Category: Blogging

Categories
Animals Blogging Life Money Travel

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow – It’s been a rough couple of weeks with the stock market experiencing a near meltdown due to European economic crises and apparent human error on Wall Street. It’s negatively affected my retirement savings plan in a big way. After reaching a new record high on Friday April 23RD my savings had dwindled in value by a MASSIVE 6.5% as of this past Friday May 07TH. It’s the biggest one-week and two-week drops percentage-wise for me in nearly 18 months – since the two weeks immediately following the 2008 Presidential election. The good news is that even with the recent short-term drop my retirement savings plan is up by nearly 65% over the past 18 months. It’s all temporary. What goes down – must come back up again. It’s reverse gravity. The immediate goal is to not panic during these occasional financial meltdowns. The ultimate goal is to have enough money in the plan to live on when it comes time to retire – whenever that may be.

Boots: 1993-2007 – My little buddy Boots died 3 years ago next week on May 17TH 2007. Boots carried my unique personality in a little 10-pound feline body. Anybody who thinks that a cat can’t be trained to do what you want them to do obviously didn’t know my cat. I was fortunate to live with Boots for nearly 12½ years until his premature death. He died way too young, but he was actually dying a slow and increasingly painful death during his final few years. His longtime doctor finally convinced me that putting him out of his misery would be the last great deed that I could possibly do for him, and so on that very sad morning I watched him go to sleep for the final time. A memorial still exists today at the far end of one of my living room couches where he often relaxed.

Happy 21ST Birthday To Taylor Lesley Day ! – That’s 21 days young. Two days from now on Thursday afternoon I’ll be meeting the newest member of the Day family for the very first time. She’s Taylor Lesley Day, and she’s my niece born on April 20TH 2010. She was born to my lovely sister-in-law Christina and my little brother Danny. She weighed in at 7 pounds 12 ounces at birth and her height was 20 inches. I’m sure that she’s above 8 pounds now and perhaps an inch taller. I can’t wait to meet her in person. In fact I can’t wait to buy her very first teddy bear. I’ll have my brother use my phone to take a picture of  Taylor and I and then I’ll tweet it to my followers.

Blatant Promotion – The regular blogging continues on-location from the northeastern suburban corridor of Dallas Texas. After flying from MIA to DFW and then meeting my niece I’m sure that I’ll have about 50 or so ‘Mini Thoughts’ to share this Thursday night. On ‘Saturday Night Retro’ I’m hosting a HI-NRG dance party straight from the heart and soul of 1987. On Sunday The Truth that is ‘My Fantastic Journey: It’s In The Lyrics’ continues. It’s all right here on my blog – my Life. Thank You for being a friend and living Life with me !

Categories
Blogging Commerce Home Life Nature News Politics Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Summer In The City – The consistently hot and humid air has arrived aqui en el sur de Florida, and it’s here to stick around – guaranteed – for at least the next 6 months. After enjoying / enduring the coldest winter season that we here in South Florida have ever experienced in our lifetime this hot and humid weather feels even more uncomfortable than usual. A look at the tropical Atlantic Ocean reveals this rather startling fact – well above normal sea temperatures already into the 80s that are more typical of the middle of June rather than the start of May. It’s the perfect breeding ground for a very active tropical storm and hurricane season. Last summer the effects of the El Niño phenomenon fortunately ripped and shredded most of the developing storms out at sea, but it’s history now. While we won’t have a La Niña phenomenon in-place until perhaps next Summer we will have a fairly typical tropical scenario for this Summer – and that’s a far busier scenario than what we experienced last Summer. Now is the time to prepare for the upcoming season – not when one is bearing down on the U.S. East Coast. Be prepared. Act smart. Don’t panic.

Oil In The Gulf – We are witnessing one of the greatest ecological disasters in a lifetime. When the oil rig explosion and fire in the northern Gulf Of Mexico was first being reported as ‘breaking news’ during the early morning hours of the 21ST of April most of us didn’t think much of it. But now we know the devastating effects of it, and the story is still developing. The blame game is in full effect. Democrats are blaming Republicans for encouraging the drilling of oil in the Gulf. Even former President Bush is getting blamed for the disaster. I get the feeling that he will get blamed for everything that goes wrong in this world for as long as he lives. I also get the feeling that our current President Obama can do whatever he feels like – or do nothing at all – and still be loved and adored by the world because he’s just such a nice and friendly guy. I didn’t vote for him. I didn’t vote for the popular guy. I voted for the guy who was ready with the experience needed to be the President on Day 1.

Hangin’ At The Hampton – Tonight I’m living in luxury at the sparkling new Hampton Inn here on the east side of Homestead. The Hampton Inn is by far my favourite hotel chain in the entire world, and I try to stay at one whenever I’m on the road on vacation. I’m also a Hilton HHonors card-carrying member. I get perks – eventually. This Hampton Inn is exactly what this area has needed for a long time – since well before Hurricane Andrew – a moderately-upscale hotel. By the looks of the rather full parking lot every work day morning when I pass right by it we (natives and tourists alike) are apparently supporting it at an average pop of $150 per night (substantially higher during special events). It’s always great when big companies come to Homestead to build their respective product chains (whether it be stores, restaurants, or hotels), and then they thrive. Build it and we will come. Anyway I’m staying here tonight because I still have no working A.C. in my home. A brand new compressor had to be ordered and delivered from the southwest coast of Florida. It was supposed to arrive late this afternoon, and hopefully it did. Right now I have a 9 AM appointment tomorrow (Wednesday) back at home to get it installed, get my A.C. back up and running again, and bring those unbearably stifling temperatures down from the upper-80s to the mid-70s where they belong. Even though it’s really nice and comfortable here at the Hampton I really can’t wait to return back to my air conditioned home again and reestablish my daily routine that was so rudely interrupted this past Sunday morning when I awoke in an unexpected sweat.

