Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

graphicguy

Not a good thing that I was off this week and next week. Thinking about hitting the auto malls around here and doing test drives. I know,the hard pressure will be applied for EOY sales. May do it anyway!

Two movies that scared the begeezus out of me....the afore mentioned ALIEN. My top scariest movie is THE EXORCIST! Saw it once...scared me so bad I saw it once and never again. Probably because I’m Catholic, and the priest who was doing an exorcism. Plus, the nuns who taught me in grade school warned us about how evil and the devil really are, that I always thought the devil was right around the corner waiting specifically for me.

explorerx4

@graphicguy,
The devil may be lurking at the next car dealer.

28firefighter

@roadburner - I would take an M340 any day over the Giulia. The build quality, infotainment, and interior finish is enough to sway me.

roadburner

I do like the M340i better, but If I'm looking at a two year old used Giulia TI Sport and an equivalent M340i and the price delta is $15,000-$20,000 I'd be sorely tempted to roll the dice.

qbrozen

Would have to ensure a 2019 Alfa to get at least some kinks ironed out. Those are probably already in the mid $20k range.

imidazol97

oldfarmer50 said:

Yikes! Too much technology. Thanks for explaining why a BMW battery needs to be registered but I’ve driven old junkers that had the battery held in by a bungee cord and it worked just fine. That system sounds like it was designed to increase dealer profit as much as make the car better.

I recall the battery in my shadetree mechanic's STS Cadillac had to be reset when replaced because it did something along the same lines of treating an aging, sulfated battery differently than a new one.

28firefighter

I don’t think I could take another Alfa. I’d sooner look for a loaner lease on an M340.

imidazol97

roadburner said:

It has a lot to do with how a newer BMW charges the battery. If everything is good it only charges when coasting on a closed throttle. Registration is no big deal; I have an iPhone app as well as a scan tool that can register BMW., Mini, or RR battery- it takes less than 5 minutes.

My Malibu charges its AGM battery differently than typical cars used to do. After driving a while the voltage will be 12.4, 12.6, 12.8 where it's barely charging even though lights are on, AC, seat heaters, etc.. Typically cars run 14.X when fully charged but driving with a lead acid battery. Also has a device keeping track of how many coulombs of electricity have been used and returned to the battery through charging.

Several folks on the Malibu forum were unnerved by that, thinking their battery or charging system had gone bad. But I read somewhere that's a way of maximizing gas mileage.

cdnpinhead

". . .that's a way of maximizing gas mileage."

Ah yes, at the expense of all else, most of all convenience for the person driving the car.

roadburner

imidazol97 said:

I recall the battery in my shadetree mechanic's STS Cadillac had to be reset when replaced because it did something along the same lines of treating an aging, sulfated battery differently than a new one.

All the manufacturers are heading in that direction to maximize fuel economy- only charging the battery at the correct rate for the correct time saves a bit of fuel. The current 330i weighs nearly 3,700 lbs. and sports a 2 liter turbo four making 255 hp- it averages 42 mpg at 75 mph; the "over-complicated" charging system probably contributes 1/4 to 1/2 mpg to that number.

qbrozen

Just checked manheim. average of about $30k for a 2019 AWD Ti sport vs $37k for a 340xi Msport.

abacomike

I remember posting here about one of my best friends who, on October 10th, lost consciousness in the shower, fell, and ended up breaking his C3 vertebrae. He had his surgery where they put a screw into the vertebrae in order to get it to eventuallly fuse. So, for the last 2 months, another friend of ours and I have been picking him up every weekday morning to take him walking with us and out to lunch so he doesn't vegetate at home every day - he can't drive and his neck has been in a very tight neckbrace to prevent movement. We had been anxiously awaiting his December visit to the surgeon with hopes that he could take the brace off and become more independent.

He had his MRI 12 days ago and after his visit to the doctor, he got some very bad news - the fracture had slipped several millimeters even with the screw holding the vertebrae in tact. So, yesterday, he went through another operation where the surgeon put several screws into C2, C3 and C4 along with a metal brace as a sort of permanent fusion with hopes those three vertebrae would fuse together. I will be visiting him in the hospital tomorrow afternoon after dropping the other friend and his family at Port Everglades for his 7 day cruise.

