Maye some of you missed this, first time around, and might find it useful. And ... would you call this go-round ... "regifting"?? ole joyful

Sounds like much of the same here in the lower 48. Even here is ND where the oil boom is bringing in so much money BUT everything is way too high for the average person. Just ask some of the Canadians that come south to shop and try to find a place to stay.

Skunks and highways don't mix well ... and when they've tried, usually there's a reminder for later travellers for a time. Coons don't, either. Or dogs, for that matter ... and this f c doesn't mind running angleways over the road, ahead of the car: she hasn't been trained how to manage, around cars. (Skunks, either, for that matter). I took the course that stockbokers take, thirty years ago ... but there was some downturn in the markets and brokers weren't hiring. I got on with a mutual fund broker a couple of years later ... compensation totally by commission ... but after a year I hadn't sold enough to suit the second tier guy above me ... so was "decommissioned". Some years ago a parishuioner in the post office one day thought it a bit odd that his clergy person subscribed to "The Financial Post" ... ... and I allowed as how it was my impression that bread cost me the same price that it cost him. So I worked for years as a personal financial consultant selling no financial products - folks didn't need to watch me closely, to see whether I was talking out of the side of my mouth that dealt with what was good for them ... ... or the side of my mouth dealing substantially with what was good for me. When I worked for the mutual fund broker, there was a guy there who'd been a fee-only planner for some time prior to that, and he said that was a good way to starve ... and I somewhat agree. People claim that they'd like unbiased advice ... but wonder why they should pay me ... for advice that they can get elsewhere ... for free. "Free", huh? Most financial planners are actually sales-peiople ... for insurance or mutual funds ... or, in recent years, stockbrokers, as well. I'm in London, need to get my diuretic prescription refilled, and meet the mutual fund guy in a half hour, so ... ... see you all later. ole joyfuelled

Greetings, everyone. I'd had no indication prior to that trip that something was wrong with the rad. I had a '90 Dodge "Colt" (also standard tranny) from about '97 to about '04 or '05. I used it to travel the 12 miles or so to Uncle's farm nearly daily after his death, to make it look lived in, until the farm was sold, and, as I was usually travelling at midnight or 2 a.m or so, when there was little traffic, found that I could coast over 16 of the 20 km. trip ... and if anyone had told me that they could coast 80% of the time, I'd have thought them to be lying. Didn't have any clutch or transmission troubles with it. When the mechanic said that, at about 200K miles, it was risky to put it on the road, donated it to a charitable agency for a charitable receipt. When I initiated a discussion here about coasting some time ago, some said that such is illegal in their state. I've asked several police people and have been told that it's my responsibility to be in charge of my vehicle, and to drive in a safe manner. I don't usually do it if someone is following me rather closely, as it is not fair to interfere with his/her progress. _____________________________ The lady in question called me the next evening, to ask whether I'd got home O.K., and I told her that I had, and of the issues that I'd had to deal with ... and asked her how she knew that I'd had any problems. She said that she hadn't seen me at the commital, or afterward at the luncheon, and that she had been pretty sure that I'd have been there, so thought that something probably went wrong. And, yes ... I've seen her again ... why not? Last evening, as a matter of fact ... for a short visit before coming to the library ... but hadn't time to make this post, then. Any other questions/comments/(advisories)? ole joyful