“It’s a white-knuckle roller-coaster ride.”
Yesterday was a success. My car has gas, the trash is gone and my larder has been replenished. The dump was hell on Earth. In the winter it is the Russian steppes, but in the summer the sun beats down and the heat mirage ripples across the sand. I was so excited to get home into the cool house.
Today is already hot at 84°, and the humidity makes it worse. We have had sun then clouds then sun again. Right now the clouds are back. Thunder showers are predicted, but I have my doubts. The storms seem to miss the Cape.
When I was a kid, summers stretched out in front of me, seemingly endless. I found something to do every day. I wasn’t ever bored. Even if I was stuck inside by a storm, I was busy reading or playing in the cellar. I never saw the time pass. It just did.
I’ve always liked roller coasters. Nothing beats the anticipation and excitement of rolling up that first long hill knowing what was coming. The downhill always took my breath away. When I was a kid, the roller coasters were wooden. I remember the sounds of them on the tracks, the creaking and groaning. We had no seatbelts so we were tossed from one side to the other. From the roads, from a bit away, you could see the highest hills of the coasters at Revere Beach and Nantasket. Going home from my grandparents’ house, I could see just a small peek (peak too) of the very top of the River Beach coaster. My eighth grade trip was to Nantasket. I rode the coaster many times with my friend Jimmy. When I was in high school, we sometimes went to Revere Beach just for the food and the rides, especially the coaster. When I was much older, my mother and I vacationed in Williamsburg and stopped at Busch Gardens on our way home. I rode the looping coaster. I just couldn’t resist. My mother watched. Facing the ground was as scary as anything but sometimes, like this, fear is part of the fun of the ride.
I don’t do well on rides which go in circles, speedy circles, on tracks. I remember one trip to the Barnstable Fair and riding the sort of Tilt o Whirl except the cars were covered. I got off and got sick. As I said, I don’t do well on speedy circle rides. Merry-go-rounds, though, are perfect.
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July 29, 2023 at 2:13 pm
Hi Kat,
Today the sun is shining and there’s not even one cloud in the sky. The big high pressure, heat dome is sitting over the state and giving us no relief from the heat nor any chance of rain. Today the high temperature is forecasted to only reach 102°.
I absolutely hate roller coasters. My wife and I went to Disneyland in Los Angeles for my 40th birthday. I refused to accompany her on the space mountain ride. It’s a roller coaster in the dark. While waiting for her return I went to the men’s room where I discovered a Japanese tourist washing out his camera case, after vomiting in it while on the ride. 🙂
When I was giving instruction to student flight Instructors, there is a requirement to give them training in spin recoveries. The Cessna 150, would wind up and rotate at at high rate in a fully developed spin. The nose would go to about 70° below the horizon. While the airplane was rotating. While in the spin there is no aerodynamic force on the airplane because the wing is fully stalled and not making lift. However, when breaking the stall, the pilot had to pull at least two Gs to get the nose back to level flight attitude before exceeding the maximum maneuvering speed. Pulling Gs above the maneuvering speed can damage the airframe’s structural integrity. I didn’t mind pulling the Gs, it was doing a series of spins to the right and then doing ones to the left which would make me nauseous. I would have the student instructor do them in one direction and then fly around for a few minutes before doing them in the other direction. I think my semicircular canals in my inner ears must be very sensitive. 🙂
The summer vacation for the kids is almost over. I think school starts in our district on the 14th of August. Yes, all the schools here have air conditioning.
July 30, 2023 at 3:03 am
Hi Bob,
Right now it has been raining and the temperature is in the low 60’s. It was in the mid 80’s today so tonight is a delight, rain and all. Tomorrow will only be in the 70’s.
I have been lucky as the cape has been cooler than Boston and the western part of the state. We haven’t been hotter than the mid 80’s.
Gross but funny story about the Japanese tourist. I guess he was saving those sitting around him by using his camera case. Even when I was young I loved roller coasters. I remember my parents taking us to kid’s amusement park. I rode the roller coasters a few times. I liked being a bit scared.
I think I too would have gotten nauseous. I don’t do well with things which go in circles.
School doesn’t start here until after Labor Day. That has always been because stores and restaurants need the kids working until the high season ends, after Labor Day.