Looking back on this poor guy's situation. you have to re-evaluate your very existence and limitations thanking the Lord that you are not in his shoes, so to speak. He is going to be in another brace for several months again while the bones fuse - he will have limited neck rotation due to the fusion which will limit his visibility while driving - won't be able to turn his head more than a few degrees left and right. So as soon as the doctor says he can walk, my other friend and I will begin picking him up every day for our daily walks at the shopping mall. Truly a most unfortunate predicament!

tjc78

@graphicguy
100% agree the Exorcist is the scariest movie I've ever watched. Maybe it's a Catholic thing.

driver100

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Boy, the monthly payment on those Mercedes must be tough. Some guy near me robbed a bank while driving one. Then again maybe it was the cost of out of warranty repairs. Is that a GLE?

A very classy bank robber....when only the best will do.

Probably. What are the odds that one doesn't have a backup camera? Don't leave home without one.

jmonroe

You are just jealous because he didn't use a wannabe to rob banks...he wants a clean getaway!

roadburner

abacomike said:

I remember posting here about one of my best friends who, on October 10th, lost consciousness in the shower, fell, and ended up breaking his C3 vertebrae. He had his surgery where they put a screw into the vertebrae in order to get it to eventuallly fuse. So, for the last 2 months, another friend of ours and I have been picking him up every weekday morning to take him walking with us and out to lunch so he doesn't vegetate at home every day - he can't drive and his neck has been in a very tight neckbrace to prevent movement. We had been anxiously awaiting his December visit to the surgeon with hopes that he could take the brace off and become more independent.

He had his MRI 12 days ago and after his visit to the doctor, he got some very bad news - the fracture had slipped several millimeters even with the screw holding the vertebrae in tact. So, yesterday, he went through another operation where the surgeon put several screws into C2, C3 and C4 along with a metal brace as a sort of permanent fusion with hopes those three vertebrae would fuse together. I will be visiting him in the hospital tomorrow afternoon after dropping the other friend and his family at Port Everglades for his 7 day cruise.

Looking back on this poor guy's situation. you have to re-evaluate your very existence and limitations thanking the Lord that you are not in his shoes, so to speak. He is going to be in another brace for several months again while the bones fuse - he will have limited neck rotation due to the fusion which will limit his visibility while driving - won't be able to turn his head more than a few degrees left and right. So as soon as the doctor says he can walk, my other friend and I will begin picking him up every day for our daily walks at the shopping mall. Truly a most unfortunate predicament!

Most folks don't appreciate how blessed that they are.

driver100

"graphicguy">Not a good thing that I was off this week and next week. Thinking about hitting the auto malls around here and doing test drives. I know,the hard pressure will be applied for EOY sales. May do it anyway!

That is why people take up pickleball......keeps you away from showrooms or having the energy to look at cars.

Two movies that scared the begeezus out of me....the afore mentioned ALIEN. My top scariest movie is THE EXORCIST! Saw it once...scared me so bad I saw it once and never again. Probably because I’m Catholic, and the priest who was doing an exorcism.

It was a scary scene, but, not too bad for those of us who know it is just a thing that happens in movies.

Plus, the nuns who taught me in grade school warned us about how evil and the devil really are, that I always thought the devil was right around the corner waiting specifically for me.

If you want to meet a real evil person who is like the devil try to find a narcissist to become friends with. They will take you for every cent they can get out of you, and they won't care because they have no conscience. They should be easy to find, about 4 or 5% of the population are narcs.

oldfarmer50

graphicguy said:

Not a good thing that I was off this week and next week. Thinking about hitting the auto malls around here and doing test drives. I know,the hard pressure will be applied for EOY sales. May do it anyway!

Two movies that scared the begeezus out of me....the afore mentioned ALIEN. My top scariest movie is THE EXORCIST! Saw it once...scared me so bad I saw it once and never again. Probably because I’m Catholic, and the priest who was doing an exorcism. Plus, the nuns who taught me in grade school warned us about how evil and the devil really are, that I always thought the devil was right around the corner waiting specifically for me.

If you’re a serious buyer you can’t beat the day before New Year but if you’re just doing research I’d wait until after the 1st. Why get some desperate salesperson all hyped up for a last minute sale that will never come?

And speaking of the devil waiting around the corner......I AM!👹

Michaell

I don't know how many of them are serious, but I can certainly tell you that the number of questions asking for lease information has gone up considerably since Christmas day.

