209. TARCing about

The truck is still out of commission, so travelling to and from work, and other places, has been on foot or by bus - TARC as we say here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606 - TARC being an acronym for the government-subsidized public transportation system serving Louisville and Jefferson County, as well as portions of Bullitt and Oldham counties in Kentucky and Floyd and Clark counties in Indiana.

Neither walking nor riding is a problem given I live about fourteen blocks from where I work, six blocks from my father, and maybe a little over 700 feet from a little market called Webb's, one of those old-fashioned corner markets with wooden plank floors, where they have a little of everything, plus a steam-table for the lunch crowd, most of whom are industrial workers in the area. While the selection isn't broad, it is decent if a little pricey, and the home-cooked meals from the steam table are great. Given they cook quite a bit of meat each day, they maintain a pretty good selection of different cuts, all fresh given, as I said, they are cooking and serving most of it as part of a meal.

My college friend Tim Darst would tell me I could be riding the bus all the time everywhere I need to go, and he may be right up to a point. But getting to my mother's requires a long walk along a narrow two-lane well-travelled county road with no sidewalks. Thursday evening, I have a Democratic Party rally to attend as well as two fundraisers afterwards. Hopefully, I'll be driving to those as opposed to relying on friends. In the long term, I have decided on two things when the times comes to purchase a newer vehicle. First, it will not be a stick. I am getting too old to switch gears. Two, it will not be a truck - this is my fourth. I am getting too old to move everyone else's stuff.

In the meantime, if you happen to see me standing along the side of Jefferson, Muhammad Ali, Chestnut, Preston, or Broadway, I'm just waiting for the next long white sixty-six passenger limousine to come my way. And presently doing all that standing in the rain, which started yesterday and may not end until tomorrow.