I still agree with our traffic act ... that it's a privilege ... to drive on the public highway. Any person has a right, wearing a seat belt or not, to drive any vehicle, licensed or not, passed mechanical/emissions test or not, on private property ... but only if s/he owns it. Or has the owner's permission ... which makes that situation a "privilege" that must be granted, doesn't it? How would you like to have me tell you that I have a right to drive my car on your driveway? farm? In our area, a youth can only drive on the public road initially if s/he can pass a test showing that s/he knows many of the traffic laws ... and only if accompanied by a licensed driver, for some time, until s/he has proved her/his capacity to operate a vehicle within appropriate parameters (which until that time does not include driving on an expressway, or driving between midnight and 5 a.m., or with more than one other youth in the car, or with any trace whatever of alchol on his/her breath) at which time s/he is granted an unrestricted licence (except can't have more than 0.08% of alcohol on his/her breath). And if s/he transgresses those parameters, the privilege will be withdrawn ... for a period. In fact, I don't have a right to drive any vehicle on the highway, as is. When I purchase a vehicle, it must pass certain mechanical tests and limited emission tests before the government allows me to put a licence plate on it, and if I am caught driving it on a public road without a licence plate, I have some serious consequences to face, regardless of whether I possess a driving licence. Actually, if I don't pay a fee before my birthday next year, the "right", "privilege" or whatever we choose to call it, will expire, and if I put it on the road the next day, there'll be consequences that I won't like (if I'm caught by certain designated persons policing the rules). Plus, every couple of years, it must re-pass an emissions test and if it doesn't, they won't accept my fee in order for me to continue to exercise my "right" ... "privilege" ... whatever ... to continue to operate it on the public roads (but I can operate it on my own farm, even if it doesn't pass the emissions test). If it's been through an accident and an evaluator assesses that it has suffered structural, rather than merely cosmetic damage, I will not be allowed the "right" ... "privilege" to continue to have a licence on it. But this issue is beside the point ... my suggestion here was that everyone choose to make a distinct effort to re-evaluate and most likely upgrade their driving knowledge and skills. Probably we upgrade our computers oftener than re-evaluate/upgrade our driving skills. But the choice not to re-evaluate/upgrade our computer will hardly ever be responsible for someone's death or serious injury, whether that of others or our own. ole joyful

Actually, when you have to have a 4-year-licensed driver sitting beside you ... and can't drive on the freeway ... and not between midnight and 5 a.m. either ... ... somehow, one gets the feeling that one has arrived at one's second childhood! ole joyful

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 Iva Mae, I`ve been planning to dwell on that package, and some other matters, with a bit of embellishment, probably, but not stretching things too much, over on the jokey thread about the jockeys with the tired elastics (that got some folks a bit huffy) a week or so ago. Or ... should we suggest that those folks got their shirt-tails (undershorts) sort of tied into knots? (I`m in a newly opened library that has French (slash) English keyboards, some of the keys have double use, and I managed to get the (E with an accute accent) rather than the question mark, and the (e with an accute accent) rather than the forward slash ... and the computer tech here couldn`t find the key to shift the usage back, so she set one up for me for the question mark ... but not the slash! (The exclamation mark works ... but the apostrophe is on a dual key, as well). Life ... do ... have its problems, right� ? ole joyful