I signed off at about midnight last night, mountain time, and my cohost jumped online around 7 AM, Eastern time, this morning. He reported that there were posts in 40 different threads in that time span.

fintail

ML from before 2006, not too pricey anymore. A hit and miss car, some people had horror stories, others miled them up with little issue.

houdini1 said:

Looks like an ML.

explorerx4

Not too many of those ML's around anymore, so should be easy to find.

driver100

One of our pickleball guys has a 1995 Honda del Sol. Has 195000 miles on it, never had a problem, nothing done to it. Doesn't look this good, but, talk about getting your moneys worth;

He lives off the grid in Michigan during the summer, and leaves the Honda here for the winter. He certainly got his 10000 miles for every $1000 paid.

roadburner

Are you sure he's a guy?

imidazol97

abacomike said:

Looking back on this poor guy's situation. you have to re-evaluate your very existence and limitations thanking the Lord that you are not in his shoes, so to speak. He is going to be in another brace for several months again while the bones fuse - he will have limited neck rotation due to the fusion which will limit his visibility while driving - won't be able to turn his head more than a few degrees left and right. So as soon as the doctor says he can walk, my other friend and I will begin picking him up every day for our daily walks at the shopping mall. Truly a most unfortunate predicament!

He is blessed to have two friends like you and the other fellow. It's great you are all trying to help each other.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.

We all need to be careful. Life is so tenuous. 5 died on Christmas day, 3 children, when a car with 5 seats but with 7 people in it hit a pole on a west Dayton street at 70 mph, for some reason. They were all expecting to finish that day alive. But it's over.

driver100

roadburner said:

Are you sure he's a guy?

Yes, he is a guy and I found out today he has a girlfriend!

tjc78

If I had to drive a Del Sol... I would just resort to Uber.

imidazol97

The used to be a few here, but haven't seen them for a few years. Probably blew up or rusted away.

laurasdada

oldfarmer50 said:

graphicguy said:

Not a good thing that I was off this week and next week. Thinking about hitting the auto malls around here and doing test drives. I know,the hard pressure will be applied for EOY sales. May do it anyway!

Two movies that scared the begeezus out of me....the afore mentioned ALIEN. My top scariest movie is THE EXORCIST! Saw it once...scared me so bad I saw it once and never again. Probably because I’m Catholic, and the priest who was doing an exorcism. Plus, the nuns who taught me in grade school warned us about how evil and the devil really are, that I always thought the devil was right around the corner waiting specifically for me.

If you’re a serious buyer you can’t beat the day before New Year but if you’re just doing research I’d wait until after the 1st. Why get some desperate salesperson all hyped up for a last minute sale that will never come?

And speaking of the devil waiting around the corner......I AM!👹

Bought my '13 XF New Year's Eve '13. Got a very good deal, including $5k trunk money. And, winter mats thrown in at the last minute!

tjc78

Never bought a car at the end of the year. I did buy the 2015 Enclave on Black Friday. Pretty sure it was your typical end of month deal.

stickguy

I got my 2005 Accord Christmas week 2005 as a leftover. First drove it in about October I think. IIRC I got between 20-25% off. They wanted that baby gone!

oldfarmer50

imidazol97 said:

abacomike said:

Looking back on this poor guy's situation. you have to re-evaluate your very existence and limitations thanking the Lord that you are not in his shoes, so to speak. He is going to be in another brace for several months again while the bones fuse - he will have limited neck rotation due to the fusion which will limit his visibility while driving - won't be able to turn his head more than a few degrees left and right. So as soon as the doctor says he can walk, my other friend and I will begin picking him up every day for our daily walks at the shopping mall. Truly a most unfortunate predicament!

He is blessed to have two friends like you and the other fellow. It's great you are all trying to help each other.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.

We all need to be careful. Life is so tenuous. 5 died on Christmas day, 3 children, when a car with 5 seats but with 7 people in it hit a pole on a west Dayton street at 70 mph, for some reason. They were all expecting to finish that day alive. But it's over.

We had one like that just before Christmas. One dead.

oldfarmer50

tjc78 said:

Never bought a car at the end of the year. I did buy the 2015 Enclave on Black Friday. Pretty sure it was your typical end of month deal.

