All I want for Christmas....

You need more projects with rocks? What are the poor plants going to do? :)

I'm not sure this is what I wanted but I just bought a new car and DH is going to put on a rear spoiler and get an inside protection package - custom fit rubber tray for the trunk - good for dirt, plants, rocks, etc.

Cool debilu! How exciting. What kind? I bought my car with hauling plants in mind too...and dogs....and manure...and dirt...etc.

I bought a honda accord coupe in the prettiest blue.

CONGRATULATIONS! Thats a big purchase item that can be stressful. Were you in the dealership all day? The coupe is two door, right?

Yes it's a 2 door, and I had decided I was buying this last winter, but waited til my son graduated from college. Then I had to wait because there were no 2009s left, so I've had it for 2 weeks now. We started doing it on-line, and so was only at the dealer for an hour or so. Got $2,400 off sticker price with a couple extras. Sold my 1998 honda civic with 180,000 miles for $2,800. I'm happy.

Nice car. I take the grandkids to a lot of functions, but when they are grown I'm getting a two door. Last one I had was a 1977 Triumph TR7.

Good deal! Honda is a good choice. I'm on my third one. Enjoy it.

My third too. My first was the cheapest civic I could find, put 170,000 on that and sold it for $1,500.
No grandkids yet but my son and his girlfriend were talking about it yesterday. They want to come back home, get married, buy a house, have babies, get a dog...

Cool, Deb - congrats! I love Honda - on my third minivan (lease) from them. My wife has a Civic.

Come back home to your house, or your area? Sounds like they have it lined up right, anyway.

I drive a 1999 Toyota, 169,000. Not a thing wrong with it, and no rust. I hope to keep it another 10 years or so.

Tired of Astoria already, Deb?!!

I believe it. They retain their value and have no problem turning over mileage on the original engines. My first was a used 1987 Prelude. Then the Accord and now the Element. I'm in love with them.

Lindsey is more than David, but this was their first time home, and they realized how much they missed it. And home to the area, not here!! Their initial plan was to stay for at least 2 years. It's been 6 months. It'll probably still be awhile, David likes his job, and currently is the only one there who knows the new software program.
We just aren't city folks!

Already got my Christmas presents....our puppies and a great visit from my son. I don't need anything more! Happy camper here!

tsk tsk on all of you for not buying American.

I buy Subaru's because they are reliable. I can't 'afford' to buy American when it comes to cars. How many Subarus have you seen stranded by the side of the highway?!!! My Subaru is almost 15 years old!

Amen PV. My old Honda is 16 years old and still truckin. Plus all those foreign companies now have plants in the US.

Right my honda was made in Ohio

Same comment here. When I had a flat, and it ruined the rim, the tow truck driver said he had never picked up a Toyota Rav 4 before that.

DH , Toyota Tundra....Me ~ Scooby Doo (Subaru Baja) this is my 2nd subaru. Before the baja I owned and loved a NIssan X-Terra.

American carmakers suck. Why do you think we had to throw away billions on them?? They are not even leasing anymore because they don't retain any value. I always prefer to buy American, but the quality has to be there.

True.

Don't even get me started on the bailout.
I think that there are certain car models in each category that are horrible. Made the mistake of buying a Nissan once, what a piece of crap that was.
I'd rather keep my $ in the US.
Chevy/GMC trucks last forever, ours was 12 years old with WAY over 100,000 miles on it when we sold it to my bil. My Firebird is 10 years old and never had a problem.

It's much more complicated than that, you buy 'American' & and the company is 50% foreign concern, your money goes elsewhere. Car parts nowadays are manufactured all over the globe, bought and sold like missile parts. Buying American has become a selling point to car manufacturers that couldn't care less and that financially can't if they want to stay in business. Many major US banks are now owned by Arabs & Chinese including Citibank, (it's no secret). The world is much more complicated now. You can wave the American flag all you want but in reality you don't know where your money goes anymore. (and everybody including 'your own ' wants to keep it that way.)

Thats so tru WC! You hit it on the head. everything is being sourced out to other countries for cheaper labor, yet we who buy the product see none of that savings. Only the company profits while America losses jobs everyday. But you can't protest by 'buying American" because none of it is all American anymore. Shoot, the land on which our US mint stands, is owned by the Japanese.

I was in Korea where Coach purses are made. They cost about 30-40 dollars there. Cost to make; about 10 dollars, if that. cost here; 200-500 dollars.

most parts that are needed to make a car are made of shore - and that is ture for every car manufacturer in the world - our high costs in the states are due to high labor costs and outrageous benefits. last year chrysler had a deal where anyone over 50 with 20 yrs. could retire with full benefits and 60% pay till retirement. we are paying for that.

my ford taurus has over 150K and still going strong.

My Taurus had over 225k and finally died years ago. I paid the price of a new car over time just to keep it going, (in 'installments') at the car repair shop, it was like squeezing blood from a rock...

