Harold Hinkle drove Jerry to Wegner Auto in Pierre today, because the Thrustmobile needs a new sending unit, or so his brother, Darrel Hinkle claimed. That's when it happened! Jerry saw the most beautiful thing that God ever created. A candy apple red Pontiac Solstice convertible, which could be his for the low price of $25,000, give or take a bit. As painful as it was for Jerry, he left his new love behind.

Just like girls from Platte, a new car can bring all kinds of unexpected trouble. Jerry may think things are going great, when all of the sudden something goes wrong. A bump in the road could suddenly find him walking the lonesome valley. One thing about the Thrustmobile, it's been his constant companion. It starts every time, although not always right away. It is dependable, and has never quit on him even when things got a little bit too difficult to handle. Of course, Jerry has to remember to drive slow and steady. Moving too fast invites trouble, no matter what you drive. Who knows, in this ever changing world in which we live, perhaps, after a while, a little bit of trouble may be worth the cost. Just remember, Bub, easy does it. A Pontiac can go from 0-60 in 5.4 seconds. Girls from Platte take a little bit longer than that.

Well, it's a White Christmas over at the Ponderosa. The Christmas haul was pretty good for our Publisher. It was good back at Thanksgiving with that Dell Inspiron laptop, but that's neither here nor there. Jerry's Grandmother, Agnes Hahn, gave a rather generous check, which he'll donate to http://www.one.org/ to help out those who were not blessed with as good of a Christmas as he enjoyed this year. If only everyone in the world could have a Grandma like Agnes, it would be a much better place indeed. Now that Jerry has full use of his credit card, he'll mail a gift card to his godson, Andrew Lennick, providing his address on the sheet is still good. Andrew sent Jerry a rather generous Walmart gift card and some peanut M&M's. Jerry shared the candy, because that's just how he rolls. Visitors to the Ponderosa will have to ask Mary Hinkle about her wall hanging that was imported from Tanzania. Mary was so impressed with it that she gave Jerry a digital camera. Don Grungio should like that! Cool pictures are on the way! Perhaps the best gift Jerry was given came from his niece Brittany. She made a Cowboy Cookie mix for him. Not only was it a gift from the heart, it was homemade. She also gave him 4 dozen eggs. All she got from Jerry was a hug. What a rip off!

Of course, as Garfield the cat once observed about Christmas, "It's not the giving, it's not the getting, it's the loving". All of us here at the Holabird Advocate hope that all of the Hinkletons out there remember that throughout the next 12 days, and into the new year.