Four doors will make it very much easier to attend to the baby, seriously -- I have a Civic HB myself.

My family seems to avoid getting in trouble with the law by being, in some cases, the actual law.

I found an article that pretty much sums up the attitude toward environmentalists I see from people I know.

[link]

The environmentalists are just a bunch of wackos who have no idea what they are talking about. Meanwhile, the free market is taking care of any problems.

Ya know, if I regained consciousness and saw Dr. House, I'd just ask to be euthanised. Sure, he might eventually save my life, but in the meanwhile he'd put me in a great deal of pain, and be incredibly unpleasant to boot.

Dr. House

I'm still boggling on the fact that House is Bertie Wooster and Prince George and half of Fry & Laurie.

Connie, that's a killer story. I don't really have any family members who've been in trouble with the law, except for the brother who was wild as a teen and in college and now has more letters after his name than the rest of the family put together. And he's saving the world from bioterrorism. So.

Gud, as for your link -- air quality may well have improved over the last 35 years. But what Rush fails to recognize that "better" isn't "good", necessarily. And what limited advances we have made in the US are in direct conflict with air quality damages in places like China.

For myself, I'm more concerned about water -- water quality, water use, water conservation. Conflicts between consumptive uses (domestic, industry, irrigation) and habitat uses, which require consistent instream flows. Endless development in the west is causing no end of conflict over water rights, and the same is going on in places all over the world.

Water, they say, is the new oil.

A Chevy Prizm is really a Toyota Corolla with a Chevy nameplate so it is way cheaper, but just as reliable. Also, try looking for a used car from a rental company, like Enterprise. All have 4-doors and air, low milage and are usually pretty cheap.

My brother has bought his last 3 cars online. So if Seattle is oddly pricey, that might be an option. Sorta. I still think it is weird. He drove down to Raleigh last weekend to get the latest one (his old one was totalled when someone rear ended his parked & on a jack car.)

My parents got a new 75 honda civic when I was born. It was ORANGE. It was a lemon year, though. We managed to limp it along (though several head gaskets) for nearly a decade. It had no A/C and my mom's clearest memory of being pregnant with my brother is driving across NM in August during a heat wave, 6 months pregnant, pouring cups of ice water from McDonalds over her head.

My parents never had AC in a car until I was 12 or so. Not coincidentally, that was the first time they bought a car in the summer. In the winter, it just seemed like an extravagance.

Also, try looking for a used car from a rental company, like Enterprise. All have 4-doors and air, low milage and are usually pretty cheap.

Just chiming in - be careful with the rental stuff just because sometimes rentals are so abused by renters ("Who cares? It's just a rental!" As they go offroading in a Taurus). However, that being said, I bought my truck from a Budget lot, but it was a lease-end thing. Great price, only two yers old, have had it 6 years now and almost zero problems with it (knock wood).

Just chiming in - be careful with the rental stuff just because sometimes rentals are so abused by renters ("Who cares? It's just a rental!" As they go offroading in a Taurus). However, that being said, I bought my truck from a Budget lot, but it was a lease-end thing.

I agree, always get the CarFax report before any money talk happens.