Day: November 8, 2019

Thursday Inspiration — Train Travel

Fandango23 Comments

D8E7C9C6-F60A-4331-A40E-8C21CAD15A5F.pngWhen I saw that Paula Light’s Thursday Inspiration prompt this week was all about trains, I was reminded of a post I wrote almost a decade ago on my old, now defunct blog. I thought it would be a great fit for a post about trains. So, thank you, Paula, for inspiring me to dig deep into my archives and to resurrect this old post.

Flying Amtrak

3AFA3EC6-BA34-4DA2-B76D-C905DCE59C48I am writing this post on an Amtrak train, the California Zephyr, headed for Chicago from San Francisco. From there I will board another Amtrak train headed to Boston. I decided that, since I have to make this cross-country trip, I would make it an adventure. Rather than flying or driving across the country, I am taking the train.

So far, it’s been a good decision. It’s relaxing and comfortable and scenic. The train passed through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and just left Reno on its way to Salt Lake City and then to Denver before we hit the plains states.

I even have my own “roomette” where I can actually sleep in a fully horizontal position. How well I will actually be able to sleep I don’t know, but I’m sure by tomorrow night, exhaustion will kick in.

This is only the first day of a four-day cross-country train adventure. I wonder how I’ll feel when I look back upon this mini-adventure four days from now.

My return trip to San Francisco will not be so pleasant I’m afraid. I will be driving a rental truck filled with stuff we left in storage when we moved last summer from a big old Victorian home in Massachusetts to a small, urban condo in San Francisco.

And I’m going to try to make that cross-country drive in the rental truck in five days. So next week I probably won’t be online very much, if at all. And I definitely won’t be as relaxed or comfortable as I am right now.

Sadly, there is no WiFi on this train. What is this, the Middle Ages? Fortunately, I do have a 4G WiFi hotspot device with me that does give me internet access, but it’s spotty.

The train is continuously moving through cell zones and sometimes access is great, at other times it’s barely there or is not there at all. So I’m going to post this while I have enough of a signal to get through.

Truth, Justice, and the American Way

Fandango9 Comments

BCE4D36B-60CA-461A-AA27-9344E9B14287“I’m afraid that all of these investigations and hearings will be in vain.” Frank said. “You know that, between the White House and the Attorney General, who is in Trump’s pocket, they’ll do everything they can to sabotage the hearings and obstruct getting to the truth.”

“As your best friend, Frank, I think you’re being too much of a cynic,” Darren said. “I believe, by the end of the day, truth, justice, and the American way will carry the day.”

“I hope you’re right, Darren,” Frank said. “And for Trump’s sake, maybe they’ll be able to accouter his cell with a gold-plated commode.”

Written for these daily prompts: Word of the Day Challenge (vain), Ragtag Daily Prompt (sabotage), Daily Addictions (friend), Fandango’s One-World Challenge (cynic), The Daily Spur (carry), and Your Daily Word Prompt (accouter).

Friday Fictioneers — Sick and Tired

Fandango5 Comments

A7B75E21-C9C2-4EA2-80E7-A1AD4EAB1309 “I’m sick and tired of this, Steve,” Donna said.

“What now?” Steve asked.

“Look at this,” Donna said, pointing to the kitchen sink. “You made yourself a sandwich or whatever you ate, and you left a mess. You left the jars on the counter and a sink full of dirty dishes. And I’ve had it, Steve. You’re such an inconsiderate slob and I’m not going to clean up your messes anymore.”

“You’re right, Donna. Let me make it up to you. I’ll fix you a peach jelly and olive sandwich.”

Donna shook her head and stormed out of the kitchen.

(100 words)

Written for this week’s Friday Fictioneers prompt from Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Photo credit: Ronda Del Boccio.

The Record Store

Fandango13 Comments

FFF5620A-9A5E-4ED1-8E5E-D42F81F2B9E7“Do you want to go to the record store with me, Jason,” Elaine asked her grandson. “When I was your age, my friends and I loved to go to the record store and browse through all the latest records.”

Jason got a confused look on his face and asked, “What are records, Grandma?”

Written for this week’s Three Line Tales from Sonya. Photo credit: Yanko Peyankov At Unsplash.

Fandango’s Friday Flashback — November 8

Fandango24 Comments

Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of you earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember?

Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Friday Flashback post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (the 8th) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally posted on November 8, 2017 in response to a WordPress Daily Prompt, “dancing.”

In a Rut

71BCB912-535E-42A5-B6C0-0B83E7A1BFB0“Let’s go dancing,” Julie suggested.

Felix looked at his wife of forty years in disbelief. “Dancing? You can’t be serious. Why would you want to go dancing?”

“Oh Felix, we used to have such fun going out and dancing the night away,” Julie said. “Remember the night….”

Felix interrupted his wife. “First of all, we haven’t danced together in years. I think the last time was at our son’s wedding, and he got married 15 years ago — and divorced eight years ago. Second, I’m 72 and you’re 68. Do you really think we can still dance without hurting something? And finally, where would we go? They don’t have dance clubs where you can do the waltz, the foxtrot, the cha-cha, or the jitterbug anymore.”

“But Felix,” Julie objected,” we are in a rut. We need to spice things up, don’t you think?”

Shaking his head, Felix continued. “Look, we don’t know any of these new fangled dances. And today all you’ve got are discos and, what do you call them, raves, with their mash pits, pot, ecstasy pills, or some such nonsense.”

“There must be places in the city for older couples like us to, you know, strut our stuff,” Julie said.

“Yeah, old age homes and retirement communities,” Felix responded. “I don’t want to be hanging out with a bunch of old people.”

“Okay, fine,” Julie said, resigned to yet another night of staying home and watching TV. “I think TBS is having one of its ‘NCIS’ marathons again tonight.”