Holly and Jim's wedding (etc.)

Dr. Pookie and I flew up to the Bay Area Saturday morning. We also had my mom along. This was something of a great event, as Mom had not flown for more than a decade. But with our stalwart aid, she was able to make it to LAX, through security and onto the plane. It's a quick trip up and after landing in Oakland we got to the rental car kiosk and, since they were out of the midsize car I had reserved, we were ushered toward the premium option, a Mercury Grand Marquis, a truly astonishing beast, "one of the last "traditional" American full-size cars still available for retail sale". All the modern conveniences, and yet styled as though it were 1975. The thing has twice as many cylinders as any car I've ever owned, and slalomed along the road like a full ton of Detroit steel. The whole trip was about 60 miles, and I put 5 gallons of gas in it before I returned it, so you do the math.
( yes, I run off at the mouth as usual )