New here and referred by, who else: Grabber!

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by iceman

always good to see the familiar faces pop in here. Welcome aboard!!!

So true. Thanks for the warm welcome, Iceman!

[Birdman]

Originally Posted by Dad's72Mach

Wait a minute, is there ANOTHER new set of rules?

Yeah they need special rules for those with Alloy.....slow rules....



























sorry couldn't pass on that one...

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by GRABBER

Hi 5 Oh,

Good to see ya bud. I need to start planning the 3rd annual Pacific Meet and Greet soon. The 3rd Sat. in May would be the 23rd. I need to look at other events happening around that time period and plan the event. I hope you can attend again. With the economy taking a nose dive and my current job assignment slowing down considerbly, and looming lay offs, Tana and I have decided not to go into debt on a new car. She's very happy with the GT/CS and the best part is that it's paid for. I'm preparing for the worst...if a lay off comes my way. Ya just never know.

Hows the car business at your dealership going? Our local dealership has streamlined their management and eliminated several positions. There is no GSM and the owner is heavly involved in running the place even more than he was before.

Hi, Rob, you can count on Mr & Mrs Five Oh B to be at your place for the 3rd annual PNWM&G. We're open to any weekend in May. We're travelling to Holland in June (finances permitting), so May is great. The live band (and David playing guitar) was great last time, but you could save a few bucks this year without a band and we'd still have an awesome time. Great people, great food, great cars, and a great road trip are a winning combo.

Probably a wise decision to keep Tana's GT/CS. It's a sharp looking car and waaaay less money than a '10 GT500. I hope your income & employment aren't affected by the economy. It's tough everywhere, but it's gotta bottom out soon and start receovering.

The dealership I'm at finished 2008 as the 8th largest volume Ford dealer in the Pacific Northwest out of 153 dealers, so business was fairly decent for us, but still down like everyone else. I did have to lay off my last employee in my department, so I'm a one-man-show now doing the work of several people. There were several other layoffs, as well, but only a few (we were already staffed fairly thin to start with). Plus, we all had to take 5% paycuts dealership-wide. A lot of our benefits were reduced, as well. Shirley and I traded in her big gas guzzling Mercury Mountainer AWD V8 for a very thrifty 4 cylinder 2008 Mercury Milan Premier and our travel trailer is up for sale.

Car sales have picked up so far this month, and it appears to be the trend nationwide, so I'm hopeful that 2009 will be better than 2008. Ford makes some of the best quality and safest cars on the road, and styling is getting so much better, so I'm excited to be part of a Ford Lincoln Mercury dealership.

As always, we're looking forward to the upcoming car show (and racing) season and getting back down to your place. We've gone to Portland the last two weekends in a row on business and we always wave as we pass exit 9 for Battleground. If we would have had some time we would have called to say hi, but both trips were business so we had to boogey.

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by Birdman

Welcome Brian good to see you join us here. This is a light hearted bunch who like to joke around as you may have already noticed but we do take our technical info serious though.

George...

I'm quite a joker with a technical side, as well, so I should fit right in. Thanks for the nice welcome, Birdman!

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by Kevhead14

Welcome Brian

Thanks, Kevhead14. Looks like you, too, have a Vortech blower lurking under the hood of a Mustang (your '92).

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by TOMMY GUN

Welcome Brian!

Thanks, boss. Nice to be here, Tommy Gun.

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by HSURB

Welcome to the site Brian. I've always enjoyed your insight from the dealership perspective.

HSURB®

Yeah, another familiar name! Thanks for the warm welcome, HSURB.

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by BADGIRL500

Thank you; thank you very much....

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by Boston Mike

Welcome aboard. Hope you enjoy your visit and decide to stick around a while.

Boston Mike - thanks for the welcome. Looks like you're in Plano? I have a ton of family that lives in Plano and all around the Dallas area. I gotta get down there to visit again soon.

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by Johnny Dangerously

Welcome Brian!

Alloy Rules.


`

The irony is that I don't really like Alloy Gray as a color. I bought it for the stealth factor as I fly at subsonic speeds down the highway. I affectionately call Alloy Gray "wet pavement" as that's what it looks like to me.

It amazes me that so many people tell me how nice Alloy Gray looks when they see my car, cuz I just don't dig it. I know, I'm very odd to have bought a color I don't actually like.

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by Dad's72Mach

Wait a minute, is there ANOTHER new set of rules?

Yes, Alloy Gray gets a different set of rules than, say, Torch Red or Grabber Orange. Alloy Gray blends into the road and background so easily that we can drive much faster before drawing any attention to our antics!

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by Darkside

Welcome Brian

Thank you. Love the color combo on your GT500!

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by Hans

Hi Bryan

Glad you made it here. First look at your new Stang! Those are nice number you are getting at the track. I remember back when we were on Stangs unlashed and you were the only dealer that knew anything about the new GT500 coming out you were a big help to me.

Hans, glad I could be of service. I'll continue the tradition here, as well. And, hopefully, I'll post some better numbers at the track this year. I only got a few passes down the 1/4 mile with the blower on the car last season.

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by Joker

Welcome Brian!

Long time no see. It's good to have you back.

Thanks, Joker. And thank you for being here. Your avatar has always made me smile a lot!

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by cheftjpeck

Welcome Brian!!!

Thanks, Chef! Are you really a chef? I spent 10 years of my young adult days working as a sous chef in a very swanky seafood restaurant. A lot of great memories.

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by Birdman

Yeah they need special rules for those with Alloy.....slow rules....

Ouch, you really now how to hurt a guy. However, I'm always open to a good race down the 1/4 mile at Pacific Raceways or Bremerton Raceway if you're ever in the Seattle/Tacoma area with your ride.

[Carnut]

Well I see you got the PW part down, qualifying you for SM.

Just kidding, welcome.

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by Carnut

Well I see you got the PW part down, qualifying you for SM.

Just kidding, welcome.

Okay, not sure I know what PW or SM means. Care to enlighten me so I can be in on the fun?

[Carnut]

Sorry, SM is Stangmafia.

PW is what TommyGun does regularly (high post count).

[Five Oh B]

Originally Posted by Carnut

Sorry, SM is Stangmafia.

PW is what TommyGun does regularly (high post count).

Now I get it. I'm really not a PW, I'm just trying to respond to others as they post. I'll definitely cut down a bit on the posting as the newness wears off.

Some people are cut out to be PW's (cough: Grabber), while some of us can't spend all day online. A happy medium is the best medicine.