Tuesday, July 19, 2011

What a day. The continuing saga of the Red Dragon's solitary conspiracy to keep me away from D.C.

This past Friday we had the water pump fixed on the Jimmy, affectionately known by the girls as "The Red Dragon." Sunday we replaced the brakes (shade tree) for Hannah to run back to Hattiesburg in. Before she could take off, there was smoke pouring out of the right rear brake assembly, so we had to swap the Toyota until we could figure out what the deal was. Diagnosis by somebody who knows what they're doing this AM said, stuck caliper -- must replace. Beyond my competence. So, since I'm leaving for DC tomorrow (or is it today already?), I had to fetch the Toyota from Hattiesburg. Enter AmTrak. Made the train at the station in downtown Birmingham with 6 minutes to spare at noon, got to H'Burg at 5:00PM, where Hannah picked me up. Did my posting with my laptop from Hannah's apartment (no WiFi on the Crescent), waited until she got back from soccer practice at about 8, visited a bit and then jumped in the Toyota to come back. Made it here at about 1AM our time. Wonderful day.

I would tell you about my AmTrak experiences but I'm beat.

G'night, folks.

Or, good morning.

Whichever.

2 comments:

Dale said...

"Welcome aboard AMSLAMM--We don't sell tickets-we sell chances!" Have fun on the train Mike. I worked for Railroads for over 20 years...Amtrak has gotten better, but they are still not up the the former RR's standards, but the equipment is a lot nicer these days. Like you, I do not fly in the US, take my car or Amtrak..At least they serve reasonable food and have a fully stocked bar..beats the shit out of Airlines anytime!!

Dennis308 said...

Good Luck on the Mission to D.C.

Ya know some times Ya just gotta put down that ol'mule,do what's right, shouldn't let it suffer like that. I know difficult to find another one like 'er.

Dennis
III
Texas