Category: Driving

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Blogging Driving History Home Life Music People Radio Travel

Saturday Night Retro

37 years ago at the end of 1972 I was a 5-year-old Kindergarten student at Magnolia Elementary School in Lanham Maryland.

Magnolia Elementary School, Lanham Maryland

The school was located about a mile away from my grandparents’ house. On most school half-days my Granddad would drop me off at school just after 12 noon and then pick me back up again 3 hours later. That was back in the days when you could attend any school that you wanted to no matter where you lived. I actually lived about 20 to 30 minutes away in Bowie Maryland. Later in the afternoon after getting off of work in NW Washington D.C. my Dad would pick me up from his parents’ house in this car:

Late in the afternoon as we drove southeastward from Lanham to Bowie along U.S. Route 50 (John Hanson Highway) we’d listen to WWDC AM-1260 as the TOP 40 hits were cranked out one after another. This was one of the top hits at the time at the end of 1972. It’s legendary British singer-songwriter Albert Hammond. He’s currently celebrating his 50TH anniversary in music, but back then he was enjoying a successful career as an International performance artist. Here’s “It Never Rains In Southern California” – his biggest hit as a singer ever – and one of the greatest pop radio tunes of my early childhood !

That’s ‘Saturday Night Retro’ for this week, and we’ll go back in time again – from the late-1990s – next Saturday night.

This concludes an awesome week of blogging. I’m taking Sundays and Mondays off from now on, so be sure to check back here on Tuesday night as we kick-off an all-new week of all of your favourite blog series. See ya then !

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Blogging Driving God History Music People Television

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s get spontaneous.
– Can we talk here ?
– For the past week I’ve been riding around in a nice new shiny red Mustang !
– If I had a dream car then that would be it – aside from the color.
– I drove around Homestead in a red car for 8 years from 1989 to 1997.
– It went from shiny red to faded red during those 8 years.
– The Ford Mustang was actually the rental car of my best friend.
– He’s turning it back in tomorrow morning.
– I’ll never see it again.
– I guess that I’ll just have to buy my very own Ford Mustang.
– But it won’t be a shiny red one.
– Maybe a bluish-silver one.
– That seems like it would be a cool color to ride around in.
– I should visit my local Ford dealership one of these days and look around.
– I’m watching Jay Leno on Oprah right now.
– I’m with ‘Team Jay’.
– I’ve been watching him ever since he took over for Johnny Carson in 1992.
– There are a lot of Jay Leno haters lurking all over the Internet.
– I never ‘got’ Conan O’Brien, but I’m not a hater.
– I’ll be returning to “The Tonight Show” to see Jay back where he belongs.
– Yesterday’s edition of ‘My Fantastic Journey’ was quite emotional for me.
– It was inspired by a praise report that I recently received via E-Mail.
– If my blog saves a life and brings someone to God then it’s all worth it.
– I believe that my blog has saved at least 4 lives – probably more.
– The fact that my written words led someone to God brings me tears of joy.
– I’m not a very good speaker, but I’m working on that issue.
– My skill has always been in my writing.
– God wants us to use our skills to change the world and make it better.
– I can only hope that my blogging ministry here impresses God.
– I have come to a decision regarding my future blogging schedule.
– For the first time since 2007 I will no longer do a new blog every day.
– I’m reducing down to a 5-day-a-week schedule effective immediately.
– It’ll be a Tuesday through Saturday blogging schedule.
– I will produce no new blog entries on Sundays and Mondays.
– That will free up some time to concentrate on some other projects.
– All of the popular Tuesday through Saturday blog entries will continue on.
– That means a full slate of ‘Retro’ every Saturday night.
– This Saturday night it’s a moldie-oldie from 1972.
– It’s a song that boldly declares that “It Never Rains In Southern California”.
– But before that get ready to dance to K.C. & The Sunshine Band.
– That’s tomorrow night on my ‘Disco Party’.
– Be sure to be there for the fun that just won’t stop until we reach the top !
– You won’t regret it pal.

