charlie8575

Looking good, Dan. Charlie Larkin

That color worked out well. I wish I knew what Testors had in mind for the Floquil/Polly S colors. Looking forward to more. And Tom- I'm planning on coming Friday night so I don't have to leave stupidly early. Might bring a couple of non-modeling friends with me to break up the cost of the room a little, too. The NJ Transit bus is down the road and they can go goof off in NYC for the day, and then we can meet a friend of ours who lives in Brooklyn for dinner. Charlie Larkin

Very nice, Dan. Charlie Larkin

Between Raoul and I, you have a couple sold if you decide to give it a whirl and it comes out well. Charlie Larkin

You've got to be kidding me?! I would've called the manufacturer and complained, as well as your state's attorney general, immediately after walking out and putting a stop-pay on any cheques issued and demanding return of any keys turned over- or call the police to report false imprisonment. Absolutely unacceptable. I've gotten to the point where there are about six or eight dealers- in total, I will even consider doing business with, at least as far as new car dealers go. Two Chevy dealers, two Ford dealers (one of which handles Lincolns,) two Buick-GMC dealers, one Cadillac dealer I'll even consider doing business with (most of the ones in this area are horrible,) and a couple of Mopar dealers, and then maybe one or two I'd keep as reserves (e.g., my first choices didn't have what I wanted, didn't get a good-enough deal, or something like that.) There are also about a dozen used car dealers I'd trade with- interesting that it's easier to find a good Class B dealer around here than a Class A dealer. All the foreign dealers around here have reputations that would make the examples in Tom and Ken's posts blush with embarrassment; they tend to be the scuzziest of the lot. No big loss, I don't like foreign cars anyway. My list is sufficiently fixed now that even if I move to WMass or up to New Hampshire or Maine, I'd drive back if I were looking for a new car. Charlie Larkin

Some interesting background behind self-service stations, Tom. Although with a lot of the idiots here at the "full-serve" (really mini-serve, nobody washes your windsheild or checks oil for you, even if asked,) that pour gas all over my car and ruin my paint-job, in a way, I'm kind of glad I can pump my own gas. I always thought it was New Jersey's gas tax that kept their prices down and that full-service stations would actually increase price (more employees, etc.) Charlie Larkin

Sworn to secrecy? Hasn't occurred to anyone? Gary asked them not to? (Although I don't see that, but I could be wrong.) Charlie Larkin

That's soon enough. As soon as they're available for pre-order, I'll place mine. Thanks, Tim. Charlie Larkin

Test shots are good. Production shots are better. Any ideas about production yet from anyone? I will buy one. I love 1940s cars. Charlie Larkin

I'd be in for one. And no, the '74 tooling existed from what I can tell independent of the 1971-72 body. The '73-74 got a pretty heavy facelift with the baby-buggy bumpers and all that jazz, along with the mid-cycle freshening. Charlie Larkin

Most interesting, I didn't know that. Nice to see they're sending cookies as donations to our armed forces, too. Good for them. Mom got suckered into buying a bunch of boxes a couple of weeks ago from one of the ladies at church. The boxes and cookies were tiny. Product shrink, unfortunately, is a reality now given the falling value of the dollar and the resultant increase of cost (it now takes more dollars to do less work.) Between that and some questionable things some of the executives of GSA have done, I don't know if I'd personally buy any cookies myself, and continue to support DeMolay and Rainbow. Charlie Larkin

Update: Nana's surgery went "okay," as the doctors put it, which for her injury and age, is about as good as it gets. She'll be in the hospital for a few days, followed by a few weeks of rehab. What amazes (and concerns me) is that at least as of now, th plan is to return to her apartment after. Charlie Larkin

They look so sad and forlorn, almost as if they're begging for someone to come along and restore them. Well done. Charlie Larkin

Snow...snow...more snow- that's been the iritation the past week and change, along with what I believe is sciatica- now talk about irritating! James- condolences on your mom. When we've had members of the family go, like you, we've had to deal with a bunch of vultures, cretins, idiots, and all other manner of undesirable, and it's cost us plenty- lost stuff of family importance, irreplaceable at that, screwed-up relationships, and on and on. I just found out that my grandmother was admitted to the hospital last night with a broken hip- never good, and at her age (102,) very, very bad. My mother isn't taking it too well, and it's going to be touch and go for the next few days. Charlie Larkin

Nice to see something different. Charlie Larkin

Ditto that. Trying to figure out the colors for mine now. Charlie Larkin One of the reasons I like AMCs, too. Charlie Larkin

I always thought they were kinda neat little cars. Certainly a rare sight here. I remember seeing maybe one or two? I'll keep an eye open for that one. Charlie Larkin

The worst experience I had was when I bought a Buick LeSabre from a reputable Olds dealer. There was a problem with the ABS and they refused to fix it without charging me $945. That was when the car was first purchased and that 30-day statutory warranty was in full effect. It took a lot of arguing and calls and letters to every single manufacturer this particular agency represented- and boy did they get squeezed. I got the car fixed, but no better. Not even an apology. Turned out all the people I knew who dealt with these folks had dealt with the father. His kids were running the business into the ground. Unfortunately, shortly after I bought the car, it developed some other problems, and I ended up getting something else. This was when the Internet was newish, but I still did a lot of online shopping, and ended up getting what I got. I don't know if I've ever had a "best" experience aside from getting a couple of real good deals- from the junkyard of all places! We bought a few cars from the wreckers around here, and they gave us good service for little outlay. I'm at the point now where there are only about five or six dealers I'd do business with, at least for a new car, and I'm so adamant about it, I'd travel 3-4 hours to buy because I know I'll be treated fairly. Charlie Larkin

Big band, jazz, classical, oldies, new and old country, an occasional modern pop or rap song comes along I like, adult album contemporary-type music is something I like too. I've really been getting into funk jazz and funk r n'b the last couple of years, and yes, I'll even admit to liking a lot of its offshoot- disco, which isn't all as bad as most people think. Again, from a techncial standpoint, there were some absolutely first-rate musicians doing that stuff, Chic being a great example, in addition to their disco work, they were a very highly-acclaimed funk jazz group. There's something out there for almost everyone. It really disturbed me when I was subbing a music class about a year ago, that were kids that actually said "I hate music!" That really worried me. Even if it's the vapid pop we're getting now, listen to something, kids, please. Charlie Larkin

Can't argue too much with that. I will admit that I do like "Firework." The video for it is rather spectacular and I like the message of the song. I've even been able to use its basic theme a couple of times with kids at school- let your inner rock star out in whatever it is you're engaged in. Charlie Larkin

That almost suggests the original was good! Charlie Larkin

A foot Saturday. Another six or seven inches today. Followed by four days of 40s-50s with rain, which, may or may not be a good thing, depending on how strong the sun is. March 20 is SO far away it seems. Charlie Larkin

Beautiful kit. Mine (first issue) had some of the best molding quality I've run across. Overall level of detail, etc. is on-par with late 1990s AMT kits, very accurate from the looks of it, very nicely done. I need about another half-dozen for all the resin I want to build... Charlie Larkin

Dr. Glueblob- related to Dr. Killpatient? Welcome aboard. Charlie Larkin

Good idea, Bill. I might do just that. Charlie Larkin