A Tale of Two Chemists: Ernest Hemingway Home

Ernest Hemingway Home

Wednesday 10th February 2021

As we have described previously the septic hoses from our toilets tend to get constricted by a build up of insoluble salts. Having read a review that vinegar does very little to dissolve these salts we tried this morning to do some preventative hose clearance with hydrochloric acid (aka muriatic acid – although I have no idea where that name comes from). Anyway we bought a gallon jug of fuming 20% muriatic acid from ACE hardware and poured a couple of pints into the toilet and pumped it into the hoses. The result was immediately noticeable in the form of lively bubbling from the overboard pipe that was clearly visible on the outside of the boat. To quote from my favorite film Apollo 13 … “Copy that - you are venting”. This was a bit more exciting than we envisaged but at least shows us that something was happening! Hopefully this will prevent the system from clogging up. We also managed to get some laundry done and then this afternoon decided to visit Ernest Hemingway’s home.

I’m a big fan of Hemingway’s books and also fascinated by his larger-than-life lifestyle. His house in Key West is where he wrote the majority of his novels and it is an interesting place to visit with a lot photos and information on display. Whilst not a huge house by modern standards it still remains the biggest private residence in Key West. (Actually the house seemed far too small as we tried to avoid the ~ 20 people on a guided tour that seemed to stick with us wherever we went.) The gardens surrounding the building are beautiful and up on the second floor veranda you feel like you are in the canopy of a tropical forest. Then there are the cats! Hemingway was given a polydactyl cat (one that has six rather than five toes) from a ship’s captain. There are now about 65 cats on the estate, some of which are descended from the original cat named Snow White and have that same feature. As far as I’m concerned that’s 65 cats too many! Oops, sorry Liz and Shiela, that just slipped out!

Before I finish I want to recommend you watch the video that was presented yesterday at the start of the former President’s second impeachment trial. It helped me appreciate the horror of the Capitol Riot and the events that lead up to it and why it is so important to follow through with the impeachment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERIbhsCzZwk

Mike

24 42.220 N, 81 06.131 W