One year ago today: May 18, 2014, Russian health food.
Five years ago today: May 18, 2010, Viva 1070.
Six years ago today: May 18, 2009, what crisis?
MORNING
There is an old saying that in war, all delays are serious. When I missed the call Saturday, it was my Goldwing mechanic—and I’d left instructions to call me if any additional repair went over $200. Otherwise, pick the bike up on the 20th. Now imagine my delight to find he had called because the unit was ready on late Saturday and needed only a new battery. I am headed for that battery today, I hope to have the unit back this afternoon.
Dang. Due to the first schedule, I have four medical appointments this week. That means no trip was planned until at least Memorial, but it also means the budget for a trip, any trip, has been in place for weeks now. And I can’t go anywhere Waaahhhhhhhh! Does it never end? And what the hell is Memorial Day? Back on the farm, we had Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. And once you were old enough to drink, New Year’s Eve.
Secondarily, this mechanic is the best. He restores old machines and drives vintage cars, some of which you’ve seen here. His shop is busy all the time. As he was under instructions to fix everything, it is an optimistic sign that the job was completed five days in advance. If you see any photos this morning, it will be later today, after I get my chariot back.
NOON
“The quickest way to appreciate other people is to try and do their job.” --Farm wisdom
The batbike is back and this is the first thing I see. It is a trailer bed basically fixed up identically to what I did two years ago. Same pattern, same trailer, cut and trimmed to the same bed length. Same side panels, same height, the tongue is repositioned. Minor differences include a larger set of custom wheels and they painted over the bolt heads. This is a pro job, which I found even more interesting. That they solved all the problems the same way I did, me with zero experience, I mean.
The batbike needs a good test run, but where? I’ve been down this new alternator path before. Within a week, I’ll need a new battery. And within a month, the starter will start to give out. I’m no mechanic, but I’m familiar with the repair costs on this era of vehicle. I’d make the trip today, but it took half the day ride the bus back to the shop.
This is why you don’t use public transit. The once in a year I count on the bus, it is an hour and forty minutes late. It’s only a half-hour walk at most. And they can’t really put bus shelters up in this town or people would start living in them.
I am now incentivised to get my iPod camper back underway. I keep the smaller tires as I rarely tow the wagon any faster than 45 mph. The picture shows a soft top, my unit will be sealed against weather and I don’t like much sleeping in tents. However, I’ve several sketches on how to install a canopy or awning in the new unit to make it a bit more livable. But I have no intention of living in it, the plan is same as before—a place to sleep without spending a fortune.
AFTERNOON
Yep, only in America, make the most expensive part of the journey the one thing that people can do at home—sleep. I got to playing some old Patsy Cline tunes, which naturally reminds me of my ex. That hit, “Back In Baby’s Arms” is due for a re-release. It has all the ingredients plus one [more] that is lacking in much of the indie material: an eternal message. That, and it lends itself to one of my novelty bass lines.
I need good news, as the readership of this blog continues to slide in the face of enormous competition. While head count was never the reason for this publication, most any author can appreciate the reward of a large audience. No numbers, but my daily visits are down to a sixth of peak times in the previous decade. The new standardized format is showing an increase, it represents a smaller core of repeat daily hits during American office hours.
Being that, except for one individual with no conflict resolution skills, I still admire my last band, I left them a message about Margaritaville. That’s concerning the upcoming auditions. From what I saw, it is an opportunity that could easily be missed by their marketing team. No, I did not tell them if they get into that resort, I’ll not apologize for a thing, but I’d ask for my old job back. Steady work in a class place would make all the difference in the world toward my happiness in that band.
The places advertised to open soon in the complex are:
JWB Prime Steak and Seafood
Landshark Bar & Grill
Margaritaville Bar
Five O’Clock Somewhere Bar and Grill
License to Chill Bar and Grill
Florida’s Airstream Café
Lone Palm Beach Bar
Margaritaville Coffee Shop
I’ve been tipped off that certain musical styles will be given preference because the complex has a mandate to increase local employment. So even with their outdated song list, that creates an opening for the old band. None of this belies the fact that in a wink, eight new drinking establishments are going to appear overnight in a central beach location. As usual, only an average or minimally-required number of parking spaces will be included. And there has been zero improvement in the entire existing over-clogged bridges, parking and other approaches. Just like I warned Miami ten years ago about their infrastructure and building so many condos.
Their website goes on about the benefits to the nearby community, but trust me, nobody who can afford to live on that beachfront is going to be applying for the types of jobs that will be created. It’s a judgment call (if you ask me) whether the nearby existing shops will experience good or bad consequences from this influx.
EVENING
This was a WPM to remember. Whereas music is a certain denominator, plenty of other issues crop up. While this goes on, Trent suggests we split a Chimay. It’s a beer that arrives in a bottle, served much like wine. And it is worth it. I admit, the price is staggering (I believe we paid $30), but worth every cent. Next time I’m in Deland, I know what I’m ordering. Made by some Belgian monks, this was a treat.
Blog rules—I must describe what’s best and it was the Chimay. It arrives with special glasses, like wine, emblazoned with the brand, as shown here. If you ever feel experimental, Chimay is a good choice. Just mind your tastes and don’t run out of money like I did. I must say, that is the best beer ever. It arrives in a wire-corked bottle, like fine wine. And deserves it. Return tomorrow for a picture of this unique libation.
Shown here is a coaster from the same premises, the ROK pub in Himmarshee, Ft. Lauderdale. What’s unique is, when you flip this over, the reverse side is a postcard. Imaginative, that. Normally, I don’t like cargo trains roaring past, but in Himmarshee, it lends a rustic touch. Either that, or the beer, which weighs in at 9.5% alcohol, got me light-headed.
As it happened, the shop gave me the wrong set of keys. They worked fine in the ignition and all. It was when I needed gasoline that the trouble began. Oh, and the starter is giving out already. I’m not waiting, that’s a job for as soon as I have the cash. Probably $200. Other than have some rookie cop tail me for 25 blocks, the motorcycle works absolutely fine.
ADDENDUM
Blog rules. Here is the first random message I’ve picked up in Morse on the Internet. I set several feeds up and didn’t keep track where they come from, so this took me by complete surprise. The more so because it was very slow code and this is the best I could do:
5wpm tee is from november 2012 fst pade24? secretary of the radio cubol hertford. arrl head, uarters was established in hartford and eventffly relocated to newindton, a subnrb of hantford. arrlheadquarters is visited b, thoswands of droups a nd indviduals each lear and is home to w4, the hiram pekcgy maxim memorial season. the ?ed of ?4x3
It is somebody’s practice session and he started off by telling it was 5 wpm. I missed the first and last part of what took nearly five minutes. It is not unusual for me to miss or insert extra spaces. Note the “tee” for “this”? Common errors. Hiram Maxim? Isn’t that the guy who invented the true machine gun? Let me look into Hartford.
He also built cars, like the one shown, quite advanced for its time. And Hiram Percy Maxim is the one who is responsible for American automobiles having the steering wheel on the left. That’s what I got from the random Morse code message of today. Man, for a guy with as much practice as I’ve had, I am lousy at receiving code. But don’t worry, if anything important comes along, I’ll record it and play it back at low speed until I get it.
So you’ll know, Morse code is, at the core, a very slow method of transmitting data.
The article adds (goes on to say) that HP’s wife “did not lack for accomplishments of her own”. What a coincidence, I’ve got a couple brothers you could say that about. Yessiree.
Last Laugh
Nobody's going to believe you, guy.
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