Notes from riding

Totally plastic 

Based on the bent and dented sedans and small SUVs I saw on flatbed trailers in five days, not much damage is required to total a car these days. All had front-end damage, and some had a bit of twisted metal, but none seemed to have the kind of damage I would associate with a parts car from 50 years ago. Of course, 50 years ago people would have said, “Why, that kind of damage you could pull out of a Model T with a horse and a come-along.”

Watch the floor

We made a truly necessary pit stop at a Stop-‘N-Rob called Harry’s on an edge of Chattanooga. I went in first, cause when an old man’s bladder sends a “NOW!” signal, it is telling the truth. I don’t expect anything other than clean from a commercial business’s bathroom. What I do not ever expect is to see feces on the floor. Harry’s had feces, several leavings about the surface area of a quarter and maybe a quarter-inch thick. I have seen a lot worse things, so I avoided the leavings, did my business, washed and dried my hands and on the way out mentioned to the man at the cash register: “There is feces in the floor!” That man, an East Indian, shrugged and pointed to an older black man sitting on a stool in a corner, using an electronic device and giving to mind to me or my outburst. My guess is, he owned the station. As I was going out, I said to an incoming couple, “Be aware, if you’re going into the rest room, there is feces on the floor.” When I told my wife and my daughter, my daughter shook her head. “No,” she said. “No, no. I can hold it.” 

Just so you’ll know

I packed all my clothes for the trip in my 35-year-old rucksack. In one pouch I put the S&W Model 10 and a box of ammunition. I said to my wife and daughter, “If you’re handling the rucksack, don’t grab the right side pouch. It has a pistol and ammunition in it.” My wife knew I had the Model 19 in a gun case beneath the passenger seat. She said, “How many guns did you bring?” I said, “Two. I thought about bringing four, but decided on two.” She said, “Why do you need an arsenal?” I didn’t say anything, but an arsenal would be contents of the gun safe loaded in the back of the car.

Relatives

We visited my older and middle sisters while in Tennessee. My older sister’s husband is retired from barge and boat handling on the Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. He’s had an interesting life.