Draco-REX

Foam absorbs the shock along with the larger surface area spreading out the force of impact. Also, you can lean back and deflect some of the force to generate forward motion. Sled into surfboard... :headbang:

Bet it'd hurt a lot less and be even more fun with a boogie board.

Needs a jump at the end.

555 is fun, but it can bite back. There are a number of crests that can hide a bike or even a car on the other side. At the '08 River Run the running joke (that stemmed from an actual situation) was "Left 3, Over Crest, into Mini." What happened was that at one point a crest COMPLETELY hid a mini on the other side. Luckily he wasn't exactly going slow so we could haul down our speed in time. Just be careful. As I said at the beginning, 555 is fun, but it can catch you out when you least expect it.

I think that's a parking ticket. She was likely parked in an area that becomes a no parking zone from 4-6 to facilitate rush-hour traffic. Since she was parked 3-5, she violated that and was ticketed.

Works fine for me. I can't rehost it since Flickr doesn't do animated gifs. Here's another for the thread: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3383/3576481353_625119e1ae_o.jpg

Never knew why it was in the Kitchen, but since the Kitchen is on hiatus, I thought we could continue it here in the interim. NWS icon for future pics. And to get it started: http://www.pic-upload.de/07.05.09/2amh5c.gif

Noone's forcing people to race on the street, so I don't see a huge issue here. I DO agree that it's moronic that the penalty is higher for Street Racing than DUI. Impounding the car should be mandatory for DUI. My biggest concern is that my cars could be mistaken for those of a FnF street racer. If a cop is having a bad day, he could just say I was street racing and my car would be impounded (and likely damaged) before I have a chance to defend myself.

The big problem are the oil speculators. They buy and sell crude oil and drive the prices. You'd think they learned their lesson when oil prices crashed, but they can get in and out and make a buck so quickly that they think they can avoid getting caught in the next one. If you know an oil speculator, kick him in the nuts. http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee1/Otown_Buc4Life/kick-in-the-nuts-chips.jpg

I like this article. I can honestly say, I wish I had gone to a Tech school. I didn't because "no college would accept me" if I went to one. Eventually I wound up in the PC field. I worked the PC/Networking field for 12 years. I got the opportunity to work in a growing field. I got to use my knowledge and experience to solve puzzles, build elaborate networks, and do all sorts of challenging things. I enjoyed using computers and got to work with them every day. I even got to do this at a GAMING center for a number of years. Now, I deliver auto parts to garages. I've *never* been happier or more content. I've come to the conclusion that the point of work is so that I can afford to do the things I want. If I can't do the things I want because I'm working 60 hours a week, or I'm too stressed out, then there's no point to the job. What's the point to working your ass off your whole life, trying to impress someone who thinks you're just a cog, and finally end up too old to appreciate all that work? And "challenging" work? Why does work have to be challenging? You can find all sorts of challenging things to do when you're not working, AND they'll be more enjoyable to do. Do your job Get paid Have fun Die happy Apply the KISS principle to life.

N. Korea with nukes is like a pre-teen with a gun. Couldn't hit the side of a barn unless he gets lucky, but will do his best to try and bully everyone nearby so he doesn't feel like the small petulant child he is. This is DEFINITELY a situation where sending in a sharpshooter to pop Kim Jong Il's head like an overripe melon would solve a LOT of issues.

These are the best kind: http://www.homebrewit.com/images/5226M.jpg Grolsch ships in those kinds of bottles also.

Though I wouldn't be caught dead with that Neon, I can at least appreciate the work that went into it. I just wish the owner at least had a better eye for detail. I do hope more cars showed up for your event. I need to pay more attention to the Meets forum so I don't keep missing these events. I would have found a way to get both Subies there. The WRX was even still covered in mud! Yup, I'm getting old. It was less than a second between checking her out to thinking "She's scratching the paint!"

No excuses after this for not attending RallyCrosses!

I stand corrected. I could have sworn the UK had an AWD focus that didn't make it here. Guess I misunderstood the article I read about this new one. Still doesn't mean that there aren't awesome cars over there that never make it here because we're too big a market to take a risk on.

When forming your focus group, make sure you eliminate any sources of error. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YVeU09waQ8&feature=related

The earlier Focus RS was AWD (The ones we never got ) because WRC rules said a certain number had to be sold that way (plus poeple liked the Rally connection). Think of it as Ford's Evo. But it was considered too extreme to sell in the US. Us fat dumb hicks wouldn't appreciate a rally car. This was is FWD only for some of the reasons mentioned above. So far the general reviews have said that it handles so well it doesn't need AWD.

I personally liked "Save the Ta-Tas."

Cool man. I hope F1 comes back to Canada next year. If so, I plan to go for the weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fqq051BU2MY He's gonna grape you in the mouth!

Racing go-kart?? WTF class is that in? Looks like someone's garage project.

That car is on a VERY short list of FWD cars I'd own..

19/20 Missed the blinker one. Duh. Once I thought about it, I realized I was confused about the distance you can park from a corner. Umm, every stoplight goes to a solid yellow between green and red......... A sign's shape is as much a part of it's message as what's printed on it. That way if you see a sign from the back side you can get an idea of what it is. (You can identify a Stop Sign for another road in an intersection since it's an Octagon.) Warning signs are always Diamonds, Yield is an inverted triangle, speed limit signs (not on the highway) are vertical rectangles of a particular proportion. Those square speed signs that are in yellow are NOT speed limit signs. They are recommended speeds for an upcoming section of road that won't generate more than 0.18g laterally to reduce roll-over risk for fully loaded trucks. The cop would be upset if traffic on the highway has to hit their brakes to avoid hitting you when you merge. I HATE people who stop on on ramps or merge at 35. I guess those morons WANT to be rear-ended.

You can hit 30mph on the highway in a Subie, but he was asking about city mpg. I don't think the Impala gets 30mpg in the city.

Then it won't work. To turn a profit in a market where prices are relatively stable, you need to cut costs. Paying your workforce $40/hr for a $10/hr job is NOT the way to do that. Foreign companies will still be able to provide a better product for the same price and make more of a profit. I've had the pleasure (not) of driving a couple of GM's entry-level products recently at work. We have '07 Chevy Colorado pickups normally, but rented a '08 Cobalt while one was in the shop (I also rented an 07 Malibu last year.) They are all surprisingly bad. I would hope that not all of GM's products are like these, but they REALLY show how the product suffers when cost cutting is made to quality rather than production costs.