"Your sign out front didn't say anything about a limit. What's with three questions?"

"House rules. That answers the first question. What else do you want to know?"

"Wait a minute. You can't impose arbitrary limits on a customer's questions. I want you to look into the future and tell me if present trends in crude oil supply and demand will continue. Your answer will determine what type of car I buy. What's with three questions? You sound like a genie granting wishes."

"House rules. You have used your second question. Madame Nellie is wearying of this. Your third question, please."

"This is ridiculous. Let me be careful how I phrase this. The base premise is that I want to buy a car with fuel efficiency, seating for five, reliability, durability, safety, decent handling and performance in typical city and highway driving conditions, all for less than $20,000. I'd like a proven car, too, one that doesn't command a premium price because it's a hybrid, or is experimental in some way. Just a really good, bread-and-butter car that looks great and meets my needs."

"You are a wordy one. What is your question?"

"What should I buy if crude oil supply can't meet demand and speculators drive up prices for their personal enrichment and Saudi Arabia is raking in $1 billion a day and I spent my economic stimulus check a long time ago and Ross Perot is showing us charts again and...."

"Get hold of yourself. Madame Nellie cannot concentrate in a stressed environment."

"I'm sorry. The world seems to be closing in on me. Food costs. Fuel costs. Everything's going up but personal income. It's stagflation all over again."

"Madame Nellie will look into her crystal ball now. There are fogs of uncertainty in there, but Madame Nellie is beginning to see the outline of ... a 2009 Toyota Corolla."

".A Corolla..."

"Yes. It is beautiful, not the frumpy Corolla you might remember from years past. Just as the Honda Civic has become more like the Accord of old, the Corolla has become more like the Camry of a few years back. The 2009 Corolla is bigger, smoother, more powerful and much better looking.

"Oh, no. Away with you ... The face of Hugo Chavez just drifted through the crystal ball. Not a good omen. And there's that Iranian leader who wants nuclear weapons. And rebels in Nigeria torching another Shell outpost and China telling the world that 'We'll buy all fuel you have' and... wait, I see the Corolla coming into focus again.

"Madame Nellie thinks you will like 30 mpg on the highway and 22 mpg around town. You might not like the price at the pump, but you'll buy the least expensive regular gasoline for this beautiful car.

"The Corolla is powered by a four-cylinder engine, and why do you need more when they only demand more gasoline? Eight cylinders? Twice the hit on your wallet. You don't need that in today's bumper-to-bumper traffic.

"The Corolla has two bucket seats in front and a bench that seats three kids across the back. The trunk is roomy enough for a family's weekly grocery load, paper or plastic, and don't even get Madame Nellie started on the increases in food costs! Outrageous.