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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1.  This was originally going to be a quick tweet from me, but then I decided to upgrade it to a full-blown ‘Grab Bag O’ Thought’. This happened on the way home from work this afternoon on Speedway Boulevard (Miami-Dade County’s SW 137TH Avenue in Homestead). One slow-moving vehicle (in this case a ‘soccer-mom minivan’) can disrupt the normal flow of traffic on a single stretch of roadway for miles affecting dozens of motorists. I generally drive on the slow side. Typically out of every 10 vehicles on the road today 8 will pass me at any given time, and I will pass 2 of them. When I make note of a slow-moving vehicle then it must really be a slow-moving vehicle. These drivers are generally oblivious to the rush hour world around them. Just because you’re driving real slow does not necessarily mean that you’re driving real safe. It usually means that you’re being distracted while driving. Oh yeah – get out of the left lane !

2.  Speaking of my car by chance this past Saturday morning I checked out that brand new car wash that recently opened up on Useless-One caddy-corner to The Big Cheese. I was their only customer at the time, and I got my car washed on the outside and cleaned and dressed on the inside. They took their time and did it right. My 6½-year-old car looks nearly sparkling new now on the inside. The ultimate results far exceeded my overall expectations. I plan to be a regular customer of them in the future. After I return home from my upcoming road trip I’ll be going back there for a wash and wax !

3.  It’s Election Day here in Homestead, and I’m so glad that I’ve already voted via absentee ballot. I do it that way in lieu of being insulted at the voting precinct (inside and outside). It’s just so much more civil voting in the privacy of my own living room. On this day we’ve got the incumbant Mayor who’s a loose cannon, says what’s on her mind, and publicly degrades people along the way who she doesn’t agree with. Running against her for the job is a guy with a lot of experience in Homestead politics who’s (allegedly) got a short temper and gets into street fights with citizens (allegedly). I hesitantly voted for one of these candidates – not really for the person but really more as a vote against the other person.

4.  Last Tuesday night in the ‘Grab Bag’ I mentioned the fact that I picked up several of 8 colds in 12 months from November 2007 to November 2008 at Starbucks. Once I stopped going there I stopped getting colds. This past weekend I went back there to pick up a package of VIA Ready Brew (instant coffee). I did so because it’s the most delicious instant coffee that I’ve ever tasted in my entire life. Fast forward to this afternoon, and I believe that I now have my first genuine cold in about a year. In defense of Starbucks though I don’t believe that I picked up this cold from there. I think I got the nasty germs earlier today from either Publix or our base gymnasium. I’ll be able to confirm the mere existence of this cold as soon as later tonight or tomorrow morning – especially if it gets worse.

5.  Get ready for more seasonal (normal) temperatures around these parts of the free nation starting on Thursday and continuing through the weekend. Expect mid-afternoon high temperatures right around the 80°F mark and early-morning low temperatures deep down into the lower-60s with wind chills into the upper-50s. The humidity will be low, and the winds will be brisk and cool. Later in November I’m forecasting a major continental shift in the weather pattern (induced by El Niño) that will surge much colder air deep into Florida.

Be sure to check out my ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ in a mere 48 hours or less, and until then stay up-to-date with what I’m thinking and doing via my Twitter account.