**** for Annette, Bobbie, and TM! Yes, the most recent ocean to form is the Atlantic Ocean (lots of folks headed there for our long weekend) and it was the monks on the English coastline who first recorded the tides in 600 AD. Thanks for playing everyone. For those of us in the US, we will be observing Memorial Day which is actually on May 30th. It used to be called Decoration Day because the graves of fallen Union soldiers were decorated with flowers. Here is a short history: By proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, the first major Memorial Day observance is held to honor those who died "in defense of their country during the late rebellion." Known to some as "Decoration Day," mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers. On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery. The 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances that had taken place in various locations in the three years since the end of the Civil War. In fact, several cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Mississippi; Macon, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; and Carbondale, Illinois. In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon B. Johnson, declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo--which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866--because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags. By the late 19th century, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day, and after World War I, observers began to honor the dead of all of America's wars. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May. Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. It is customary for the president or vice president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. More than 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually. Chuck always spends this Sunday at the Pentagon with the thousands of Rolling Thunder riders. He doesn't ride a motorcycle, but since this started with the Viet Nam vets and he was there, he always goes and talks to them and takes pictures while they are waiting to start the ride into DC and around the Federal City (across Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial, down Independence Avenue to the Capitol, back down Constitution Avenue past the White House and back to Lincoln where the Viet Nam Memorial is located. Have a wonderful weekend everyone. I only have 14 days of school left! Cynthia

They look nice, but too expensive for my tastes, both from ownership, to servicing. I have no customers driving new Volvo's, any of my customers that buy's one will need to take it elsewhere to have it worked on because the tooling information and equipment to service it properlly is way too expensive for me to even consider. (I.E. $24,000 initial investment, and then some $4,000 a year for updates just for Volvo)

RE: Help in choosing a large SUV Posted by: beaglebuddy (My Page) on Mon, Mar 13, 06 at 21:59 Could an attorney please step in and explain this to johndeere ? If the person hit is injurded and is in the Hospital for a long period of time and has surgery and then needs Thearapy.Has to take medication for the rest of his life.Then his pain and suffering and lost wages and can not pay his bills.Who do you think pays?Just because your insurance pays $10.000 per victim medical and you have say a $600.000 Liabilty.Does not mean your off the hook.Just because that is all they will pay.Because chances are that will not cover it. If the victim dies.Your not going to get off cheaper.Because a funeral is cheaper then if they lived and had huge medical bills.Say the victim is 40 years old and made $50.000 per year.The family would recieve a minimum of $50.000 x until his kids are grown.Not counting pain and suffering. Insurance Co.Cover there rearend and will only pay so much.You pay the remainder and that very well could be the larger portion. Could a Dr. please step in and explain this to beaglbuddy?

Hi Robo, funny you should resurrect this thread. We were pretty set on getting a Volvo crossover (DS didn't like the Subaru and we were fine with that since it didn't have any real advantage over the Volvo to us), and planning to look in earnest when they got back from their travels. We were out to lunch the day before they left, and DH mentioned a dealer friend he golfs with. I told him that I had checked his sites regularly and the only used SUVs they had were always late model and way more than what we wanted to spend. But I looked again anyway, and there it was. A 2004 BMW X3, over 100k miles. Not what we were planning on, but this dealer is a friend and we already have bought used BMWs from him and trust him. We called from the lunch table, then hurried over, and bought it. There were two other teenage boys in the waiting room with their Dads wanting to look at the same car. All of the other used SUVs they had were only 2-3 yrs old and multiples of the price. Anyway, yes, service is a killer on luxury cars, esp ones far past their prime. The cars we drive are usually still under warranty, but I had an old Benz once and we gave it to my stepson, who drove it 225k miles before selling it. You have to have the cash for the repairs, but actually it was a good deal all in. Hopefully the BMW will be the same. I am actually glad the car is so old and it even has a few dings; I don't want to spoil him. DS, OTOH, is tickled pink to have an X3. Safety wise, it has side airbags as well as front, and a low center of gravity, eg crossover SUV. Having now spent half of what we planned on, I told DS the first 7k of repairs are on us, LOL. In actuality I don't expect him to fully cover the costs of owning and insuring a vehicle; as long as he is a good student and is working at a job too, he is doing what we need him to do. The purpose of the job is to make sure they don't lose sight of the value of a dollar, but with all of the academic, extracurricular and volunteer demands on his time, (not to mention all the travel we do), he can't realistically earn terribly much. Good news is the dealer will give him a job (washing cars). ETA: Good luck to all the new drivers out there!