I like fan mail that asks intelligent questions. The scooter stats are not based on individual tank/gallon/mileage averages. While I have that information, I don’t trust it as conditions like the road surface and headwinds can make big differences. So my answer is that my stats are based on accumulated totals, not a median of the spot measurements. I am currently getting 88.669 mpg at a cost of 3.7 cents per mile (gas cost only). I expect average mileage will drop over time. (It eventually fell to 66 mpg under ideal conditions.)
Here’s the tour boat at Kolb Center, who are having no better luck attracting tourists than the rest. I’m unable to explain how the beach businesses are clinging on after three impossible years. The high wind last night made even walking outside painful. There was a power outage from just past dark until noon today. Everybody froze except me, those people not equipped for electricity outages are certainly not ready for a hurricane.My coffee’s on the burner and my newly converted lantern will light and heat a small room. You see, I’ve never considered electricity anything but a luxury and it is one luxury I gladly pay for. I notice when bills are high but you’ve never heard me complain. Those who squawk need to live without it for a few years; that will shut them up. I hauled wood into the house until I was eleven when my parents got a job that included housing with a real furnace. In the winter, I had to melt snow in big pots on the wood stove to take a bath. For clarity, my parents did not buy a house with indoor heating and plumbing, they got a job that included those things.
[Author’s note: the snow is only melted and heated on the stove. It is dumped into the big wash tub to take a bath. Just clearing that up for a few of them city types who think hot water comes from a tap.]
If it sounds charming and rustic, it isn’t. Nor is it cheap unless you know what you’re doing. If you’re not sure if you know, you don’t. But here’s some wood stove trivia. You know why camp coffee never tastes as smooth as electric coffee? There is a reason. Camp coffee is percolated and that means there is an uneven amount of water splashed over the beans, and that water is not a consistent temperature. The result is a bitter brew you recognize instantly and I’m used to it. Plus, a lot of people foolishly let coffee boil on the fire after it is ready. Don’t tell JP about this.
Ooops, the power is out again and the Frenchies are outside shivering. Maybe they should light a campfire? There’s a big barbeque pit by the clubhouse. I’m just kidding, they are really suffering, but all my gear and provisions are for one or two people max. Besides, I’m not entirely without electric as I installed a lock box in the laundry room where I can recharge batteries for the cell, laptop and flashlights. I found the unused outlet. Most people who see it don’t have a clue what it is, it blends so well into the laundry décor. Everybody else has to share the washer outlets but they wait until it an emergency and all show up at once.
I was up at the Pro Bass Shop again for mantles. The service there is top notch so they must pay enough to attract career people. My advice is that even if things cost a few bucks more at that store, spend your money there and get it done right. I use the title to mean also Outdoor World, located in the same building. You might say it “bears” mentioning. Groan. Another “line” they have is fishing gear. Stop! I get paid to write humor.
Late entry, by that I mean 10:00 PM. It was frozen solid again, probably below zero by morning. So much for the claim it never freezes in Florida. It was warmer in Alaska today. I made a huge pot of mashed potatoes and snacked on that all day, just to keep warm. Did you know most people will eat twice as much mashed potato as baked? The city is at a standstill and I remind the working class I’ve worked in just as cold of weather as any of you, so spare me the comparisons. I curled up with a James Patterson novel, “3rd Degree”. I’m beginning to lose track of his titles with the way he’s churning them out.
56.2/29.95/87.0
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