Category: Animals

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Animals Blogging Driving God Music Nature People Radio Travel

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

May a fascinating new week of blogging begin … NOW !

I.  House Of Heroes / Skillet / Toby Mac – Last Friday night I saw my first rock concert in a major sports arena (non church setting) in over 3 years. This was over at the 7,000+ seat Germain Arena in Estero Florida (halfway between Fort Myers and Naples right alongside I-75). I’ve been to a lot of rock concerts over the past 25 years, and this was probably the first one ever in which there was no drinking, smoking, or drug use occurring during the show. It was a fairly young crowd. At nearly 43 I was surely at the upper tier of the demographics observed. Of course just becuase I’m approaching 43 doesn’t mean that I have to act like I’m so. I stood and sang and danced for virtually the entire show – and so did everyone around me. I had to blend in with the young and energetic crowd. House Of Heroes performed 4 songs during their short 15-minute set including two of their big hits from 2008 “Lose Control” and “In The Valley Of The Dying Sun”. Surprisingly they didn’t perform their last two hits “Code Name: Raven” or “Field Of Daggers”. Skillet were up next, and based on the crowd attendance and reaction they were the unofficial headlining act of the show. Their explosive set lasted for a little over an hour, and they churned through over a decade of hard rockin’ hits. Their music was awesomely loud, and their pyrotechnics was impressively bright. The pyro was bigger than your typical WWE show on television !  It was definitely a vivid spectacle that was so fun to experience. Toby Mac was all over the arena for his 1 hour and 20 minute show. There was no pyro for his show – just powerful lyrics, kool melodies, and lots of singing, rapping, and dancing to God Almighty. I knew most of his material – but not all of it – particularly the older stuff. He did however perform “Jesus Freak” from 15 years ago. I knew that dc Talk rocker because of Chasing Victory‘s cover version of it from a few years ago. It was a great 4-hour experience at the arena from start to finish. It was a pleasure to spend it with all of those around me who love Jesus Christ and His hard rockin’ jamz !

II.  Naples Florida – After a relaxing night in a nice and peaceful and quiet Estero hotel I spent the next morning into the afternoon playing the role of tourist / future resident in and around Naples. I visited the Naples Pier (and the adjacent beach), the Naples Zoo At Caribbean Gardens, and the Collier County Museum in East Naples. I was particularly impressed with my first ever visit to the museum, as it was far more expansive than I ever imagined. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to visit another Collier County Museum branch right after that – the Museum Of The Everglades – in secluded Everglades City. I had tried to visit that particular museum on a previous visit to Everglades City last October, but it was allegedly closed at the time. This time it was open and nearly packed. It’s always good to see lots of people getting a historical education at the museum. While I took I-75 over to the Naples area on Friday afternoon (to get over there quicker) I took U.S. 41 on the return trip back home on Saturday afternoon. Both coast-to-coast routes have their obvious advantages and disadvantages, and I shall continue to utilize them both on many future visits to the Southwest Florida area.

III.  Next Stop – Lake Okeechobee & Florida’s Treasure Coast – In about 3½ weeks I embark on a brand new road trip adventure of a lifetime. I’ve got a detailed itinerary already planned out for bright and early on a Saturday morning through real late on a Sunday night. My trek will take me up to rural Palm Beach County – and all along the entire eastern perimeter of Lake Okeechobee. I don’t believe that I have ever seen the Big Lake ‘O’ before in my lifetime (aside from up above in an airplane). After spending the night at an undisclosed location in Fort Pierce (where Florida’s Turnpike and I-95 come together) I’ll be taking a nice and slow and scenic drive back southbound along the A1A and the U.S. 1 (for the most part) with scheduled pit stops at various tourist attractions in Stuart, Jupiter, and Palm Beach before I attend a LIVE concert at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood. It should be a lot of fun visiting a slice of Florida that I’ve never really seen before up close.

Well my friends those are my ‘Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’ on this Tuesday night. I’m headed to Toastmasters in just a little while, so I need to go and get ready for the fun there. Be sure to check out my ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ in just about 48 hours. Until I blog again (tomorrow night) – REMEMBER THIS !