I mentioned before that my buddy got a screaming deal by shopping on New Year’s Eve. He got about 25% off a low mile Mustang. So good that he sold it this year for almost what he paid for it.

venture

abacomike said:

I remember posting here about one of my best friends who, on October 10th, lost consciousness in the shower, fell, and ended up breaking his C3 vertebrae. He had his surgery where they put a screw into the vertebrae in order to get it to eventuallly fuse. So, for the last 2 months, another friend of ours and I have been picking him up every weekday morning to take him walking with us and out to lunch so he doesn't vegetate at home every day - he can't drive and his neck has been in a very tight neckbrace to prevent movement. We had been anxiously awaiting his December visit to the surgeon with hopes that he could take the brace off and become more independent.

He had his MRI 12 days ago and after his visit to the doctor, he got some very bad news - the fracture had slipped several millimeters even with the screw holding the vertebrae in tact. So, yesterday, he went through another operation where the surgeon put several screws into C2, C3 and C4 along with a metal brace as a sort of permanent fusion with hopes those three vertebrae would fuse together. I will be visiting him in the hospital tomorrow afternoon after dropping the other friend and his family at Port Everglades for his 7 day cruise.

Looking back on this poor guy's situation. you have to re-evaluate your very existence and limitations thanking the Lord that you are not in his shoes, so to speak. He is going to be in another brace for several months again while the bones fuse - he will have limited neck rotation due to the fusion which will limit his visibility while driving - won't be able to turn his head more than a few degrees left and right. So as soon as the doctor says he can walk, my other friend and I will begin picking him up every day for our daily walks at the shopping mall. Truly a most unfortunate predicament!

You are a good guy Mike.

jmonroe

venture said:

abacomike said:

I remember posting here about one of my best friends who, on October 10th, lost consciousness in the shower, fell, and ended up breaking his C3 vertebrae. He had his surgery where they put a screw into the vertebrae in order to get it to eventuallly fuse. So, for the last 2 months, another friend of ours and I have been picking him up every weekday morning to take him walking with us and out to lunch so he doesn't vegetate at home every day - he can't drive and his neck has been in a very tight neckbrace to prevent movement. We had been anxiously awaiting his December visit to the surgeon with hopes that he could take the brace off and become more independent.

He had his MRI 12 days ago and after his visit to the doctor, he got some very bad news - the fracture had slipped several millimeters even with the screw holding the vertebrae in tact. So, yesterday, he went through another operation where the surgeon put several screws into C2, C3 and C4 along with a metal brace as a sort of permanent fusion with hopes those three vertebrae would fuse together. I will be visiting him in the hospital tomorrow afternoon after dropping the other friend and his family at Port Everglades for his 7 day cruise.

Looking back on this poor guy's situation. you have to re-evaluate your very existence and limitations thanking the Lord that you are not in his shoes, so to speak. He is going to be in another brace for several months again while the bones fuse - he will have limited neck rotation due to the fusion which will limit his visibility while driving - won't be able to turn his head more than a few degrees left and right. So as soon as the doctor says he can walk, my other friend and I will begin picking him up every day for our daily walks at the shopping mall. Truly a most unfortunate predicament!

You are a good guy Mike.

I don't think "good" explains it well enough about @Mike's devotion to his friend. We should all be fortunate enough to have a friend like Mike.

jmonroe

houdini1

driver100 said:

"graphicguy">Not a good thing that I was off this week and next week. Thinking about hitting the auto malls around here and doing test drives. I know,the hard pressure will be applied for EOY sales. May do it anyway!

That is why people take up pickleball......keeps you away from showrooms or having the energy to look at cars.

Two movies that scared the begeezus out of me....the afore mentioned ALIEN. My top scariest movie is THE EXORCIST! Saw it once...scared me so bad I saw it once and never again. Probably because I’m Catholic, and the priest who was doing an exorcism.

It was a scary scene, but, not too bad for those of us who know it is just a thing that happens in movies.

Plus, the nuns who taught me in grade school warned us about how evil and the devil really are, that I always thought the devil was right around the corner waiting specifically for me.

If you want to meet a real evil person who is like the devil try to find a narcissist to become friends with. They will take you for every cent they can get out of you, and they won't care because they have no conscience. They should be easy to find, about 4 or 5% of the population are narcs.

I love myself too much to ever become a narcissist !

driver100

houdini1 said:

driver100 said:

"graphicguy">Not a good thing that I was off this week and next week. Thinking about hitting the auto malls around here and doing test drives. I know,the hard pressure will be applied for EOY sales. May do it anyway!

