October 4, 2016

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 4, 2015, C-clamps are crappy tools.
Five years ago today: October 4, 2011, mostly club electronics.
Nine years ago today: October 4, 2007, calls from Low Battery . . .
Random years ago today: October 4, 2009, 12-bars too often equals 3 chords.

           I’m so glad I’m out of Miami, the more so because I drove in the stop and go traffic. It does this in Miami for no apparent reason. My radiator began to overheat in that kind of traffice. It was the same problem as Mitch and I hit several times, but out here it was not fifty stops in ten miles like along Dixie Highway. I finally stalled and had to push the bike over to the side. Don’t even think of getting on Miami roads after around 7:30 in the morning. It is majority rules and the majority of Miami is inconsiderate idiots.

           I made my appointment, but some bad news. The parent company of the heart study decided they have enough people, so I’m not included in the next study. There goes my Xmas bonus. My thinking remains that this is the company that will eventually find a cure for triglycerides. That, and finding out a lot of my competition on this study was from “the islands”, I suggested to my chief that I did not mind if she went ahead and drew those seven vials of blood while I was here. I know how rare my blood is.

           From there, I took the batbike directly to the shop. It is a faulty switch, which in turn burned out the thermostat and the fan. Yes, a Goldwing has the same arrangement as your car, except I’ve always been suspicious that Honda is cheating by simply modifying an air cooled engine to have a water jacket. Either way, I need that fan and this is a $400 repair job. I instructed the shop to go ahead.
           They gave me a loaner, on of those Honda Fusion 250s. This is like the limo of scooters, it’s pure luxury compared to my Chinese knock-off. I further told the shop not to replace the Honda switch, but to wire in a manual model that I will control myself, or if they found that too bothersome, to just set the fan to run all the time.
           I love that Fusion. The extra ccs make no comparison to the red scooter. This puppy can readily climb to 70 mph steady as you please. I got all my chasing around done but the pinch is on. You see, I can’t really afford both the new fan and the new rear tire.

Picture of the day.
Meanwhile in China.
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NOON
           It is calm right now,
           By late afternoon, the TV stations are in full swing with the hurricane scare. I’ve lived here long enough to know something is wonky. If the storm is as far away as their scare-maps show, the bad weather today is not associated with Matthew. I got rained out in Hollywood, so I pulled into the club to wait it out. It didn’t quit.
           Seeing I could not stay dry, I walked through the shin deep water in my shoes and started the batbike with water in the mufflers. It was a complete flood-out. If you see any pictures, it means I was able to bring my camera phone into action or extract a still. This are not wings of the hurricane, this is plain old Florida rotten weather.
           Rotten is not a reference to the weather itself, but to how it brings what needs doing to a standstill. You won’t live in Florida long before learning it never rains at a convenient time.

NIGHT
           JZ and I discussed the situation. I only brought clothes and medicine for four days, but he’s right. Wet is wet and if I don’t get out of here by Thursday, I’m stuck here until the hurricane passes. Sometimes they double back and pass twice. So, I told JZ to take enough money to buy us a week’s groceries. Okay, but he insisted I walk over there with him to help carry it back. He really does not have any transportation. His situation is so tenuous, he’s actually ridden the batbike.

           That’s right. I got him to ride the buddy seat, but not the sidecar. He had some tools at the restaurant. I said sure, but if he wants to ride along, he has to allow for me to stop every five minutes and let the radiator cool. Ha, he’s protective enough about his tools that he rode shotgun. This picture shows us waiting near University of Miami letting the radiator cool.

           But he would not ride to the grocery store. There’s women over there. The place was full of panic-buyers. Canned anything was not to be found. Oddly, the store was still giving away specials. I sampled the wares and watched JZ dive right in. Giving away free food around JZ is a quick path to bankruptcy.
           We stocked up on frozen meats. It’s not like we are buying perishables should the electric go out. While meat is perishable, when frozen, it also behaves like a freezer bag. You just eat that first.
           Or, like me, you could cook most of it first, then freeze that. While anybody can cook on a camp stove, it is inconvenient. It also lets the neighbors know you have a stocked larder. There is another situation. JZ’s air conditioner is on the blink. This is serious trouble in south Florida. I’m saying if I had known, that is, if he had told me, I would not have planned to crash there. I would have paid for a motel. Most people cannot tolerate the Florida summer heat.

           What saved matters is he borrowed an excellent little fan. While he cannot take the direct blast, I like it. I can crash in the direct flow path, where many folks get ear and nose aches. The approaching storm moves the nighttime temperatures down into the seventies. That, with the fan, made the situation barely passable. By directing the fan on the sofa so I could sleep, it kept the apartment just cool enough but without any degree of comfort. You slept, but it was woeful and dreamless.
           Again, if he had told me, I would not have bunked there. Not that during the storms, there are any vacancies in the state, but I would have found something. As a precaution, I moved my Thursday appointment to tomorrow.


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