Grand Prix Off-Topic Thread (Closed)

When the Bears got Matt Forte they got a excellent player. He has outstanding stats for his rockie year.

Well it looks like we have a BCS Champion. Gators 24, Sooners 14. Surprising the Gators ranked number 1 in the final AP poll released today.

Good going Gators. They played a good game.

Man, talking about all the pundits being wrong on the Cardinals v Panthers game. 33-13. It was good game but the Panthers were bulldozed and the turnovers? :rolleyes: Now we just need to see who wins between the Giants and Eagles today for the NFC championship matchup.

Story Time! (sorry to change the subject)

Last night after work my friend and myself decided to run to Best Buy. I have a couple giftcards that I thought I could spend on a laptop bag for my nifty new laptop. The nearest BB is about 30 intertstate miles away from my house. I decided to let my friend drive because he's got a small escort and he'd get way better MPG than my GTP. On the way up we were joking that his dash sort of resembles a Christmas tree being lit up with pretty much ever light (seatbelt, volts, low coolant, check engine, brake) All of them are lit up, have been for some time, and the car has been running strong since he bought it in 2003 for 500 bucks. Now it has 230,000 miles on it, doesnt look very nice, but runs and drives pretty darn good for its age.

But thats besides the point. We got to best buy and you have all been to a BB at one point in your life. There is always a security employee standing right at the entrance/exit to great you and mark anything you bring in, and check your reciept on anything you leave with. Its just their job and its the way it is. Once there, we took a lap around cause face it, its best buy and we are only human, who wouldnt go glance at the 70 inch TV's I'll never be able to afford? Finally we made it over to the laptop department. I took a look at the laptop bags and didnt see any that were to my liking, so we just took a quick look at the new laptops. There were two aisles of them, and some of the lesser expensive ones were not locked inside cases and just sitting on the bottom shelf. There was also this other female down a laptop aisle. My friend was checking out vista and I glanced over to her as she took a laptop inside of its box off the shelf and looked at it. I thought nothing of it at the time. Then she left the area. When me and my friend got over to where she was, we noticed the boxed laptop she was looking at was sitting on the floor. We looked at it, looked at eachother, and just kept looking around. A few minutes later we are now in the video game department that is across from laptops. This same lady now comes back to the laptop department. She is now carring a best buy plastic bag with an item in it the shape of a laptop inside of a box. I continued to watch her as she picked up the laptop she left on the floor, put it under her arm, and walked over to the cell phone department which is right next to the entrance/exit doors. I told my friend. "she's going to steal that laptop". He's like "NO! She wont, that guy at the door will ask for her reciept". Well, next thing we know, she's talking on her cell phone, and all of a sudden another female walks in the door, TOTALLY distracting the security guy, and the female with the laptop ceases the moment and walks right out the door. I WAS SO PISSED! Thats why prices are so high! :runaround:

I use to work there and the security plain sucks big time. Some of the security personal were also in on it. Big ticket items are also taken from the stores out the back door or off the truck. The store that I was at was missing over 200 Ipods.

Wow!

I've had friends approach me and say that they can get me anything Best buy sells cheap, as they have a friend that works there that can slip it out the back and they do it all the time. He said the security is a joke and it's so easy, even a caveman could do it.

I'm sorry, but I don't want something hot, Karma will kick your ass!!!

No wonder why the computer bag I wanted from BB casted 79.99 and the same one at target costed 19.99.

Unbelievable!

They should rename Best Buy to Worst Buy now. The place is a rip and I haven't purchased there in over 3 years. Better deals are on-line.

Yep Best buy is way to high priced I too try avoid that place at all costs. Although I bought a hard drive from there after Xmas is was on clearance. First purchase in probably 2yrs I'm so ashamed and feel so dirty.....:1zhelp:

I went there recently, I bought a DVI cable, for the wife's new monitor. I purchased the Dynex brand. It was only $24.99. Other than that I do not buy there unless I have no choice. You are right that they are over priced. For computer parts I am fortunate I have 2 places I can get parts from.

