When my sons were younger, we used to go on these great excursions boring trips through Champaign-Urbana.

Garage sales.

I had no plan, just jumped in the car on Saturdays and let those yellow signs be my guide.

Truth is, the boys probably didn't like it much.

When I was in my early 20s I bought my first car, from a friend of my brother. A 1970 Pontiac Catalina.

UPDATE  2: I ordered this on Wednesday. It arrived about 48 hours later on my desk. Now that is fast.

From eBay, where I occasionally sell things I no longer need/want/use:

I think the worst of winter is behind us.

I think the Cardinals might win the National League Central, even though their best pitcher is out for the season.

I think gas will be back below 3 bucks a gallon before we know it.

I’m not a pessimist.

If you had as much fun as I did Thursday night, you had a great time.

Alison Krauss. Maybe you’ve heard of her? She has this great song, “New Favorite.”

“New favorite: they all say it. I’ll say it too. You’ve got a new favorite.”

So you can get an iPhone 4.

It will be elegant. It will feel good in your hand. People will look while you use it. They’ll ask how you like it.

It will do almost everything for you. You can talk to someone and find a restaurant at the same time.

Really.