Category: Driving

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Animals Blogging Driving Food Holidays Humor Travel Weather

The Major’s Weekend Blast-Off

WEEKEND GRAB BAG O’ THOUGHT:
It’s Friday July 02ND, and it’s the long extended 4TH Of July holiday weekend here in the U.S.A. Go out and make it an enjoyable one, but always play it safe in everything that you do. I’m 1,400+ miles away from home within the vast northeastern suburbia of Dallas Texas. I’m here visiting my little brother, his lovely wife, their adorable 10-week-old daughter (my niece), their old dog, our parents, and later on this weekend our favourite Aunt and Uncle who I haven’t seen in about 7 years. It’s my 2ND visit here in exactly 7 weeks. When I return back home again I’ll be less than 10 days away from my next big weekend vacation getaway. I’ll have more on that next weekend on the ‘Blast-Off”.

BEST LUNCH OF THE WEEK AWARD:
Longhorn Steakhouse – 12-ounce (NOT 12-inch) Renegade Top Sirloin, Loaded Baked Potato, Bread, Coke.

15 WEEKEND MINI THOUGHTS:
– My American Airlines flight from Miami to Dallas was rather uneventful.
– Due to severe weather in Central FL we took an unusual route out of Miami.
– We traced the entire Florida Keys from Key Biscayne to past Key West !
– We essentially flew directly over the Homestead area.
– I waved down at all of my friends back home and on Key Largo and Tavernier.
– I even saw Dry Tortugas National Park and Fort Jefferson from way up there.
– We crossed right over the middle of the Gulf Of Mexico into Louisiana.
– The entire trek from north of the Keys into Texas was above layers of clouds.
– It was the leftover counter-clockwise circulation of former Hurricane Alex.
– This afternoon the remnant moisture of Alex has turned Texas into the tropics.
– We’re getting occasional showers this afternoon here in Northeast Texas.
– Everything is lush and green here, as it’s been a rather wet month here.
– Meanwhile the grass is dying and becoming crunchy back home in Homestead.
– Today for Lunch we picked up fast food from Sonic.
– It was pretty good, and maybe by Christmas our Homestead Sonic will be open.

THOSE CRAZY CRAZY CATS:

BLATANT PROMOTION:
TOMORROW on the blog we’ll celebrate America’s Birthday with a classic jam that’s all about “America”. It’s from an American music legend who is still gettin’ it done today. Catch it right here on my ‘Saturday Night Retro’. Then on Sunday on an all-new ‘My Fantastic Journey’ I’ll tell you what freedom means to me on this 4TH Of July. It’s all right here this weekend. Go forth and enjoy your weekend, and check back here later on. You won’t regret it pal.

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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 !

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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 !

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Annoyances Blogging Driving Food History Life People Politics Travel

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Here’s another collection of my spontaneous combustion ‘Mini Thoughts’.
– What else would you expect from me on a Thursday night here on my blog ?
– Tonight I may offend pick-up truck drivers – the bullies of the open roads.
– I may also offend soccer-mom mini-van drivers who are just plain horrifying.
– Let’s start with the bully pick-up truck drivers who think they own the roads.
– Pick-up truck drivers rarely surprise me, as they are very predictable.
– Stop signs and lane markings generally mean nothing to them.
– I often wonder why they run the stop signs yet stop for a red light.
– If you break every other law in the book then you might as well just keep goin’.
– Speed limit signs along the sides of the road don’t apply – and don’t exist.
– What do I see in my rear-view mirror – a GIANT pick-up truck tailgating me.
– Do you really need tires that are bigger than most humans ?
– Do you really need your truck to be so high that you can walk underneath it ?
– Does it really need to be as loud as an F-16 jet ?
– OK soccer-mom mini-van drivers it’s your turn now.
– Men and women are equally bad drivers in soccer-mom mini-vans.
– You guys and gals are stark raving mad lunatics behind the wheel.
– You’re driving your giant gas-guzzling tanks as if they are little sports cars.
– And you’re usually doing so with half a baseball team as passengers.
– When you make a fast turn a wheel should not lift up from the road.
– It’s no wonder that you cause more accidents on the road than any other.
– There should be a special license that’s required to drive a mini-van.
– Incidentally a mini-van is any vehicle that’s not a car or a pick-up truck.
– It’s my somewhat generic label for every obnoxious vehicle on the road.
– Some of the nicest most friendliest people turn demonic behind the wheel.
– Parents that are bad drivers raise kids that are bad drivers.
– The national driving age should be 18 – not 15 or 16.
– Kids should not be driving any vehicles on the road.
– That is all that I have to say about this subject.
– Moving on to even more controversy – Politics:
– The media’s intense love affair with President Obama continues.
– He can do no wrong, as he walks on water that’s up to 2% crude oil.
– Everything bad that happens in the world today is still Bush’s fault.
– President Obama and his administration loves to blame others.
– We’ve been down this same road before – the Clinton administration.
– They blamed the elder Bush while their boss was out playing and partying.
– Don’t get me started.
– Yesterday I had a bad experience at a popular local Latin eatery.
– I got bad service and perhaps bad food.
– I ended up with an upset stomach that lasted the rest of the day into the night.
– The bad service alone was quite shocking, as it was perhaps racially-motivated.
– Needless to say I won’t be frequenting that establishment anytime soon.
– I’m boycotting places that don’t treat all customers equally with respect.
– Well this turned out be a rather dismal edition of the ‘Mini Thoughts’.
– I didn’t intend to shred bad drivers, bad political leaders, and bad restaurants.
– But that’s what happened in this spontaneous combustion.
– You should have seen the original unexpurgated version of all of this.
– This weekend it’s an all-new ‘Saturday Night Retro’ here on the blog.
– It’s the 20TH anniversary of my ‘Summer Of Fun’ in 1990.
– It was my Woodstock – my Spring Break – my endless party on the beach.
– I’ll look back at that decadent summer and present a signature rock song.
– It’s the song that brings back all of those vivid memories of a previous life.
– On Sunday it’s an all-new ‘My Fantastic Journey: It’s In The Lyrics’.
– We are like totally going to jam to some awesome worship music.
– After that this blog goes on hiatus for 5 days.
– Stick around this weekend as we kick-off an all-new summer of fun for 2010.
– You won’t regret it pal.