing the speed limit on an interstate in Georgia, you're obstructing traffic!

Here in SC, the Highway Patrol will not usually mess with you for less than 10 mph over the posted limit; the fine ($25) isn't worth the trouble. You'll probable get cited for more than 10 over, and you'll definitely be cited for 15 over the limit.

In my experience, the worst offenders for speeding in SC are from North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, and, yes, New Jersey. I say this because I consistently do 78-80 on the interstates and am even more consistently passed by cars with plates from those states. 45k miles last year; very large sample!

B-)

I think it's only American cars that are designed for optimum fuel economy at 55. My '91 Passat (2L, 5-speed) was EPA rated at 30 MPG highway (27 MPG under the new standard). On a trip from Mississippi to New York, I achieved 35 MPG at an average speed of 64 MPH. (I regularly got 25+ MPG at 100 MPH on the autobahn.) Most German cars will probably give similar results, as they are designed to give good fuel economy at Autobahn speeds.

edit: corrected EPA figures

I think that still goes on. I think thats great. Who wants to go out for dinner and a drink or two and have to worry about being stopped in a DUI checkpoint? I don't. I'm a responsible person and know my limits with alcohol. I think most people are responsible and don't need to be stopped unless they are doing something wrong. Maybe its a deterent to some, but honestly I don't see any difference between now and when they didn't have DUI checkpoints.

AV

You don't break the speed limit on I-75 between the FL state line and mile 23! Lived in Valdosta for 5 years. Everybody there knows that the Lowndes County sheriff's department and the GA State Patrol are just looking for another record-breaking drug bust...any excuse to stop a car!

But I still unfortunately smoke sometimes and the only place its ok to do it is in my car. I haven't smoked in a public place in years because of the laws.

NJ just started with the stop light cameras in some places. I totally expect to get a ticket in the mail someday soon because I didn't come to a full stop at a stop sign. Thats a technicality. If it didn't endanger anyone, what is the problem? I see from Illinois what we can look forward to here.

AV

[i]I take care to not be the fastest car around me.[/i]

Cop: "Do you know why I pulled you over?"

Driver: "Yes, because you couldn't (or were too lazy to) catch the guy who just passed me!"

I've driven by a number of speed traps in Ontario at 30 kph (18 MPH) cause I didn't see them in time. I keep looking in the mirror for the red light but nothing.

The only conclusion I come to is that they are looking for someone faster cause they get more points/credit on their quota for bigger fines.

James

Those small high MPG cars won't get as good of mileage with 4 people in them as a mid-sized car will with the same 4 people. The engine in the small car will work harder, the transmission will spend more time in the less efficient lower gears, and the suspension will also wear out faster.

Regardless of which state actiually became a state at what time and in what order.

Are there not 52 states in America?

Therefore elminating 'out of country' states such as Hawaii and Alaska, would there not then be 50? It doesn't matter if Hawaii was the founding state or one tagged on last week, was just a simple point and light hearted comment.

All of a sudden it turns into a hair splitting contest? Techs!

It's like saying "I've told you a thousand times!" Only to have someone pipe up, well it was only 856 times, then there were times that you told Dad to tell me, I suppose we could equate that to another 48 times but it certainly isn't 1000.

No wonder techs have social issues! LOL

That was funny!

I know how hard it is to discern sometimes, but Terrence and Phillip are actually cartoon characters.

Now I know that you elect cartoon characters as president in the USA but in Canada we elect dried up old farts that like to wear boring suits and sit in an old, musty smelling chamber for their meetings.

It's considered disobeying a traffic signal. You failed to stop, therefore you disobeyed a traffic signal.

I think that red light cameras are for red lights, not stop signs, unless you have them for stop signs too.

I JUSt fought a red light ticket in court, it took just over a YEAR for teh court date, from eth time of teh "offense". It was at 7PM after a 2.5 hour drive home (usually 30 mins) from my old office. Bumboer to bumper all the way, accidents everywhere after a snow storm and teh street was thick with ice.

The photo shows my vehicle travelling UNDER the speed limit, with all brake lights on, as I slid across the stop line. At that point I just accelerated through the intersection.

Now apparently, I should have been driving below 5kmph though, according to the judge, I should have allowed more time to stop in such conditions. I explained that a 46000lb vehicle, even travelling at 5kmph, would not be able to stop with such a reduced coefficient of friction. There was a line of about 30 people, all ticketed on the same night at the same intersection. They judge asked if anyone would simply wanted to plead guilty but request a reduction in the cost, to which they all stood up and nobody got a reduction, due to various reasons. Being a stubborn bugger I decided to plead not guilty and take it to task, may as well she isn't going to reduce it. Well I didn't kill it but I halved it to $80 which isn't all that bad, even though it was a stupid ticket to begin with.

Upon telling my brother (my attorney) later on, he laughed and said I was really lucky as nobody ever gets a fine reduced from her, most just take it and leave. But I wanted some more time away from the office, had no sales calls and would rather argue in court than go to work.

This happened a few years back in heavy rain in another city, and the judge took one glance and said it was unsafe to stop and threw it out.