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Animals Blogging Driving Food God History Home Internet Music Travel

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s get spontaneous.
– Let’s not hold nothin’ back.
– Can we talk here ?
– Be reasonable – do it my way.
– Be radical – do it Jesus’s way.
– For the 2ND Thursday in a row I ate Lunch at the Longhorn Steakhouse.
– It’s my newest (and coolest) weekly tradition.
– It’s my secret hideaway for one hour away from coworkers.
– When I walk in the joint some of the hosts and wait staff welcome me back.
– They identify me as a regular attender.
– I dig that notion !
– My favourite Tweeter is Jesse Santoyo, so you should follow him.
– Come to think of it he’s my favourite blogger too.
– At least someone out there is still kickin’ it old school.
– I’m gearing up for my short weekend trip over to the Naples FL area.
– I’ll be driving over there tomorrow (Friday) afternoon after work.
– I’ll be rocking my face off tomorrow night at the Germain Arena.
– Toby Mac, Skillet, and House Of Heroes are going to raise the roof !
– I used to go to rock concerts on a fairly regular basis before I was saved.
– It’s been a long time since my last one in a major arena (non-church setting).
– In fact it’s been over 3 years – since a Huey Lewis And The News show.
– On Saturday morning I have a few pit stops to make over in Naples.
– I’ve got to visit my animal buds over at Naples Zoo.
– I’ve also got to check out the Collier County Museum.
– I’ll also be glancing over at various neighbourhoods as I drive by them.
– I just have this feeling that I’m a future resident of the Naples area.
– I may even catch Lunch on Saturday at Sonic.
– That’s the closest Sonic to my home – 110 miles away !
– Rumours suggest that we may get our very own Sonic here in Homestead.
– Longtimers may remember when we used to have two Sonics on U.S. 1.
– One was in the Naranja area near SW 264TH Street.
– The other one was in Homestead south of SW 320TH Street.
– That was before Hurricane Andrew destroyed everything in its path.
– I’ll be at Life Pointe Church bright and early on Sunday morning.
– I’ve got to be there, as I’m hosting the 9 AM service.
– Grab your crew and check out that first service.
– That would help to free up seats for the second service.
– This Saturday night here on the blog it’s an all-new ‘Retro’.
– I’ll be flashing back 9 years ago to 2001.
– There is no ‘Disco Party’ tomorrow night, and no new blog post.
– Until I blog again on Saturday night my friends take care of yourselves.
– Spread Love – it’s contagious !

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Animals Astronomy Career Driving God Nature Travel

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

A fresh new week of blogging begins – right here – right now !

I.  Year-Long Standard Time – If we stayed on Standard Time all year long and eliminated Daylight Saving Time from March through November then life would be so much more simple – and timely. Here in America’s Riviera in the middle of June when our days are at their longest and our nights are at their shortest we would have a sunrise of exactly 5:30 AM on Standard Time. That means that daylight would begin showing its presence shortly before 5 AM !  All the way up the Atlantic coast in Portland Maine the sunrise would actually occur just before 4 AM with daylight appearing before 3:30 AM !  While farmers everywhere would absolutely dig such an early sunrise in June most Americans would simply not appreciate it. So the next time that you scoff at losing an hour of sleep on that one weekend in March when you have to ‘spring forward’ just remember what life would be like without it. You would be up at the crack of dawn – the crack of 5 AM in June !  Next week I will explain to you what life would be like in December for most of us if we stayed on Daylight Saving Time all year long, but right now it is time to move on to my next thought …

