is there something weird going on with the front tire in the first pic or am I seeing things?

ahh thanks!  i thought maybe you forgot to put tire dressing on that part!

Cool congrats!!! Honda makes a really reliable product!

These figures are from a Honda press release on July 2008 North American sales.

July 08 v 07 /  July YTD 08 v 07 / 08 sales YTD
Odyssey:-14.3% / -9.8% / 85,712
Pilot: -47.4% / -21.5% / 62,967
CR-V: -19.9% / -2.2% / 122,230
Element: -28.7% / -21.1% / 18,084
Ridgeline: -47.1% / -17.7% / 22,061

Compare
Accord +2.8% / +12.0% / 247,244
Total Civic –3.5% / +15.4% / 234,086
[Civic Hybrid +27.4% / +13.8% / 22,472]


We did not look at or test drive the Rogue.  I would have liked to do so.  I did not actually realize my wife wanted to buy a crossover until we got to the Honda dealership.  At that point, it was too late to look at anything else given my spouse's strong brand loyalty.

Mike, you are right-on regarding how some car owners are about the brand of car they own.  They are downright vociferous in tirades against owners of other brands who dare espouse an opinion that differs.

The funny thing is that I have found those who scream the loudest and fling the most dirt on the other brand, usually have never been within a mile of that other brand or model.  They have preconceived ideas, little factual evidence a massive egos that they must display for adulation.

Over the years my wife has uttered very specific comments about cars we look at.  "I hate that car!"  Why dear?  "Because its ugly."  Oh.

Or, that car is beautiful.  Really dear?  Why do you say that? "Well, it goes so great with my dress."  Oh.

Now when we look at cars I say, wow, that car has a 900 gansalec a bamerescanz engine with quadrouple tail pipes; and, look at the lecta aarc wheels with the caldona spokes.  My wife looks at, shakes her head and said, "but the color is wrong."

So Mike, I agree with you.  We men, with some exceptions, look at more earthy things.  Women on the other hand, look at the really important things . . . like color and how the car goes with their clothing.

I'm not going to mention any names, but that's how I got treated from
going from a Nissan to a Honda.  I tried to explain, I don't want a CVT,
they are like nope, CVT's are better, I'm like whatever.   

to be OT...

Are you using the "clarity" setting?  I'm loving the first image.  It looks great, but it seems that you are losing detail in the ones that follow.  If that is the case I would pull some of the Clarity and boost the contrast if you like that contrast-y look.  If its not the case then I would pull the "recovery" up a bit to bring some detail back into those white portions.