I walked down the driveway ( a little over a tenth of a mile, and perhaps 75 feet vertically) to see what was going on with the clean up crew. Then up the hill to check on Noel and Shannon’s (or should that be NoelandShannon’s ?) house and place, a distance of perhaps 2 tenths of a mile, and perhaps 300 feet vertically. I walked around their place, checking for damages, then down the drive way , and down the road they live on (Roach Road), stopping twice to visit with neighbors. This was perhaps by now an additional 3 or 4 tenths of a mile, and down appx the total distance I had traversed vertically previously. They really tried hard to get me to let them give me a ride to the house, but I opted for the walk, now roughly .3 mile, then almost straight up for the verticle 75 feet. Yes, I felt it. But these vertical distances in Eastern Tennessee are good for me, and I made it back to the house in one piece, and tho tired, it was pleasantly so. I never even felt sore from all of that. And by the way, I am almost 68 years old. Not bad (I think) for an old geezer.

The most reliable bicycle I ever had was an old 20″ Huffy. One speed, two if you count getting off to push it up a hill. It weighed a ton but the chain and sprockets were suitable for repairing a bulldozer.

And really, is it so surprising that something called a derailleur should be so fragile? It sounds like a ballet move. They should have called it a chainjack. A chainjack sounds like something that’ll take off a limb when it breaks.

But macho bluster aside, I’m really starting to envy your assignment. Flamingoes! That’s just too cool.

Dave