Buying a car has changed over the years. No longer do you have to go from car lot to car lot to find that perfect car. No more spending your week-ends car shopping. Years ago car shopping was a big thing. Having a car wasn't as casual or as necessary as it is today. People in town walked or took the bus. Anyhow, I took the sergeant up on the deal he offered. After three months with the 101st in Dak To and Tuy Hoa, I was sent on a temporary duty assignment (TDY) near the DMZ to learn field station operations from the 8th Radio Research Unit at Trai Bac Station in Phu Bai. From there it was off to Pleiku where we worked first in support of the 25th Infantry Division and later the newly arrived 4th Infantry Division.

Not only were the fads up in the air in the seventies, so were the headline news. In 1971, the 26th Amendment was passed allowing a U.S. citizen to be able to vote at age 18. In 1974, President Nixon resigned from office as the Watergate scandal unfolds. In 1975, President Ford announces war in Vietnam was finished as far as the U.S. was concerned. And Space became the "New Frontier". In 1972, Pioneer 10 lifted off to journey past Jupiter. In 1973, Skylab was launched by NASA. And in 1976, the Viking I landed on Mars. Boy, times were changing fast, just as Bob Dylan had predicted. site Chloe was born on March 22, 2012 my second granddaughter. She has been a blessing to me since the first time I saw her beautiful face. I am graced with the ability to work form the comfort of my home, however, my son has not been that fortunate. He is a welder and works 3rd shift so I volunteered to be the nanny and take care of the baby while he and his wife both worked. At 43 and having an 11 year old of my own, this life checkpoint sort of threw me for a loop. The first voice I heard when I came out of surgery was Harrison's. Harrison called me on the phone and said, "Hey, are you okay?" I said, "Yeah, I'm good." He said, "Well, then you need to get back to work." I said, "Are you serious?" He said, "That's the way this cookie crumbles." So I went back to work. The show doesn't stop for anybody. There were three major car manufacturers. Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. Each manufacture had a following. Arguments could erupt over which car was the best. A man's Dodge pickup was a source of pride. Sunday morning the family would dress in their best clothes and get into a Buick for the trip to church. The Cadillac represented power and money while the Ford and Chevrolet represented the working people. People that lived in the country had a buy vac truck. It was a working truck and on Saturday's the kids jumped in the back for a trip to town. Well, since that was the only plan the three of us were able to come up with that whole evening, I figured it was destiny. There really wasn't anything else going on in my life so as dawn arrived we headed for the Army recruiting office. There were, of course, some tests for me to take. You can do the checking of the wheels and the tires yourself. However, one auto group, the Car Care Council, do extremely suggest that it would be best to leave the checking of the other mentioned parts to experts. Make sure you have professional technicians or car mechanics take a good look at the steering, alignment, and suspension of your vehicle. That pothole may have given you and your car problems that you never thought possible. So there you have it. I have listed some of the more popular accessories for a Ford truck. Of course there are many more such as performance tuners and if you are going all out you can completely upgrade the suspension. That will be another post for another day however. Until then happy trucking my friends, hope to see you out at the truck shows.