6 What in the world

State of the union
The State of the Union speech, the President's annual message to Congress, is nationally televised and is historically one of the most watched political events in the United States. Last night President Barack Obama delivered his second such address to Congress and to the nation.

That has to cost a lot
Back in October we received a recall notice on our 1998 Ford Windstar. In states where salt is used on the highways during winter weather, such as in Utah and a score of other states, there was a problem with the rear axle cracking. We checked, and ours was cracked. So we took our minivan down to the local Ford dealer, they confirmed the problem, and impounded our vehicle as unsafe to drive until parts were available sometime in January or February to fix the problem. At Ford's expense, we got to drive a 2010 Chrysler Town and Country until such time as the parts were in and the axle replaced. That had to cost Ford a pretty penny. Of course, the new minivan was so much nicer than our going-on-thirteen-year-old car that we secretly hoped the parts wouldn't be in until, say, May or June. Alas, yesterday the Ford dealer called to say ours had been repaired, so we had to go pick it up and turn in the rental that we had had for nearly three months.