September 5, 2017
Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 5, 2016, the original floor work.
Five years ago today: September 5, 2012, Alexis Brown, jackpot winner.
Nine years ago today: September 5, 2008, a generic Friday.
Random years ago today: September 5, 2009, we all hate the DMA
You'll have to wait for the real deal since I cannot get this laptop to behave live a real computer. It isn't the fault of the laptop. I mean the lousy free wifi systems I use on the road. The laptop settings all default to typical millennial goof-off mode. Music and advertisements come on as soon as you open the connection, even if you have not selected a browser yet. When you go on-line, it keeps cutting out by itself. This doesn't just stall the Internet connection, but locks the computer so you can't work on a local word processed document. It's going to take time to get rid of all that millennial junk.
Hello from Miami. Here are some photos of the trip and area which I'll clean up when I get a real computer. I nearly 7 hour to make the four hours trip. That means I took my time. I ran down a marked highway near Ona that turned out to be a dirt track. I made 38 miles in the first hour. At one point I went past some fields of diary cows that must have never seen a motorcycle before. They watched until I got around a hundred feet away out on the road, then bolted away in fear.
I got into Miami at just after 3:00PM and was instantly reminded of why I got out. The place has continued sliding downhill. Every little group has their rights and you can't get nothing done. Everything is like a panic. No, I don't watch the Miami weather report, so when I go there the talk was all about Hurricane Irma. Good, I hope it is a hundred year storm that flattens the place. The only cure for Miami is to raze it to the ground and start over with new people.
Enjoy these pictures of the trip on the Rebel. You won’t be seeing many more. There should be a shot of the Alva drawbridge. The main purpose of these bridges in Florida is to inconvenience road traffic. Did anyone see the on-line video of that drawbridge that completely ruined a fifty-mile bike race? The bridge went up and all the slowpokes caught up in no time. I know there is some legal premise why rich people with boats get priority passage but I’ve always said they should not include rush hours. There are no such hours in Alva.
I took the side road past the house that JZ liked so much, the one full of feral cats. It is still under repair, but has a nice new tin roof. So new it makes the rest of the place look shabby a bit. And if anyone grumbles my place is taking forever, show them Alva. The place was occupied so I did not stop for pictures. I now wish I had of. It would have delayed me five minutes. But you’ll hear about that later.
Picture of the day.
Ukrainian railway bridge.
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It was nearly ideal weather so I took my time, eventually stopping in La Belle. What a nothing town. There are two local restaurants (the others are franchises). I chose one with a Latino name only to discover the staff is all third generation and speak perfect English. They don't serve cafe con leche, one of the few things I like about the area. I had a hankering for such a coffee and I chose the only Lantino joint in the town that doesn't serve it. I ordered a grilled cheese with fries, cost me $7.00. Ten years ago that was my budget for the day, and you ain't seen nothin' yet.
Which brought things to heavy financial discussions with my pal. Folks, I think I am on my own. It means things will only progress at the rate I can afford them but at least what comes in is all mine. I took the road south to Carneston again, walking out of the store to find a group of admirers over the Rebel. It does resemble an older Harley Davidson, the Roadster model, I think. I averaged 41 mph on this trip, although I was doing 75 on the lonely stretches. I had to suit up for afternoon rain on Tamiami Trail, but it took me longer to wiggle into the gear than the storm lasted.
Soon enough, I was in the southwest end of town. It's aggravating to be the sixth or so car in line and nothing moves on a green light until it turns yellow again. Or to have every last fat senorita take ten minutes to get cash out of an ATM. This is hardly my imagination. I've lived in Caracas and I've lived in Miami. It would not be wise to argue with me unless you have also the qualifications to make similar direct observations.
I can't get a hold of my motorcycle mechanic, so I may head right back north at the first opportunity. Like most shops, he's closed up early but he may have just been closed for lunch when I got there. I'll be back next week, it seems that the medical tests I sent in were inconclusive. This time I will bring them rather than mail them. Those post office bastards probably X-ray everything these days. God forbid anybody mail anything that is none of their business. USPS don't need no stinkin' search warrant. For their top caliber people are world-reknowned their finesse at reading people's minds as well as their private correspondence. Doesn't the Constitution have something to say about that?
By late evening, JZ and I drove to a bank branch and he recognized a local pub he's never been before. Thinking why not, we were there for two hours. If you are wondering, I had nothing, not even water. To my shocking surprise, the barmaid was, body-wise, nearly the spitting image of my ex. It took my supreme effort not to stare. I've long since pointed out how easy it is to determine a woman's personality by how sexy she was between the early ages that counted.
If she was not top tier for at least a while, the effect on her demeanor is very obvious by the time she is twenty and locked before she hits twenty-four. (The same thing happens to men, but they fall into fewer categories. That is, in my book, fewer categories. For example, I have one brother who is a prick and another who is an asshole. Do I have to spell it out for anyone?)
I’m back on a real computer, so if you are re-reading this post, no, it is not the same. I need to get back on a desktop to fix all the typos. I’ve mentioned how this laptop design with the keys set back against the hinge is nothing but a millennial brain-fart. Justin has some idiot idea that the forward part of the machine should be used as a wrist rest. And put the idiot track pad in the center, as well. A trained touch-typist just cannot get any speed work done on that type of keyboard. How do I know what a speed typist is? Or what the right format of keyboard is? Gee, I dunno. Maybe I didn’t learn the proper way to type back when I was 14 from Marcela Proctor herself. Maybe some millennial has typed more than me and has some say as to how typing should be done.
Quote of the Day:
“The Gump password: 1forrest1.”
It was a slow start getting out of town as early as I did this morning. Took this snap of the fueling station because it was the most unique of that time of day. The local joke is somebody stole the front of your store. That shows Lakeland is not the old comedians retirement home. This is the spot on Hwy 60 that makes a killing. There is a highway bypass that route the traffic to this location so much so that everyone sooner or later buys gas here. As evidenced by this photo, it always busy. I estimate the owner makes $8 per year pure extra profit. The city will not allow any gas stations further into the historic core.]
Speaking of cores, I began to hear chit-chat about an impending hurricane as I drove further south later this day. The usual storms that hit this area tend to miss Florida and hit a weather from coming in from the prevailing west. This pushes the storm northward, then back eastward to eventually head back inland from the west. More on this storm as I hear about it, and I will the way Miami loves to go half-crazy over these things.
I can't get ahold of my motorcycle mechanic, so I may head right back north at the first opportunity. Like most shops, he's closed up early but he may have just been closed for lunch when I got there. I'll be back next week, it seems that the medical tests I sent in were inconclusive. This time I will bring them rather than mail them. Those post office bastards probably X-ray everything these days.
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