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

I didn't mention that the message above was sent from a library near I-75, near London, KY. Being from London, Ontario, I'd gone in there on the same trip, three years ago, wanting to send some messages ... and, thinking that I was in a library, asked to use computer, and for internet access, to be met with some substantial reservations ... ... until I realized that things didn't look right for a library, and, when I asked if it were, was told that, no, ... it was a bank. So I dug out a one-Dollar and a two-Dollar Canadian coin from my pocket ... which they found interesting, as they'd never seen them. The library in London is not now operational ... they have a lovely, spacious new County Library near London. This is on Sunday afternoon, after the conclusion of the Korea Missionaries' Reunion. I enjoyed the gathering, what little of it I attended - mentioned some aspects elsewhere, earlier (regarding plans for Sunday, I think). Now off to visit my niece and family in Gainesville, GA. Good wishes to everyone. ole joyful

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

Hi again, senior gal ... ... wow! when I saw the title of the thread ... I thought ... "What a quick reply!". And, now that I read the substantial missive, written in that short time ... it looks as though I'm not referring to the same husband that you were caring for when you joined Gardenweb. But ... a great story! Thanks for sharing (with this old fart)! I met my ex-, an Iowa gal, on a blind date when she, who'd transferred from Iowa State to Cornell (hospital diet program) met me, a missionary who'd helped refugees re-establish in Korea just after the Korean War ... ... and she wasn't my date. We began seeing one another ... and there was talk of marriage ... but I suggested that she finish her degree, which she did, then travelled to Korea, where we were married, with no member of either family in attendance. Son born there, has dual citizenship, and the Japanese shopgirls went ga-ga over his fine, flaxen hair when we were en route home when he was about 20 mos. Daughter born here ... Sue back to her career when she entered kindergarten, worked as second head and head of food service in a substantial psych. hosp. near here. We were together for 11 years, apart for 40 years. When there was talk of closing her hosp. or a similar one nearby ... she took early retirement, had 10 years to have a ball ... ... and she, who'd fed millions - ironically, contracted colon cancer, died 7 years ago, at 66. "Kids" (50ish) said that in the ordinary course of things, she'd have retired the year before, and I added that she'd have been sick for most of that ... ... but, having taken early retirement ... she'd had 10 years to have a ball (including travelling in her RV from FL to TX between about mid-Dec. to mid-Mar. - and to AZ when daughter lived there). Good wishes to you and your loved-one-deferred. ole joyful