Daily Archives: August 10, 2017
No News Is . . .
well, no news, I guess. Which is what we heard about our RV repairs today. But I wasn’t really expecting anything until later this week anyway.
I like to drive fast.
Jan can attest to that. But not in the RV of course. That’s 55 – 60 mph all the way. But on the track, and on west Texas roads, it’s another matter.
Back in the day, I raced SCCA in my very souped-up ‘65 Triumph Spitfire and hit a little over 140 mph on the track. Above that, the front end got a little squirrely. But I did have the pleasure of beating a couple of Vette’s when I was running in the Unlimited Class.
And when we were dating, I did ‘test drive’ Jan once, hitting over 120 on a long deserted stretch of Florida four-lane highway. When she didn’t scream or faint, I decided she was the one for me.
And actually I’ve been faster than that. In 1966 and 1967 I took both the Basic Road Racing and the Advanced Road Racing Classes at Bob Bondurant’s Racing School when it used to be at the Atlanta Raceway in Georgia, to get my SCCA Racing License.
But part of the fun was the final exam, where we got to take a Porsche (or Porsche ‘Ah’ as Alan says) out on the road track and had to match or beat a specific time during one of three tries. I passed the second time, and was clocked at over 160 on the straights. But with all this background in speed, and still feeling the ‘need’ now and then, I’m often amazed, and sometimes ‘scared’ by Houston drivers.
Coming home from Louisiana this past Monday night about 11pm, I’m on I-10 passing through downtown Houston, and doing about 70. Of course the speed limit is 60 mph, and it’s been raining, but no one else seems to care. And even driving 70 I’m the slowpoke of the bunch, with people passing me on both sides, sometimes flashing their lights, apparently because I’m in the way and slowing them down. Most were doing 80-85, but I swear that some were bumping up against 100 mph.
Makes me think the Texas State Motto shouldn’t be ‘Friendship’, but maybe should be ‘Punch it, Margaret’.
And on that note, how in the heck is one word a ‘motto’? That should be the the Texas State Word, if anything. I contend that it takes at least two words to make a motto.
‘Be Prepared!’ Now that’s a motto.
Thought for the Day:
“Medical stuff is so expensive. Doctors should use cheaper equipment. Like an X-ray machine that takes four poses for a buck.”
jhkjhk
