Category: Astronomy

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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

The 101ST weekly edition – and the kickoff of a brand new year of the weekly ‘Grab Bag’ begins … NOW !  Get ready for this !

1.  I missed the entire ordeal as the news was breaking LIVE to a riveted International television audience last Thursday. That’s right. I was actually working – at my job – as the ‘balloon boy’ saga was playing out over the skies of Colorado. I found out about it after the fact later that afternoon. We eventually realized that it was an elabourate hoax orchestrated well in advance. Should the ‘balloon boy dad’ go to jail for his hijinks ?  No. Should he perhaps be fined or be ordered by a Judge to reimburse the count(ies) and state for all expenses incurred ?  Sure. The guy made some bad decisions, and he lied to the authorities. But he doesn’t belong in jail. He also doesn’t deserve to lose his kids over the matter.

2.  My Washington Redskins are NOT a very good team this year. You can blame it on the special teams – the defense – the offense – the quarterback – the coaching staff – the front office – George W. Bush – El Niño – whatever. The blame game is not going to make them any better than they are now. The bottom line is that they have a lot of talent on that team, but they are simply not scoring points and winning games. The best teams in the NFL eventually became the worst teams – and vice versa. Are you a fan of your favourite sports team(s) only when they win, or are you a fan through the thick and the thin – through the blood, the sweat, and the tears ?

3.  Exactly one month from today I embark on the longest continuous road trip of my lifetime. On the 20TH of November of 2009 I’ll be driving approximately 825 miles from Homestead Florida to Gulfport Mississippi over the course of 14 hours. The next day I’ll be driving the remaining 590 miles to north of Dallas Texas as I begin a week-long holiday stay with my Mom, Dad, their cat, Brother, Sister-In-Law, Nephew-To-Be, and their dog.

4.  We climbed back up to the 80s this morning at around 11:30 AM – exactly as I forecasted last Saturday night when we last dropped out of the 80s at the start of our recent cold snap. Officially at the air base we dropped down to 59°F on Sunday morning, 56°F on Monday morning, and 63°F this morning. (Minimum temperatures were several degrees cooler in some of the farming areas around town.) I don’t expect another cold front over the next 7 to 10 days, so get used to a lot of sunshine, warmth, and higher humidity – perhaps even some more record high temperatures.

5.  This will be our last full weekend of Daylight Saving Time. On the following Sunday morning – the first of November – at 2 AM local time we fall back to Standard Time, and I am so truly looking forward to being back on ‘real’ time. I’ll have the daylight when I want it – at 6:30 AM rather than 6:30 PM. BRING IT ON !

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Astronomy Blogging Driving God Holidays Home Humor Music Radio Travel

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s get spontaneous.
– Let’s be unpredictable and outrageous.
– It’s October all across the land, and the holiday season is upon us !
– First up – Columbus Day – the Monday after next.
– I’m planning a two-day weekend getaway that weekend over in Naples.
– I’ve got visitor centers, museums, and other tourist traps to check out.
– I’ve also got a rock concert to attend over there.
– I’ll be rockin’ out to Manic Drive just like I did on the 20TH of January of 2007.
– I’ll be tuning in to The Call‘s fresh new 107.7 FM frequency over there.
– I’ll be attending a church service over there on that Sunday morning.
– Halloween is at the end of this month, and I suppose that’s a holiday too.
– The next morning we flip back an hour to Standard Time.
– I’m looking forward to that.
– I’d rather have the daylight at 7 AM rather than 7 PM.
– Veterans Day is on a Wednesday this year on the 11TH of November.
– I take that Federal Holiday very personal.
– It’s a total shame that more Americans don’t take it seriously.
– Only 50 more days until I proceed with my 2,800+ mile road trip.
– It’ll be the longest road trip of my entire Life.
– I’m driving halfway across the free nation and then back again.
– On December 01ST I begin my 23RD year here in Homestead.
– I’ll be here for awhile.
– This afternoon at work I heard an old song in the background on the radio.
– It nearly brought tears to me.
– I got goosebumps and the chills.
– I had to stop everything that I was doing until it was over.
– I don’t think that I’ve heard that song in over 37 years !
– It may produce the same effects on you.
– That’s because I’m sharing the experience on the ‘Saturday Night Retro’.
– You’re not gonna wanna miss that.
– Tomorrow night on the Disco party it’s another moldie-oldie.
– It’s the only hit song from the smooth as silk George McCrae.
– He’s gonna “Rock Your Baby” like nobody else can.
– Well those are my ‘Mini Thoughts’ for now.
– If I think of any others then I’ll just tweet them.
– Until next time my friends – REMEMBER THIS !