In less than 48 hours I’ll be posting my ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’. They are spontaneous flashes of thoughts that hit you in 15 words or less. Be sure to check them out, and then stick around for history and inspiration this weekend as I blog my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ and ‘My Fantastic Journey’.

Categories
Animals Blogging Career Commerce Driving Food History Holidays Home Nature People Shopping Travel

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– It’s 1:40 on this Thursday afternoon, and yet I’m already at home.
– That’s because I took a half a day off from work this afternoon.
– I left work and I immediately proceeded to Red Lobster.
– I’ve now eaten at a Red Lobster twice in less than 5 days.
– That’s twice as much as I had eaten there over the past decade !
– Memo To Self – Add Red Lobster to my weekly Lunch rotation.
– Today I enjoyed the ‘Chef’s Signature Lobster & Shrimp Pasta’.
– I got the Lunch portion of the most delicious dish.
– I should have gotten the full portion of it because it was ‘whole nutha level’.
– I also enjoyed a couple of their oh-so-tasty ‘Cheddar Bay Biscuits’.
– I could eat a dozen of those in a single sitting.
– After Lunch I went to Kohl’s and Bed Bath & Beyond, but I bought nothing.
– I went to Publix after that to do some grocery shopping.
– And here I am at my computer on my blog writing all about it.
– This past weekend was a weekend of firsts.
– I visited the Lion Country Safari for the first time in over 20 years.
– I visited Lake Okeechobee for the first time ever.
– I visited Ft. Pierce, Stuart, Jupiter, and West Palm Beach for the first time ever.
– I ate at Red Lobster for the first time in over a decade.
– I ate at Hooters for the first time in about 16 years.
– Their chicken wings were big and meaty and juicy.
– I saw comedian Jim Gaffigan LIVE in concert this past Sunday night.
– He performed his material for about 80 minutes, and it was crack-up city.
– Very few comedians make me giggle and chuckle as hard as he does.
– Much of his routine is about food – one of the funniest categories there is.
– I was hyperventilating in my seat laughing so hard at the dude.
– If you want to make me laugh then tell me some Jim Gaffigan jokes.
– I really enjoyed my 420-mile weekend road trip.
– I’ll be sure to return to the Treasure Coast area to visit other locales.
– My next three monthly vacations are already planned out.
– Two weeks from this afternoon I fly to Dallas Texas to visit my family.
– My niece – Taylor Lesley Day – is 9 days old today.
– I get to meet her for the first time when she’s 23 days old.
– In June I travel to the Springfield Massachusetts area for 5 days.
– It’s work-related, but I’ll still consider it to be a vacation.
– I’ve never been there before.
– In fact I’ve never set foot before in that entire New England region.
– For the 4TH Of July weekend I’ll continue an annual tradition.
– That tradition is to spend it with my family in sizzling hot Dallas Texas.
– I’ll have my next Carnival cruise vacation during Labor Day Week in Sept.
– That leaves August with no vacation planned thus far.
– Perhaps I’ll do another weekend road trip then.
– There’s still more animals to see and zoos to visit !
– This weekend I’ll be blogging my regular series.
– On Saturday it’s the ‘Retro’, and I’ll be remembering the Summer of 2005.
– ‘My Fantastic Journey: It’s In The Lyrics’ returns this Sunday May 02ND.
– Can you believe that the month of May is less than 33 hours away ?
– 2010 is flying by, so we must be having fun.
– Have fun my friends, and we’ll meet again this weekend.

Categories
Blogging Career Driving Nature People Travel Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– It’s time once again for my weekly montage of ‘Mini Thoughts’.
– They are spontaneous, and they are in your face in 15 words or less.
– It’s been a busy week at work after being away from my desk last week.
– It all culminated in back-to-back PowerPoint Presentations this morning.
– My weekend away from work commences at or before 4 PM tomorrow.
– My road trip mini vacation begins bright and early on Saturday morning.
– I plan to extensively use the Google Maps / GPS feature of my new phone.
– I also hope to take a bunch of cool pictures along the way.
– I’m looking forward to checking out Lake Okeechobee for the first time.
– Fort Pierce, Stuart, Jupiter, and Palm Beach – Be warned – I’m on my way !
– I also can’t wait to laugh hysterically to comedian Jim Gaffigan.
– It should be a lot of fun on the road this weekend.
– Be sure to follow me on Twitter for all of the breaking news on the road.
– This past Tuesday night I became an Uncle for the first time ever !
– My niece was born at 6:33 PM CDT / 7:33 PM EDT on the 20TH of April.
– She was born to my sister-in-law Christina and my little brother Danny.
– She weighed in at 7 pounds 12 ounces, and she was 20 inches in length.
– Here are some pictures of my gorgeous little niece – Taylor Lesley Day:

– 3 weeks from tonight I’ll be introducing myself to Taylor.
– It’s going to be very exciting watching her grow up through the years.
– I’m reserving my right as her Uncle to take her to the zoo at any time.
– In fact she’s not allowed to go to the zoo without me.
– That’s just the way it’s going to be.
– It’s going to be a sizzling hot weekend coming up.
– We could see mid-afternoon temperatures approaching the 90°F mark.
– It should be our hottest weather in about 6 months – since the end of Oct.
– Stay cool and be safe my friends in whatever you do.
– I’ll be back to blogging again next Tuesday night with the ‘Grab Bag’.