WitchDoctor

"Recognized" to the extent that it is surely about as often used as the "correct" usage, "regardless." My computer dictionary has an entry for "irregarless" suggesting that it is "widely heard, perhaps under the influence of such perfectly correct forms as 'irrespective'. 'Irregardless' is avoided by careful users of English."

You-all, of course, are speaking American, as opposed to English, where it is as equally acceptable as it is incorrect to say "hung" in reference to being executed by hanging.

A couple of points futher, and please don't misread my tone, this is all in a spirit of fun ... but, first, a forum like this is not exactly a place that calls for use of the most formal conventions of "proper" written communication. Second, trying to define what is "proper" is a debate full of much heat and little light, but one thing that is true is that it's a slippery and fluid thing that changes over time with use. "Hung by the neck" and "irregardless" will likely come to be acceptable as correct by virtue of being widely used. In much the same way, "alright" has come to be an acceptable compound word, when originally this was unacceptable. Perhaps there are some who still object, though it has been in known use as one word since 1320, according to Oxford.

FWIW.

Peter Zimmermann

...oh, alright...

WitchDoctor

Hah!

Hey, one thing I've been meaning to ask is whether the car you have for sale is the one on the cover of your book?

Surely that would be a selling feature, but I gotta say, Pete, from reading your ad, you really are being restrained in this sale with respect to the "Z" factor.

Amber Gramps

car on cover is a longhood, so that's a no.

Peter Zimmermann

Brent: Douglas is correct, however my car, or bits of it, can be seen on pages 12, 13, 89, 91 and 97 of the 8th edition. However, the white '77 930, seen on the cover and on page 12 of the book, was my baby for many years (see post #13 of this thread)...

Stevie 77 930

The white 930 on the cover on the book is in good hands and has been for the last 13 years.......

Peter Zimmermann

...and that is no lie!!!

Stevie 77 930

Pete,
I appreciate that. The "sleeping beauty" and one of my favorites in the book, was the '74 targa. What a car ! The '74's were probalby the best kept secret in the long hoods. I am looking for one if the "right one" comes along.

Any luck on the SC ?

Peter Zimmermann

Steve: I loved that '74!

Thanks for asking about the SC. I've had some inquiries, nobody's written the check yet. It seems that the economy is a much bigger hurdle than the car's price. A Bakersfield local, who has looked at (numerous times now) and driven the car wants it, but I think that his wife isn't tickled by the idea seeing as how their house has probably lost about $100K of its value in the last 18 months. Homeowners that we know aren't deeply worried, most bought before '04, aren't going anywhere anyway, and are not upside down, yet. Central CA has been slammed pretty hard, but places like Las Vegas and Ft. Myers, FL have been hit even harder. I remember how badly the tech sector went in the tank a few years ago, and I think that this housing thing is going to end up a worse, wider-spread, financial disaster than that. At this point I think that a lot of people are going to have to get real patient, maybe be more financially conservative than in the last few years, and hopefully the ship will right itself sooner than later.

flatsixnut

Yeah ask me about the housing market here in Florida. I was one of "many" that got laid off work because of it. I was a Community Construction Manager for a very large luxury home builder. All the builders are struggling right now, and its not going to get any better anytime soon. I am just glad that I bought all my cars with cash or I would have been hurting. I would have had to sell my toys if there were payments envolved.

Amber Gramps

We paid $237,000 and saw the comps (identical houses) jump $15,000 per month for the next several years. I am surrounded by homes that cost the owners beond $600,000. I would guess they are all now worth something around $400,000 at most.

Peter Zimmermann

douglas: Same thing happened in Bakersfield, our market just sizzled for 3 years. We had an approximate 1,000 people a month move to Bakersfield, bringing with them more than a few Starbuck's, multiple Home Depots and WalMarts, P.F. Changs, etc., for our more comfortable quality of life. Most bought homes using money from sales of houses along the coast, at one point a nice 4-bedroom stayed on the market about 3 days. I feel badly for flatsix, because we have national builders here who were starting 100 houses/month, and now are starting 2/month. Centex, Lennar and other big builders are offering huge incentives ($30,000 +), and reduced prices for finished new houses, combine that with many, many foreclosures and a current inventory of 4,000 resale houses, let's just say that we're very happy that we're not selling our house!

WitchDoctor

For a long time, it seemed, Calgary seemed immune to what was happening down there. I bought in...Gee, sept 04, then my house about doubled in value, though, prices have eased off. Some attribute it to speculators, who bought as the market went up, and now are tryign to cash in. As evidence, somethign like 4 to 5 times the usual number of houses for sale in Calgary, and many of them (according to a friend who just bought) have been sitting empty.

Still, people are still moving here in droves (or driving here in moves), and you can't hire a tradesman to do anything. These guys are like specialists--you can't get an appointment. Plus, there are horror stories about cr@p work, and you can't get them to fix it cause they are too busy.

If you decide on a working vacation in Alberta (yeah, likely), I could use someone who does good work to paint the fence, tile the entry way and the bathroom, and, hey, maybe to make it worth your consideration, the kitchen floor and backsplash.... I was thinking of trying to do this myself, due to my contractor-phobia. But it would be just like me to accidentally burn my house down with a paintbrush and a cotton rag. If there's a way...

But I rant.

jakeflyer

Peter, appreciate the help on the the 911SC regulator. 1 1/2 hours and $40. Solved the problem.

------- Here are some observations of mine over the last 3 weeks re: 911S, SC. Sold our1976 with the bad guide for $7500 to Germany-- no American interest(broke even which is really good for a S car). Helped a buddy buy a 1977 with a 3.0 not running 10 years, good body BAD paint, triple black for $4,800. 2 1984s in the bay area one a conv. for $10,500, hi miles. Bought the 1983SC coupe we now have which has nice paint(unfortunately bronze) and interior 155,000 good driver, notchy gear box, $8,000. Hope to get an '84 thru '88 cpe for 10 or 11. Sorry for the grim news, but you help me with your knowledge, hope this helps you even if it is not what you need to hear.

Peter Zimmermann

Brent: Speculators invaded Bakersfield in '04 and early '05. Condos went from $65K to $130K, and 1200 square foot, 3-bedroom houses went from $140K to $220K overnight. Everybody that sold a condo bought a $200K house, the people that sold those bought a $400K house...and so on. Speculators bought many of the condos and small houses and put renters in them. When things started to go sideways renters discovered that they could rent a 2300 square foot house with a 3-car garage for just a little more than the condo cost. Now there are many empty rentals and foreclosures scattered across the city, and there are daily ads for bank-owned and short sale properties, along with auctions, in the paper.

We had the tremendous good fortune to meet a local contractor, who, now in his 60s, also works for the city in building & safety, and he has introduced us to a group of high quality tradesmen that have done some wonderful work for us. It could just as easily have gone the other way, we hear horror stories from locals as well. Here's one for you, the electrician that we like, and have used for a few jobs, had 22 employees at the end of '05, he's down to three guys. Down here it's a great time to be a buyer, if you have 20% cash, and it's a good time to add on to an existing home - if you can find the right people.