Jalopnik

Great story, makes me want to know if you have any pictures of the girl. Kinda like to know what a double-wide living UC Berkeley philosophy major looked like around 1990.

The same Nixon Now bumper sticker on my '57 Chevy has all of the red color faded off of it as well. I'm sure there's a "these colors don't run" joke in there somewhere, but I'll let someone else come up with it.

@WilliamG.: I actually mapquested the mileage to get to that one. It's a little far away for me, but would be a perfect parts car for my '55 Dodge convertible. And 5 bones for a 2dht is dirt cheap.

Thieves are scum. There was a time where we would all congratulate a security guard or honest citizen who went out of their way to prevent theft. Now we question whether he deserved getting urinated on while going above and beyond his job. Sad.

@socalrob of the 24 and a half century: If you did damage it, broke a tail light or dented a fender, you would just have to have it fixed before returning it, which is understandable. It's not like you "couldn't" return it if something happened, you'd just want to have it taken care of before the return, which seems reasonable to me.

@The_Red_Monkey: $60,000.00 every time you move? Where do you live? How are you arriving at that figure? Curious to know.

@hereisaaron: I actually bought my first house right out of high school, closed 2 weeks before my 19th birthday. Didn't need a cosigner, this was 1999 when it wasn't all that hard to get a mortgage. I understand that everyone's results may vary, but for me it was the best decision I ever made. It forced me to budget every dollar, and 5 years later I sold it for a decent profit (probably at the peak of prices) and bought the current fixer-upper forclosure I live in now.

I can see where living in a pricey, urban area can mean home ownership doesn't make sense, due to cost and big price fluctuations, but in my area (northeast Wisconsin) the prices have stayed pretty steady and it makes for a relatively stable investment.

Plus, it's just plain fun to have your own house.

@bloggerX: My house was a foreclosure, bought it about 5 years ago. I think the threat of previous owners coming back to damage the house are pretty small, you have to keep in mind that the foreclosure process can take a year or more. That's more than enough time for people to move on.

My neighbor's house got foreclosed on and he lived there for at least a year after he got served papers, not making any payments, I don't think the house got to the market for another 6 months after that. It's not like people are missing a payment on the 1st and getting kicked out onto the streets on the 2nd. People getting foreclosed on have a lot of lead time. If you haven't made a house payment in a year, you know it's coming.

I'm happy with my house, it was really rough but the price was right and I don't mind doing the work. Now really is the time to buy if you have or can get the money.

@brickyard: Bam, you nailed it. Look at the cars we were restoring in the 80's It was the same muscle cars and 50's stuff we're building now. There's a reason that late 70's and 80's stuff never caught on for restorations. Only a small handful of any US made cars built after 1973 will ever have any collectability.

@1234tu: "Even having a degree in somthing like social work, where the job you get may pay slightly less than some plumbers make... atleast you are a professional...."

A plumber is not a professional? A trade job is not a profession? You think plumbers install toilets and
"come into contact with another persons Poo" all day?

You have no idea what a plumber does. I know we're getting way off topic here but your ignorance is staggering.

@iancoleTX: Good, glad to know I'm not the only one who gets a boner from a Muncie M-21

@Murilee Martin: I've always heard that the only year in the 50's that Ford outsold Chevy was 1957, due to the fact that Ford had an all new body where Chevy was a facelift of the 55/56 cars, and also a very strong year for Plymouth.

Odd considering how popular the '57 Chevy has become.

@starrion: Yes! Totally agree with you 100%. Let the banks who didn't want the damn money in the first place give it back now. So what if it makes the banks keeping the $ look shitty.

I'm really surprised this isn't more of an issue. I bet now that the banks can see what the government wants to do/have control over, most would give the money back, or at least a big portion of it.

Not trying to be a conspiracy theorist here, but could the reason this isn't allowed be that they really do want to keep control of the banks, even the healthy ones? That's a horrifying thought.

@TurboBrick: All seat covers are removable if you try hard enough.

So if these companies with bonds can be kept afloat long enough to become profitable again, or at least, long enough for their bonds to mature, then the collateral will be repaid to AIG who could then repay it to the government.

Of course, if a large enough number of bond-issuing companies do go bankrupt/default on their bonds, then the collateral is lost to the original bondholders and AIG can't repay the money to the government.

Geez, I watched a 7 min video and suddenly I have a new understanding of what the "bailout" was for and how it could possibly work and could possibly fail.

@HurtsSoGood: I wasn't for it then and I'm not for it now. They got the power and they abused it, the same will happen this time around.

Apparently I'm the only one here, but my parents did very well for themselves and I've learned a lot from them, so we don't have any problems discussing money in either direction. I don't have any kids, so that hasn't come up yet.

@Paladin_11: I agree, Ford gained a lot when they bought Volvo, and I think they got their money's worth even if they sell now at a loss. Plus, the money they get from the sale is much needed, continuing to keep Ford off of the bailout list, which I give them a lot of credit for.

When they hired Alan Mulally (IMO, one of the only CEO's I know of who's worth every penny) they were expecting exactly this. Mulally is famous for paring down Boeing to it's profit-making essentials, and I really believe that he can do the same for Ford, even if it takes a while.

This kind of bullshit is why I love small town living. I am 28 and I have never paid any money into a parking meter. Ever.

I realize in a big city you have to have some kind of regulation on the parking, or people would leave shit parked in front of active businesses for weeks at a time. But 28 quarters? That's insane. And since it's Chicago, someone's getting a cut which ensures that it'll stay that way for a long time.

The Bugs Bunny house reminds me of the movie "Batteries Not Included". Someone else has to remember that, right?

squablow