Hi Jannie, If one of your daughters, at age 15, invests One Whole Dollar ... ... and manages to have it earn 5% rate of return throughout ... ... through 50 years of time ... ... when she hits the ripe old age of 65 ... that dollar will have multiplied 2-1/2 times - it'll be worth $11.00 and change. If she can manage a 10% return, it'll grow to $117.00 and change. No allowance in either case for the erosion of annual income by income tax, and of the value of one's dollar-denominated assets due to inflation. And when she buys a pack of cigarettes - she pays a lot more than a Buck for each one of them. Most of which goes up in smoke - though some stays in her lungs. And the residue can cause a lot of trouble. Can she imagine what people would think of her were she to stand on a main street corner in town and set on fire as many dollars as she spent on smokes that week? And do that at that street corner - every week? People would say that she was nuts. But - that would do her a lot less harm than using those dollars to buy smokes. Trouble is, though - in the U.S., I think that she'd go to jail: it's a Federal offence to destroy money, as it is Federal property. I do hope that your daughters decide that it is a destructive habit - and one of the worst addictions. I don't want to be a slave to a person - much less to a white paper tube filled with dead leaves!! That sounds some stupid, to me. As Dad used to say, "Looks like that person drove their pigs to a darned poor market"!! Good wishes to you - and especially them - for a New Year filled with common sense. ole joyful

Hi Lindy Lu Who ... ... well, a WA-HO-O-O (not a boo-hoo) about that one! Thank you for making such a wonderful addition to this discussion! I have some Hanes ... and they're blue, too! But ... I've never seen them configured like that! Or ... so occupied, either, for that matter. Also, with elastic still intact - so they're not available for this purpose. Yet. Isn't this a wonderful idea? No more worries about the shortcomings (or, more accurately, long goings) of the elastic: in fact, if it were even somewhat tight, it might cause a problem. If any of you would like to use my old undies in such a fashion, I'd be glad to spring for the postage, even trans-border, to help the ancient briefs find some useful things to do throughout their retirement! Or, more accurately, delay their retirement! I can guaratee that I'll not send holey ones ... and you don't need to worry about the "baggy" that someone referred to, as the only part that's stretched is the elastic (possibly due to not having large body parts to ride herd on). And no stained or dirty ones, either ... solely ones that look to be only in slightly used condition. Then, with these still-useful things having their remaining useful life taken care of, I can go buy new ones with a happy heart!! Adding it as an extra errand when going to town to take care of several needs at a time ... ... and turning off the engine and coasting downhill, and as approaching signal lights when they turn yellow, half a block away ... to be passed by people pushing the gas pedal ... then hitting the brakes about a hundred feet before the "Stop" line. I staked a couple of rows of peas and picked some of the regular and of the edible pod kind. Took them to a nighbour who treats me well, and their daughter and SIL were there, playing cards. Daughter loves peas, I gave her several of the edible pod kind ... and she shelled them and ate them. En route home, I thought that I should have taken the edible pod ones back and given her some of the regular kind ... if she was going to shell them, anyway. Had some of each kind for supper - second picking - delicious! I hope that you had an enjoyable weekend ... and are looking forward to the coming week with anticipation. ole joyful

Ed got home about daybreak on Sat. I-75 northbound was under construction, they sent us via I-275 toward (Ann Arbor? and) Flint, then to take I-94 from Chicago, meeting by the airport, to the bridge, with everything being torn up in the vicinity of the bridge, as well. I hadn't gone off of one of those roads to look for a library - stopped to pull a substantial chunk of retread tire off of the driving lanes ... that a truck hit and kicked around ... then a car hit, moving it over into the lane by the curb, so it was not difficult to get to it, when there was a pause in traffic. I got just past the middle of the Ambassador Bridge about 7, then had to crawl toward immigration clearance ... first in one line, then two, after while a third, then 4 - 5 ... appraching 10 green lights. It took something over an hour, part of the time I had engine off, I thought most of that time with lights off, also ... but when I got next to talk ... the engine wouldn't start. I pushed it forward ... slightly past the door of the booth, and the occupant suggested that I might like to stop to talk to him. After I was cleared - a short interrogation, engine wouldn't go, he wondered if I needed help, I said not just yet, pushed car out of booth area, then pushed some more ... down a slight incline (so water wouldn't puddle in a rain, I expect) ... ... and the car started when I flipped it into gear, let out the clutch ... even though it was travelling quite slowly. It was slightly after 8, I figured likely hard to find a library open, visited the other cousin than the widow of the one that recently died, that I'd visited on the way down ... they'd both been at the reunion, with families. Needed milk, to feed my addiction, didn't see store as I left Windsor, tried in Tilbury (freeway skirts town, accessible at both ends) ... cost was $4.79, which gave my wallet the chills. Usually buy for $3.99 at Shoppers' Drug Mart ... one along the regular highway route near the edge of the city wasn't open ... got 4 litres (3.78 litres to U.S. gal.) at $4.59 which, though it caused some wallet-chill, was not serious enough to scotch the deal - so, at around midnight, my needs were filled and I was ready to head home. A few blocks up the street, several police lights flashing ... when I got there, it was RIDE ("Rejecting Drunk Driving Everywhere" ... or is that "Reducing?). When the guy asked where I was coming from and I said, "Georgia", he was somewhat surprised. Their checkpoint was visible for some distance, so I imagine that a driver approaching it still possessing some residual brain function would think that he heard a call from A side street. A few miles farther along the regular road, about three towns away, I felt rather tired, so pulled into a side street for a nap. Or so I thought. When I awoke, wondered where I was ... then decided that I was in the car ... with seat belt on ... to keep me from fallng out of bed, I guess. Looked at watch: 4:30 ... so it had been an extended sleep. Arrived home about an hour later, just as dawn was approaching. A couple of heavy digging machines in front of the house ... landlord's planning to build a third pond between the barn and the road, just in front of the garden. When I went out to check the garden ... I found that the (quite large) pond's already dug. He wants to irrigate the sod - has a bunch of aluminum pipes and a large reel with a spray gun on the end of the hose. Cucumbers are dying - again, as they did in other years. Corn is in silk stage, tomatoes are large and setting fruit, there are peas and beans, beets are large ... radishes are going to seed (many of them split) and lettuce, having been neglected, is spurring up, ready to go to seed. There are some zucchini ready to use (some rather large) and (large quantity of) round green squash are starting to bloom. Need to go pick some peas, beans, etc. to take to churches tomorrow. Glad to be home: think that I'll stay for a while. ole joyfyul

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