That is why people take up pickleball......keeps you away from showrooms or having the energy to look at cars.

Two movies that scared the begeezus out of me....the afore mentioned ALIEN. My top scariest movie is THE EXORCIST! Saw it once...scared me so bad I saw it once and never again. Probably because I’m Catholic, and the priest who was doing an exorcism.

It was a scary scene, but, not too bad for those of us who know it is just a thing that happens in movies.

Plus, the nuns who taught me in grade school warned us about how evil and the devil really are, that I always thought the devil was right around the corner waiting specifically for me.

If you want to meet a real evil person who is like the devil try to find a narcissist to become friends with. They will take you for every cent they can get out of you, and they won't care because they have no conscience. They should be easy to find, about 4 or 5% of the population are narcs.

I love myself too much to ever become a narcissist !

A funny thing, a narcissist will never admit he is a narcissist.

driver100

jmonroe said:

venture said:

abacomike said:

I remember posting here about one of my best friends who, on October 10th, lost consciousness in the shower, fell, and ended up breaking his C3 vertebrae. He had his surgery where they put a screw into the vertebrae in order to get it to eventuallly fuse. So, for the last 2 months, another friend of ours and I have been picking him up every weekday morning to take him walking with us and out to lunch so he doesn't vegetate at home every day - he can't drive and his neck has been in a very tight neckbrace to prevent movement. We had been anxiously awaiting his December visit to the surgeon with hopes that he could take the brace off and become more independent.

He had his MRI 12 days ago and after his visit to the doctor, he got some very bad news - the fracture had slipped several millimeters even with the screw holding the vertebrae in tact. So, yesterday, he went through another operation where the surgeon put several screws into C2, C3 and C4 along with a metal brace as a sort of permanent fusion with hopes those three vertebrae would fuse together. I will be visiting him in the hospital tomorrow afternoon after dropping the other friend and his family at Port Everglades for his 7 day cruise.

Looking back on this poor guy's situation. you have to re-evaluate your very existence and limitations thanking the Lord that you are not in his shoes, so to speak. He is going to be in another brace for several months again while the bones fuse - he will have limited neck rotation due to the fusion which will limit his visibility while driving - won't be able to turn his head more than a few degrees left and right. So as soon as the doctor says he can walk, my other friend and I will begin picking him up every day for our daily walks at the shopping mall. Truly a most unfortunate predicament!

You are a good guy Mike.

I don't think "good" explains it well enough about @Mike's devotion to his friend. We should all be fortunate enough to have a friend like Mike.

jmonroe

....or in some cases, just a friend....any friend.

driver100

We took Trixie to the dog park today. There was a Hummer in front of me looking for a parking spot, guess he saw one he passed, so he stops and starts backing up straight at me. I hit the horn. He stops, then starts backing up again headed right for me....this time I leaned on the horn (btw, there was a car behind me). This time he figured out where I was, and he went back and forth several times before he got it into a spot. I think that guy really needs a backup camera.

explorerx4

Garbage disposal is installed. A couple of bumps along the way, had to have my wife hold the upper collar so I could put the snap ring on. Took less than a minute.
The other issue was that I had to buy a new pipe to connect the non disposer sink to the drain, about $6.
Previous one was too short with the new unit.
So far, no leaks.

jmonroe

houdini1 said:

driver100 said:

"graphicguy">Not a good thing that I was off this week and next week. Thinking about hitting the auto malls around here and doing test drives. I know,the hard pressure will be applied for EOY sales. May do it anyway!

That is why people take up pickleball......keeps you away from showrooms or having the energy to look at cars.

Two movies that scared the begeezus out of me....the afore mentioned ALIEN. My top scariest movie is THE EXORCIST! Saw it once...scared me so bad I saw it once and never again. Probably because I’m Catholic, and the priest who was doing an exorcism.

It was a scary scene, but, not too bad for those of us who know it is just a thing that happens in movies.

Plus, the nuns who taught me in grade school warned us about how evil and the devil really are, that I always thought the devil was right around the corner waiting specifically for me.

If you want to meet a real evil person who is like the devil try to find a narcissist to become friends with. They will take you for every cent they can get out of you, and they won't care because they have no conscience. They should be easy to find, about 4 or 5% of the population are narcs.

I love myself too much to ever become a narcissist !

