The Daily Poem

STANLEY McGHAN

Young Stanley Mauritius McGhan

An odd geographical man

   Had septuplet sons

   And named every one

After countries that ended in Stan.

D. Edgar Lamp

The Daily Poem - 353

Limerick

Orlando, Florida

Lat: 28.58, Long: -81.38

JOURNAL: Pinetree House

Breakfast with John and Rosalie for our last meal on the train.  They're both just retired and taking their first trip post-retirement to Orlando.  John was a road worker for 34 years, and when the county offered him early retirement, he jumped at it.  Rosalie worked in the Risk Management Department handling non-worker's comp disability cases.  They intend to see the entire United States over the next four years, one quadrant each year--Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, and Southwest--six months of travel, six months back home on Long Island, New York..  And since Rosalie doesn't like to fly, they will be traveling by car and train.

We ran into Dee in the club car after breakfast.  She was playing Mah Jang on her laptop.  She invited us to join her at her table.  Lots of New New Yorkers on the train heading down to Florida to excape the cold and snow for a while.  Lots of Italian and Jewish accents.  Dee told us that she had actually talked to the guy who jumped off the train in Harper's Ferry shortly before he jumped.  She said his eyes were red, and even his eye lids were red, squinting through slits.  He seemed agitated, always walking back and forth.  Most likely methamphetamines.

I fired up the WiFi and Mimi showed Dee how to get online using our hotspot.  She was thrilled to finally get to answer a few of her 81 e-mails that had accumulated in her in-box.  I was still feeling sleepy and so I just looked up elevations, latitudes and longitudes; my form of a brainless game, like Solitaire.  Maybe it's a offshoot of my years in management.  I like to track data over time and see how it changes, look for interesting patterns, see what the numbers can tell me.  Now what would really make it sweet, is a few charts and graphs.

Rented a Hertz at the Amtrak station.  He was going to give us a little economy car of some kind until we said we wanted to return it to the Orlando Airport, even though there would be a small extra charge.  "Since you're returning it to the airport," he said, "I'm going to give you something a little better."  He gave us a 2010 Toyota Prius.  How cool.  I've wanted to drive a Prius since they first came out, but have never taken one for a test drive.  Mimi and I discussed getting one, but thought they were a bit pricey.  The attendant walked us out and introduced us to our very smart and efficient driving machine.  No key; just a button that lights up when you get inside and press on the brake.  Push the button and the dash lights up, "Welcome to Prius" is briefly displayed on the dash.  All the buttons, even the gears are toggle switches.  Toggle to "R" with "gear shifter" and it starts to beep quietly reminding you that you are in reverse.  No rev on an engine as you back up, just a next-to-nothing hum.  Toggle to "D", the beeping stops and you begin moving forward.  It keeps track of your speed, distance, and MPH for Trip A as you drive.  If you really pay attention to your acceleration, and take it easy, you can really effect the overall MPG.  When you let off the gas and glide, your MPG goes to 100, which is the maximum, and energy actually starts going back into the battery.  Also, when you brake, the friction of the brakes causes energy to again flow back into the battery.  It's very intriguing.  Reminds me of my Cesna flight here in Orlando a few months ago.  I watched the dials and gauges so much that I got a little queazy and had to look out at the horizon a while to acclimatize.  Mimi made sure I kept my eyes on the road.

We drove over to Pinetree and dumped off our luggage and took a look around, then went over to Newcastle and immediately set to work.  As we drove up to the house, I saw the 1953 Ford pick-up still sitting there.  I couldn't believe it.  The guy I gave it to said he would have it out of there in a week.  Unbelievable.  I got on the phone and called ASAP Towing.  They came right over and hauled it off; no fuss, no muss, no charge.  The yard looked like crap.  The guy I'd hired to keep the yard had done a quick careless mowing job, and that's all.  There were still dozens of bits of trash, glass, cigarette butts and what not from the yard sale we'd had three months ago.  No edging, no dead leaves raked, just a cursory mowing job.  As I was hauling the remaining junk from the house out to the curb, who just happens to show up like an angel of mercy?  Jim Weeks, the guy who helped me haul the stuff from Newcastle to Pinetree last time.  He runs a yard maintenance business, as well as simple remodeling and hauling.  "I was just going to call you." I said.  We took a walk around the house discussing how it should look, what should have been done, expectations.  He asked me what I was paying the other guy and agreed to do it for the same price, "But I'll really do the job." he said.  He agreed to start on Monday.

So with the jalopy moved, and a new yard guy lined up, I was feeling better again.  I cleaned out the garage, and Mimi did the kitchen until it got dark.  I ran over to Amalfi, a local Italian restaurant and bought a chicken ceasar salad for Mimi and Pasta Primavera for me.  Mom called while we were eating and talked to Mimi about the mail that was arriving.  I got a $10 and some cents check from Eisenhower Medical Center, some sort of refund for something.  The last job-related money I'm going to see in a long time.  Mom will be depositing any checks that arrive for us during our trip at Compass Bank in Idyllwild.  She's already had a couple guys over to help her with things.  I think she's going to do just fine.

Back at Pinetree, where we decided to sleep in the nice clean living room; Mimi on the couch and me on the floor beside her.  Mimi cleaned out the upstairs bathroom so we could take showers.  No water leaking through the ceiling.  That's a good thing.  I'm pushing Mimi to not spend our entire time here in Orlando puttering around the houses.  I'd really like to see the Everglades and Key West before we fly out on the 16th.  Once we get back, I'm sure Mimi is going to love buying fix-er-uppers.  She's a great project manager.

President Mubarak of Egypt stepped down today.  Sad to see a man lose the respect of his people.  But good for them for not tolerating his extravagant lifestyle.  No TV at either house, so I didn't get to see President Obama's comments on the matter this afternoon.  We'll be heading to bed early tonight.  Both of us tired after a night in coach, and then cleaning all afternoon.  But it's that good tired feeling; a feeling of accomplishment.

TOYOTA 4RUNNER: Idyllwild to Palm Springs = 46 miles

TEXAS EAGLE: Palm Spirngs to San Antonio to Chicago = 2622 miles (2668)

CAPITOL LIMITED: Chicago to Washington D.C. = 764 miles (3432)

SILVER METEOR: Washington D.C. to Orlando = 899 miles (4331)

~ The Daily Poet