January 16, 2019

Yesteryear
One year ago today: January 16, 2018, $60 worth of lumber.
Five years ago today: January 16, 2014, roses at the bakery.
Nine years ago today: January 16, 2010, just being a crank.
Random years ago today: January 16, 2004, not found in Nature.

           I left around 9:30AM with no-show by Bettania. No call, no message, I waited five minutes and I was on the road. It was the standard trip, over to Highway 17, the south to Zolfo Springs, then Route 66 to Highway 27. A stop for fries and gravy in Lake Placid at the Interlake, always a treat. It's family owned and most of them have worked there twenty years. I know where the good food is. This picture shows the beautiful but often barely used Highway 27 that runs down most of central Florida. It’s only drawback is it forms the main street of many little towns, so your average speed is not so hot. If you hot-foot it, Miami is three hours away.

           Back on the road, I was in Clewiston in an hour, stopping at the Goodwill. I like old Tandy (Radio Shack) products and I found this belt-clip walkie-talkie thingee for six bucks minus my discount. I haven't tried it out yet. One thing, if you travel in central Florida on Wednesdays, there are traffic police everywhere. The theory is that is the day the cops send out the rookies for their initial runs. They were pulling over trucks everywhere.

           They had a road block just past South Bay, but as soon as they saw my out-of-state plates, they waved me through. There are many good reasons to not register your car in Florida and that situation is top of the list. They use the car pull-over as a threat and intimidation tactic. There is always something they can ticket you with, and they know it.

           I also picked up some books and JZ called when I got on Alligator Alley to confirm the meet-up at the club, which is always 5:00PM. The Trent called, I found out later he closed down his office and works out of home. Good move. He has a loose association with some other firm in case he needs to meet clients and such. We talked business, so keep an ear open for what happens with that.
           Here’s a pic of the walkie-talkie system. It seems to be brand new in the box. It has technology to pick up voice through the earpiece, so there is no microphone. I don’t really use these gadgts as much as speculate how they could be combined with micro-processing to produce some other ideas. In all, it was a perfect day for a winter drive. Pleasant, sunny, 78°F, and light traffic until I hit town around 3:30PM. Then another hour to get the last nine miles to the pharmacy.

Picture of the day.
Inside a lung.
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           Here’s a car window shot of the Citrus Tower in Lake Placid. It’s been closed all the decades I’ve lived in the state, but they were once major attractions. That’s plural, there are several of these towers, but all closed. Basically, you ride to the top and get a commanding view of the orange groves. Nobody seems to be able to make a go of the towers, at least since the interstate highways along the coasts shut down the bulk of the tourist trade in the interior.

           My clinic somehow did not renew my prescriptions, so I'm in town at least until tomorrow afternoon. Instead of getting an early start, I'm stuck waiting on paperwork. So, down to the old club and there was Trent, but no JZ. The place was around half full, but none of the old regulars. Since we were the alpha males in the joint, it didn't take long for these legal secretaries to sit next to us. Now, Trent & I have played in a band together and that place has zero entertainment. So, we pooled our cash and put 56 credits on the juke box.
           You know how guys think they can mood the room with juke box music? Well, they can't. But I can. Ha! Had the room rockin' and singin'. Trent knows all the cues, so we had them eating out of our hands. What a party. But a couple hours of later, still no JZ. He missed a good one. He finally did call, but from home. Oh well, no JZ, no Petunia, it's all missed opportunities that cannot be duplicated. Just you watch, Petunia will start calling with excuses.

           Turns out later, JZ was just over at the casino (Mardi Gras) where he’s lost so much money it is insane. But, as I say, he’ll quite when he is good and ready this time. Still, that’s not a good sign, being that he confirmed the five-o’clock just hours earlier. So what is there to say? That if he had showed up he would not have missed Petunia because she didn’t show up. The guy’s my pal and all, but when you start missing golden opportunities for such reasons, you kind of relinquish the right to have people listen to the follow-on complaining. You snooze, you lose.

           [Author’s note: I’m serious, he missed a real party. There were some unusually good looking women in the place. Probably because the condos on the old trailer court property are finally built and the casino is putting in rows of upscale shops where the old Frenchie flea market used to be. As for the party, what went best was my ability to exactly record copy the singing in unison. Let me explain. I sing by mimicking what I hear.
           The reason most singers don’t like another vocalist accompanying them in unison is that they can never get it exactly right. This is true most of the time, I agree. But when it comes to juke box music, I know exactly what the recording is going to do. So imagine if someone could, in fact, sing in perfect unison? You’ve probably never heard it, but I’ve found it easy to do from almost day one for the reason described herein.]

ADDENDUM
           Now, the worst joke of the day. These three guys die on Xmas Eve and arrive at the gates. St. Pete says, "To get in on this day, you have to show me something that reflects the Xmas spirit."
           The first guy takes out his lighter and flicks it. "That's the Star in the east."
           "Good", says St. Pete, "you're in"
           The second guy pulls out his keys and shakes them. "That's the sound of jingle bells."
           St. Pete, impressed, says, "In you go."
           The last guy reaches into his back pocket and holds up a pair of sexy underwear.
           Mystified, St. Pete asks, "What does sexy underwear have to do with Xmas?"
           The guy looks him in the eye and says, "They're Carol's."

Last Laugh

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