rknapp

Clearly the other members of GA have more sense than certain prolific post-whores *cough*BeaStKid*cough* That means that he and I are in a dead heat! :2hands:

It's quite entertaining! Especially since the distance between he and I has plummeted by almost 25 posts since yesterday!

I was wondering why he managed to hit 3,006 posts, and yet there was no congratulatory thread? Damn Graeme, give that keyboard a rest! Doesn't your family miss you? LOL

Some people drive a lot more than others. Example: My car was built in September 2002, and rolled 100,000 miles in November 2007. In five years it traveled 100,000 miles, so it has mathematically traveled 20,000 miles per year. When I bought the car in May 2005 it had about 72,000-73,000 miles on it... so the previous owner (I am the second and possibly last owner) traveled that distance in just over two and half years (it was sitting for a while before I found it). So he technically drove it 29,000 miles per year! The man was (is) a salesman for Siemens (German electronics company that my dad also works for) and drove it regularly from Washington D.C. to Boston and everywhere in between selling products to major airports and such. That was good information for me because that meant that 99% of that mileage was highway. It just might have been bad for my cooling system and possibly one of my major gaskets... we'll find out soon... Anyway, back on topic -- from my purchase of the vehicle from the company off of its lease in May 2005 through now (November 2007) I have added around 27,000 miles. So, my annual mileage is roughly 11,000 miles. Sometimes I drive a lot, sometimes I don't drive at all. When I start commuting to school next fall my annual mileage will climb rapidly as I will put 60 miles on it each day. Since I bought the car it has gone only to South Jersey a lot for school, as far south at Cape May once for a weekend, Harrisburg, PA thrice for weekend car shows, close to New York several times for various things, and as far north Vernon, NJ for snowboarding. Regularly, it currently drives between my home town and school town once a week... next fall it will do so twice every day (much shorter distance than now). For another extreme, my roommate has a 1997 Honda Accord sedan. He bought it last fall from a deceased NYC womans son (who inherited the car a couple years ago). It currently has around 40,000 miles, he bought it at around 35,000 miles. I'm going to ignore the mileage the woman put on the car for the nine years that she and her son owned it since it was largely a city car while she had it, and a parking garage queen when her son had it. In the year that my roommate has had the car he has put on 5,000 miles. I'm not even going to calculate his annual mileage for you all lol. BTW, the national average for annual mileage per person the US is somewhere between 12,500 and 15,000 miles per year, hence why some new car warranties last 3 years or 36,000 miles / 6 years or 64,000 miles, etc.

He just keeps on digging himself deeper into that hole, doesn't he?

I've been here for more than two years... you've been here for less than one... you have nearly as many posts as I do... post-whore

The more general English phrase would be, "I think I just shot myself in the foot." You're one to talk... you're, what, thirty posts behind me? EDIT: I'll be leaving now to avoid punching 1300 posts and to allow BSK to mull over the thought of being a prolific post-whore. Besides, I gotta get some sleep before going to "Queersgiving" tomorrow

*peaks in this thread for the first time* Hey! Why is my name up there? I have almost no posts! Silly Indian boy... doesn't even know what prolific is! BTW I voted for D.r Evil's No. 2 man... No. 2!

And here I am, saving up for a 361-hp 6.0L V8 equipped 3,995 lb. Australian sedan in American clothing... although every penny saved goes straight to my present car for either maintenance (just rolled 100,000 miles! ) or modifications

Dr. Evil and No. 2?

My favorite station just dropped from $2.899 to $2.859.

