In a message dated 6/16/05 11:19:27 AM, j.michael.elliott@GMAIL.COM writes:

<< looks very, very nice. We especially like the caf� curtains! >>

I guess I'll have to be the lone voice of dissent (surprised?) on this 
number.  I think it looks like . . . gotta be careful here . . . well, like what it 
is  - dreck.  It's a result of the same mentality which gives us those RV's 
outfitted like Mediterranean styled (excuse me while I puke) rolling bordellos.  
Just like shag carpeting, cheap phenolic laminates on chipped wood substrates 
have no place in a proper car regardless of what the boyz at West Coast 
Customs say.  That flooring is known as a "floating" floor system for a reason: it 
sucks up humidity like a sponge so if it can't float, it heaves.  And, I bet 
that stuff is just peachy keen to tread upon whenever you have some snow or 
whatever surprise your dog left in your yard sticking in your Vibrams.

Other than for Soccer Mom service, I think that carpeting in a van also 
sucks.  Over the past 16 years I have chosen to go with rubber matting in four vans 
and I could not be happier with the performance or the aesthetics.  My 
current matting was cut from a 6' X 8' foot utility mat which is just like the 
pickup truck bedliner made by a company in Ohio.  Counting the ribbing on the front 
and the drainage tits on the back, it is about 3/8" thick and tougher than 
the doornails of hell.  I have the stuff custom fitted to the front, middle and 
rear.  Since I didn't have to glue and screw it in place, I can pop it out, 
blast it off and then it is like new.

Cafe curtains?  What can I say?

George