-12 degrees this morning, BRRRR!!! They really need to do something about this global warming. The Harley wouldn't start so I had to take the car and I didn't instantly freeze to my porch when I walked out of my house to go to work!!

It's a cold 38 here but supposed to get into the low 20's tonight and into the teens tomorrow night. I hate this cold weather.

38......!!!! That's a heat wave! THink about it, that's 50 degrees fahrenheit warmer than here. Like I said.....BRRRR!!

yep, when I left work last night the temp guage in the GTP said -14. When I got home, -19. Car cranked slow, but still starteg no problem.

It warm here it was -8 this morning, and no frozen pipes.

Man I'm glad I live down South. :grinyes:

Lows in the high 20s but highs in the 60s and sunny. It looks like we are being protected by a ridge of high pressure in the Southwest versus the rest of the nation. Really no winter car issues here.

And what is this about global warming. :screwy:

I see a future of very cold weather heading down your way.

today I had to jump start my dad's ford f150. The GTP started no problem and the temp said -19. Once the GTP was warm I hooked up jumper cables, but it took about 10 minutes of running before the f150 would start. Ford only put a 525CCA battery in their 2003 F150's from the factory. Can you believe that?

Only 525cca, that is so under rated for the truck. Ford was being very cheap. I see a new battery in the future. I put a 975cca in the chevy truck. It started right up today, it was around -8 degrees when I went out.

I see a future of very cold weather heading down your way.

Ha! Ha! It blows hot and cold down here. Man you should see the weather forecast for the next week. I was wearing short sleeves today. :grinyes:

When I was growing up here I recall it being much colder in the past. Also, the desert gets very cold at night since we get minimum cloud cover to retain heat in the earth. Plus we'll most likely get a late snow sometime in March-April.

But I do not envy but pity you guys up North. :uhoh:....:lol:

Hope it blows very cold on you for 3 days.:iceslolan You are so very mean. :lol2:

it was -16 actual temp, with wind chills in the -30 range here this morning. Most schools were closed due to the dangerous wind chills, but the Grand Prix fired right up (although not without a little protest at first).

I have a husky mix that hates coming in the house, but he's been knocking my Rot mix out of the way to come in the last couple days. They go out, do their business, and want right back in. My husky has a very expressive face, and he looks at me like "damn, you feel how cold it is out there?!" That's when I know it's really cold!

How about that Hudson River emergency landing yesterday. That pilot did a hell of a job getting it down in one piece, then the emergency response from the ferries and the NYFD was unbelievable. Every person on the plane survived, and no serious/life threatening injuries reported. Great job by everyone involved! Go shake the hand of someone in your local emergency response teams today and tell them thanks for being there when/if you need them!

I'll second that. Hell of a job on behalf of the pilot. According to reports a flock of birds (geese) may have caused the downing.

I've flown out of and in to LaGuardia several times visiting my son up at West Point over the past several years. I think I'll fly into Newark this time around for his graduation in May.


Or better yet drive up and back. :grinyes:

I see that Alabama is colder then Alaska. The cold is on its way down south.

yep, when I left work last night the temp guage in the GTP said -14. When I got home, -19. Car cranked slow, but still starteg no problem.

-25 here in WI the other morning, the SE started right up with the flick of the key. a little slow, but she fired. still got the OE AC Delco battery in there too :eek7:

:uhoh:

Currently 52 degrees here. Low was around 34 and high set for 65 degrees. 7 day forecast is about the same. Mid 60s high and mid 30s low, mostly sunny.

