It’s just amazing. If you’re going to take visitors to five locations in the Birmingham area, this should be in your top 3.

We also happened to be there on a day where the Porsche Sport Driving School was in session, so that added to the ambiance.

The fastest recorded lap around Manhattan.

We almost moved to NYC in mid-2010. Not having a car was the only thing I was dreading. <– That’s the most typical Alabamian comment, ever.

It’s always smart to text and drive, even though it’s stupid. What’s even more stupid is trying to read, decipher, and record the greatest and/or most confusing license plates through 11 states.

Here are the ones I managed to record into my iPhone while swerving through lanes.

ANGUSBF

AP REAL

O VICKI

TIKE

DRPEPPR

GO-BYE

AP REAL

SKISHING

CJORUN

SWOLE

IM POWER

UWNABME

7WATER7

3BLONDS

NOMOTAX

IQPD4ME

GRLYGLS

…and, last but not least, though certainly the most depressing…

RIPGENE

Nice to see that most of us deal with an interesting daily commute.

I have no idea why Atlanta wasn’t ranked #1, #2, and #3.

#7, I-5, Seattle
Weekly hours of bottleneck congestion: 256
Worst bottleneck: Southbound, 45th St/Exit 169
Length of worst bottleneck: 1.46 mi
Weekly hours of congestion on worst bottleneck: 34
Speed of worst bottleneck when congested: 21.3 mph

The expert opinion: “We have one major problem in downtown Seattle, and that is physical restraints,” says Paul Tosch, traffic reporter for KOMO 1000. “We only have so much room to put more freeway through downtown Seattle because we have water to one side and all the downtown buildings to the other. And I mean we don’t have room for one more lane.”

#22, I-75, Atlanta
Weekly hours of bottleneck congestion: 250
Worst bottleneck: Southbound, US 41/Northside Dr/Exit 252
Length of worst bottleneck: .8 mi
Weekly hours of congestion on worst bottleneck: 23
Speed of worst bottleneck when congested: 23 mph

Commuter Buzz: “I wish they would make a ‘Grand Theft Auto: Atlanta’ so I could blow up the video game version of Interstate 75. It would be good therapy,” a commenter wrote on the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s online rant forum The Vent last November.

#37, I-65, Birmingham, AL
Weekly hours of bottleneck congestion: 48
Worst bottleneck: Southbound, Highway 149/University Blvd/Exit 259
Length of worst bottleneck: .34 mi
Weekly hours of congestion on worst bottleneck: 8
Speed of worst bottleneck when congested: 18.5 mph

Commuter Buzz: “Situations like this are extremely rare, but it will require a short-duration lane closure to make repairs,” ALDOT spokesman Tony Harris told ABC 33/40 after heavy rains caused a sinkhole.

#44, I-40, Nashville
Weekly hours of bottleneck congestion: 94
Worst bottleneck: Eastbound, I 65/Exit 210
Length of worst bottleneck: .37 mi
Weekly hours of congestion on worst bottleneck: 14
Speed of worst bottleneck when congested: 12.4 mph

Commuter Buzz: “These people can’t even hardly talk on the phone, especially in the summertime when they got the doors open,” Councilman Buddy Baker told WSMV TV of homes that abut I-40.

#74, I-55, Jackson, MS
Weekly hours of bottleneck congestion: 8
Worst bottleneck: Northbound, Daniel Lake Blvd/Exit 90B
Length of worst bottleneck: .7 mi
Weekly hours of congestion on worst bottleneck: 4
Speed of worst bottleneck when congested: 26.3 mph

Commuter Buzz: “The oil comes up on the roadway and things get real slick,” says Chris Barnhart of driving in rain on I-55. “If you don’t wear your seat belt, you’re not going to give it a chance to save your life. That’s just a fact.”

Via twitter:

Leaving church, saw a bumper sticker that read: “WTFWJD?” I’m certain He’d fail to find the humor in your bumper sticker.

For their benefit only, I hope God’s sense of humor is a little more than I think it is.

Spotted this on the way home from work, Monday.

I may loathe much of his politics… but the man is rolling in style and hi-tech heaven.

The 2010 Cadillac SRX is fiiiiiiiiiine.

download doomsday

{My wife, removing the last remnant of the 2008 Presidential campaign from my back car window.}

Chelsea’s been asking me since the election to remove my ‘McCain – President’ sticker from my back car window. Don’t worry, she’s a McCain supporter, she just wanted to “show respect for our incoming President”… plus she didn’t want my car to get keyed. I saw it as a badge of honor… plus, I just like pissing off liberals.

So now my back windshield (a place I’ve usually reserved solely for stickers pertaining to Mississippi College and political campaigns) is bare… what step should I take moving forward? I’m tempted to become a typical Seattleite and add my KEXP membership decal or Crystal Mountain sticker upon my first run to the mountains. I’m tempted to add a “Thank W for 8 great years!” but I don’t want my car to get keyed.

Any ideas of how I could “represent”?

You think I’m kidding, don’t you? I’m not.

Test Drive: 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid

Analyst Says Prices Could Go To $3.50 A Gallon By Labor Day

WHilst stuck in a traffic jam yesterday, we notice 4 objects in the back window of the car in front of us. Help me make sense of these…

A half-empty pack of rewritable CDs.
3 ballpoint pens.
An open jar of Vasoline.
A dried-up, dead rose.

“I am announcing today that I am taking a leave of absence from my position as the color analyst for the University of Alabama for the 2008 season to give me the time to vigorously fight the allegations that have been made against me…”

Like the “allegations” portion. 3 DUIs within the last 12 years… what is being alleged? Is someone accussingg him of drinking a Mike’s Hard Lemonade? Because I would fight that as well.

(This is me, sparing any Alabama jokes.)

Militant Agnostic: I don’t know and you don’t either.