Just a way for our poor city to make a few bucks. It is almost flattering that the province needs MY income so badly to survive that even my taxes aren't enough.

THERE ARE ONLY 50 STATES. NO ADDITIONS SINCE HAWAII.

James

[i]but it is moving to a more oppressive government. [/i]

Oh, you are so oppressed by having to drive a little slower.

Next you'll be oppressed if K-Mart stops stocking Pringles...those commie bastards! :^0

US Highway 19 between FL Highway 60 and Roosevelt Blvd: 6 traffic signals in a 3 mile distance on a 6-lane highway that is the main N/S artery through Pinellas County.

They really need to learn to elevate major highways in the USA.

I was actualluy right the first time then, I don't know why I went for 51 when I had 52 in mind, maybe a typo or may have been brain freeze with the 41 states I was referring to.

But I actually thought it was 50 states + Alsaka and Hawaii, making 52. Don't know why, I suppose it has never mattered before, not that it does now.

Then again, not too many Americans know that we have 6 provinces and 4 territories, and that's a much smaller group to work with.

Many americans can't even find their OWN country on a globe, so it just doesn't mean anything to me. I certainly can't NAME all the states or capitols, though I can probably come up with more than most Americans that are actually IN school and studying this crap.

Sports cars are usually not on the list of efficient vehicles. Just look at the new Ferrari's and McLarens, you'd be lucky to get 2mpg.

Auston Healy and Triumph were classic sports cars.

Powerful for their day and age, but not at all like todays vehicles.

It was nixed for many years and then teh rehash of Woodstock was awful, probably the poorest planning I have seen at an event.

Washroom facilities were not adequate, in '69 they were, candles that were handed out for peace were used to build bonfires, the bands were atrocious etc.

Then compare that to the Isle of Wight festivals which to this day are one of teh biggest events in the UK. So much so that there is an ENDLESS LIST of sumer festivals in Europe now, so many that some don't sell well because people just can't get to ALL of them. I'm serious, immense lineups of 8 or 10 headline acts, with 30 support acts over 3 or 4 days. There is simply one after another.

In North America it would rival any terrorist attack we've ever had. People just don't appreciate music and turn up simply to get drunk and be clowns. No wonder we live in what's seen as the world's 'no fun zone'.

Crock of crap, this North America, if it wasn't so damn beautiful in BC, I'd be outta here like a shot.

We are so far behind the times when it comes to having peacful, open minded and free nations. Its embarrassing actually, being in Europe and from North America, its like we are a laughing stock from a joke that was never shared with us.

Oz, I agree about the classics. Those cars just kind of "look the part" now. :D

If I could ride it longer than 4 months a year I would think about investing in a motorcycle. Damn 7 months of winter! :p

Ten provinces and 3 territories, used to be two territories but they split North West Territories into NWT and Nunavut.

Of course you may be old enough to remember when Newfoundland joined in 1949, but thats before my time....

Oz, hope you don't have a citizenship test in your near future...

James

she's so gonna beat you to death! lol :^0

US 19 down here is one of the deadliest non-interstate highways per capita in the country because of all the stop and start traffic.

They did elevate 19 over one street down there...Drew Street...a few years ago. But right over that is the rest of the signals.

If they'd just learn to spend the extra money on doing that (elevating or making overpasses) we'd use a lot less gas from stopping,starting, and idling.

Plus we need more hybrids!!! :p lol :^0

Compared to modern cars, the Sprite and Truiumph didn't have much power. In fact a Chevy econobox has the same power as the first Porche 911 (140 HP), but the 911 was much much lighter.

The first Sprite had a 43 HP engine and the last was a 65 HP (about the same as a mid 90s Toyota Tercel).

I'd love to have a bug eye Sprite. I might prefer to look at a gull wing MB SL from the 50s, but it is worth so much, I'd be afraid to wreck it. The Sprite I could drive.

In fact would I'd really like is a Triumph TR6 from the early 70s.

James

You know, uh, whachacallit; the big one between Michigan and Alaska :D

It seems like everyone always needs to make someone else the butt of the joke to make themselves feel better.

We understand why people feel the need to behave in such a manner. Easier to try to take someone else down than to lift yourself up.

As for South Park, I don't know WHY they make fun of Canadians like they do, but it is just as funny to me as when Eddy Murphy makes fun of white males. Or when Family Guy makes fun of the Brits. People take things to seriously.

and 4 Commonwealths (KY, MA, PA, and VA)?