I've got the dirt bike loaded up on the trailer and plan on heading out Sunday morning for some trail riding. :grinyes:

-25 here in WI the other morning, the SE started right up with the flick of the key. a little slow, but she fired. still got the OE AC Delco battery in there too :eek7:



LOL got you beat it was 47°F below 0°F yes -47°F and thats not the wind chill :shakehead why do I live here :eek7:


and oh yes circuitcity is dead.

http://www.circuitcity.com/closed.html

Well, I see we have the AFC and NFC champs now. The SuperBowl should be very interesting. The pundits were half off on this one. Obviously it won't be the Eagles. :lol:

However, I damn near fell asleep on the Steelers/Ravens game. The Steelers have to do better than that to beat the Cardinals. Obviously Troy P was the MVP.

I'm not a gambler as far as putting up money but I say the Cardinals by at least 7 points over the Steelers. :uhoh:

The Steelers were just plain lucky.

The Steelers were just plain lucky.

I'm no Steelers fan, but they played a heck of a defensive game. On the other hand, I think the Cards are better offensively than the Ravens.
Whichever teams shows up with it's A game will win. I'm hoping it's the Cards.

I agree.

Steelers fan here!!!!

The Steelers weren't lucky, their defense is just that good.

I will not take anything away from the Cards. I have been impressed with the their playoff performance so far, especially the Carolina game and their 4th quarter comeback against Philly. I didn't expect them to make it past Carolina, and everyone likes to see an underdog succeed. But..... they haven't faced a defense like Pittsburgh's yet. I think Kurt Warner will be running for his life all game. He's not a mobile QB, and the Steelers defense hasn't given up a pass play longer than 40 yds all season and puts a lot of pressure on opposing QB's. The biggest question in this game is whether or not the Steelers offense shows up. I think they will, and Pittsburgh will become the first franchise to win their 6th Super Bowl.

All I can say Rich is good luck and may the best team win.

I believe the Steelers are favored by 7 points so the offense may show up. :lol: Now as far as the Steelers defense shutting down the Cardinal offense that is a priority to win. I would be more worried about Fitzgerald over Warner but if Warner gets beat down then the game is over.

Stopping Fitzgerald is obviously job one for Pittsburgh's defense, and I believe getting pressure on Warner is the way to do it. The Cards have maybe the best 1-2 receiver combo in the league with him and Boldin both healthy. Another intangible is the fact that 2 of the Cardinals coaches were with Pittsburgh back in '05 when they won their last Super Bowl. They may have a slight strategic advantage on defense because they know the Steelers basic offensive scheme. I think it's going to be a great game, GO STEELERS!!!

I can't believe nobody has commented on the Super Bowl. The game itself was better than the commercials (in which most were lame IMO)

That was a great game. On the last scoring drives for both teams, both defenses made a mistake that I hate to see. They went into a prevent type defense, and IMO the only thing a prevent defense does is prevent you from winning. I have never understood why teams stop doing what has worked the entire game and go conservative late in the game. My hats off to the Cardinals, they had a hell of a game plan and showed the world they deserved to be there. Congratulations Steelers on your record setting 6th Super Bowl title.

Cards fans should have known they were in trouble when Football Genius Matt Millen picked them to win. The whole team should have bum rushed him to shut him up!!

Sorry Rich I did not watch the game but I heard it had Steelers fans sitting on the edge of their couches, especially the last quarter. :uhoh:......:lol: The Steelers have a good national following but many people I know were for the underdog Cardinals. To me it makes no difference. Congratulations to the Steelers and their fans.

I think I watch maybe the last 5 minutes of the game.

twas a good game. i was hoping the cards would have taken the game...still say that last throw was not an interception. oh well...good game

How's everyones' weather? I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt during the day and using the A/C. :uhoh:.....:lol:

Price of gas, etc.?

***WARNING- RICEBURNER ENTERING*** Sorry guys, I like looking at the GTP/Grand Prix forum from time to time as I have always like them. BTW, Bob, you need to shut'ch your yapper! :lol: Short sleeves and a/c!?! Try 10 degrees here! On the 1st it was 4 degrees. Only in the midwest do you find this. Today was a high in the low 30's, tomorrow will be upper 50's lol. The funny thing is, it isn't uncommon to see it go from 60 degrees to 5 degrees here in a days notice.