No Parking

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Astronomy Blogging Career Commerce Driving Food Holidays Sports Travel

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1.  Let’s kick-off this week’s edition of the ‘Grab Bag’ with some ‘Breaking News’. This just in to ‘The Major’s Life Blog’ satellite news desk. It appears that I’ll be going on a business trip in about 4 weeks from now. It’ll be my first business trip since the start of March of 2007 when I drove nearly 1,600 miles to and from north of Atlanta Georgia. This time around I’ll be visiting New England for the very first time in my entire life – specifically the Springfield Massachusetts area. It should be nice up there during the middle week of October !

2.  I’m not driving to and from Massachusetts, but I will be driving to and from the Dallas Texas area in just about 8 weeks for the Thanksgiving holiday week. That’s a little over 1,400 miles one way, or 2,800 miles round trip. That’s a lot of driving for me considering the fact that I’m averaging a little over 7,500 miles of driving per year over the past couple of years. Over the course of 6 years and 3 months I’ve put just a little over 60,300 miles on my car.

3.  Can you believe it ?  The Autumnal Equinox is just minutes away. The southward Sun crosses over the Equator at 5:18 PM EDT this afternoon. It continues its southward trek until the 21ST of December as our days continue to get shorter and our nights continue to get longer. Tomorrow – Wednesday September 23RD – is the first full day of Autumn here in the Northern Hemisphere, and the first full day of Spring down under. Incidentally I’ve got new regular blog readers checking in from South America, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Welcome aboard !

4.  This past Sunday afternoon I indulged in the mother of all MASSIVE meals over at Downtown Homestead‘s very own Mamma Mia Pizza. I enjoyed an ENORMOUS plate of traditional spaghetti and meatballs. The meatballs were GINORMOUS and plentiful. Just because there’s new competition in the city (The Olive Garden / The Big Cheese) it does not mean that Mamma Mia has disappeared or is inferior in any way. Mamma Mia is still there. It needs your business to stay alive. The food is still scrumptious. Check them out again !

5.  My pathetic Washington Redskins barely scraped up a squeaker of a win against the lowly St. Louis Rams this past Sunday afternoon in their home opener. I’m glad that I didn’t see it. This upcoming Sunday afternoon my Redskins take on the lowly Detroit Lions, and La$ Vega$ has them as a 6 to 6.5 point favourite in a low-scoring game. I’ve been calling for the promotion of veteran Todd Collins from backup to starting quarterback since last season, and I’m still calling for the move. Offensive yards does not win games. Points wins games. Let’s do something !

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Astronomy Blogging Career Computers God History Humor Internet Money Television Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Here’s what’s on my mind on this 3RD Tuesday night of July of 2009:

1.  My long day at work is finally complete, and I believe that my gradual transition from ‘computer geek’ to ‘financial wizard’ is now official. For nearly 10 hours today I was never too far away from a calculator and a constantly-evolving EXCEL spreadsheet. I played with more numbers (in the form of dollar amounts) today than on possibly any other day in modern recorded history. I loved every single dollar and cent of it too !

2.  ‘The debate over whether or not global warming exists is over.’ FALSE !  That’s an ‘easy-out’ statement that’s freely used by those followers of the media and the various special interest groups who believe in its existence but can’t provide any logical reasons why. There is just as much scientific evidence out there that we are experiencing global cooling. It is simply politically correct to join the ‘we must save the Earth from global warming’ bandwagon. I don’t join bandwagons. I start them.

3.  Speaking of bandwagons I have never ever in my entire adult life accessed the Facebook web site, and I have no plans (or urge) to do so at this time. Facebook is the new Myspace which was the new Yahoo which was the new AOL. In a couple of years everyone on Facebook will gradually abandon it and move on to whatever else is hot at the time. Meanwhile I’ll still be here blogging.

4.  I saw an excellent hour-long special on Discovery Channel last night entitled “When We Left Earth: 40th Anniversary Special”. It was a great historical presentation of all of the various Apollo missions that led up to Apollo 11 that finally landed a Man on the Moon before the close of the decade that was the 1960s. Good show. Very educational.

5.  Exactly 30 months ago today – on the 21st of January of 2007 – I became a part of Life Pointe Church. It was not when I went to church for the first time in some 30 years, but rather when I became the church for the first time in some 30 years. The church is not the building. The church is the living and breathing body that follows, obeys, and loves Our Lord Jesus Christ. I am the church. We are the church. Let us be the church. Forever and ever. Amen.