New Hampshire city attorney sues parking meter feeders, they are cutting into city revenue by preventing the meter maids from writing tickets

The city of Keene, N.H., has sued a group that feeds change into parking meters that are about to expire, saying members are harassing parking enforcement officers.

The group calls itself "Robin Hood of Keene." Members walk city streets with rolls of dimes and quarters to feed the meters. WMUR-TV reports the city accuses the group of interfering with officers' work. It asks them to stay at least 50 feet away.

The group records its time outside and posts videos online, sometimes showing members following the officers.

The city says one officer suffered stress, anxiety and heart palpitations from the group's actions. Group member Garret Ean says he's not trying to cause any medical problems. He says he tries to keep a good demeanor with all the parking meter enforcers.

Found on http://autos.aol.com/article/parking-meter-new-hampshire-keene-police-robin-hood/

the '65 Winternats on the ABC Wide World of Sports

Above: Jerry Caudle of Chicago with a furry material all over his helmet... cool funny idea! (number 1093 at http://www.draglist.com/draglist/category.php?CATEGORY%5B0%5D=TOPFUEL&x=dragsters&SORTBY=MPHRANK+DESC%2CTRUEMPH+DESC%2CETRANK+DESC%2CTRUEET&VIEW=Extended&page=35 )



Found on http://bangshift.com/blog/watch-the-opening-four-minutes-of-the-1965-winternationals-coverage-featured-on-wide-world-of-sports-video.html

a 12 year old in Mt Pleasant decided to restore a car for her 16th birthday... cool!

Found on http://autos.aol.com/article/kathryn-dimaria-pontiac-firebird-restoration/

 her 16th birthday is in 2014

 Kathryn DiMaria was only 12 years old when she came to her parents with the idea to refurbish a Pontiac Fiero. The car hadn't been in production for 13 years when she was born, but after spotting it at local classic car show, she knew it was for her.

 The fact that the restoration would allow her to learn her car inside and out for several years before actually getting her driver's license seemed like solid reasoning to mom and dad. So using her babysitting money they bought a rough, but drivable 1986 Fiero for $450.

 Her dad hit the Internet message boards to brag about his 'cool daughter' and her story became a source of inspiration for other Fiero lovers. Even though the pair aren't asking for help, assistance from the community has been pouring in ever since that first post.

 Members have followed the 2 years of updates and pictures of progress and have helped with their advice and even a few tools and parts. For her 13th birthday members of the forum even sent her gifts just to be part of the build.

When the DiMarias had trouble with the bumper, a user named James Schultz sent them some parts from his side business Fiero Fiberglass.

Right now she's facing the biggest job yet, rebuilding a 3.4-liter Camaro engine to replace the 2.8-liter that came in the Fiero. Now 14, she is optimistic the car will be running by the time she reaches her 16th birthday in 2014.

the first sign I've seen that Chrysler/Mopar/Dodge gives a hoot that it's their centennial anniversary

Found on a new Challenger. So far, I haven't seen anything in print, advertising, billboards, on vehicles or commercials

Drunk on the job... but that's ok, he's not really an employee. He's a homeless guy hired by the guard that needed to get more sleep. Seriously.. In Manhatten, anything can happen

Found on http://autos.aol.com/article/transit-work-hires-drunk-homeless-man-to-direct-traffic/

The actual Transit employee Santiago was covering for, Max Caramas, was filmed asleep in a bus on the lot while Santiago was drinking and directing traffic.

Jane... a coffee and motorcycle shop. Good video, looks like a cool place

Found on http://megadeluxe.com/ 

The MINI Countryman isn't as bad as everyone makes out

I GET the feeling this particular article is going to be an expensive one.

The trouble is, I’ve ended up spending three days in a car which everyone loves to hate. In order to dissuade me from being too nice about it, my friends have used Facebook to set up a £10-per-compliment fines system, payable next time I see them in the pub.

A tricky call when the car in question is the MINI Countryman.

It’s one of a trio of jacked-up, off-roader-esque diesel hatchbacks (or ‘crossovers’ in automotive marketing speak) I’ve had the privilege to try out lately, with my weekend in the most massive MINI of them all coming after stints in Honda’s latest CR-V and Volkswagen’s Tiguan. It’s probably worth tackling the rather bloated, retro elephant in the room first; the MINI is, to my mind at least, the ugliest of the three.

I didn’t like the styling when I roadtested it forThe Champion three years ago and it still doesn’t look great now – it’s not that it’s a ridiculously oversized retro pastiche of the original Mini, but that, compared to the Honda and VW it just seems a bit blobby and ill defined. Perhaps as a conscious result of how it looks, the boot is also noticeably smaller than most of its rivals too.

Sadly, I don’t get a tenner back for every time I’m critical of the Countryman, so a few callous comments about its styling aren’t going to help me. Annoyingly, there are quite a few things the Countryman has in its favour.

The interior, for instance, is far more imaginative than anything else in its class, and if you’ve spent a lifetime on the M6 being bored by the relentless sea of grey trim and unassuming buttons in most modern motors then you’ll love the MINI’s rocker switches, lashings of chrome and the silly, pizza dish-sized speedo.

It’s also quiet at speed, rides superbly, is more than roomy enough for you and four of your average-sized chums, and it comes with the same feeling of sturdiness you’d expect from a car masterminded by BMW.

What you might not be expecting – and I definitely wasn’t until I ventured off the motorway and onto the quiet country lanes criss-crossing Cheshire – is that the MINI Cooper D Countryman handles and steers so much better than any of its chief rivals. There is, I begrudgingly admit, a faint whiff of Nineties hot hatch about the way it chews up corners, and a confidence-inspiring finesse to the steering I genuinely wasn’t expecting.

Given twenty grand it’s not the crossover I’d go for – that’d still be the Skoda Yeti – but the Countryman is far better than my mates give it credit for.

Mates who, by my reckoning, I now owe roughly £80. Oops.