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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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Animals Blogging Humor People Radio Travel

Monday Night Countdown

This Just In:  In the dark of the night it was revealed earlier today that ‘The Major’s Tweets’ had been temporarily removed from the weekly blogging schedule. It is now on hiatus – which is usually not a good sign. Anyone remember the ‘Lipitor Moment Of The Night’ ?  Anyone ?  Anyone ?  I didn’t think so.

Returning to Monday nights here on the big blue blog it’s the venerable former hit series ‘Monday Night Countdown’ !  LET’S ROLL !

This week it’s the TOP 7 Persons, Places, and Things that randomly come to my mind at this precise moment:

1.  Behnke – My brother will appreciate this one. As little kids in the late-1970s this was a fairly regular place that we (our family) used to visit to buy plants and mulch. It’s located on U.S. 1 in Beltsville Maryland. Me and my brother always pronounced it as ‘Bing-kees’.

2.  Rick Dees – ‘Alex, I’ll take ‘Famous People Who Have Influenced My Life Over The Years’ for $1,600 please.’

3.  2032 – It’s the year that I turn 65-years-old. Can I get a what-what ?

4.  Joo-Joo-Bee – It’s one of the many crazy nicknames that I had for my little feline buddy Boots (1993-2007).

5.  Hialeah – In my nearly 22 years of living here in America’s Riviera I don’t believe that I have ever stepped foot in that city.

6.  Royal – They used to totally rule the world of typewriters back in the day, and can you believe that they still make and sell them today ?

7.  Dude Walker – He was a crazy morning deejay on TOP 40 Q-107 in Washington D.C. about 30 years ago. He was teamed-up with legendary news man Doug Limerick back then.

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Blogging God History Music Television Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s get spontaneous.
– Let’s be reasonable – do it my way.
– This is the 37TH weekly edition of the ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’.
– It’s my favourite weekly blog series to compile, as there is no planning for it.
– I’m glad that it was an instant out-of-the-box smash from the very start.
– It’s a Thursday night tradition since January 2009 !
– Today at work I led hard, I worked hard, and I laughed hard.
– It wasn’t that easy though, as the devil was working hard as well.
– It’s a good thing that I’ve got a stronger offensive and defensive line.
– The devil is a total idiot.
– His dirty deeds are done dirt cheap.
– Yeah I know we used to hang out a lot, but I ain’t got no time for you now.
– This Sunday morning at Life Pointe Church we’ll be partying like it’s 2009.
– Pastor Travis J. will be leading a message on beer and partying.
– If you’re near Homestead then grab your drinking buddies and join us.
– You won’t regret it pal.
– I’m getting carried away with my DVRing.
– I hit a new all-time high of right around 60 hours of recorded material.
– I’m declaring this Saturday as ‘DVR Appreciation Day’ in my living room.
– My ‘spaghetti models’ have settled down a bit.
– I believe that I’ve got a reasonable weather forecast for this upcoming weekend.
– That is if you live right here in the greater Homestead area.
– Here’s what I’m forecasting:
– The POWERFUL cold front should pass through by 6 PM on Saturday night.
– At 7 AM on Sunday morning get ready for temps. to bottom out near 64°F.
– We will remain in the 60s and 70s all day long on Sunday.
– It will feel cold on Sunday (day and night) due to gusty north winds.
– Monday morning should be even chillier with perhaps some upper-50s around !
– It will be bone dry, so you may shock yourself as you touch your car.
– This will be our coldest air felt here in nearly 6 months !
– I am so looking forward to it.
– Maybe I can turn off my A.C. on Sunday and let the fresh air in !
– Tomorrow night on the ‘Disco Party’ it’s a little deviation from the norm.
– I’ve got a television sitcom theme song to present to you from 1979.
– It’s considered to be one of the greatest flops of its generation.
– It was a ‘Disco Sitcom’.
– Be sure to check that out tomorrow night.
– On Saturday night we’re gonna go all techno on your ‘Retro’.
– Get those glow sticks ready.
– Those are my ‘Mini Thoughts’ for this week.
– Keep it real dudes !

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Blogging Career Driving Holidays Life Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1.  THIS is the momentous 100TH edition of the ‘Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’. That’s 96 editions here on WordPress over the past 23 months – and 4 editions before that on the MySpace incarnation of this here blog. This week also marks the end of the 2ND full year of ‘Grab Bag’ editions. Next week we begin Year 3. Thank You so very much for checking out this blog on a regular basis – and for helping to make the ‘Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’ the flagship weekly series of this blog. It’s the blog of my Life.

MEMORIES –> Check out the very first edition of the ‘Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’ from Tuesday October 16TH 2007.

2.  Well I ‘tweased‘ about this late yesterday afternoon, but now I’m not so sure about it. I’m referring to some cooler and dryer air that should be approaching us late this week into this upcoming weekend. Or will it ?  My amateur weather forecast now differs slightly from that of the National Weather Service. My ‘spaghetti models’ now struggle to pull the powerful cold front all the way through the southeast coast of Florida. If my forecast is correct then it won’t get nearly as cool and dry as it could otherwise. I do believe that Saturday and Sunday will be our coolest two days in a row since last May with Sunday morning being noticeably cooler. Expect Sunday morning temperatures in the upper-40s near Tallahassee, upper-50s near Orlando, mid-60s near Naples, and close to 70° here in Homestead.

3.  You know what was really cool about the very start of my recent holiday weekend road trip ?  On Saturday morning as I walked down to my car to kick it all off I glanced up at the sky and I saw a really nice hot air balloon up there looking down at my neighbourhood. When I saw that I just knew that the time was right to declare the start of my short little vacation. As I began driving northbound the hot air balloon drifted westbound over Redland.

4.  My 415.5-mile road trip was a smash hit – a successful dry run to a much longer road trip that I shall embark on in less than 38 days. I’ll be driving about 7 times that distance round-trip over the course of 10 days when I drive to and from the Dallas Texas area to visit my family for the Thanksgiving holiday. It will be the longest road trip of my entire Life – but not by a whole lot actually. I drove up to the Washington D.C. area a bunch of times when my family still lived up there (prior to about 13 years ago).

FACTOID –> My 415.5-mile road trip was completely toll-free courtesy of Krome Avenue, Tamiami Trail, and I-75.

5.  Please don’t misinterpret one of my comments from one of my blog posts from yesterday. While I have fallen in love with the greater Naples area, and I do plan to eventually move there sometime in the future that will not happen anytime soon. I’m thinking long-range here. I have a wonderful job over at the air base in Homestead. I’m a 25-year Federal Government employee, and although that’s a lot of years with the system I can’t retire anytime soon. Now that does not necessarily mean that I plan to wait until I can retire before I move to Naples – or even buy a home over there. I’m still many years away from such a concept, but I do believe that I will eventually become a resident of Naples or the surrounding area. I will also become a more frequent visitor of the area.