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Comments
I think it was only some of the '68-70 Mopar intermediates that had the flip-up glovebox doors. IIRC it was either the Dodges or the Plymouths that did it, but I don't think they both did. There were some Oldsmobiles that did that, too. The '66-67 Cutlass had flip-up glovebox doors. The '88 Cutlass Supreme did, as well, and I think the '92-99 88 did.
As for the teeth facing up instead of down on the key, I dunno if there's any truth to this, but I heard that actually reduced wear on the lock cylinder. Maybe it had to do something with the moveable parts of the cylinder being above the key rather than below...that way it was harder for dirt and other junk to get caught in them?
I've never had a Ford product, new or old, so I can't comment on 'em.
Ford came out with the double-sided key in the mid-1960s, and it was first among the domestics (don't know about the imports) to have this feature. The key worked regardless of which way it was inserted into the ignition. A surprising number of contemporary road tests commented (favorably) on this feature when Ford introduced it.
Well just remember that no tax money is used on toll roads and no toll money in used on non toll roads.
The government is the primary advocate for tolls because it represents an additional source of revenue.
Not sure about other places but its a little more complicated than that here in Illinois. A long time ago legislators from downstate got it passed that for every highway dollar spent in the Chicago area a dollar of highway money needed to be spent somewhere in the rest of the state. One of the reasons for the toll system in Illinois is to get around that rule. Since tax money is not being spent on the toll roads the state doesn't have to "match" that spending downstate.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I had a car once (I think it was my Chevy) where the key operated everything but there was a second "valet" key which wouldn't open the glovebox or trunk but would operate the doors and ignition.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Kernick,
There are a lot of planners out there (myself included) trying to do that very thing. What you've described is called vertical mixed use - retail on the ground floor, office on one or more floors above the retail, and residential on top of that. However, 75% of the population still wants a detached single-family residence, so this particular ship isn't going to be turned around any time soon.
I have a friend that I worked with in Alaska. He sold his $1 million plus home in Colorado. Moved to a little beach town in Florida. Bought an old downtown building and built a beautiful home on the second floor. He has an ocean view and will eventually rent out the downstairs store to a nice quiet business of some sort. He will live rent free with his utilities paid by the store downstairs. Great idea if you can find the right old building. I have looked for one in Hawaii. Not cheap enough yet to go for it.
As for vertical mixed use -- that concept worked pretty well through the 1950s. Then in the 60s and 70s, major cities became crime-infested hell holes, so people left. That's how the suburbs came to exist.
That's also how $3 gasoline came to exist. When that many people commute every day, demand for oil trumps supply. But high gas prices still aren't sending people scurrying back to the cities.
All the features of suburbs -- detached homes, back yards, garages, low population density, low crime -- trump the whole hip urban vibe and no commute thing. People naturally desire personal space and personal safety.
And they're willing to pay (IMO) up to $5/gal. to maintain that standard of living. Higher than that, and they'll STILL stay in the 'burbs, they'll just buy a more efficient car for the daily commute.
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Well in my case, my job is in the 'burbs, so why would I live anywhere BUT? Plus, I'm only 3.5 miles from work, so I'd be saving gas no matter what I drove. Even if it was a '79 Newport. :P
I'm sure that's some kind of crime. But there's probably a statute of limitations on destroying an ecosystem.
Anyway, living AND working in the suburbs demonstrates that you've rehabilitated yourself. So ..... okay.
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If I'm driving on a toll road I am certainly burning gas, meaning I am paying a gas tax. If no gas taxes are going towards this toll road then that doesn't seem quite right. Whether or not you believe in toll roads they definitely deserve their share of the gas taxes. The other option would be to calculate how much gas was burned by drivers on these toll roads and refund them for the amount of gas taxes paid.
I've got to believe there are very expensive, small properties(condos) in NYC that have a low incidence of crime. I think that crime rates are more a function of economic conditions. Bring affluent people into the inner-city and you will see a lower crime rate.
I don't know. I used a home equity loan to buy my new car because I could deduct the interest from my taxes this way. I don't consider myself stupid. It was a calculated decision on money I would have spent anyway. But I do agree with the thinking that you should never tap into your equity for frivolous things like vacations and such.
Everybody should live slightly below their means.
Something classy about your pizza rolling up in a 79 Newport. Almost as good as having the limo driver go get the pizza. You would not want to stink up the limo with garlic and anchovy smells though.
That may not be the best way to do it as HELOC usually have a much higher interest rate than new car loans and the taxes saved usually don't make up the difference.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Ecosystems have been destroyed and reborn for millenium without our Newports. It's nothing new, and since man is natural, any ecosystems we destroy is natural too.
