Year: 2009

Categories
Driving Travel

Driving The Numbers

It’s Wednesday night on the big green blog – the only night of the week in which I don’t yet have a regularly-scheduled series in-place. From September to February ‘My NFL Weekend Game Picks: The Results Show’ was the Wednesday night series, but now that we’re in-between seasons I have nothing scheduled for this night of the week. I may just keep it this way too. Anything can happen on Wednesday nights, so stick around to see what’s up my sleeve. PRESTO !

And now here’s something we hope you’ll really like !  (obscure “Rocky And Bullwinkle” reference)

‘Driving The Numbers’ – what’s that all about you may ask ?  Check this out:

I’m approaching 57,000 miles on my current car that I bought brand new a little more than 68 months ago (in June 2003). I drive a bit below the national average of 1,000 miles per month. In fact it typically takes me about a month-and-a-half to drive 1,000 miles. Over the past 12 months I’ve driven about 9,000 miles. It helps out a lot to be able to drive to work in the morning and then drive back home again in less than a 15-mile round-trip.

On my road-trip last week with my Mom, Dad, and Cat in which I moved them (literally) from (south of) Jacksonville Florida to (north of) Dallas Texas I drove over 1,800 miles over the course of a 5-day period (actually just 4 days because on one of those days I rested in Texas). I essentially did about 75 days worth of driving in just 4 days. Of course only about 750 out of those 1,800 miles of driving was done so in my own car. I drove my parents’ car from Florida to Texas. Their car – a nice new BMW – was POWERFUL – much more so than my measly 2003 Saturn. It was certainly ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine’.

Incidentally I-49 within Louisiana may just be one of the most peaceful and quiet Interstate highways in the southeastern United States.

Once I drove past New Orleans last Wednesday afternoon I had driven the furthest west in my entire life. I once drove a stretch of I-35 between San Antonio and Austin Texas, but that was in a rental car after flying in to San Antonio. About a decade later I drove all around San Antonio on another trip there. That was also in a rental car. Perhaps one day I’ll drive my own car past New Orleans, past Texas, and straight on over to the U.S. West Coast. I’ll probably have a different car by then. I’m sure I will.

And now my friends I present to you for your midweek ‘Retro’ review this classic 1988 television commercial for the totally awesome new line of Geo automobiles. It was these bubbly commercials that persuaded me to buy my very first car here in America’s Riviera back in January 1989 – a sparkling new bright red Geo Spectrum. I put over 96,700 miles on that beast for over 8 years !

Categories
Home Politics Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1.  Happy Square Root Day !  3 X 3 = 9 – and that’s today’s date – 03-03-09. This numerical phenomenon last occurred on Groundhog Day in 2004 (02-02-04). It next occurs on the 04TH of April in 2016 (04-04-16), and then after that on Cinco De Mayo in 2025 (05-05-25). Numbers are my favourite toys !

2.  How many times did we hear on TV and Radio yesterday that ‘March came in like a lion’ with the late-season blizzard and Arctic-like temperatures all across the Gulf Coast and up and down the Atlantic seaboard ?  This has been an unusual Winter season all across North America. Here at America’s Riviera it’s been one of the coldest seasons in modern recorded history, and perhaps one of the dryest ever recorded. Does anyone remember what rain looks like ?

3.  Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) was widely panned by both Democrats (obviously) and Republicans (surprisingly) for looking unprepared, amateurish, and naive during the Republican response to President Obama‘s address to Congress and the Nation last Tuesday night. I just watched his response for the first time a couple of days ago, and I didn’t see anything wrong with it at all. If he were a Democrat then the media would have called him a refreshing breath of fresh air. The Democrats did what they do best – mock and ridicule anyone that doesn’t think exactly as they do. It’s politics as usual for the left-wing.

4.  My Mom and Dad and their Cat now live precisely 4.6 miles away (by road) from my Brother and his Wife and their Dog. My parents have moved to Fairview Texas, and my brother and his wife call neighbouring Allen Texas their home. That’s 1,416 to 1,420 miles away from my home here in Homestead Florida. This has been my home sweet home for the past (going on) 22 years, and I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. This is where I belong !

5.  We return to Daylight Saving Time this Sunday morning at 2 AM local time. At that precise time it will suddenly become 3 AM local time, and we will instantly lose an hour of sleep. Get ready for darker mornings and brighter evenings. Enjoy Daylight Saving Time for the next 34 weeks !

Categories
Television

Monday Night Countdown

Flashback to the Fall of 1982. There were no less than 28 sitcoms on the prime time television schedule on the three broadcast networks combined. They all had real opening theme songs with quirky memorable lyrics, closing theme songs, and loud and rambunctious laugh tracks ‘recorded before a LIVE studio audience’.

Since I couldn’t limit this list to a TOP 5 I present to you my TOP 10 favourite sitcoms from that particular television season – in alphabetical order:

Alice (CBS)
Archie Bunker’s Place (CBS)
Benson (ABC)
Diff’rent Strokes (NBC)
Happy Days (ABC)
The Jeffersons (CBS)
Newhart (CBS)
One Day At A Time (CBS)
Silver Spoons (NBC)
Three’s Company (ABC)

Here now is my all-time favourite television sitcom theme song !

They just don’t make them like that anymore !

Categories
God

Life Pointe Church Sunday Morning Tossed Salad

Here are my takeaways in 15 words or less:

– We’ve reached the 50-yard line of our ‘New Testament Challenge’.
– That’s 4 weeks behind us and 4 weeks in front of us.
– This week’s teaching from Pastor Travis – Servanthood.
– We must always put God first in our Life.
– Things in this world make us comfortable – but not closer to God.
– If we serve ourselves then we are merely selfish.
– If we serve God then we are living a great Life full of rewards.
– We must protect our attitude so that it reflects that of God.
– God wants us to look and act like his Son.
– We must pursue a lifestyle of servanthood.
– Even when the times are tough we must serve God.
– Even when the world is against us we must serve God.
– Especially when Satan is in full pursuit we must serve God.
– We must plant daily seeds of love and kindness.
– What can we do for the cause of Jesus ?
– This morning’s teaching was based on 17 Bible verses:
   – Philippians 2:5-11
   – Mark 10:45
   – Luke 16:13
   – Luke 22:42
   – Matthew 6:33
   – Galatians 5:22-23
   – 2 Corinthians 8:9
   – 2 Corinthians 9:6
   – Mark 8:35
   – Matthew 4:19

Philippians 2

Have the Attitude of Christ
1  Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ ?  Any comfort from His love ?  Any fellowship together in the Spirit ?  Are your hearts tender and compassionate ?
2  Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
3  Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
4  Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
5  You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6  Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
7  Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form,
8  He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9  Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names,
10  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.