The Beeline Highway

There are only 3 1/2 things within a 10-mile radius of where I live:

Three miles away is the North County General Aviation Airport which, in addition to being utilized by private plane owners/pilots/enthusiasts, is used to test experimental and prototype helicopters from United Technologies, Sikorsky, and a stunted branch of Pratt & Whitney. Any given day you can see them flying overhead and on weekends you can hear the more daring pilots gettin' their yayas out among the clouds.

The Palm Beach International Speedway is nine miles away in the opposite direction. On both weeknights and weekends you can hear the barks and screams of angry cars trying to pass the red line first. Speaking of which, Nitro Jam's all up in your face this weekend. I'll have to imagine that huge effing tricked-out school bus tearin' ass on just two wheels, because I would rather catch up on my Netflix than deal with those gear heads and rednecks. Gugh. (Sorry, I'm boring, uninteresting, and unexciting. Thhhp.)

Then six miles away, before the Speedway, there's the heavy hand of UTC and the late-night rumblings to let you know Pratt & Whitney's still around, it's just been gutted entirely and moved to Hartford, Conn. or laid off in droves. My dad was always spared. Every Friday he'd come home and chirp "I've still got a job!" It was rough-house, indeed. There are three shifts at Pratt, so that whole thing is going 24 hours a day. There's always an engine running, even at 3 a.m., for a shuttle, jet, etc. and you can hear it grumble like a moving tank in the distance.

Finally, there's the railroad track that cuts straight through it all, running the Amtrak at all hours of the day and night, calling out to our sleepy neighborhood that people are still awake, there are still places yet to go.

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Every day this week I've been waking up at 5 a.m. and proofreading until I have to leave at 8:30 for my real job. Then I get home at 6, eat dinner, shower, and then proofread until 10. Now that I'm not knee-deep in APA style, I can finally get to "Shock & Awe" that's been sitting on the kitchen counter all week. Henry Rollins, you're gonna GET IT! Next up: finishing Paul's beanie and taking another pass at my fascinator, while also making outlines for writing projects. Sucka.