The quiz went rather well, I finished before everyone else and said to myself, "I must have done something wrong." So I went back over my answers and realized I didn't really answer the second problem correctly, so I added what I needed and was the third one to finish and leave lol. Yeah when someone mentions energy, I go hog wild and sometimes I get passionate... so I apologize if that was long winded haha. I agree, muscle cars are friggin awesome! Although because they typically get 3-6 MPG, mine would relegated to a weekend cruiser (if I get one, I want the new Camaro soooo bad). I'm a fan of the General just because we've always had GM cars. In fact, my first car (Dodge Intrepid) was the first we had in probably 20 years that wasn't made by GM. As far back as I can remember we've had a 1968 Corvette Stingray convertible, a 1986 Pontiac 6000 STE, a 198x GMC Vandura conversion van, 1997 Buick Regal LS, 1998 Chevy Tahoe LT (still have it), 2001 Corvette convertible, 2003 Chevy Impala (currently sisters car), and a 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix SE (mine right now). My dads current car is our second foray outside of GM, his Datsun (Infiniti). What a POS that car is... it's two years newer than mine and has seen more garage time than mine, which just rolled 100,000 trouble free miles! I think when it's time to turn the Datsun in off of its lease, he's gonna come crawling back to GM. Hell, we always rent GM cars when we travel! Another thing I want to mention, GM is not the only domestic automaker in trouble. The other two facets of the big three (Ford and Chrysler) are in a heap as well. All three are trying to return to profitability. Right now GM is trying to convert many models over to rear-drive because the American public wants rear-drive again. The problem is that the government has been trying to create stringent new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards that force all domestic automakers (Ford, GM, Infiniti, Acura, etc.) to have corporate average of something like 25+ MPG by 2020. Rear-drive technology essentially adds more rotating mass to the drive train (driveshaft going from the transmission to the rear axle, as opposed to output shafts going from the transaxle to the front wheels) while forces the motor to work harder and use more fuel. One way around that is to have several models who give the cold shoulder to gasoline (hence the Chevrolet Volt concept that will VERY likely go into production, google it). This also explains why they are adding hybrids to their truck and SUV lines, which more or less brings up the economy of their most successful market and also their least efficient market. I hope these plans will help them return to profitability, because some of their cars I want really bad (G6 GXP Street Edition, G8 base/GT, 09 Camaro, CTS, etc.).

Damnit, I have a Calc 3 quiz to study for. I fail to see how GM would go under by that quote. Sure, the Caddy's fuel economy is piss poor when you compare it to a Civic, but that Caddy is hardly the rule for the General. The Caddy's sister vehicles are the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon. The Tahoe hybrid will be getting an MPG up the 20's. As for his thinking that Americans can't give up their big SUV's, he's right on the mark. Look around you the next time you're on the highway and I bet you'll see a lot of big SUVS (Expedition, Tahoe, Yukon, Escalade, Navigator, Sequoia, Land Cruiser, Rover, Armada, QX series, etc.). Twenty years ago all of those models would have been designed to be use off-road in remote locales and on-road to haul things that most cars can't. Today most of them are still designed for that purpose, BUT Americans STILL use them primarily on-road, which explains why they ALL are now available with navigation systems, heated leather seating surfaces, moon-roofs, etc. Americans want them because bigger is better, and what's bigger than SUV's (besides semi's)? Further, that statement is the exception to GM's current global strategy. Abroad, GM sells efficient vehicles that appeal to the local market. In the US, GM sells vehicles to different classes of people. Pontiac sells exciting models (Torrent, G5, G6, upcoming G8, outgoing Grand Prix, Vibe, Solstice, upcoming GTO/Firebird revival), Buick sells luxury vehicles (Lucerne, Enclave), Cadillac sells a combination of luxury and sporty cars and trucks (Escalade, CTS, STS, hence the recent CTS commercials saying, "When you turn your car on, does it return the favor?"), and Chevrolet sells a cross of efficiency and performance (Corvette, upcoming Camaro revival, Cobalt, Aveo, Malibu, Impala, outgoing Monte Carlo) and co-sells workhorses with hybrid trims levels with GMC (Sierra/Silverado, Canyon/Colorado, Yukon/Tahoe, Yukon XL/Suburban). GM has just as many, if not more, fuel efficient vehicles as Toyota, Nissan, and Honda. Additionally, I applaud GM for getting as far as it has with its efficiency efforts. GM has introduced efficient hybrid-electric systems, fully-electric systems, and the hydrogen fuel cell in recent years. What has Toyota done? Toyota has designed a hybrid-synergy drive system that costs you more in the end without saving you a whole lot of fuel. Their synergy drive in no way shape or form gets the MPG that Toyota touted a few years ago. In fact, a 1.8L Honda Civic gets comparable, if not better MPG's than the Prius. GM has also introduced many more vehicles that can run entirely in E85, hence the "Silverado vegetarian" commercials. Why do I applaud them? Up until 2000, the General was receiving government funding to research and develop the hydrogen fuel cell in light of rising gas prices. What happened in 2000 to cut that off? George W. Bush was sworn into office and he and his lackeys at Halifax cut that funding off. After all, what oil tycoon wants his country running on something that he doesn't have a vested financial interest in producing/selling? That is one LARGE reason for why Toyota, Honda, and BMW are currently ahead of GM in that field... the countries they are based in have a vested interest in better fuel efficiency! So it's remarkable that GM has, despite consecutive annual losses, produced Chevy Equinox's with hydrogen fuel cells and is currently field testing them in major metropolitan cities. I can go on and on about how the General is following the market, but I have to finish this post and study. Fixed it for ya. I hate it when people complain that oil is gonna run out -- they sound like it's gonna happen soon. In reality, the reserves in the middle east are still quite large, as are the Mexican, Cambodian, and Canadian reserves. Currently there are reserves in Alaska that remain largely untapped because tree-huggers and other such environmentalist whackjobs think drilling for oil will disturb the natural habitat ever since the Exxon-Valdez accident. The main thing that could cause a catastrophe with the pipeline is an earthquake. When engineered correctly, anything can withstand a 'quake. Saying the oil supply will run out soon is horseshit. There are three countries in the world right now that will be the deciding factors in the global oil supply: America, India, and China. The latter two are the worlds most populated countries and are rapidly stepping up their own dependence on oil, but the oil supply still has plenty of life in it. High prices are due to a lot of things. First there is the price of crude, which is dictated largely by the region from whence it came. If it came from the middle east, then you can rest assured that it will carry a hefty price tag due to the violence that has plagued that region of the world for thousands of years. Another reason for high prices is that the government needs something to fund it's agenda, so taxes and excise bring it up. Then there is the profit. Every company needs a profit to survive. Sure, some companies have far too much profit (hence why Exxon-Mobil will never see a penny from me -- in fact, (God forbid) if my parents died suddenly, I would get over $[censored ] in shares of Exxon... so Exxon would buy me my SRT-10 Viper and it would NEVER see a drop of gas from any of their filling stations and would NEVER see a drop of their oil or lubricant products, EVER). Another facet to the price of fuel is that people who boy-cott gas purchases for x-amount of time aren't hurting the oil companies at all. The oil companies produce the oil and refine the gasoline, but they don't sell it. Individual filling station owners purchase the gasoline from the company and sell it. Some stations purchase fuel from one company only and have a contract with that company, so the company's name goes on the station, but it's the station OWNER who sells the fuel. Boycotts only hurt those pour souls who get sucked up in the vacuum of those economy windbags who think they're doing a good thing. Unfortunately we're still at the stage where, in order to produce the alternative fuel, we need fossil fuels to produce the energy required for the manufacturing process. Example: A zoo in Nebraska uses a hydrogen fuel cell to power much of its environmental systems. Where does that hydrogen come from? Natural gas is pumped into the cell and the cell derives the hydrogen from that fossil fuel to make its own fuel. Another way to get hydrogen to is derive it from water (H2O). This is done through a process called electrolysis, which requires fossil fuels to be run. Hence why renewable fuels, such as E85, bio-diesel, hydro-power, and wind energy are so popular. Bio-fuels are derived from corn oils and regular grease from restaurants. Hydro-power uses the natural currents in rivers and bays to turn large turbines, which convert the energy from the currents into mechanical energy. Wind-power works in much the same way as hydro-power, using wind currents to turn massive propellers attached to turbines to create mechanical energy. Current wind-energy technology has not only made wind farms more efficient, it has also made them quieter. The noise factor is still there, but not nearly as severe as the technology from a few years ago. I find it hilarious when people tell me that smaller cars, and therefore smaller engines, are the answer to better fuel efficiency. That is purely myth. Example: On a good day, my 175 hp 3.1L six cylinder engine, driving a 4-speed automatic and (with me and my audio system) 4000 pound sedan, gets over 30 MPG. My car is the SE (base model), but if I had the highest model, the GTP, I could still get that MPG. The GTP is equipped with a 240-hp 3.8L supercharged V-6 with the heavy duty version of my transmission. My dad used to have a 2001 Corvette convertible (heaviest Corvette in the line-up) and he typically got 30 MPG on the highway with it's 350-hp V-8 and 4-speed transmission. Better MPG's can also be had with better driving behaviors. My car currently gets 23-24 MPG because I have a lead foot. Engines create more power as they go up in the RPM-range, hence why 5 and 6-speed transmissions are more efficient than 4-speeds, because they can have better gearing that allows the car to run at a lower RPM for a given speed. Taking your foot off the gas once in a while helps too. BTW, gas was $2.89 at my regular station a week ago. $2.97 was the worst I saw for 87 octane (regular grade) gasoline.

