Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Midland, South Dakota

Ok guys, I took my 2006 Jeep Commander 4.7L V8 3300 miles this summer going from San Antonio, to Midland, Estes Park Col., Moab Ut. Grand Canyon Village, Roswell(oh well) and Metorite Crater. The Commander did not have one problem. With more miles since my last post, I can tell you that my Jeep Commander got 20.5 mpg for the whole trip. This is not an exaggeration! The only problem I had was at the end of the trip it had used just at one quart of Mobil One oil. The wife was impressed by the 6 CD changer and speaker system. The radio gets OK reception, but there were some places in New Mexico and west Texas that had few stations in reach. I love this tank of mine. :)

The typical daily usage for Texas in April is about 40,000 megawatts OK, so that is about twice the load for the whole country of Spain. If the 11,000 MW of installed Wind generation was working to maximum the state of TX could supply 50% of Spain's need. We know from this last episode that 35% is about as good as it gets with wind. My concern is not if Wind works. I am concerned that we are paying double by having backup ready to go. I do not see the benefit. If the residents of TX were given a special deal on electricity with the understanding they may not have 24/7 availability, I could understand. I don't think it is right that tax payers in Georgia have to subsidize the utilities in TX. When the Feds steal tax dollars and subsidize a wind or solar farm in TX or CA it is flat wrong. PS Steve Midland stinks. Both in TX and Michigan. My dad was born in Midland MI.

I visited over the Christmas holidays a year or two ago (got cousins in Midland too - no, they aren't Bushes :-)). The locals seem to like the mills. There's not much other industry there besides huge ranches with poor carrying capacity and some oil and gas. I have to say that Sweet smells better than Midland. Didn't notice the cows and the windmills don't stink. But the stripper wells around Midland are enough to give you headaches.

Hey don't worry, the politicians are telling us new green jobs will make it up. Let's see, the EPA just approved 15% ethanol gas that will damage our car and lawnmower engines in a give to companies like Archer Daniel Midland (ADM) and big corporate farmers. Uncle will take good care of you...

yes, we've just had that diagnosis on our 04's 17" chrome rim. it's been leaking for several years, but it was valve core, valve stem, etc. = not! it's definitely now a flaking chrome issue. two new tires were put on just that wheel. we've also had (and still have) the coil on plug issue, the a/c (working weird) issue, squeaking steering wheel issue, the cd changer eating cd's then just quitting, one minor tranny shifting thing ford dealer fixed, and that's about it. was near perfect for 48k miles, then when warranty was out it went to hell in a hand basket. 56k miles on it now, and it's just about paid off. we'll keep it in 'the collection,' but we won't be buying another lincoln anytime soon. too bad, as we've had them pretty much continuously since 1972. mercury before that. many fords in the family before that. none has had this amount of 'typical' problems. none. lincoln, as a brand, is on the way out - just like cadillac was 10 years ago. they fixed their brand image, but ford likely won't have the incentive (or cajones) to save their halo brand. damned cryin' shame too. my 2000 dodge dakota quad cab with 165k of hard working miles on it, has never even been in the shop, and i work the crap out of it. dirt, hellish sun, snow, dust storms, heavy towing, 200 mile per day usage, etc. - it's been perfect. got an 89 4x4 dodge raider (1st gen mitsubishi montero) with the v-6 that has 150k on it. never been in the shop, and it's been used very hard off road and towed many, many more miles behind our motorhome. never missed a beat. ford needs to get on the stick and off its collective butts.