Old Oiler

All,

It's raining like crazy here in Texas. Keep your Lexus clean and most importantly yourself safe. I guess that's really not an issue since you drive a Lexus! What, 6 airbags or so in the car?

Regardless, take care and have a good and safe holiday to you all.

Cheers,

Old Oiler

Hartawan

iTrader: (1)

Have a safe one. Dont drink and drive.

jasonviper

yeah I got caught in that rain storm on my way to the movies.It was hot and sunny and then rain like an hour later well thats texas weather.

Old Oiler

Man, I got a lonnnggggg way to go before I become a Lexus test driver! I feel like I'm applying for my learners permit with the "Drivers School Candidate" moniker. Not to mention I'm "over the hill" in years to begin with.

You know, I'd ditch the Lexus just to live in Hawaii! Now that's Paradise!

Old Oiler

RamshakleZ

Drove up to Dallas from Houston this weekend - the drive was terrible and this entire weekend has been dreary. :-\ I hope the drive home isn't bad!!

fantom

Think what the driving is like in the Green Zone of Baghdad....

http://www.cabalofdoom.com/archives/...morial_day.jpg


Memorial Day is much more than a three-day weekend that marks the beginning of summer. To many people, especially our nation's thousands of combat veterans, this day, which has a history stretching back all the way to the Civil War, is an important reminder of those who died in the service of this great country.

So go ahead and have a nice long weekend, we all deserve that, and celebrate the beginning of Summer with barbecues, picnics, and well waxed IS's, but please remember what this day is really about, to honor the veterans who are fighting, and have fought, to protect our way of life, to keep our country safe, and to bring freedom to our friends in the UK, Europe, Asia, and all over the world. We don't always do it perfectly, but we do DO it, and in the process give up our best resource, our young people, in hopes of making the world a better place.

In the sloppy terminology so typical of today, it is common to attribute the courage of our soldiers to "self-sacrifice." But this misses the enormous difference between our soldiers and the fanatics on the other side, who declare that they want to die to convert us and because they "love death." American soldiers do not go into battle because they love death. They go because they love freedom. They love the liberties we enjoy and the prosperous and benevolent society that these liberties make possible. And they realize that someone has to fight to defend all of this, lest evil prevail.

Our soldiers do not want to die, and they do not expect to die; they know they are far better trained and better armed than their adversaries. But they know that some of them will die, and they believe that freedom is worth that risk. Here is how the family of Petty Officer 1st Class Neil Roberts, the first American soldier to die in Operation Anaconda, expressed it: "He made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that everyone who calls himself or herself an American truly has all the privileges of living in the greatest country in the world."

The more personal motives of American soldiers can be seen in the kinship they feel with firefighters and policeman who died at the World Trade Center -- as seen in the helicopter pilots who pasted the insignia of the New York police and fire departments onto the sides of their ships. I have observed that soldiers, police, and firemen all share a fierce kind of pride in the knowledge that when disaster strikes, they do not have to hope that someone else will come to the rescue -- because they are the ones who have the skills, the motivation, and the courage to deal with any threat, and they put it on the line to protect us. Shortly before his death, anticipating the risks he was about to face, Neil Roberts wrote to his wife: "I loved being a SEAL. If I died doing something for the Team, then I died doing what made me happy. Very few people have the luxury of that."

And very few nations have the privilege of having soldiers like this to defend them. So while we are blessed enough to be tooling around the country side in our Lexi, let's take time this Memorial Day to express our gratitude to all soldiers who have died -- and to those who are still fighting to protect our way of life, no matter how obscure that seems to some. May God bless and keep them all, and may the American people appreciate what they are putting on the line for us, during this time of war, and REALLY "support our troops", by DOING something, anything, positive for them.

"I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom."

-- Abraham Lincoln, November 1864

Enjoy the day, my CL friend.......

inecstaz

There's 8 airbags... I definitely feel safe in the car...

Old Oiler

No wonder my insurance is cheap on this car. Thanks for the info!

LexIS250SS

I thought IS has a total of 10 airbags!

cspec

I have met many that have said that after 40 is the best years of their lives. Just a thought.

Old Oiler

So far, that is turning out to be true, granted your health stays. The job gets better, higher pay, don't give a rat's butt about stupid stuff anymore (or really a whole lot for that matter).

I see the younger generation at work now and I think, "My goodness, I can't believe that used to be ME!?"

Seems people give you a little more respect, but sometimes that worries me. (Is the age showing too much!)

I'm not ready to be my dad, yet!

Cheers,

kilo6_one

iTrader: (2)

yeah, have a good memorial day...... just remember our men and women making unbelivable sacrafices so we can sit here and **** and moan about rim offsets and rude dealerships.

Old Oiler

Kilo, you and Fantom said it best, it's all about our men and women serving to protect our rights and others. Regardless of whether you agree with the war or not, we still have to support them. They are the ones making the sacrifices!

Happy Memorial day to our U.S. troops serving in the world to uphold Freedom!

Old Oiler

taylorjste

well said fantom.. it seems with all the bipartisan chatter going on, as we approach an election year, our country has forgotten that we are at war.. even today as we celebrate.. we are at war.. let's remember the sacrifices of our soldiers and our families and offer them some tangible form of support.. to all of our CL members/guests who serve or have already served in our great country's armed forces... thank you and God bless!

Old Oiler

taylorjste, AMEN! Cudos to all of you here! This is a great group to correspond with!

Old Oiler.