I have several dream cars. The first was a 1960 bugeye Austin Healey Sprite (tiny little car) that was owned by boyfriend when I was 18. 2 years later I bought one & then another & then a third. Like potato chips you can't have just one (+ you need the others for parts). 40 years later, I still have them. I also had a 1960 Chrysler Imperial when I was 18 (one of the biggest cars ever made & almost twice as long as a Sprite). It caught fire & I sold it. It took me 30 years to find another one I could afford. DH replaced the engine but it's no where near being finished. I am happy to just polish all the chrome (lots & lots of real chrome) & listen to the am radio. I drive (when I can see) a red 03 Dodge Caravan with yellow & orange painted flames (real, not decals). One of the largest car shows on the East coast is here (Cumberland MD) Labor Day weekend. Linda

a few years ago, while I was president for the local bike club, our monthly meeting fell on my birthday/April Fools Day. I showed up with a soft collar, like you wear if you have whip lash. Told everyone I was in an accident. At the end of the meeting, while I was up front, I reached back, and took my collar off, and tossed it to the members, and said, April Fools. It was a hoot. Yesterday, I had my hair colored. This morning, while serving breakfast at the school, it was truly fun to see the kids reaction. Not so speak of my boss. She just had to look away.. cause she cracked up when she looked at me. I am having a BLAST with this hair, and can't wait, till my girls see it. One comes later today, the other tomorrow. Moni

"To the person who works for the State of California, I hope your [sic] not using the states [sic] time to make personal phone calls, making doctors appointments, talking to a mechanic or just plain chit chatting with your co-workers while your [sic] on the clock." I'm much too busy each day to waste my or the state's time. The state has had a hiring freeze for quite some time -- when we lose employees (whether the employee dies, or leaves the agency), we cannot fill the position. As I've stated previously, I work in Information Technology. Our division has 40% fewer employees than it did 18 months ago. We have just as much work to do as we did before, but fewer people to do it. Therefore, each remaining employee has had to take on additional duties. Additionally, our former Governor signed Executive Orders and had his cronies put through some new laws mandating the statewide consolidation of servers and e-mail services. (You may think this will save the state money, but it won't. It will end up being more expensive because each agency is going to have to pay "big bucks" to the Technology Agency (the State CIO's agency) for them to "administer" everything.) So, the agencies have the looming deadlines to change their individual Active Directory forests to meet the new state standards. I'm entitled to a one-hour lunch each day, but I eat my lunch at my desk while I'm working. And, no, I don't take the time to go get food - I bring my lunch every day. So that's one hour of work for which I don't get paid; and I don't leave work until at least 30 minutes after my workday is over. It's more important to me to get the work done so the end users (the agency's employees) can do what they need to do. (I am a Domain Admin and Active Directory Administrator.) debbie_ab said, "I would feel sorry for you, but my pay before taxes is LESS than the amount of money you lost during that time each month. Minus the taxes and it's way less. And we manage." I never said, or implied, that my husband and I "didn't manage" during the pay reduction. I also didn't say that the $2,500 was net pay. It was gross pay. Even with the pay reduction, our combined gross monthly salaries were more than the gross annual salary for many folks. But people buy things - homes, vehicles, etc. - and arrange vacations, travel, etc., according to what they can afford based on their income. When you have bills due and things planned based upon that income, and then suddenly get hit with a not-insignificant income reduction, it forces you to change your lifestyle.

Love love love this song.....sadly, another great singer taken from us far too soon - Michael Johns.