Yesterday’s notes.......

—1) LEIF’S

Yesterday morning (Friday, April 11, 2008), after having the dreaded Hairman fix my hair, I visited Leif’s Mower-Service, not far from our home.
The intent was to pick up my mower-blade that I turned over to Leif’s months ago for sharpening. —I’ll probably be needing it soon.
Leif’s is a rather ramshackle affair, built by old man Leif long ago. It also is where I bought my Husqvarna zero-turn. (Leif’s is a Husqvarna outlet.)
I think I’ve seen old man Leif, but he’s retired, and the shop is now being run by his son.
His son is also a railfan, and collects and sells model trains out of the shop. There is a large sign of the Lionel lion in the shop — Lionel trains are the perfect gift for ‘50s honkey-boys.
The younger Leif, who I think’s name is Dan, is the one I got to go to Horseshoe Curve.
And we have heard about it ever since.
His wife accosted Linda at the West Bloomfield post-office, and they are ever grateful I got them to go there.
I also gave them the web-cam address, and like me they have it on all the time. Like me they are also familiar about how bad it is: e.g. the messy housing, the lady-bugs, and auto-focus on housing rain-drops instead of the tracks.
They also are aware of how wonderful it can be, like when it’s focused on the tracks.
I fire it up, and usually when I do a train is passing; often two, like one up and one down.
Nothing at the moment; you’ll see one in a few minutes.
The guy’s wife even allowed to Linda they were all set to call me up, because a work-crew was working on the tracks.
AIN’T NUTHIN’ LIKE THE MIGHTY CURVE! Best railfan spot I have ever been to; and I’m glad I dragooned them guys into visiting. They were thrilled!
So younger Leif, the one who sold me my zero-turn, is busy with a customer. The customer, about 30, is interested in buying a Husqvarna lawn-tractor.
Dan says Husqvarna has a financing program, that all the guy has to do is apply, be approved, and he gets a new tractor. (I paid cash for mine.) “If it’s a five-year loan, ya just replace the motor if it wears out. Ya still have a working tractor.”
His wife returned my mower-blade, accompanied by a torrent of yammering about the web-cam.
Them guys were surprised at the Curve, and I’m not the least bit the surprised.
AIN’T NUTHIN’ LIKE THE MIGHTY CURVE!
Starting to walk out with my mower-blade, I turned and addressed the customer — Dan was getting the credit application-form.
Usually I avoid such encounters since -a) I don’t think its cricket to interrupt a sales-pitch, and -b) my speech may lock up.
“If you’re thinkin’ of buying a lawn-tractor,” I said; “you should consider a zero-turn.”
“That thing is cuttin’ my mowing-time in half,” I say.
“There’s a learning-curve. Took me about two months to get the hang of it, and avoid mowing plants.”
“But now it’s zip-zip-zip-zip! Done in no time.”
Dan laughed.
What I shoulda said was that I had bought the thing at Leif’s. And that I had to run them poor guys through the mill fixing things — that apparently it had been assembled by the Friday-afternoon crew, blew a rotor-fitting, refused to run, etc. etc. I think they musta had to trailer the thing back to shop at least three times. (One-year guarantee.)
And once I blew a front tire, and Dan had to drop everything to get me back mowing.
So it’s an even trade; the mighty Curve for my beloved zero-turn.
Ran all last summer without a hitch — no visits to Leif. Zip-zip-zip-zip!

—2) DUBYA-STICKER

We are returning from Strong Hospital in Rochester yesterday afternoon — Linda had had her C-T scan (to verify her lymphoma was in remission).
We exit the huge parking-garage (wherein I had to apply the old directions Jones), and drive out into the light.
We proceed up a city-street, and fall in behind a RAV4 stopped at a traffic-light.
It has a “Bush-Cheney ‘04” sticker in the rear window.
“Uh-ohhhhhh,” we say in unison.
“Mothers protect your children,” I say. “Expect madness.”
The light changes, and the RAV4 bombs into the intersection, but a pedestrian is crossing the street he’s aimed for.
“STAND BACK!” I shout.
But the RAV4 stops to let the pedestrian across — totally unexpected. This ain’t Git-R-Dun behavior.
But the RAV4 stopped smack in the middle of the intersection.
Thankfully, he’s going a different way then we are. 2004 is four years ago; I thought by now them stickers woulda degraded.

“Hairman” is my hair-dresser. I’ve gone to him at least 16-17 years. (My macho, loudmouthed brother-from-Boston, who noisily badmouths everything I do or say, excoriates my hair. I shouldn’t be patronizing Hairman; like my brother I should be having my hair trimmed by HairCrafters at $5 a pop, or use my John Deere riding-mower.)

Our “zero-turn” is our 48-inch Husqvarna riding-mower; “zero-turn” because it’s a special design with separate drives to each drive-wheel, so it can be spun on a dime. “Zero-turns” are becoming the norm, because they cut mowing time in half compared to a lawn-tractor, which has to be set up for each mowing-pass.

Horseshoe Curve (the “mighty Curve”), west of Altoona, Pennsylvania, is by far the BEST railfan spot I have ever been to. Horseshoe Curve is a national historic site. It was a trick used by the Pennsylvania Railroad to get over the Allegheny mountains without steep grades. Horseshoe Curve was opened in 1854, and is still in use. (I am a railfan.) —Horseshoe Curve has a web-cam, but it’s awful.

“Linda” is my wife of 40+ years. She has lymphatic cancer. It’s treatable — she will survive. Like me she’s retired, but she works part-time at the West Bloomfield post-office.

I had a stroke October 26, 1993, and it slightly compromised my speech.

“Dubya-sticker” is a Bush-Cheney 2004 bumper-sticker. All insane traffic-moves seem to involve Bush-supporters. They seem to think they have the right.