so my car is acting up. or should i say HAD been acting up. anyway, took my car to the mechanic (finally). i told him that my car would turn off all the time. that my car wouldn't stay on at stop lights, etc. so, he had me turn it on and for the next 30 seconds, listened to the engine. he actually put his ear as near as humanly possible to the engine and held the throttle switch and listened to the engine. he pulls away from the engine with a look of certainty and walks away. several seconds later, he returns with a can of ac delco, something-or-other, and proceeds to undo the air intake hose. he looks inside and says, "that's dirty!" and sprays the contents of the can into the engine manifold (I think that's what it's called) and he points to the black gunk falling out of it and informs me that this car part is like a human throat. if a throat is full of miucus, a body can't breathe correctly. all the gunk that was coming out of the car part was affecting my engine the same way. so, after a few minutes of idling, he said, "that's about it."

so, my mechanic is not only good with his hands but he's a philosopher and physician as well. i'm glad to hear what he said because my trip last year and this year taught me that americans aren't as intelligent as we are made to beleive. my mechanic taught me different.