If you had been here in the 1970s you wouldn't recgoginze it! Not a good
thing IMHO. Lots of yuppification. The actual beach area is not too
different, but most of Santa Monica has gone with the nasty trends of
the past few years.....lots of new stop signs, speed bumps, Starbucks,
"upscale shops", multiplexes, tourists, you name it.

The Pep Boys which had been on the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and 6th
Street turned into a Salvation Army store about 2 years ago. I avoid SM
as much as possible these days. My folks still live there, and my doctor
and dentist (way too much of him lately) are there.

I'm in Mar Vista, just East of Venice. For the most part my nieghborhood
is still nice. Oddly, I now live 5 blocks from where I lived until I was
12 years old. Dad moved to Santa Monica in 1971, and I followed in 1975
when Mom and the asshole (I mean stepdad) moved out of state.

Hum, you remind me, my 25 year Samohi reunion is coming up! Class of 1980.

Best Regards,

DAve


L.W.(ßill) Hughes III wrote:
> How is Dog Town? ;-)
> God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
> http://www.billhughes.com/
>
> DaveW wrote:
>
>>Same here, I think.
>>
>>Shortly after I bought my XJ (90K miles), the rear end went South. At
>>the time, I had a good relationship with the local Dodge/Jeep
>>dealership, as in the owners were sort of friends of the family. They
>>put in a junkyard unit for me, with a one year warranty. I forget the
>>price, but it was discounted from regular dealership prices to the level
>>of a regular shop.
>>
>>About 4 months later, when checking things over, I discovered the seals
>>leaking and spilling lube onto the rear brakes. The dealer (now closed,
>>unfortunately) replaced the seals and even put in new shoes, gratis.
>>
>>About a week later, after a 20 mile freeway run, it started grabbing on
>>right turns. They put in some of the additive and everything has been
>>just fine ever since (3 years now).
>>
>>So, sometimes you may need a bit more additive than the "compatible"
>>stuff has in it. Or, maybe the "compatible" oil is merely that.
>>Compatible doesn't mean the additive is in there, just the it won't
>>cause a problem.
>>
>>Gee, I miss Claude Short Dodge in Santa Monica.
>>
>>Regards,
>>
>>DAve