"Courage is the greatest..."

there are few things in modern america more depressing than having ones vehicle disabled...even more so when one is living out of said vehicle...i went to craigslist to the services section and found a mechanic who would come to where my vehicle sat forlorn and un-drivable...eight in the morning he showed up with his son and his tools...an interesting fellow by any standards...after removing the cam position sensor we went to the auto parts store and got one for 25 bucks...that was not the problem however...he buried himself in the youtube mechanics presentations for 30 minutes and eventually said he thought he got a clue...off to the auto parts store again...VVT solinoid for 76 bucks...i bought two...one for each side...he repalced the left side one and i had little hope for success...VIOLA! THE TRUCK WAS FIXED!..i had been ready to give up actually...we spent three hours on the truck and two hours discussing religion...he is a reformed sinner and advocate for God...and had the most well used bible i have ever seen...he could turn to passages in the bible which illustrated questons i had time and time again...he ain't no pretender like so many bible thumpers...and a determined auto mechanic...and he lives in a motorhome with his family and puts mechanics ads on craigslist whereever he happens to be...ask for Joe its snowing again outside so i may postpone my departure...i went to the thrift yesterday and bought a bicycle for $21 bucks which had been rebuilt by the thrift mechanic...i will bring my old bike to him later...now i have some emergency transportation if the truck fails to work properly...speaking of which some years ago i found a book in a thrift near Naples florida which is a history of Rolls Royce automobiles...it was signed by the author... i was amused to learn that when a Rolls stops running they don't say it "broke down" but say it "failed to proceed"... i watched about 30 minutes of ann coulter on c-span this morning...she is not entrenched in her views and has a sense of humor also...i see where bill maher has kicked up a lot of dust with his views...more diversity in opinions is more better... i found some more good music on youtube...namely..."Amado Mio" by Storm Large with Pink Martini...excellent vocals and good musicians also...she has a small tatoo on her back which i am not sure what it says...also "Please don't talk about me when i'm gone" by san lyon swing jazz...it is three women and a man...excellent vocals and superbe guitar in the mode of django...they have several good presentations...the funnel kazoo is well represented here... i came across one of the best youtube presentations i have seen in "Alone in the wilderness" by dick proenneke (57 min)...this guy was working as a diesel mechanic in anchorage alaska when he got something splashed in his eyes which may have blinded him...but he recovered and came to realize that he wanted to use his eyes for better viewing so he packed up and went to a remote place 160 miles from anchorage and used his astounding skills to build a cabin and survive in style...he brought a movie camera and documented his life alone in the wilderness...i have not been able to find his presentation again as so many people have used his life to fuel their own presentaions...his is the best presentation and is worth watching... "Courage is the greatest of all virtues, because if you haven't courage. you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others." Samuel Johnson