The manual forewarns of the possibility of befuddlement under certain circumstances: Not through a tunnel ... tunnels are known ... but under an overhead roadway ... Betsy may not understand which road we are on. One factor unanticipated: Betsy instructs to turn the wrong way on one way streets ... rendering a lot of in town guidance moot. In short ... we quickly got lost.

Welcome to Club Services'

Lost in the Little City that Would

Pittsburgh, PA.

Comfortable ... all too accommodating in a way ... the front and rear compartments may literally enjoy different climate settings. Even heat for the rear while cool in the driver's section.

"There's no rear light for when we're putting things in the back in the dark," Narayana said once when we were loading the car with cinder blocks to ferry to the site where we were putting up walls for the compost. It was about 115 ft ... but over the lawn, the Navigator sure beat any set of wheelbarrow trips.

"Darling," I said, "If there's no light in the back something's truly wrong with proportions. I stuck my hand in, palm up. "Not only must there be a light back here, but it's probably got a three way selector." Sure enough, the inside of the loading area was soon very brightly lit.

So, it isn't that the car is not affordable to everyone ... it comes down to a question of what are you willing to spend for something. That cost could be more than cash ... it could go from the frantic scruffles of the junky to the nearly casual and certainly appropriate belt tightening of a family on its toes.

There is a "free" regular maintenance ... fluid top off/change tire rotation.

"" Because it is part of the price of the car.

The insurance is lower, by a factor of three, through Geico. Property tax is taken care of in escrow.

"LIBERTY TUNNELS ..."

3:33 PM : "Turn Left in ... 150 feet."

Navigator Philosophy or ... "I'd never pay that much money for a car ..."

What can be our philosophy in associating with such a vehicle anyway?

Local agents and car dealers cite the unaffordability ... "I would never pay that much for insurance."

"The best monthly price we can give you turns out to be 3X your current, almost paid for car." (And this the minimalized version.)

We're not the kind of family that just buys a Lincoln ... the way one might buy a new wardrobe. Look ... what way can you go? The poor addicts have nothing ... yet, they'd give advice on how to get one new whatever.

I'm saying, it depends for us on what we'll pay for it. The bottom line price may cause you to stand on your toes, but you are not supposed to be anywhere but on your toes ... learning to save, to shop ... the things that help us prepare to lay down ...

A friend advises ... one should (some must) carry debt.

This equates to good community service:

A certain amount of debt must exist in order to pay for the surplus.

Most outstanding to consider: If we don't voluntarily carry that debt weight ... someone else with have to.

This must be the Sea Saw Reality Model Economics.

That someone else could very likely be some other innocent family. I'd add, fingering the lighted number keypad in the Sam's Club parking lot.

Count and consolidate the times you go to the store.