1. I drove from Homestead to Orlando this morning with a crew of about 16 (including kids) from Life Pointe Church. We took 4 vehicles with us (including mine). This is the longest one-day road-trip my car has been on since the first couple of weeks of March 2007 when I drove all the way up to the northwestern suburbs of Atlanta Georgia for a work-related conference.
2. I paid a record-shattering $3.799 per gallon for gas along Florida’s Turnpike. 10.660 gallons of it went into my car, so that came out to a mind-boggling $40.50. I never thought that it would cost over $40 to fill up my fuel-efficient Saturn with less than 11 gallons of gas !
3. Venus pointed out to me several times that perhaps my driving is just a wee-bit on the conservative side for her personal tastes. In fact she hinted that I drive like an old retired Floridian. She stated that she likes to hang out on the road with her ‘speeding buddies’. I inquired as to why she’s always late for everything if she’s always speeding. I also suggested that she leave much earlier to get to her destinations so that she wouldn’t have to speed, and she would arrive alive on-time.
4. To ‘rubberneck’ is to unnaturally turn your head at pretty much a 90° right angle and essentially stretch your neck so that it looks like it’s made out of rubber. When you’re driving along and everyone drives real slow so that they can examine the aftermath of a bad accident along the side of the road most people stretch their neck and hence ‘rubberneck’. Venus and I discussed that for a few minutes as Anne J. took a well-deserved nap.
5. This is the first time since November 2006 that I’ve been here in Orlando. Once upon a time in a previous life not quite so far away I used to visit this city 3 or 4 or 5 or more times per year. Orlando used to be my playground – my home away from home – my South Beach – my Panama City Beach – my Cancun.
6. Actual proof that it’s been awhile since I’ve been here in Orlando is the fact that I’ve made the wrong turn on at least 3 or 4 separate occasions right along the north end of International Drive – a road that I used to roll on quite frequently during a decade of fun.
7. I’m attending the 2008 National New Church Conference here in Orlando. It’s also known as the ‘Exponential’ Conference – subtitled ‘The DNA Of Reproducing Churches’. I took a whole bunch of notes ‘chicken-scratch’ style during the first afternoon of sessions. Eventually I will decipher my notes and then transpose them into a separate blog entry that is most worthy to be included within the prestigious ‘Tossed Salad’ brand name here on this blog. Judging by how many raw notes I took this afternoon alone this may turn out to be a multi-part mini-series of ‘Tossed Salad’ editions rather than one big one. It’s all good. There’s a lot of learnin’ goin’ on here, and the funnest part of learnin’ is sharin’ the knowledge. Knowledge Is Power ! Power Is Fame !
8. Pastor Travis and Pastor Paul are recording their notes from the conference via the new and modern way – directly onto their laptops on-site – and in Travis’s case – directly onto his blog and-or his Twitter. Believe it or not in the specific breakout session that I personally attended on blogging we spent a good 10 minutes talking about Twitter. That word – ‘Twitter’ – must have been uttered at least 50 times. Before P.J. introduced the entire Twittering concept to me and his tens of fans via his blog I had never heard that word spoken before in my entire Life.
9. Our entire crew met up at Giordano’s for dinner over in Lake Buena Vista (very near the far-eastern entrance to Walt Disney World). We ate a bunch of their ‘World Famous Stuffed Pizza’, and in no time flat we were pretty much stuffed, walking funny, and making wacky sounds with our bodies. I took my Lipitor a good 5 hours later than normal. Better late than never – especially after this potentially heart-damaging meal ! Paul – Remind me to give you my Doctor’s business card upon our return back home to Homestead. 🙂
10. I couldn’t possibly have more genuine fun here in Orlando than I did today, or on any other day that I’ve spent here in Orlando over the past 15 years. I am so totally humbled and blessed to be able to participate in this wonderful experience along God’s fantastic journey.
CountUp 
4 replies on “Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts”
Dear Mr. Day
so glad u r having fun in Orlando…We just got back from San Fran, CA…5 hrs of
airtime…I honestly gave it all to Him since I had no control over the flights…
After praying and evetually turning over to Him; I was able to read and relax on the trip..My sister and family threw he an Awesome Birthday Party yesterday..Ivan and I
drove to the beach (Santa Cruz) for the day..so when we got back everyone was BBQ and waiting to start the Party…
We had a blast! I thank God for everything..
Hope u have a safe trip and that u learn some new good stuff…
Peace-
Kris
Bro, make sure you play a few games of MINITURE GOLF, and renact some old moments during our decade of fun!
Will you be visiting Mannequin’s and seeing all the old regulars? Techno Larry, Menopause Lady, and High School Shop Teacher request your presence!!
I was in Orlando ‘on business’ – church business that is. There was very little time left over for leisure-like activities such as minature golf. There wasn’t even enough time for air hockey in the hotel game room even though Venus challenged me to a game of it. Apparently she thinks that she’s some type of superstar at that game.
As far as Mannequin’s is concerned that fun ended in 2006. It was part of my previous life. I’m dancing to a new beat nowadays.
Dude! (I think Jesse and the crew should do a Life Pointe version of the “Dude” commercials. They were hilarious! Loved it!)
Now let’s get this straight once and for all! I can’t believe you said that I hinted you drove like a retired floridian. That’s not true…it was more like driving Miss Daisy! LOL! Just kidding. No, but seriously though, I am not late everywhere and you’ve made me out to be a major speed demon. Dude – you’ve got it all wrong!
First off, your clock is set 1/2 hour ahead of the rest of the world, so that’s not even fair. 😎
Second, I only follow my speeding buddies when I know I can get away with it. 😎 It’s a skill that you haven’t mastered yet. We’ve got to first get you to go at least 70 on a 70 mile zone, but it looks like that’s going to take some work – lol.
Third, I could’ve sworn you were late to breakfast and then tried to blame it on Alex. 😎
Lastly, if you thought I was going to let you get off the hook and not mention that you stood me up twice – not taking my offer to whoop you at Air Hockey – you were so wrong! Late or not, I was ready! But I understand that you were scared and didn’t want to go back to Homestead 0 for 4.
On a more serious note – I thought the conference was awesome and so grateful to be a part of it all. I learned so much and got to hang out with some really cool Christians. It was pretty amazing to see how much God is doing all over the World. It’s been a while since I’ve seen so many Jesus followers in one place – it was beautiful! I even had the privilege of learning and being blessed by one of my favorites – Rick Warren. It was a lot of fun hanging with the Life Pointe crew too. I am truly blessed to be a part of such greatness that is being birthed out of Homestead and looking forward to growing with Life Pointe as we pursue our vision of “Loving God and Man with Reckless Abandon.”
See you Sunday.