Month: November 2009

Categories
Animals Food Health Sports Weather

The Major’s Walk-A-Thon

Sky: Clear
Temperature: 66°F
Dewpoint: 45°F
Relative Humidity: 47%
Winds: SE 6 MPH
Barometric Pressure: 29.92 Falling

After I watched my visiting Washington Redskins give up the shutout and the game to the hometown Dallas Cowboys in the last 3 minutes of the game I decided that the only reasonable thing for me to do was to walk around my brother’s neighbourhood for a little while, and so I did for a refreshing 28 minutes and 48 seconds.

Here are my walking thoughts in 15 words or less:

– Me, my Brother, Sister-In-Law, and their dog Buddy went on a 1.5-mile walk.
– They live in a rather large subdivision of cookie-cutter style split-level houses.
– It’s a peaceful and quiet neighbourhood just perfect for suburban families.
– The sky was crystal clear and as deep blue as can be during the 3 PM hour.
– It was in the mid-60s, but this was a different mid-60s than I’ve felt before.
– It was a dry mid-60s – compared with a more humid mid-60s typical of home.
– At first Buddy (the dog) was leading the way.
– But soon thereafter he was slowly stalling out.
– He was pretty much exhausted halfway through the walk.
– What do you expect from a canine that’s approaching his 60s in dog years ?
– Right now Buddy is passed out on a chair.
– When my sister-in-law exclaimed that we had gone a half a mile I concurred.
– All I did was look at my watch and see that 9½ minutes had elapsed.
– Since I typically walk a mile in 19 minutes flat I knew that she was right.
– Once our walk was done we had all worked up a sizeable appetite for food.
– So we ventured over to The Cheesecake Factory for a MASSIVE Dinner.
– I enjoyed the Lemon-Herb Roasted Chicken.
– Of course I saved room for a large slice of cheesecake too.
– Of course I indulged in the ‘for a limited time only’ Pumpkin Cheesecake.
– Walking hard and eating hard – that’s how I roll on this Sunday !

Categories
Driving History Life Music Travel

Saturday Night Retro

This afternoon I completed the first-half of the longest road trip of my lifetime. In addition to the 804 miles that I drove over the course of 12½ hours yesterday (Friday) I drove another 577 miles today (Saturday) over the course of about 9 hours. That’s 1,381 miles of driving on Friday and Saturday, and now it’s time to sit back and let other people do the driving while I do the relaxing.

Although I’ve driven in the great state of Texas before (mostly rental cars out of San Antonio) this is the first time that I’ve driven my own personal car here. It’s also the furthest west that I’ve ever driven in my own car – eclipsing the previous westmost record holder for me – New Orleans about 5 Summers ago.

I’ve now conquered with my own car all of the states with coastlines along the Gulf Of Mexico. I’ve also previously made it about halfway up the Eastern Seaboard – up to Maryland. This Christmas actually marks the 20TH anniversary of the first time that I drove to and from my previous home in Northern Virginia all the way to and from Homestead Florida (about a 2,200 mile round trip). I did that in my new car at the time – a 1989 Geo Spectrum.

When this song first hit the pop radio airwaves during the Summer of 1996 I thought that it was the perfect road trip driving song. It’s bubbly melody and beat totally encouraged me to surge past the posted speed limit at times and get wild and crazy on the highways !

It’s Crush with their MASSIVE dance smash that’s all about that “Jellyhead”:

Categories
Animals Driving History Music People Travel

The Major’s Friday Night Disco Party

This morning I woke up at 3:45 AM Eastern / 2:45 AM Central. I was on the road an hour later, and after about 12½ hours of driving 804 miles I arrived at my destination tonight safe and sound. I’m in Gulfport Mississippi. I’ve been here before – back in the Summer of 1994 on temporary military duty at nearby Keesler AFB in historic Biloxi.

Tomorrow I’ve got another 590 or so miles of driving from here to Allen Texas (northeast of Dallas). It’s the home of my Mom, Dad, Cat, Brother, Sister-In-Law, Future Nephew, and Dog. I’ll be there for 7 days and 7 nights.

But before all of that it’s time to kick-off the weekly Disco party, and this week I’ve got a crazy dude who called himself ‘Disco Tex’. Back in the mid-1970s he hung out with a band of lunatics known as ‘The Sex-O-Lettes’. Here’s their biggest Disco smash from back in the day – it’s “Get Dancin'”:

Categories
Blogging Driving God History Music People Travel

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– It’s not even 3:30 in the afternoon as I begin compiling these ‘Mini Thoughts’.
– But it’s already Thursday night for me.
– That’s because Friday morning will begin sooner than normal for me.
– I just set my alarm clock for 3:45 AM.
– I hope to be on the road no later than 4:45 AM.
– I’ve got about 825 miles to cover on the road tomorrow.
– That’s about 58% of the way to northeast of Dallas Texas.
– I’m really lookin’ forward to it !
– Last night I attended only my 3RD memorial service of my entire life.
– It was for a good friend and coworker.
– The service was done nice, and a few people stood up to speak of Kevin.
– If I could do it all over again then I would get up and speak too.
– It’s just one of those missed opportunities that I now regret.
– I’m learning to not miss so many of these opportunities in this new Life.
– It was an open casket viewing, but I didn’t go up to view Kevin.
– I’d rather remember Kevin as the dude that was full of life and laughter.
– The last time I saw a lifeless body in an open casket it was my Granddad.
– It’s an image that I can’t get out of my mind – 15 years later.
– This past Tuesday night I attended my 2ND Toastmasters meeting.
– I had a fun time – and an important role – as the vote counter.
– Joining Toastmasters was a wise idea for my own professional development.
– It’ll help me out in conquering one of my greatest weaknesses – speaking.
– It’ll enhance my professional career as well as my personal Life.
– Thank You Travis for leading me to Toastmasters !
– I am planning to continue the blogging during my entire vacation.
– The weekly ‘Disco Party’ is still on track for tomorrow night.
– I’ve got a gem from 35 years ago from a dude that called himself ‘Disco Tex’.
– Then on the ‘Retro’ on Sat. night I’ve got a bubblegum pop smash from 1996.
– Then on Sun. morning it’s my takeaways from a church service I’m attending.
– This church in Allen Texas looks amazingly similar to Life Pointe Church.
– So that’s what’s happenin’ with me on this Thursday night (and beyond).
– Keep it locked in – same blog time – same blog station.
– This blog post was transcribed.