II.  Public Speaking 101 – Tonight at my weekly Toastmasters club meeting I’ll be giving my 2ND major speech since I joined just a little over 4 months ago. This is what it is all about. It will be a 5 to 7½-minute speech mostly comprised of a subject matter that I knew little to nothing about just 5 weeks ago. I’ll be standing up in front of my new friends and speaking directly to them with minimal usage of notes. Much of my speech will be based on actual experience rather than written material. In fact my notes are essentially one giant outline rather than an actual speech. It does include a few supporting facts and figures that I’ll be referencing during my speech. I’m also on the active hosting rotation at Life Pointe Church on Sunday mornings. I lead Communion, I pray, and I speak to my brothers and sisters from the big stage armed only with a wireless microphone and my notes. Who would have guessed that this would ever happen in my Life ?  That I would be standing up on a stage at a church in a movie theatre on a Sunday morning ?  I’m also facilitating and leading formal information briefings at work on most Thursday mornings. Who would have guessed that I would be involved in all of this public speaking at an organized club – at church – and in my career. All of this is brand new as of the past half a year or so. Each public speaking opportunity has found a way to complement and enhance one another, and I am so amazed at the progress that I have made in this once dormant area of my Life. Once upon a time I was the most timid dude I knew. Public speaking was just never going to happen – no matter what. It was just totally impossible to occur. But then something miraculous happened some 43 months ago. God saved me. He took the dead man out of me. He said “Follow me.” I did.

III.  The 400-Mile Road-Trip – I’m still 3 days away from my next road-trip over to the Naples area, yet I’m already planning my next big road-trip for the final weekend of April. I’ve got a 400-mile (at least) road-trip planned that will take me up to Lion County Safari in Palm Beach County. After a fun-filled day at the park with the animals big and small I’ll be following the old historic U.S. Highway 98 over to the eastern shores of Lake Okeechobee. Around the Big Lake ‘O’ I go until I reach the coast-to-coast ‘7-0’. That’s Florida State Road 70 near the city of Okeechobee. I’m taking it all the way to Fort Pierce where I’m spending the night at a hotel. The next day it will be a nice scenic Springtime drive from the Atlantic shores of Fort Pierce Beach down to Palm Beach County solely along Florida State Road A1A and U.S. 1. It’s a huge chunk of southeast Florida that I’ve never seen before, and I’m so looking forward to discovering what’s there for me in my quest to find my ultimate vacation and retirement destination.

Those are my Thoughts on this Tuesday night. I thank you for your time, and I hope that you continue to spend a little bit of your valuable time each day supporting this blog and living Life with me.

Until we blog again (tomorrow) … REMEMBER THIS !

Categories
Animals Driving Food God History Music Travel

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s get spontaneous.
– Let’s not hold nothin’ back.
– Can we talk here ?
– Today I ate Lunch at the Longhorn Steakhouse.
– It’s transitioning into a weekly tradition for me.
– It’s my favourite of all of the new eating joints that have opened recently.
– Homestead has come a long way over the past few years.
– We are turning in to quite the eating mecca down here in suburbia.
– I dig that since eating food is one of my favourite hobbies.
– So next Friday night I’ll be seeing what should be a GREAT concert.
– It’s Toby Mac, Skillet, and House Of Heroes.

– All three acts rock my face off !
– I’m seeing them over at the Germain Arena between Naples and Fort Myers.
– I’m actually driving over to Naples early in the morning next Friday.
– I plan to spend the entire day over there and visit various places.
– The Naples Zoo and the Collier County Museum are on my short list.
– I’m also spending the night over there following the concert.
– I thought about driving back home after the show, but then I reconsidered.
– It’d be a 2½-hour drive in the dark across Alligator Alley (I-75).
– I’m not into that.
– I’d rather relax in a hotel room and get a good night’s sleep.
– And then the next morning I can see more of Naples before I head home.
– It’ll be like a short little vacation for me.
– I want to do those at least once a month.
– I’m already planning a nice little road trip for a later weekend in April.
– It’s fun to get out on that open road and visit places and see things.
– I used to do it far more often back in the day.
– Homestead Air Reserve Base reopened 16 years ago this weekend.
– That’s when I moved back down here to Homestead after a 19-month hiatus.
– If I had to do it all over again then I’d do it all over again.
– It’s straight-up and down six o’clock in the evening as I type this.
– That means that Life Group is just an hour away.
– Life Group has been the crown jewel of my work week in 2010.
– I get excited about it every week.
– It’s fellowship done right.
– Have a great night my friends.
– Celebrate Life !