Daily Archives: November 6, 2018
Don’t You Dare!
We had our ophthalmologist appointments at 2:15 so we decided to go in a little early and have breakfast at The Egg and I once again. Jan’s new favorite is their Avocado Toast with Scrambled Eggs and Salad Greens
We had hoped to try out Snooze- An AM Eatery, a new breakfast place, right down the street from the Egg, but it doesn’t open until the14th. We’re looking forward to checking it out.
As far as the ophthalmologist results, Jan’s finally going to get her cataracts removed, starting with the left one on Dec. 6th. Otherwise everything else looks OK, with no signs of macular degeneration or retinal neuropathy.
My diagnosed cataract pretty much isn’t. After checking out my eyes, particularly the left one, said all I really have is a slight thickening or yellowing of the cornea, and not a cataract. He set me with an appointment with the practice’s cornea guy to double check for any problems.
He also scoffed when I mentioned that my optometrist said that I couldn’t drive at night, and had no problem filling out a new SD Vision Statement to get that restriction off my license.
This afternoon it suddenly dawned on me that the speedometer of our rental Malibu goes all the way up to 160 mph.
When I mentioned it to Jan, she immediately said, “Don’t You Dare!”.
She knows me so well.
When we were first dating in 1967, I had a souped-up red 1965 Triumph Spitfire like this.
Except that mine had a full roll-bar and a white racing stripe.
The original Spitfire had a 1,147 cc OHV inline 4 with about 67hp, good for about 95mph. Downhill with a tailwind.
But mine, purchased from the brother of an ex-girlfriend, had a full race-prepared engine, putting out 89hp at 6000rpm on the dyno.
But not to let well enough alone, I shoehorned a Triumph GT6 6 cylinder engine in, also prepped, this one to about 170hp. This on a 1500 pound car.
Which is why, when Jan and I were coming home from Orlando one night on a nice straight, deserted road, she asked how fast we were going, and I told her.
135 mph!
Her eyes got really big, and she ‘eek’d’ a little, but that was it. I think that’s when I really knew I was going to marry this girl.
Previously, I had had it up to a little over 140, but the front end would get a little ‘bouncy’.
FWIW, I had taken both the Basic and Advanced Racing Courses at the Bob Bondurant Racing School in Atlanta, and had previously raced in SCCA F, G, and Unlimited classes. So it wasn’t like I hadn’t done this before.
So Jan had good reason to suspect that I might want to find out whether or not the Malibu was worthy of this speedometer.
Thought for the Day:
“Calling a thing by its right name is the beginning of wisdom.” – Kahlil Gibran
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