This is NOT AKCA approved.... I recently had the opportunity to collect two 20" koi and two 12" koi from a gentlemen who was moving and had no water feature to move them to. His old house was soon coming out of escrow, so I had to move quickly. The two houses are @ 15 miles apart (disclaimer: do not attempt this without proper O2 levels over large distances). Here's what I did (my apologies to the koi police) I purchased a plastic storage container, large enough to accom. the fish, but small enough to fit in the back of my SUV. I washed out the container (lid and all) and placed it in the back of the car. I packed a couple of cinder blocks around the container so it would not slide in transit. BEFORE leaving my house, I set up my "Q" tank also. I brought along with me a little pond salt, Meta-fix, water conditioner, 2 "Brand-new" yard sacks, a large beach towel, and a koi net. I arrived and first put water ( about 1/2 way up ) into the container in the back of my car. Then I treated the water with conditioner, a LITTLE salt to help with stress, metafix to combat possible injury during transport, and a little sweat of worry. Then I went into the backyard and INDIVIDUALLY worked a fish into the brand new yard bag. I place the bag in the water, work the fish into the bag GENTLY, then slowly quietly remove MOST of the water from bag and moved the fish to the transport container. I did this with each fish. When they had been placed into the container, I put the lid on, threw the towel over to block out light,and transported them. NOTE: koi show stress by bleeding a little out their gills; not a good sign. There is a need to keep them calm. At the other end, I repeat the procedure (starting with the first fish in) with a NEW yard bag. When I open the container, they had calmed from the salt and the light block. 9 months on and those fish have adjusted and are loving their new 6,000 gallon home. Lastly, I attached an article from the Koi Club of San Diego website. LP Here is a link that might be useful: Transportation of Fish in Bags

I don't know anything about the seal problems, but a Toyota with only 76K miles could have a lot of life left. As for $3K, I again say look at the "book value" to see what it should sell for and look at the private sale value, that should be less than what you'd have to pay at a dealer. Again, I'd look at the book on Chevy and Ford (S10 and Ranger to be in the same size range as the Toyota) and see if it is possible to get one a couple of years newer and a few miles less used for the same money. I was talking to a fisherman I "bumped" into a couple of days back. He had noted my Chevy Colorado and asked how I like it. He had a Chevy S10 of some years, don't remember, but I do remember he said he had about 300,000 on it. Yes he had replace a number of things, but he engine/transmission/drive-train was original equipment. My 1988 Dodge Ram 50, similar size, had about 100,000 on it when I traded it in (gave away) on the Chevy and the only problems I had were: Head Gasket and Carb. It was a 4WD and the drive train/clutch seemed to be in "perfect" shape. A mechanic at the dealer bought the truck, and I see it from time to time, he's still driving it to work. He said he replaced the carb, I don't know if anything else has gone. Point? 76K miles isn't a lot of miles on a vehicle if it has been maintained (mostly just oil change/filter change).

Yes, thank you! We live in a county with 15 % unemployment. Yesterday I watched a young boy (7th or 8th grade) walking by his school with flapping shoes. He was having a hard time walking because of the poor shape his shoes were were in yet, he was trying to 'be cool' as he walked up the stairs of the library. So many families are hurting and I hope we all find it in our hearts to give where we feel compelled to give and give to the level we are able.

"I "was" a claims adjuster for AAA, Northern California region. We "never" promised to get to anyone in under an hour(that I know of...?). We only responded to AAA members. It was cheap, about $25 a year in addition to your auto policy." Nicole, maybe things have changed, but AAA has long had a reputation of being at the high end of the premium cost scale in my area. I wonder how it's doing (I know there are "local" regional entities that are legally separate) given how easy it is these days to get competitive quotes and how so many of its secondary member services - maps, travel booking, tour guides - are likely in less demand since there are so many similar and free sources of the same kind on everyone's smartphone and PC. PS - through my insurance company, emergency road service can be even cheaper (depending on how many cars owned) at about $8 per car per year. AAA doesn't operate its own emergency/tow services, they contract out. I can call (and have called several times) the very same towing services when in need. I just call directly (or use my insurance company's phone center), submit the bill, and get reimbursed.