CV joints always gave out because of bad roads, in the biggest city in the world, (NY)! (lol)
- not really funny, (actually), when you think about it.
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- Unions are very important to those poor slobs which have to take abuse and unsafe horrible conditions, - I used to be one of them decades ago when I first started working. But the Unions get greedy and there is a lot of under the table bargaining - the workers become pawns rather than people, that's when the rough stuff & the misery begins - call it what has been the Achilles heel of mankind - GREED.

* BTW, my Ford Taurus was assembled in Mexico, (it was on the inside door label on a metal tag).
- The companies which assemble the parts for most US cars seats, fabrics, etc get them from all over the world, these manufacuturers do not want to be paid in US dollars, they want to be paid in EUROS.
- Made from materials from all over the world assembled in Mexico and the dollars returned to Europe in Euros...

- Know the conversion factor from US dollars to Euros? - We're losing - Big Time!

This message was edited Dec 1, 2009 1:14 AM

fingers crossed...I'll be getting the Nikon D60 this year...I hope...hope and hope. I collect Byer's Choice Carolers (very small collection) but I upped my collection from 4 to 8 this year :-) 2 Local garden centers sell them, both garden centers have shoppers clubs (to which I belong to both) 1 had a 40% off any item in the store sale, with an additional $10 off the order...this is where 2 of the Byer's Choice Carolers came from, the other garden center gives you .05 back on every dollar you spend there...I received a $29 gift card from them, and all of their xmas stuff was on sale (Black Friday) for 20% off...so I picked up 2 more Carolers there. We have the trees up, 4. I hope we are done :-) And I picked up 2 new Boyd's Bears....no Steiff bears this year, not in the budget.
I do hope everyone gets what they want/need :-)

Hey, Thom! How've you been?

We are going on a cruise next August, so we've been putting money aside for that. Will get the grandkids that are going some of the extra things not included in the package. Have never been on one so we are excited to spend time with some of the family. I was kinda surprised when Jeff said he wanted to go. Hopefully the won't be any hurricanes - she said wishfully.

Hi Thom!!!! How have you been? I do hope you get that Nikon, I got the D40 last year from DS & DH, still learning but I love it!!

Hey THom!!!! Where are you going on your cruise Jan?

Hi Thom! Can't go wrong with Nikon!

I promise to start posting more, and stop lurking so much :-)

Paul and I plan on going on a cruise next year as well...not sure what his school schedule looks like, nor mine. If I end up taking summer classes, or he takes summer class, will dictate when we go on our cruise. Out goal is setting aside $20 a pay, so $80 a month for spending moolah. We started saving about 2 months or so ago. Not even sure where we are headed.

I might, if time and money permit, take a photography class offered by one of the local universities to learn more about the art.

Jan, where are you going on your cruise? Or have you not figured that part out yet :-)

I've been doing ok, just been busy is all. I got suckered into a garden project at my parents church. Long story short...(I'll try) they called, asked me if I would do this garden project, so I did...someone else was supposed to do it (I didn't know this at first) but they had been promising this that and the other for about 5-6 years, so my parents and other members of the vestry council asked them to ask me...the prevailing poop storm hasn't been nice on anyone. I'll have to take pictures of the project. There were 2-Forest Pansy Redbuds, 6 Clethra 'Hummingbird', 4 Little John Itea, 12 Heuchera Lime Rickey, 2 Bowling Ball Thuja, 1 Potentilla Mango Tango, over 200 Daffs, several mini Azaleas, 3 Physocarpus, 4 Russian Sage, and 6 Gold Leaved Spirea, along with a clump of Rozanne Cranesbill/Geranium that I dug up and divided into 30 parts...give or take. The long and short of it, I stepped on someone else's garden plans (she wanted to plant an English rose garden, with lavender, witch hazel, and forsynthia) and will more than likely rip everything that I planted out next Spring (or so she has hinted at). Needless to say it's been a wee bit trying these past few months. Tempers flared, names called, not very nice voicemail messages left. I stepped in a whole big ole pile of you know what...and didn't even know it until after the fact. I really thought I was doing something good for my parents, and their church, I thought I did a rather nice job (if I do say so myself) and then, KABLOOEY. But enough of that...I'll take pics of it before it is/isn't destroyed/demolished in the Spring time :-)

Hi Thom!

Boy that sounds like a kicking feet, see if I ever do anything for anone again type of ending.

if it get's ripped out who gets the plants/trees?

Potentilla Mango Tango is on my wish list!
Sorry you had to endure all that , crap who would of thunk it?

If people like it & I am sure that some will, nay sayer is in trouble. Sorry you are in the middle.

What a crazy mess, Thom.

Went to Chirstmas Tree Store today, man was it crazy in there. I bought a little wooden sign that has Santa on it and says "Merry Christmas" for 29 cents!!!