Did everybody move to the suburbs because the cities became crime-infested hell holes or did the cities become crime-infested hell holes because everybody ran away to the suburbs? I think the flight of the middle class to the suburbs greatly contributed to the decline of cities. Those left behind are mostly poor and can't afford to leave the city or very wealthy and can live in the most exclusive neighborhoods.
Well, $3/gallon gas might be the savior of cities as people start moving back into the cities. I don't know how you suburbanites can deal with those hellish commutes without going psycho let alone the insane price of fuel.
If as science tells us that 95% of all flora and fauna that has existed on earth is now extinct, why the big push to try and change evolution? Species come and go, why sweat the snail darter or some goofy owl? It is only a sign of man's ignorance to try and change what he has NO power to change. I watched some mortals in 1990 trying to divert the lava flow on Hawaii. They thought they could protect some homes and an old church. They moved the church and most of the homes were destroyed. What is man, that thinks he can subvert nature?
I think it just moves the problems to a different area of the city. I know they have renovated many older buildings in downtown San Diego. They are all expensive condos. You can buy a lot of $4 gas for the $400k plus difference in price. There is an interesting situation taking place in the worst part of San Diego. Yuppies have started buying up these old homes and renovating or rebuilding. This has pushed the poor residents out to the deteriorating suburbs. Hard to find fixer in San Diego city under $350k now.
When I did my HELOC back in early 2005, it started at 5.5%, which seemed reasonable. In my tax bracket, I figure the "real" rate was about 3.75%. Unfortunately, the Fed started playing around with interest rates, and a year and a half later I was up to 8.5%. I'm down to 7.5%, which the tax break probably brings down to about 5.2%. Right now my credit union is offering 5.4% on a car loan. 5.05% if you do 3 years or less. And I'm sure I could do better than that, especially with some of the fire sale financing the domestics are doing.
One area where HELOCs can get dangerous is that you only have to pay the interest portion each month for the first 10 years or so. And if you stay on good terms with them, they'll draw that out further. So a $20,000 car, put on an HELOC at 7.5%, would only be $125 per month. In contrast, my Intrepid, of which I financed about that much, was $347.66 at 0.9%, for 60 months. So that low monthly payment can be seductive...until you realize that you're paying on it forever and not getting anywhere!
In my case, I'm trying to pay my HELOC down as fast as I can, although with the rates dropping, and possibly dropping again soon depending on what the Fed does, I might slack up on that and put the money to other uses.
That's happening in DC, too. Seems like everytime I go into town, there's another vast hole in the ground where they're doing some kind of construction. And on a smaller scale, old abandoned homes that are still structurally sound are being renovated and sold at a tremendous cost. It's creating a situation where, to go from a good neighborhood to a bad neighborhood, all you have to do is walk next door!
On one hand, it's getting rid of a lot of bad people, and making the neighborhoods safer. But still, those bad people are going somewhere, so the problem is just getting moved instead of taken care of. And a lot of good people, who just don't have the money, are losing their homes because they just can't afford the rising taxes and such.
Oh they tried several times, but I had a few tricks up my sleeve. Some of these tricks were really taking chances, but I was a valuable enough employee to them that I figured I could risk it. People tend to act differently towards you when you have one of those signs on your car. They'll report you for speeding or reckless driving even when you're doing the limit and behaving. They'll drive extra slow in front of you, cut you off, etc. They'll pull up beside you and start begging for a free pizza. And those signs are also a big invitation that says "ROB ME!" I let the manager know that because of all these safety risks, that if he made me put a sign on the car, I would hold him personally responsible for any harm that came my way with that sign on the car. That would actually make a lot of them back down. I also told them that I would hold them responsible for any damage that came to my car from the magnets on that sign scratching the paint. And if my car developed any electrical problems, I would blame it on the sign, which plugged into the cigarette lighter, and they'd be getting the bill.
Once or twice, I'll also confess that I lost those car toppers. Honestly, I don't know what happened...it was on the car when I went out...dunno why it wasn't there when I came back.
One of the real kickers though, was when I had my '86 Monte Carlo, which I tried to replace the Newport with...until the Monte got t-boned. One of the managers actually went out and put a sign on my roof. Well, he was standing out there, smoking, talking with some of his friends, and not really paying attention. These signs were triangular when viewed from the side, the the magnets on the bottom, and the company name on the front and back. I took the sign, and laid it on its side so that magnets weren't holding. The manager didn't notice what I was doing.
Then I hopped in the car, fired it up, and gunned the motor so he'd notice. Then revved it up, threw it into gear, and peeled out...quick enough to literally drive out from under the sign. He wasn't amused, but his friends thought it was funny. And that was the last time he tried to put a sign on my car! But there were other managers.
Once I got the Intrepid, which got much better fuel economy, they had pretty much given up on trying to make me use a car topper. They knew full well that I wouldn't allow them to put one on a brand-new, shiny car. They also made a different type, that attached to the window and you'd roll it up, but because of the way the Intrepid's roofline curved, it wouldn't work. That one also wouldn't work on the Newport, because it had frameless door windows, and it would have probably messed up the rubber window seal.
As for that Newport being classy? Well, here's an old picture I took of it, in all its $250 glory, back in the winter of 1998, with lots of road grime on it.
I actually miss that car. It had a 318-2bbl, so it really wasn't THAT bad on gas. I'd get about 13 delivering pizzas, but out on the open highway it would get into the lower 20's. I have a pair of '79 New Yorkers now with 360-2bbls, that get more like 10-11 around town, and if I'm lucky, probably 15-16 on the highway. The 360 has a lot more kick to it on acceleration, but you pay for it in fuel economy. Out on the open highway though, at higher speeds, the 318 didn't seem to give up much to the 360 when it came to passing power, etc. Still, not something I'd want to have to deliver pizzas in nowadays.
If that's true, then the decline of the Big 3 is also "our" fault. We didn't quit buying Ford/GM/Chrysler because they made inferior cars. They made inferior cars because we quit buying them.
And, of course, that logic works beautifully for our friends in government; Gas tax revenues aren't falling short because the gov't is squandering the money on pork projects. The gov't is squandering it because revenues are falling short. So we all need to pay more.
"... in the worst part of San Diego. Yuppies have started buying up these old homes and renovating or rebuilding. This has pushed the poor residents out ..."
Are you talking about Logan Heights? That place is long overdue for a "push."
Don't forget, those "poor residents" paid a lot less than the $350,000 prices they're getting now. The trip out of the barrio is easy when you have an extra $200,000 in the bank.
NOTICE: Any yuppies who want to "push" me out of my neighborhood by paying me a six-figure premium for my house -- I welcome you!
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Home Equity Line of Credit. It's like a Home Equity Loan, except not for a fixed amount, and not at a fixed rate. With a Home Equity loan, you borrow a set amount, and it's usually at a fixed rate and you pay it back over 5, 10, or whatever years. With an HELOC, they give you a credit limit, depending on how much equity you have in your house. You take an initial draw amount, and they give you a checkbook that you can use to pull out additional money if you need it. They're usually tied to the prime rate, so they'll adjust every time the Fed plays with rates.
I did an HELOC instead of a fixed amount for a few reasons. First, there were no closing costs on the HELOC, whereas the loan would've run about $3K at the time, IIRC. At the time, the initial interest rate was a bit lower on the HELOC, although it soon adjusted upward. Also, I wanted the flexibility of being able to take out more if I wanted, and having that real low payment, if that need ever arose. Thankfully it hasn't...yet.
Hold on! I just got through forgiving Andre for burdening our economy and destroying our planet with his '79 gas-guzzler.
NOW you tell me that he's destroying our cities by living in the suburbs, too?
Andre, you're back on the s--t list, buddy!
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Hey, I come from a long line of farmers, sharecroppers, and railroad workers. My people were out here before the word "Suburbs" was even invented. We didn't land on the suburbs...the suburbs landed on US! :P
Once upon a time, I could've walked about 800 feet from my front door to catch the WB&A, an electric railroad that would then whisk me off to DC, Baltimore, or Annapolis, without ever needing to set foot in an automobile. Unfortunately, I was born in 1970. The WB&A discontinued passenger service in 1935.
So am I on the S-list for sabotaging mass transit by being born too late, too? :P
Chicken garlic pizza
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
When you save $100k buying a home that is 675,000 miles worth of gas at $4 per gallon in the average car. You save at least that much for every 10 miles further out you move. It gives you about 180 years worth of commuting gas. Yes I would say moving to the suburbs is worthwhile. My $700,000 home 35 miles from downtown San Diego with a view would be $3,000,000+ in the city. Figure that out for buying gas even for a big SUV. No wonder 2 out of 3 homes have a big PU or SUV parked out front.
Easy, I also moonlighted running deliveries for a pet cemetery, and the scents would sort of cancel each other out after awhile. :P Nah, just kidding on that one! For some reason, the smell never was that much of a problem. However, when I delivered for Little Caesar's, we had this sheeter machine that would roll out the dough, whereas at Papa John's, they'd slap it out. When I wasn't running deliveries, I'd help make the pizzas, and working for Little Caesar's, would end up getting flour all over me. I'd try to clean it off the best I could, but would still end up getting it in the car. When I used to drive my Dart, which had exposed metal on the door panels, that flour actually ATE the paint off the door, down to bare metal! Once I started driving the Newport, it would just sort of cake up on the vinyl of the door panel, and have to be wiped off every so often. Once I went to Papa John's, I never could get the slapping part down very good, so they rarely made me do it. As a result, getting flour on me and then on the car never was a problem. Which was a good thing, because my Monte Carlo and Intrepid had cloth on the doorpanels, so I imagine the flour would've really made a mess there!
Maybe I just built up a resistance to the smell of the pizza? Also, as drivers, we'd put the pizzas in hot bags, so that might've kept the aroma from diffusing throughout the car.
Oh, now you're giving me sass? Okay!
From now on, everyone, it's not 'blame America,' it's 'blame Andre!" Whatever's wrong with the world, it's HIS fault.
Blizzard in New England? Andre.
Genocide in the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Andre started it.
Partial-birth abortion? All Andre's idea.
The fact that I still live in a starter home, drive a cheap car, hate my job, and can't get a date on national holidays? Andre, you [non-permissible content removed]!
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Yeah yeah yeah, and I killed Kenny, too. :P
Sure you do: Tijuana.
Seriously, San Diego is a nice town, albeit way too expensive. Although, as you say, house prices drop nicely as you get farther from the metro area.
You went 35 miles out and saved $2.3 million. I went a little farther -- 1,400 miles east -- and saved $2.85 million. The house is great, but the commute sucks.
That's why I bought a hybrid.
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When I retired we went out to Fredericksburb area to look for a home. I like the Hill Country, but found the places we liked on the water a bit high priced and those 2%+ property taxes are stiff.
Yes TJ serves us well as a low rent district. 2.5 million people living close by to mow lawns and clean homes. I lived in Rosarito for a year in 1996. I should have bought the place. It was $75k overlooking the Pacific. Same place today is $300k or more. And you really do not own the land. Letting your engine idle at the border for over two hours would be expensive with $3 gas.
PS
We moved from Santee to Alpine and love it up here.
La Jolla is at least 10 miles outside of San Diego, Del Mar another 5-10 miles. How much do you save by moving to these areas? In Southern CA it's not so much moving away from the city as it is moving away from the ocean.
Are you serious? I'm sure the high-rises in CA are constructed to withstand 7.0 earthquakes. The quality homes in the southeast are designed to withstand hurricane force winds. In flood plains levies are erected to mitigate this risk. Sure these efforts aren't 100% successful but are you stating they are completely futile? With that rational why would you open an umbrella, put on a jacket, turn on the AC or heat. Obviously man has become quite adept at subverting all but the most extreme that nature can throw at us.
Hate to say this but throughout history cities have been crime infested cesspools.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
In a simple word yes. Sure we can resist some of what nature has to throw at us. Volcanos, earthquakes, floods, fires and hurricanes have all proven the futility of man trying to resist nature. We have had very recent examples with Katrina and the CA fires. I guess I have a much lower opinion of man than you do.
Actually, right now the issue is too many people aren't putting their regular gas cap on right and bringing it in because the check engine light came on, making a PITA for the dealers to scan the code and reset the computer.
Having benchmarked stuff at NAIAS, I found 1 car out of all the ones there that had a release in the glove box, and I can't even remember what car it was now.
That would be my opinion of even the best of cities. Criminals migrate to where the pickin's are easy & plentiful.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
A friend just returned from Singapore. He said that is not the place to step out of line.
You should have bought that place. I believe that since NAFTA property ownership has changed. I'm sure you're familiar with the Rosarita Beach Hotel. When I lived in San Diego we'd go down there a couple times a year for their lobster dinner: great meal and great value.
It's interesting what's going on right now. Affluent Americans are moving to Baja and poor Mexicans are moving to CA.
Baja rocks. Does San Diego still have a chain of Rubio's restaurants? This was started by a few San Diego State University students that took a Baja surfing trip to Ensenada and were treated to fish tacos by some locals. I will eventually make my way back to So. CA.
I spent a lot of time at the Rosarito Beach Hotel. There was a jazz club next door that I liked. Rosarito is now like TJ was a few years ago. In 1996 there was plenty of parking. Now it is wall to wall people. I would go a bit further down the coast now. I liked La Fonda in La Mision for lobster. Also a couple places in Puerto Nuevo.
Gas used to be cheaper down there. Now people tell me it is the same as here.
I believe that Japan does have a law abiding ethic. FWI, they also have a high percentage of atheist. This his is just a statement of fact, not a personal opinion.
I'd have to do some research as to whether or not Japan spends a bigger percentage of their budget on law enforcement. I will get the answer but my gut feeling is that they spend less than the US.
Japan does have the death penalty but they almost never use it. As far as the death penalty goes it's pretty much the US, a bunch of African countries, China and Russia. I'm not sure we're in elite company.
Gas did used to be cheaper but I'm not sure the octane was even 80. I'd go down with a college buddy that had a VW Bug. We'd fill up down there at around 70 cents a gallon but his car would be knockin' like a SOB until he purged that gas from it's system.