Autobahn
The other week, I saw a Maserati. In Flint! I was motoring eastward on Miller Road & it was waiting to turn out of the Best Buy. As I was busy piloting Lumi I did not have time to take as detailed a look as I'd have liked; so, I cannot tell you if 'twas a GranTurismo or a Quattroporte, though my recollection leans more toward the Quattroporte. All I can say for certain is that there's no mistaking that distinctive catfish-mouth grille or Maserati's gorgeous trident logo.



I recount the following not to in any way puff up myself, but solely to remind one & all of the inescapable truth of that baleful old saw, "No good deed goes unpunished." I arose early this morning to lend a hand with unloading a tractor-trailer full of food at the North End Soup Kitchen. My fellow volunteers & I formed a bucket brigade leading from the semi-trailer to the sorting room. All was going well as we passed box after box from one to another, until large bags of onions suddenly appeared from around the corner. Before I knew it, my arms were full of a large sack of onions, gravity constantly deforming the bag as it sought a way to pull the onions down to the ground. Sack after sack passed awkwardly through my arms until finally one enveloped my left forearm & hand; before I knew what had happened, the net-like bag had torn my watch off my wrist! The watch clanked to the floor in four pieces: the mechanism, the strap (the two halves still buckled together), & the two pins that attached the strap to the mechanism. I was able to recover one of the pins, the other is lost & gone forever. My fellows were not in the least sympathetic as I scrambled on the floor trying to gather the pieces of my dismembered timepiece. In a stroke of luck I had a single spare pin back at home, but that does not change the fact that I came too close to losing my second-favorite everyday product of Switzerland (after my Swiss Army Knife). Forewarned is forearmed: Help others at your peril!

Project MERCATOR
I ran into & conversed with Ska Army today, the first time I'd seen the lad in far too long; he hadn't played the last three Loose Ties shows I'd seen (including two in one night) due to his duties with the non-ska Army.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The Cars, "Just What I Needed" from The Cars (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: Is it just coincidence that The Cars provide the R.B.D.S.O.T.D. on the day I publish an "Autobahn" post? Yes. N.P.R. was annoying by the time I was driving home tonight, & I immediately stopped scanning through the commercial radio stations when I heard "Just What I Needed."

"'Cause when you're standing oh so near,
I kind of lose my mind."