I'm glad my current GM car has warning systems that my previous ones didn't. I remember being stuck beside a hot roadside in Bristow in 1997 when my alternator went out. It took two days of driving back and forth to get it fixed.

Today I was driving for my CBFT Coordinating Council meeting down NW of Austin. Just as I was getting to the other side of Waco, a light came on that looked like a battery. While driving I read that this was the battery charging system warning light, and my previous incident popped into my head.

So I turned around and went back into Waco and found an Autozone. Sure enough. Alternator. They said that I probably had enough juice to get back to Dallas and have it fixed here.

So I headed back north, forsaking the meeting that I was going to have to leave a day early any way. I drove as fast as I could, so I would be closer to home in case of a potential breakdown. Well, just as I neared Hillsboro the gauges died. So, I exited. I was going to go to a convenience store, but then decided to go to the IHOP I could see. Then, as I came up on the IHOP, I saw a Pontiac dealership on the other side of the highway. Yeah! So, I went there.

About 1 1/2 hours and $50 later, I was fixed and heading home (the real cost was $379, but the extended warranty I purchased two years ago and haven't used came in handy)!

So, on the way home to Dallas I learned the following interesting things from the radio:

* Poverty has increased again this year. This is the third year of increases in a row. Child poverty increased dramatically.

* Hidalgo County, Texas, where we worked on our mission trip this summer, is the poorest county in the country, as judged by median household income. Some place in New Jersey is #1.

* Non-Hispanic White Texans are no longer a majority in the state.

* And, finally, that the Ayatollahs of Iran have finally permitted one rock album to be available in Iran. It is a collection of Queen. What a wonderful world we live in!