A little off topic but now that the Chiefs got a bye and home field advantage in the second round of the playoffs, thanks to the Dolphins win over the Pats, how many whacks on that chisel will it take to get that smile off your face. Congrats on that.

jmonroe

houdini1

jmonroe said:

houdini1 said:

driver100 said:

"graphicguy">Not a good thing that I was off this week and next week. Thinking about hitting the auto malls around here and doing test drives. I know,the hard pressure will be applied for EOY sales. May do it anyway!

That is why people take up pickleball......keeps you away from showrooms or having the energy to look at cars.

Two movies that scared the begeezus out of me....the afore mentioned ALIEN. My top scariest movie is THE EXORCIST! Saw it once...scared me so bad I saw it once and never again. Probably because I’m Catholic, and the priest who was doing an exorcism.

It was a scary scene, but, not too bad for those of us who know it is just a thing that happens in movies.

Plus, the nuns who taught me in grade school warned us about how evil and the devil really are, that I always thought the devil was right around the corner waiting specifically for me.

If you want to meet a real evil person who is like the devil try to find a narcissist to become friends with. They will take you for every cent they can get out of you, and they won't care because they have no conscience. They should be easy to find, about 4 or 5% of the population are narcs.

I love myself too much to ever become a narcissist !

A little off topic but now that the Chiefs got a bye and home field advantage in the second round of the playoffs, thanks to the Dolphins win over the Pats, how many whacks on that chisel will it take to get that smile off your face. Congrats on that.

jmonroe

Thx, I'm pretty tickled right now !! Giggling like a schoolgirl.

jmonroe

explorerx4 said:

Garbage disposal is installed. A couple of bumps along the way, had to have my wife hold the upper collar so I could put the snap ring on. Took less than a minute.
The other issue was that I had to buy a new pipe to connect the non disposer sink to the drain, about $6.
Previous one was too short with the new unit.
So far, no leaks.

You should have borrowed the pipe stretcher from our plumber poster buddy @nyccarguy.

jmonroe

houdini1

I just finished an excellent book, "A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World". Don't let the title throw you off, it was really good. Currently about halfway thru "I am Pilgrim", an unusual cold war mystery story. Chillingly Excellent.

explorerx4

jmonroe,
A pipe stretcher for a piece of plastic? I used a saw to shorten it.

jmonroe

explorerx4 said:

jmonroe,
A pipe stretcher for a piece of plastic? I used a saw to shorten it.

Huh? Your original post said you had to buy a new piece because the old one was too short. Now you say you cut the old one. Do you know what sink you were under.

jmonroe

explorerx4

I didn't say I cut the old one, I bought a new one and cut that.

bwia

My Japanese domestic market RAV4 is expected to arrive in the Caribbean on January 1 after a little over eight weeks and 8,000+ miles since ordering it. Funny thing, it comes with a built-in GPS but everything is in Japanese. Either I learn Japanese quickly or I will have to put a piece of duct tape over the screen. But more pragmatically, is it possible to switch the language function to English like you guys can in Canada or Mexico?

By the way, it still hasn't rained here in three weeks and daily temperatures range from 72 - 85 degrees; and believe or not, this is supposed to be the rainy season. Nothing wrong with that but perhaps that is too much of a good thing.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

Garbage disposal is installed. A couple of bumps along the way, had to have my wife hold the upper collar so I could put the snap ring on. Took less than a minute.
The other issue was that I had to buy a new pipe to connect the non disposer sink to the drain, about $6.
Previous one was too short with the new unit.
So far, no leaks.

That collar thing is the hardest part. You would think if they can get a man to the moon they could design a collar so that one person could fit it on - easily.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

I didn't say I cut the old one, I bought a new one and cut that.

Now now boys.......

jmonroe

explorerx4 said:

I didn't say I cut the old one, I bought a new one and cut that.

Nice recovery.

jmonroe

driver100

houdini1 said:

I just finished an excellent book, "A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World". Don't let the title throw you off, it was really good. Currently about halfway thru "I am Pilgrim", an unusual cold war mystery story. Chillingly Excellent.

I am reading Grisham's The Guardian. So far seems pretty good. Grisham can write some of the best books around, and occasionally some of the worst.
I learned in the publishing biz they often pay authors a set amount for their next 5 books....like $25 million for 5 books, sometimes they have to rush a few to be on time.