THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
        
              In the Wall Street Journal this week, the price of heating
        oil futures dropped from .48 to .44 cents per gallon.  Boy, you
        can be sure that I didn't invest in those futures.  My future
        would've looked bleak.  But that is a relative statement and open
        to debate.
              Imagine owning one car and having it break down on the
        coldest week of the year.  Many of you can related to that.  Now,
        imagine having three or four cars and having them all break down
        at the same time.  It's possible when the temperature drops below
        zero.
              When my first car went down with a blown transmission, I was
        not too upset.  On Christmas Eve, the second car broke down on
        the highway with a broken timing belt.  Two down, two to go.  The
        next day, I started my truck to get it ready to go and cut
        firewood.  I could get it to drive forward, but alas, I had no
        reverse gear.  Chock up three to Ol' Man Winter.
              Then, when the fourth car quit charging on the morning when
        the temperature hit 10 below, I knew I had to do something.  My
        friend, Jim Peterson, an expert auto mechanic, got it to work
        again.  He was not sure what happened, but it was charging. 
        That's all I cared about at the moment.
              Something had to be done.  I sold the truck to the first
        person who came past with $100 to cover the cost of title
        transfer.  The green horizon would travel to the boneyard.  It
        wouldn't receive any more major operations.  I hated to see the
        car go, but a 1979 auto is not worth a $1000 worth of parts in
        one year.
              On Friday night I had a dream.  I saw a station wagon just
        like my wife, Cheryl's, parking in the driveway.  When I awoke, I
        did not remember the dream, until much later.  
              For some reason, I made a decision on Saturday morning to
        get another car after I found out that the green horizon needed
        $500 in repair work.  I called around to all the dealers and to
        the private ads placed in The Derrick.  Most sounded good, but
        every vehicle had mega-miles on it and a major price tag.
              Then, I got a return phone call from a man in Reynoldsville
        who said he had quite a few cars in my price range ($1000-$2000:
        I'm the last of the big spenders).  He told me he had a station
        wagon, five speed overdrive standard transmission, 55,000 miles,
        and the price, get this, $1500.  I told him I'd be right over.  
              When I saw the car, I knew it was mine.  It drove like a
        boat, had plenty of room, and I took it home for just $1500 out
        the door.  The irony of it all was that the salesman I bought it
        from graduated from the same high school that I did.  What a
        small world, huh?
              Sunday, I took the snow tires from the green car and put
        them on the blue station wagon.  They rims fit like a glove.  I
        didn't need new snow tires.  Another savings.  When I drove it
        around, the car moved through the snow almost as effortlessly as
        my green car.  
              I was feeling top of the world.  But tonight will tell the
        tale.  It's supposed to go down to 10 below, and now will this
        car start when Ol' Man Winter cuts the lifeblood out of a car's
        battery?
              You know, it doesn't really matter.  No, the car will or
        will not start.  I accept that.  It's not what this story is all
        about.
              You see, car troubles are just like any other ones.  If I
        did not have a car, there would be no possibility of its breaking
        down.  Ownership bequeaths upon the owner the right to have
        problems.  It's the problems that in the end make us aware of
        just how lucky we are to have - to be a part of the haves and not
        the have-nots.
              Granted, none of my vehicles are valuable.  All totaled, my
        family's three cars are worth a grand total of $4800 dollars. 
        The value is in the ownership regardless of the extrinsic value.
              I take for granted each and every day how free I am to own
        "things."  Cars are just things which we place some value in. 
        When they break down, we are forced to assess what value are they
        to us.
              In the end, we are what we value.  Sure, I could have run
        out and purchased a "real" car, one that would have placed me,
        and my family, in debt for the next six years.  
              No, that's not what I value.  Transportation is a necessity
        of life.  In the wintertime, I need a car to get back and forth
        to work.  When the spring comes, I'll get back on my mountain
        bike and park the car for the warm months.  
              Perhaps that is what I value most - The right to choose. 
        Yes, that's it, not only the right to choose, but the freedom to
        choose.
              So let the cold winds blow and let the cars break down,
        we'll still move forward one snowbound step at a time.  You see,
        it's what we choose that really matters because in choosing, we
        are free.
              For giving us the right to choose, a big All-American, THANK
        YOU, to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Ben
        Franklin....