OT: Thank you for the well wishes for my wife and I.

[Guest Anonymous]

My wife is now home, and we are doing well. It has been a

looong few weeks!!! This is a little story my sister sent me, it

made me laugh in a difficult time. You guys are GREAT!

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on the

ends

of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots

had a crack

in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a

full

portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream

to the house,

the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer

delivering

only one and a half pots full of water to his house. Of course,

the

perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for

which it

was made. But, the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its

own imperfection,

and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of

what it had

been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it

spoke to

the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of

myself,

and I want to apologize to you. I have been able to deliver

only half my

load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out

all the

way back to your house. Because of my flaws, you have to

do all of this

work, and you don't get full value from your efforts".

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were

flowers

only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?

That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I

planted flower

seeds on your side of the path. Every day as we walk back,

you've watered

them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful

flowers to

decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are,

there would

not be this beauty to grace the house."

Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all

cracked pots.

But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our

lives

together so interesting and rewarding. You've just got to

take each person

for what they are, and look for the good in them. Blessed are

the

flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape. Remember to

appreciate

all

the different people in your life!

"Blessings to all of my Crackpot Friends"

[Guest Anonymous]

I learn something new everyday and yes, we are very fortunate Neil. I was driving my tii following my friends 03 Ford focus ZX something through some bends this 4th of July and after each bend and the burst of straight-aways, I was smiling and thinking deeply what the original owner must have felt like back in 1973. I was not even born then and now I can only imagine specially that 30 years ago not many cars were this much fun to drive or this capable, you think? Even compare the cars today.

Long live the 02s