Just outside Brimley in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula along Lake Superior on Whitefish Bay, our dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree. “Reserve fuel warning. Find a gas station now. You idiot.” All true, except for that last part. My words for me. We were below a quarter tank of fuel, which triggers something in the engine system and causes the reserve warning light to appear. Driving north to the UP, as it’s known by locals (“Yoopers”) and down staters (“Trolls”) like us, who live all points south of the Mackinac Bridge, we had spent the last six hours on the road. Until now, it was a happily uneventful Monday. We…
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Where were you?
Hard to believe it’s been 20 years since that fateful morning in September. Not a cloud in the sky. A crisp fall chill in the air. A perfect day. Where were you? Driving to work. Making your bed. Walking the dog. For me, it was the final week of my medical leave before going back to work after open-heart surgery that summer. I was 41, tanned, rested and ready to rejoin the rat race. Until I wasn’t. I wouldn’t know this until six months later when my doctor diagnosed me with a form of PTSD and prescribed Zoloft, which helped and got me through the worst of my post-op anxiety.…
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No leaks
So, last week driving Mustang Sal on Main Street through Royal Oak, this middle-aged guy on a Yamaha motorcycle pulled up next to me at a red light. “Nice car,” he said. I was flattered and rather pleased that he hadn’t called me ma’am. Or sir, for that matter. For the record, it’s happened. At Kroger, Costco, McDonald’s drive-thrus. Whatever. Darn N-95 masks. Plus, I had just gotten a haircut and was wearing a black baseball cap with a silver pony embroidered above “MUSTANG” in red letters. Looking like a brother from another mother, I turned my head, smiled and asked if he owned a classic car. He said that he…
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Perk-ulated?
The COVID-19 hits just keep on coming. Now a shot in the arm may not only get you a million bucks, but also a seat at the movies. Or a table inside a restaurant. Even a workout among other so-called elites who have the sense to be fully vaccinated. Rather than resort to mandates, which apparently violate the right to remain healthy, this new idea is to incentivize the unvaccinated with perks to get them inoculated. Money, food, fitness. That sort of thing. I’m OK with that. As I told an anti-vaxxer the other day: “If you aren’t vaccinated, you can’t hug me. There’s a consequence.” Not that it would matter to some.…
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Dog and pony show
Madison and Max are two dogs of very different breeds and backgrounds. Although they’ve never met, the lucky canines have one thing in common: They both attended classic car shows this past weekend. It’s not uncommon to see dogs walking their humans at these outdoor events. In fact, at one car show over the weekend, I actually heard a spectator say it was “like being at a dog show with some cars on display.” Funny. And that’s where we were Saturday – at the Fifth Annual Main Street Memories “Wheels on the Waterfront” in beautiful downtown Port Huron, Michigan. Billed as “the fastest-growing car show in the area,” the popular event…
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Soundtrack of summer
Last night, Major League Baseball’s 91st All-Star Game was played at Coors Field in Denver. The annual Midsummer Classic was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We watched most of the game on Fox Sports. But it also appeared on Fox Deportes (Spanish), the Fox NOW app, foxsports.com, MLB.TV, ESPN radio and live-streamed on fuboTV. Best pre-game story: The 27-year-old phenom Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, who can pitch, play outfield and bat designated hitter. No wonder they call him “Sho-time.” Second-best pre-game story: In his fourth all-star start, former Detroit Tigers ace Max Scherzer, now with the Washington Nationals, can’t hit his weight. But he…
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Shot outta luck?
“I am not throwin’ away my shotI am not throwin’ away my shotHey yo, I’m just like my countryI’m young, scrappy and hungryAnd I’m not throwin’ away my shot” From the song “My Shot” in “Hamilton,” the 2015 American musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda Shot to Win. Vax a Million. All in for the Win. Sounds like a trio of quarter slot machines in a Sin City casino. But no, they’re all names of lottery-style raffles to make more Americans get vaccinated against COVID-19. As vaccination rates continue to fall, several states have spent millions on lottery prizes to encourage holdouts to get their shot. Just when you think you’ve heard it all, now we’re going…
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Old bags
Amazing what you find going through your old golf bag after not playing since 2017. You know you haven’t played golf in awhile if your visor says Nancy Lopez. Or if you found an airline bag tag that says “Eastern.” I’d like to, but I’m afraid I can’t blame this multi-year links lapse entirely on the pandemic. Yesterday, I went downstairs and schlepped my golf clubs out of the basement. What I found was mostly dust and cobwebs. Also a formerly pristine white FootJoy glove reeking of mildew, two crumbled Kleenex packs, old Band-Aids and a bottle of suntan lotion that expired when Barack Obama was president. Underneath all of that ick, there…
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Boondocking
We bought our Winnebago motorhome in 2017. After RVing for about four years, we no longer consider ourselves newbies. We’re still “glampers,” who instead of tents prefer sleeping under the stars on an indoor bed in a locked Sprinter van. But we’re willing to get our disposable gloves dirty, and now we can set up camp pretty quickly – connect to electric, water, sewer and even cable TV – without incident. As in, without running over a 6-inch white sewage lid that becomes a projectile weapon. Or breaking RV Rule No. 1 (“No drive-thrus”) because “10-foot clearance limit” actually means that. And not all trees are tall. Either of those…
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Remembrance
It’s Memorial Day, the last Monday in May when we honor those who have died while serving in the U.S. military. The women and men who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country – and our freedom. There is nothing more noble. You probably know that wearing a single red poppy is a Memorial Day tradition of remembrance that began after World War I ended. Every year around this time, you’ve likely been offered one held together with green wire from a military veteran while waiting at a traffic light. Maybe you even donated something to show support of our troops. During the Great War, as World War I came…
