Well, I'm back from the annual two-weeks-off-with-pay holiday outing,
this time to Florida and back (Chicago). Given the distance (1330 miles),
luggage requirements (spouse's makeup cases) and need for storage space
due to terrific fireworks sale near I-75 in Tennessee, we made the trip
via Oldsmobile instead of Austin. Sometimes one must make sacrifices.
We made it all the way to Longboat Key near Sarasota in two days, one night.
I won't rehash all of Jim Muller's excellent observations on highway driving,
all of his examples being painfully apparent, but I can add a couple of other
points. First, radar detector usage is highly overrated by the politicians
who want to ban them. State Police revenue-enhancement areas are widely
advertised via CB radio within seconds of an officer pulling to the side
and opening for business. For any long-distance travel, CB is a must, partly
for the above-mentioned reasons, but mainly for entertainment and chatting,
plus the occasional traffic bulletin. It's surprising how often you hear the
same 10 songs played by every radio station along the way, when you can pass
the time instead by talking with the truck drivers. Our car has a hidden
antenna, making for some good laughs as we listened to flattering comments
(fortunately!) about my wife as we passed the trucks.
Weather in Longboat Key was terrific all week and we saw many LBC's, though
most were a brief blur zooming by in the other direction. One notable excep-
tion: a very nice maroon (if memory serves) Jaguar XK drophead, equipped
with a rollbar. My knowledge of Jaguars extends only as far as knowing not
to say "Jag-WIRE", but I assume that XK is correct as the license plates
read "XK MPH".
Now, I'm guessing that a few of you have just spluttered, "Hey, he's talking
about ----- -----'s car!" Perhaps the owner himself is logged in somewhere.
Anyway, the thought occurred to me that it might be neat to have some sort
of discreet (No! Really BIG) decal or grille badge that would identify members
of our illustrious electronic car club gathered here today. Perhaps a shield,
say, displaying a wire wheel with a lightning bolt through it, hovering over
a puddle of oil. The wheel would be missing several spokes, as a symbol of
our eternal search for parts. Perhaps someone well-versed in heraldry might
like to cook up a nice description and sample. Any other ideas?
Andrew C. Green
Datalogics, Inc. Internet: acg@dlogics.com
441 W. Huron UUCP: ..!uunet!dlogics!acg
Chicago, IL 60610 FAX: (312) 266-4473
P.S. I'm not sure if I'm back on the mailing list just yet, so please copy
me directly with any important comments or Florida job offers -- thanks...
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