More drama!

I'm back. Someone made a comment in one of my posts that said I attracted drama. If I remember correctly, it was Steve Williams. After this trip I'm starting to believe it's true. More in a bit.

My trip to Orlando was interesting. Mostly it was long hours of corporate business. We were let out for a few hours after supper Thursday night. This was about the only recreation we had. I'd like to write about the trip here but this is a motorcycle riding and commuting blog. Restraint will be shown in that regard. There was, however, a motorcycle related incident that would be appropriate for a post here.

Like I mentioned, we had a few hours of freedom after supper Thursday night. The meal was taken at the Latin Quarter which is located on the Universal Studios grounds. There's an area called the "City Walk" which is essentially made up of restaurants, night clubs, and some shopping. In the course of my wanderings I noticed a place called "Magaritaville". Being a Jimmy Buffet fan I went inside to listen to the music and have a drink or two. Being the outgoing and dashing fellow that I am, I struck up a conversation with a woman there. Please note that it was just conversation. I've been wonderfully married to Katie for 29 years and had no intention of "picking someone up".

During the course of small talk I brought up the subject of motorcycles. Not that it's on my mind, or anything, you know. Turns out that she also rides. In fact, she was waiting for a group of her girlfriends to show up. They all belonged to ABATE and had a female only riding club. I was warmly welcomed into the group of ladies. We left the night club and wandered around the walk together. Here I was surrounded by nine women! Some of my associates were moved to jealousy. Such is the power of riding. The love of riding is a commonality that knows no geographical or gender limits.

The other event was one of a sadder nature.

I'm sure you've read about the tornado that ripped a 40 mile wide path through Central Florida. I was staying about 35 miles away.

Florida is 3 hours ahead of our time zone. Katie had a meeting until 8 PM our time. Which meant I had to stay up until 11 PM to be able to call her. We made connections and talked until around midnight Florida time. I'd noticed the wind getting worse and the rainfall getting heavier. By the time I went to bed the rain was blowing so hard against the window that all I could see were the frequent lightning flashes. I went to bed not thinking much more about it. Just a Florida storm, I figured.

Business occupied all of the next day. I didn't get a chance to watch the news until we had a break Friday night. There was a final banquet at 7 PM. At 5:30 I went to my room. There was a text message from my youngest son wanting to borrow one of my CD's. I replied. Late that night I called Katie. Time was 10:30 Florida time, 7:30 our time. Gets confusing, I know, but it helps explain the time gap.

I sort of got chewed out by Katie. The tornado was on the news early in the day as it happened during the night. I didn't even know about it until much later. Katie was getting calls from relatives and friends wanting to know if I was ok. Katie had no idea and was worried herself. My son showed up at the house to get the CD and showed her my text message. So at least she knew I was alive.

The picture above is a church in Lady Lake. At least what's left of it. It was designed to withstand 150 mph winds. A news article said the tornado was an F3 which can have 160 mph winds. I really feel bad for the folks who lost pretty much all they had. Even worse for those who lost loved ones. The death toll is up to around 20, I believe. Please keep them all in your thoughts and prayers.

Ironic to travel to the other corner of the United States only to be so close to this tornado. It was declared the worst one in over a decade. Maybe I do attract drama.

That's the news for now. Got some interesting posts coming up this week.

Miles and smiles,

Dan