Its suppose to go up to 0 today.
Just think of the energy I'm saving keeping my beers cold.

***WARNING- RICEBURNER ENTERING*** Sorry guys, I like looking at the GTP/Grand Prix forum from time to time as I have always like them. BTW, Bob, you need to shut'ch your yapper! :lol: Short sleeves and a/c!?! Try 10 degrees here! On the 1st it was 4 degrees. Only in the midwest do you find this. Today was a high in the low 30's, tomorrow will be upper 50's lol. The funny thing is, it isn't uncommon to see it go from 60 degrees to 5 degrees here in a days notice.

:uhoh:.....:lol:

Hi Alex. :wave:

Not a problem. You are welcome here. We are not tribal in nature and welcome everybody. We used to be but that was a long time ago. Mainly with the Ford Mustang crowd. :twak:

Man, that is cold and in March? So much for the theory of global warming. My son is freezing his rear end off in New York but he will be going on Spring break next week for some relief.

Feel free to visit us more often and thanks for participating in the discussion.


Its suppose to go up to 0 today.
Just think of the energy I'm saving keeping my beers cold.

Hi Wylie. Ouch! Other than the minor problem of being cold how is life in the Great White North? No visit down South this year?

Its suppose to go up to 0 today.
Just think of the energy I'm saving keeping my beers cold.

:lol2: Great stuff Wylie.

SL3000GT, you're not kidding about the temp swings this time of year in the Midwest. We here in Michigan are going to swing from a low last night of 5f, to a high Friday pushing 60f. Gotta love March weather.

Hi Wylie. Ouch! Other than the minor problem of being cold how is life in the Great White North? No visit down South this year?

Its all good here I think richtazz got more snow than us, ours is gone already waiting to get the bike out of the shed.

Just got back from San Diego, Fat Tuesday is just starting to wear off.

I see you've been busy here.

Its all good here I think richtazz got more snow than us, ours is gone already waiting to get the bike out of the shed.

Just got back from San Diego, Fat Tuesday is just starting to wear off.

I see you've been busy here.

Lake effect? :dunno:

San Diego? Nice. I've been there a few times. I like the no trees story. Supposedly there were no trees until they were planted by the early settlers. The Zoo is nice along with the other tourist traps like Seaport Village. Did you get over to Tijuana the other Zoo? Not safe in Mexico anymore. :grinno:

Lake effect? :dunno:

San Diego? Nice. I've been there a few times. I like the no trees story. Supposedly there were no trees until they were planted by the early settlers. The Zoo is nice along with the other tourist traps like Seaport Village. Did you get over to Tijuana the other Zoo? Not safe in Mexico anymore. :grinno:

No Had no free time I was there for work.
I did drink some great Tequila though http://www.send.com/liquor/product.php?id=103555&list=40
I was just glad I survived Fat Tuesday I should have bought a Tshirt :D

It is 45 degrees here today and on Friday it is going to be in the 60's. :lol2:

Hey guys, sorry to change the subject.

Anyone know if a 1997 GM 3.4 DOHC motor is an interference design or free-wheeling?

Reason I ask is because I found a 1997 monte carlo for sale near my house. Its red, with black leather interior. Its immaculate. The original owner broke the timing belt, replaced it, and now it wont start. For some reason I thought the 3.4 was not an interference. Maybe he timed it wrong? He said his mechanic diagnosed "new heads" so I'm assuming he's dinged a bunch of valves.

He's asking 1000 for the car, and in the condition its in is worth every penny.

Hey guys, sorry to change the subject.

Anyone know if a 1997 GM 3.4 DOHC motor is an interference design or free-wheeling?

Tim, it is supposed to be a non-interference so hopefully it will not destroy itself if the timing belt lets go. However, this engine is notorius for being a maintenance nightmare. I would pass on it.

i would pass on it.

x2...

not even if I could get him down to 800?