If NYC is too expensive/far, then Philly is less expensive/closer. I'm pretty much equidistant between those two cities but I would definitely have to take the train into NYC since parking there is astronomical ($60+ in most places for one day!). As for D.C.... I won't go to a city where 11-year-olds have knives.

I half agree with clumber, so let me put it this way. After thinking about it I've decided that it's not their agenda or the fact that they're attacking a funeral that pisses me off. It's the fact that these satan worshippers are using their agenda to destroy the funeral when the persons involved in the funeral, namely the deceased, have absolutely nothing to do with the agenda of Westboro. The soldiers, as far as we know, are not gay. Westboro however has taken the liberty of either calling the dead soldiers gay, or claiming that God is punishing the country for accepting gays by killing it's soldiers. The Bill of Rights does not protect these imbeciles with freedom of speech when their speech is nothing but lies designed by the architect of Westboro Baptist Church specifically to damage the well-being of innocent people. He should be locked up and never allowed to see the light of day again for, on top of all of that, making the outrageous claim that God has his back. On the contrary, Bubba will have his backside in the worst way if he continues his satanic ways.

Meh, same surname... and never heard of that movie.

Dan Savage... Wonder Years Dan Savage? He's gay? That's a very interesting article there. I've never heard of autogynephelia before now but the explanation provided does indeed make a lot of sense.

Viva la revolucion!

Why is it that I was think the exact same thing as I was simply skimming page to the newest post... am I that bad? We did talk about DP at the GSA meeting today... ouch.

I have to find out who was elected in my area... I didn't vote (100 miles away) but I curious as to who got a few positions. My neighbor was running for county Sheriff again.

I can't remember if it's in NJ or PA, but there is a law if your car spooks a horse, you must disassemble the car, throw a sheet over the parts, and wait for the horse to pass. I personally enjoy the scaring the ever living shit out of livestock with my car, but that's because I live near a bunch of farms (my good friend lives near a dairy farm, so I drive past it whenever we go out to dinner).

Interesting, thank you for this deeper insight into religion, adblue. I was raised Roman Catholic *shudders* but I've never taken communion and the last time I set foot in a church was for my late grandmother's funeral service twenty-six months ago. I'm only mildly surprised that there are Jewish, Christian, and Muslim factions who don't condemn gays for their sexuality. You can successfully guess that every religion is like that where there are people who accept it wholly, people who ignore it, and people who hate it. Some religions have more people who hate it and some have more people who accept it. What I got from your response is that people need to actively seek their own answers to their questions, as opposed to asking some religious authority who will simply give them their take on a matter that is entirely opinionated and therefore should be left to personal speculation. If that is any part of what you were thinking, I agree.

Philly works too, but only through next semester. After that I'll be back home and commuting to New Brunswick every day *sigh*. Nice pictures! Honestly, I thought Joe looked like he was about pass out or something, in pretty much every picture lmao. Aside from him and Viv I have no idea who the other people are in those pictures.

We all have our flaws. Even our generation is susceptible to the teachings that have given us Westboro, as evidenced by the fact that much of that church being made up of Phelps and his spawn. We already have a generation beneath us who hates fags even if they don't know what a fag is. No matter what, as history can teach us, hate has and will survive the test of time.

Unfortunately you are correct -- no amount of scientific evidence relating homosexuality to biological construction will be enough to stop the hate. It was clear from the get-go that Africans, just as anyone else in the world, have no control whatsoever over their skin color. Yet, we still have people who hate them for it and consider them inferior. Disturbing still is I think that what Demetz said of selectively isolating the "gay gene" to effectively kill the "disease" is not beneath the Vatican (or Westboro and any other Christian church that opposes homosexuality). Still, it would be interesting to see how that scenario would play out since the Christian faith would have a hard choice to make: Allow these infidels to continue pissing all over the Lord's words, or agree that He created homosexuals and that they must correct His (gasp!) mistakes by posing as Him and changing the biological structure of the human race? Interesting still would be if they found that there is no real way to stop it altogether, for whatever reason (I hated biology, hence why I am a Physics major with a track in pre-engineering). Hopefully they stick with the former and continue to hate us, as opposed to creating a sort of en-utero holocaust.