:)

Sheila: Time's have changed
Our kids are kids are getting worse
They wont obey their parents
They just want to fart and curse!
Sharon: Should we blame the government?
Liane: Or blame society?
Dads: Or should we blame the images on TV?
Sheila: No, blame Canada
Everyone: Blame Canada
Sheila: With all their beady little eyes
And flappin heads so full of lies
Everyone: Blame Canada
Blame Canada
Sheila: We need to form a full assault
Everyone: It's Canadas fault!
Sharon: Don't blame me
For my son Stan
He saw the darn cartoon
And now he's off to join the Klan!
Liane: And my boy Eric once
Had my picture on his shelf
But now when I see him he tells me to fuck myself!
Sheila: Well, blame Canada
Everyone: Blame Canada
It seems that everythings gone wrong
Since Canada came along
Everyone: Blame Canada
Blame Canada
Some Guy: There not even a real country anyway
Ms. McCormick: My son could've been a doctor or a lawyer it's true
Instead he burned up like a piggy on a barbecue
Everyone: Should we blame the matches?
Should we blame the fire?
Or the doctors who allowed him to expire?
Sheila: Heck no!
Everyone: Blame Canada
Blame Canada
Sheila: With all their hockey hubbabaloo
Liane: And that bitch Anne Murray too
Everyone: Blame Canada
Shame on Canada
The smut we must stop
The trash we must smash
Laughter and fun
must all be undone
We must blame them and cause a fuss
Before someone thinks of blaming uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus

Um who here thinks that this is making fun of Canada - anyone? anyone?

Canadian Bacon similary mocked Canadians, but in doing so was really making fun of Americans. Dan Ackroyd as a cop was funny (his dad was chief of police in Ottawa at one time). But Stephen Wright as a mountie was soooo funny.

James

Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Mass., R.I., Conn., and Florida. Now I know better. Florida is not the seventh New England state; it's the sixth NYC borough.

Of course I know how many provinces and territories are in Canada. I wanted to see if an American would correct me, not you.

Gawd, can't even bury a hook with all these 'straight ups' around here.

The one that you get your oil, lumber, fish, grains, meat, electricity, etc. from!

Nice place, bunch of Frenchies living near the middle but the coasts are pretty sweet! (sorry James)

I can laugh at other people because I am also the first to laugh at myself when I do something stupid.

I laugh at other countries and races, but I can also laugh at Canada, England (the governments are just as screwed up as any)and I can laugh at stodgy white guys that can't dance.

In other words, I can laugh at all our differences, not just someoen else's.

Its a gas sometimes just how personally offended people get when you slag off America. Geez if I lived there, I would be shakign my head and laughign at the government and global policies too, it's not just because i am not in America. Face it, its all a joke. The only part that REALLY sucks is that joke in the USA is actually killing foreign and American people in the process.

Get lost with you Anti-canadian sentiment. People like you belong in France with the other pansies who don't stand up for their country. I can't believe that you are a Canadian citizen, we should just exile all people with your mindset! You won't be laughing so hard when you are starving and Canadian bacon is all yuo have to live on!

Way better than the Pringles BS. Marks and Sparks has been makign wannabe junk food from simulated products for decades. NOW they have been awarded 20 YEARS of taxes paid on tea cakes. I bet that will only be the beginning, M&S is more important in the UK than the Prime Minister, health care or gas prices. I think it was M&S that fought the remaining Roman slaggers off and started such wonderful, pithy sayings as "Pity, isn't it?" , "Spot of Tea" and of course, "Bob's yer uncle". Well M&S along with the PG Tips chimps and Humphrey. HANDS OFF HUMPHREY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOeL18BFc0o

LOL, truly classic, I still have a hands off Humphrey mug (broken but it still holds pens and stuff).

Though we may have to address that in January.

I'm not an old timer. I am timeless.

When are you gonna get that right?

I'm from Northern Ky. We really AREN'T considered 'The South'. We're kinda like the South without the charm.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... They do a baked version but it's just not the same.

Pringles are just WRONG.

Actually I grew up on a farm, and the family is still farming.

Far too many of the urbanites that decide to "live in the country" do not want to be inconvenienced by the realities of rural living. They wait until the last possible second to slow down when they come upon farm equipment on the road.

Of course, when these fools end up hitting the farm equipment, they always loose. However, from time to time, a farmer is thrown off his seat, or suffers whiplash from the impact.

I think people should be required to spend a night with a load of cow manure under their bedroom window before they are allowed to move out in the country.

Chas

I'm not used to cameras at intersections. We are just adopting this wonderful, new technology in NJ.

I hope its used for red lights only, but I doubt it. That little camera could be the next cash cow for the city because you have a stop sign and a red light at the same intersection. My only saving grace is that I work with lots of lawyers in the area. :^0

You lucked out, Oz. You are your own expert witness and judges respect that kind of presentation. Also, the not guilty plea. Judges in a municipal court have a huge caseload and they know a BS scene when they see it. I'm sure its much the same where you are. You threw down the gauntlet. Good one! Maybe you should have been a lawyer.

AV :^0

that just because you lost track, that clueless equaled timeless....

The first thing to go is the mind? :p

At least by the time the bod starts to go, you won't notice anyways! :D

:x

We yield at stop signs and stop at yield signs!

And no, we're not illiterate...our parents were married!

"Forty Acres and a Fool" on a new Del McCoury album, [i]Moneyland[/i]. http://www.mccourymusic.net/product.cfm?share=35J244406040441

Only just out.

If you are timeless, and as suggested a few times -- older than dirt, how does that NOT make you an old timer???

Ducking to avoid shovel to head trauma :0

mismanaged, bribes, and kickbacks???