Categories
Blogging Career Driving History Holidays Music Sports Travel Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s get spontaneous.
– Can we talk here ?
– I’ve only worked 2 days this week, but it seems like I was there all 4 days.
– It’s been a weird, wild, and wacky week at work, but I’m used to that.
– Tomorrow is Friday, so let the weekend commence at 1530 !
– It’s a 3-day holiday weekend, as we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
– This Saturday night on the ‘Retro’ I’ve got a very special tribute to Dr. King.
– It’s a really cool song from a really cool electronica band of the 1980s.
– And now with the weather here’s our amateur weather forecaster Chris !
– This morning was our 13TH and final morning in a row below 50°F.
– That ends the longest cold spell in South Florida weather history !
– We won’t be back in the 40s again anytime in the near future.
– Our normal early-morning temp. for this time of the year is the low-60s.
– Our normal late-afternoon temperature is the mid-70s.
– We should see a couple of 80°F days during this upcoming weekend.
– Remember last Saturday when we were stuck in the low-40s all day long ?
– That was one of the coldest days since weather records have been recorded.
– It rained all day, and some people claimed that they saw sleet and wet snow.
– Much of the grass was burnt by two mornings of frost.
– It was green and lush, but now it’s mostly brown and lifeless.
– I’ve got NFL playoff action to look forward to this weekend.
– The Cardinals-Saints game should hopefully be exciting and high-scoring.
– New Baltimore plays Old Baltimore on Saturday night.
– On Sunday I want the Vikings to totally blow out the Cowboys.
– After that I’m rooting for the J-E-T-S to upset the Chargers in the P-S-T.
– After my most recent road trip up to the JAX area and back I’ve got stats.
– I’ve driven over 4,300 miles over the past 8 weeks.
– Typically I drive a tad over 1,000 miles every 8 weeks.
– My 2003 Saturn is aging before my very eyes.
– I remember when she was hot, fresh, and new.
– Now she’s cold, stale, and old.
– But she survived the Arctic blast of the North Pole of Florida.
– She’s not all that bad after all.
– Shaun Cassidy Alert ! – Tomorrow night on the ‘Disco Party’.
– Be there as we totally rock the roller disco dude !
– Groovy man !

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Blogging Driving Food Home Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

I.  This afternoon during the 1 PM hour I returned home safe and sound from my short road trip up to ‘The North Pole’ / ‘The Great White North’ of Florida. I’m talking of course about the Jacksonville area – AKA ‘The First Coast’. I got everything done that I needed to get done (and then some), and I brought back home a lot of great takeaways from all of my various meetings and taskings regarding the legal acquisition of my home up there. I was skeptical / pessimistic before the trip as well as during the drive up, but everything worked out as perfectly as can be. I have a lot less stress to deal with now.

II.  Our long historic cold spell continues here in Florida. This is Day 11, and it’s coming to an end real soon. On Thursday we return back to normal with the long-awaited return of our easterly ocean breezes, maximum late-afternoon temperatures in the mid-70s, and minimum early-morning temperatures right around 60°F (starting on Friday morning). This morning up on Fleming Island in Clay County my car was covered smothered in thick frost. Luckily it started right up, but I pretty much had to sit in it with the heater and the defroster on full blast before I could actually see out of the front windshield to drive it away. It was in the mid-20s early this morning (right at sunrise) as I departed, and parts of the landscape west of St. Augustine looked like a vast winter wonderland with a thick layer of frost whitening the otherwise brown and dead ground.

III.  Is it just me, or do the various service plazas along Florida’s Turnpike look like the’re going out of business and declaring bankruptcy ?  Of course the’re not, but to me they appear to be just a mere shell or skeleton of what they used to look like. The’re still rather busy with people, but it just seems like everyone is wandering around in circles in a long-neglected mall that’s seen its better days. I actually ate a really nice cheeseburger and fries Lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger Express at the West Palm Beach service plaza. It’s located in the former location of Burger King. I guess BK pulled out (or was pulled out) – along with Starbucks and various other former favourites at the various bustling stops along the Turnpike.

Be sure not to miss my ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ in just 2 days !