Thank you. I am never far from my camera. I am on a hill near the drop off into the Pedernales river valley. There is a great updraft coming off this ridge of hills and the vultures do love to hover along this ridge of the Shingle Hills. I am often surprised by a rush of large wings and the shadow passing over me. I welcome their presence. I feel them passing in a strong way and it is a good feeling. Maybe I am just a tad off...left of center, an odd ball. I can see why the American Indians respected them. I admit to a growing fascination of them. I just don't like it when they sh#t on my car after a big feast. What a mess.

Hey, you guys, you betcha by golly, it was -26F this morning in lovely Minot, ND and I accidently hit my washers when I was driving to work and it worked as always. My father had the same problem, he used a brand from Walmart in Albuquerque NM, exactly the same stuff we use up here because he had the bottle with him (he carries all that type of stuff with him...oil, power steering fluid, etc) but he came up here in November last year, hit some sub-zero stuff here and his tank froze solid, but our still worked. Don't know what to say,maybe they have a different formula for the stuff that comes north. Howdy Canadian neighbors.

The car is properly serviced and maintained by the dealer at all recommended intervals. It passes the biennial smog inspection. Never used a quart of oil in its life. It is properly driven. We are not dodering old cogers that aim at a destination 60 feet away and hope for the best, pull into a parking lot leaving our ass hanging in traffic looking for a parking space or miss a turn at an intersection and stop right there bewildered or pull onto a freeway and slow down. My wife had back surgery and can't drive/ride for more than 2 hours w/o walkng for 15 minutes. I drove truck 2 million miles and don't drive anyplace if I can possibly avoid it, can't look a steering wheel in the face anymore. Hence the low mileage. Yes, the car should be good mechanically for well over 100K miles but how many years on the electronics? At 5K miles/year we've got 7 more years to go. The economics of new vs old vs repairs is not the point. I have refraised the question in a new post. ========================================================== Mikie- I had a tractor & semi trailer with a pickup behind the trailer. The P/U broke loose and ran into the semi trailer. I was basically operating 3 separate vehicles same time. Try explaining that to an adjuster. They guv me $300. I guv $5 to the body shop for the estimate. Hooked a chain to the P/U and a power pole and backed up hard. $295 profit.

The windshield is an integral part of the body. It is used to support the roof in a roll over. G.M. has sent us memos on the replacement of the glass. If it is replaced with " butal tape " all warranties and safety issues with G.M. are void and they can't be sued but the mechanic that installed the glass without using the approved urethane adhesive can be. A 1/2 bead of the stuff properly cured will stop a 22 bullet. Most glass places and body shops still use butal tape. That stuff is a very soft black rope like filler that never hardens and is very easy to use and very fast. After many years a person can still push out a windshield held in with butal tape by lying on the front seat and pushing the window out with their feet. Try that with urethane,if the glass doesn't break first the metal framing will bend. Bottom line. It someone went to all the trouble to keep the glass in to use for support how much support do you get with a cracked piece of glass before you even start ? That is why some states manate a replacement as soon as the glass is compromized. You can have a thousand cracks in your window and nothing will happen, maybe some vision problems though but i'd realy don't think i'd like to be rear ended, broad sided, or have a roll over. Don't get into any accidents and you will be just fine until you can afford to replace the glass. Make sure they use the proper stuff. Just a little F.Y.I. All cars use urethane now. I hate that stuff. It may take 4-6 hours to remove a windshield and clean up the surface for replacement. Butal tape, maybe 1 1/2 hours tops.