Thanks guys!

not even if I could get him down to 800?

Thanks guys!

Probably not even if he gave you $200 to take it.

How's everyones' weather? I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt during the day and using the A/C. :uhoh:.....:lol:
Bob-->:bananadie:<--- NY snowplow
Been in the single digits here in NY. We're closing in on 150"( 12 1/2 feet :eek:) of snow so far this season with a good 6+ weeks to go. We have Lake Ontario which feeds us all winter with Lake Effect Snow. Areas just a 1/2 hour drive from here are close to 350" for the season. (Terrain plays a role, they are in the Tug Hill Plateau). It might hit 40 by the end of the week, now that's short sleeve weather here :lol:

Price of gas, etc.? $2.08 for regular

Hi Tom, :wave: welcome to our little corner of AF!

You guys get all that Ontario lake effect like Buffalo gets from Erie. We've had about 80" of snow here this winter. The snow doesn't bother me so much, but these single digit/below zero temps gotta go.

Wylie, I'm getting the Fatboy ready to ride too. I'm hoping for a little rain later today to clean all the salt powder from the roads so I can ride Friday.

doin' a rain dance :bananasmi:bananasmi:bananasmi

Bob-->:bananadie:<--- NY snowplow

Thats funny. I haven't seem a snow plow in years at least not in my area. It would kill the county or city budget. :lol:

However it did snow one day here but disappeared in about 2 hours.


Regular unleaded has been holding steady here at $1.96/gal.

87 octane is around $1.90 here give or take a few pennies. Our lovely governess has decided that our 5th highest in the nation gas tax isn't high enough, so she's gonna raise it another 6% so we can afford to fix the moonscapes we call roads. If she truly wants to fix our roads, maybe she should lower our states GVWR limit for Tactor trailers that is almost twice what the next highest state allows.

Hi Tom, :wave: welcome to our little corner of AF!

You guys get all that Ontario lake effect like Buffalo gets from Erie. We've had about 80" of snow here this winter. The snow doesn't bother me so much, but these single digit/below zero temps gotta go.


Yeah Rich, Buffalo gets the Erie snow but that usually stops in January or February when Lake Erie, which is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, freezes over. Lake Ontario is much deeper, and never freezes over so we get it all season long. For those unfamiliar with the way lake effect works is you have a large open body of water. Air colder than the water passes over the water and picks up moisture and deposits over land. Studies have actually been done to show that the air has to be at least 22 degrees colder than the water for it to take place. The lakes collect all of that solar heat all summer so come Fall :uhoh: . Our "lake effect" season begins in October when we get large amounts of rain when the air starts to cool into the 60s. It gets pretty cloudy here in the Fall and you can get sudden downpours, like Florida. Then when it gets colder, it snows, and snows and snows :lol:.
The cities, (Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse ) along the thruway have a little friendly contest every year since the 1970's called the Golden Snowball Award.The city that gets the most snowfall in the past season wins. Syracuse has won the most times,(about 90% of the time,) and Buffalo has won once or twice. This year the totals so far ( to 3/5 ) are Buffalo 97.7 Rochester 100.8 Syracuse 148.4, and Albany 52.0
Also I forgot to add in my previous post that we've had windy conditions coupled with our cold temps giving us wind chills in the -10 to -20 range.

Thats funny. I haven't seem a snow plow in years at least not in my area. It would kill the county or city budget. :lol:
.
Even in our area the budgets get squeezed around Feb. Sometimes it's a supply factor, other times it may be a price factor.There are salt mines in another part of the state where they 'harvest' salt to be used on the roads. It's hard sometimes to budget enough in advance since winters can be variable. I see a snowplow practically everyday, sometimes 3 or 4 times a day.:lol: We've grown to hate them sometimes as we lose our mailboxes or get freshly plowed snow (which is much heavier) at the ends of our driveways just after we've shoveled or cleaned them out :crying: