Category: Career

Categories
Blogging Career Driving Food History Holidays Life Music Philosophy Shopping Travel Weather

The Major’s Weekend Blast-Off

PREFACE:
It’s the dawn of a brand new weekly series here on my personal web log. Following in the storied tradition of the surprisingly successful and long-running ‘Friday Night Blogroll Review’ (81 editions) and ‘The Major’s Friday Night Disco Party’ (36 editions) I proudly present to you my newest creation – the sensational summer series debut of ‘The Major’s Weekend Blast-Off’. This fresh new weekly series brings blogging back to Fridays – where it belongs. It also serves as the de facto replacement series for two now defunct weekly series – ‘Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’ and ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’. I’ve ended the run of both series after a combined 200+ weekly editions dating back to this blog’s infancy in 2007.

THE FORTUNE COOKIE MESSAGE OF THE WEEK CLUB:
“The best angle from which to approach any problem is the TRYangle.”

BEST LUNCH OF THE WEEK AWARD:
Red Lobster – Caesar Salad, Cheddar Bay Biscuits (4 of them), Wood-Fire Grilled Grouper, Mashed Potatoes, Fresh Broccoli, Sprite

15 WEEKEND MINI THOUGHTS:
– It may be Friday night, but it’s NOT the end of the work week for me.
– I actually have to work tomorrow for much of the day.
– I took the morning off today, and I got my car serviced at Firestone.
– They did the oil and filter change, tire rotation, wheel alignment, and A.C.
– I was in and out in just about two hours flat.
– After that I ventured up to Target in the Cutler Bay area.
– I went on a spontaneous shopping spree.
– Target is my favourite place to buy clothes.
– Tomorrow is actually the 7TH anniversary of the purchase of my current car.
– It’s my 2ND longest-owned car.
– I drove a 1989 Geo Spectrum for over 8 years before I bought my first Saturn.
– Next weekend I’ll be hanging out in Texas with my family.
– That’s become an annual 4TH Of July Weekend tradition.
– I’ll be prepping for 100°F heat next weekend.
– But it’s a dry heat (compared to South Florida anyway).

BLATANT PROMOTION:
TOMORROW on the ‘Retro’ I’ll be remembering the first rock concert that I ever attended in my life. It was exactly 24 years ago this weekend in London England. Coming up in 5 weeks on the ‘Retro’ it’s the ‘Awesome ’80s In August HI-NRG Dance Party’ – a month-long celebration of the decade that was. Be sure not to miss that my friends. You won’t regret it pal !

Categories
Career Driving History Life Music Travel

Saturday Night Retro

On this exact date I’m celebrating my remarkable 25TH silver anniversary in the United States Air Force. Back on the 12TH of June of 1985 – a mere 6 days after my high school graduation and just a week removed from my 18TH birthday – I made my way via cars, buses, planes, trains, and shuttles from Northern Virginia (Fairfax County) to San Antonio Texas (Lackland Air Force Base) to enter Air Force Basic Military Training. It was the most grueling six-and-a-half-weeks of my entire life – then and now. I arrived as a boy. I departed as a man.

I’d do it all over again. It was the very start of a long and rewarding military and civilian career, and I am most greatful.

Fast forward 5 years later … 20 years ago this Summer I enjoyed the greatest, the wildest, and the craziest time of my life. I drove up to Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City for two weeks of Aircraft Maintenance Systems Database Management school. I remember next to nothing about the actual school, but I remember a LOT about the fun that I enjoyed after school. Me and a buddy from class totally rocked our faces off on the beach at neighbouring Spinnaker Beach Club and Club LaVela. We partied hard – every night. We agreed that it was our own personal Woodstock Music Festival – 21 years later. It was the mother-of-all college spring breaks big and small all rolled up into one giant blur. Of course all of this occurred several years before Panama City Beach was eventually discovered as the North American continental mecca for Spring Break.

What a total blast it was. It was the greatest most outrageous two weeks of my entire military career exploring Tyndall AFB, Parker, Callaway, Springfield, Cedar Grove, Panama City, Panama City Beach, and the scenic U.S. Highway 98 corridor through the region in my red 1989 Geo Spectrum. If I could do it all over again – I would NOT. I simply could not survive another two weeks like that again, and it’s quite simply incompatible with my current new Life. I just have the memories to look back on, and sometimes that’s more than enough.

Here’s a hard rockin’ smash that took the free nation by storm back during that memorable Summer of 1990. It’s laughed upon today as cheesy sugar-coated hair-metal-pop, but back then it was the signature rock song of my two weeks on the white hot sandy beaches of Panama City. It’s twin bros Matthew and Gunnar Nelson with their megasmash “(I Can’t Live Without Your) Love And Affection”. It’s ‘Retro’ from my ‘Summer Of Fun’ in 1990. You know it !

Categories
Career History Life Music Travel

Saturday Night Retro

TODAY – the fifth of June of 2010 – is my 43RD birthday. You know you try to keep these events a secret from everyone, and yet word still manages to leak out about it. Go figure. LOL !

Perhaps the most memorable birthday of my entire lifetime was exactly 25 years ago on this date in 1985. It’s when I turned 18-years-old. Back then I knew what I was going to do on the following day. I was going to graduate from high school and receive my diploma. And so I did – on June 06TH 1985 at historic DAR Constitution Hall in Washington D.C.

On my 18TH birthday I also knew what I was going to do exactly a week later. I was going to leave home, make my way from suburban Northern Virginia to San Antonio Texas via planes, trains, shuttles, and automobiles, and enter a whole new world. And so I did – on June 12TH 1985 when I arrived at Lackland Air Force Base for Air Force Basic Military Training. It was the most hectic week of my lifetime – turning 18, graduating from high school, and joining the Air Force.

I never imagined 25 years ago that I’d be celebrating my 25TH anniversary with the Air Force this week in 2010, but here I am. I served 8 years on active duty (1985-1993), 2 years on active reserves (1993-1995), 4 years on inactive reserves (1995-1999), and 17 years as a Department Of Defense civilian working for the USAF (1993-now). It’s been a great and rewarding career, and retirement is about 15 years away. I can almost see it from here !

Back during that hectic second week of June of 1985 this memorable song from Tears For Fears was the # 1 pop and rock smash all across the free nation. It’s “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”, and I present it as my 25TH anniversary ‘Retro’ classic flashback:

Categories
Blogging Career God History Life News People Philosophy Politics

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

June is here, and it’s the start of this blog’s 4TH year in cyberspace. Let’s roll:

My Fellow 43-Year-Olds – Celebrating their 43RD birthday this week (alongside myself) are Phil Keoghan (May 31ST), Roger Sanchez (June 01ST), Anderson Cooper (June 03RD), Ron Livingston (June 05TH), Paul Giamatti (June 06TH), and Max Casella (June 06TH). Phil Keoghan is of course the host of 17 seasons of “The Amazing Race“. Incidentally that 17TH season is currently filming somewhere in the world right now. You can check it out come September. Roger Sanchez is one of the most popular house music deejays in the world. He secured a worldwide pop and dance smash in 2001 with “Another Chance”. Anderson Cooper is one of the most recognizable faces of CNN. Remember when he hosted two seasons of “The Mole” back in 2001 and 2002 ?  Ron Livingston – born the same exact day as me – is a television and movie star. He was Peter Gibbons in the cult classic “Office Space”. Paul Giamatti is also a movie star. You may remember him from “Sideways”. Max Casella portrayed the unforgettable Vinnie Delpino – Dr. Doogie Howser’s troublemaking best friend on the classic TV show. He still acts on TV shows and movies today. Aging gracefully. That’s us. The 43-year-olds. Happy Birthday to us !

My Fortune Cookie Messages – Once upon a time there lived a popular blog series on here entitled ‘The Fortune Cookie Message Of The Week Club’. It was a smash hit during its time. Due to the last round of intense budget cuts here at the blog that longtime series was unfortunately one of the casualties. It could return at a later date. Probably not. In the meantime here’s a collection of 8 fortune cookie messages that I’ve been stockpiling since the series was cancelled. Enjoy:
1. Any idea seriously entertained tends to bring about the realization of itself.
2. Do what is right, not what you should.
3. Whatever you do, do with all your heart.
4. Great things are accomplished only by the perfection of minor details.
5. Stay close to your inner-self.
6. Two people shorten a road.
7. This is the month that ingenuity stands high on the list.
8. The cost of something is what you give up to get it.

My Quick Takes On Everything Else – Hurricane Katrina was to President Bush as the Gulf Oil Spill is to President Obama. If you blamed Bush for Katrina then it only makes sense to blame Obama for BP. I can only take about 20 minutes of news on TV at a time. It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world out there. The same bad news keeps occurring, and only the names and the faces change. The world is full of arrogance, ignorance, stupidity, and hatred. If you had asked me 30 years ago what I’d be doing as a 43-year-old then I would have probably exclaimed ‘TOP 40 radio deejay’. As a teenager I thought for sure that’s where I’d be headed a few years later into my adult life. That didn’t happen. The USAF had other exciting plans for me. If I had to do it all over again then I’d do it all over again. If I had to give up either blogging or tweeting then which would it be ?  It would be blogging. That may shock some of you. I don’t see myself giving up blogging anytime soon. That would be the easy way out. This blog is an integral part of my new Life. If I ever get to the point where I can only blog one post per week then that last remaining weekly blog series still standing would certainly be Sunday’s ‘My Fantastic Journey’. My attitude about Life and death has changed drastically over the past 45 months since I’ve been a follower of Christ. I believe that abortion is murder – no exceptions whatsoever. I believe that guns kill – and that people use guns to kill. I believe that it’s nobody’s right to end the life of a human being other than God. In my perfect world abortions, guns, and the death penalty would all be outlawed. We live far from that perfect world of mine. One more thing before I’m done here. Alcohol kills. Drinking serves no relevant purpose. It does no good to anyone or anything. It does plenty of bad. It’s a waste of time. It’s a waste of money. It would not exist in my perfect world. For about three years now it has not been part of my Life.