Category: Driving

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Driving History Life Music Travel

Saturday Night Retro

This afternoon I completed the first-half of the longest road trip of my lifetime. In addition to the 804 miles that I drove over the course of 12½ hours yesterday (Friday) I drove another 577 miles today (Saturday) over the course of about 9 hours. That’s 1,381 miles of driving on Friday and Saturday, and now it’s time to sit back and let other people do the driving while I do the relaxing.

Although I’ve driven in the great state of Texas before (mostly rental cars out of San Antonio) this is the first time that I’ve driven my own personal car here. It’s also the furthest west that I’ve ever driven in my own car – eclipsing the previous westmost record holder for me – New Orleans about 5 Summers ago.

I’ve now conquered with my own car all of the states with coastlines along the Gulf Of Mexico. I’ve also previously made it about halfway up the Eastern Seaboard – up to Maryland. This Christmas actually marks the 20TH anniversary of the first time that I drove to and from my previous home in Northern Virginia all the way to and from Homestead Florida (about a 2,200 mile round trip). I did that in my new car at the time – a 1989 Geo Spectrum.

When this song first hit the pop radio airwaves during the Summer of 1996 I thought that it was the perfect road trip driving song. It’s bubbly melody and beat totally encouraged me to surge past the posted speed limit at times and get wild and crazy on the highways !

It’s Crush with their MASSIVE dance smash that’s all about that “Jellyhead”:

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Animals Driving History Music People Travel

The Major’s Friday Night Disco Party

This morning I woke up at 3:45 AM Eastern / 2:45 AM Central. I was on the road an hour later, and after about 12½ hours of driving 804 miles I arrived at my destination tonight safe and sound. I’m in Gulfport Mississippi. I’ve been here before – back in the Summer of 1994 on temporary military duty at nearby Keesler AFB in historic Biloxi.

Tomorrow I’ve got another 590 or so miles of driving from here to Allen Texas (northeast of Dallas). It’s the home of my Mom, Dad, Cat, Brother, Sister-In-Law, Future Nephew, and Dog. I’ll be there for 7 days and 7 nights.

But before all of that it’s time to kick-off the weekly Disco party, and this week I’ve got a crazy dude who called himself ‘Disco Tex’. Back in the mid-1970s he hung out with a band of lunatics known as ‘The Sex-O-Lettes’. Here’s their biggest Disco smash from back in the day – it’s “Get Dancin'”:

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Blogging Driving God History Music People Travel

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– It’s not even 3:30 in the afternoon as I begin compiling these ‘Mini Thoughts’.
– But it’s already Thursday night for me.
– That’s because Friday morning will begin sooner than normal for me.
– I just set my alarm clock for 3:45 AM.
– I hope to be on the road no later than 4:45 AM.
– I’ve got about 825 miles to cover on the road tomorrow.
– That’s about 58% of the way to northeast of Dallas Texas.
– I’m really lookin’ forward to it !
– Last night I attended only my 3RD memorial service of my entire life.
– It was for a good friend and coworker.
– The service was done nice, and a few people stood up to speak of Kevin.
– If I could do it all over again then I would get up and speak too.
– It’s just one of those missed opportunities that I now regret.
– I’m learning to not miss so many of these opportunities in this new Life.
– It was an open casket viewing, but I didn’t go up to view Kevin.
– I’d rather remember Kevin as the dude that was full of life and laughter.
– The last time I saw a lifeless body in an open casket it was my Granddad.
– It’s an image that I can’t get out of my mind – 15 years later.
– This past Tuesday night I attended my 2ND Toastmasters meeting.
– I had a fun time – and an important role – as the vote counter.
– Joining Toastmasters was a wise idea for my own professional development.
– It’ll help me out in conquering one of my greatest weaknesses – speaking.
– It’ll enhance my professional career as well as my personal Life.
– Thank You Travis for leading me to Toastmasters !
– I am planning to continue the blogging during my entire vacation.
– The weekly ‘Disco Party’ is still on track for tomorrow night.
– I’ve got a gem from 35 years ago from a dude that called himself ‘Disco Tex’.
– Then on the ‘Retro’ on Sat. night I’ve got a bubblegum pop smash from 1996.
– Then on Sun. morning it’s my takeaways from a church service I’m attending.
– This church in Allen Texas looks amazingly similar to Life Pointe Church.
– So that’s what’s happenin’ with me on this Thursday night (and beyond).
– Keep it locked in – same blog time – same blog station.
– This blog post was transcribed.

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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1.  I receive a lot of junk mail in my old-fashioned traditional mailbox. I wish there was a way where we could select which specific stores we would like to receive weekly advertisements for, and then only receive junk mail from them. But then I guess that it wouldn’t really be ‘junk’ mail, but rather ‘want’ mail. I receive weekly ads from Winn-Dixie, Sedano’s, and Diaz Supermarket (among others). I don’t shop at any of these fine grocery stores. I do shop at Publix, and I think that I would actually pay a small fee just to receive their weekly ad in the mail.

2.  It’s ‘The Major’s Lunch-A-Thon’. This past Sunday I ate at Longhorn Steakhouse. On Monday I ate at Beef ‘O’ Brady’s. Today I ate at Olive Garden. The tour de force of fine dining establishments in and around Homestead continues on Wednesday and Thursday before I head out-of-town on Friday. Lunch – It does a Chris good !

3.  ‘For Crying Out Loud !’ – Where does that phrase actually come from anyway ?  It’s a phrase that some people utilize in lieu of cussing – particularly when the’re astonished and can’t believe their eyes. I don’t think that I’ve ever uttered that phrase intentionally or otherwise. I suppose it’s a phrase (like many others) that’s probably inherited from generation to generation within the family. Incidentally how can you not ‘believe your eyes’ ?  Have your eyes ever lied to you ?  Well maybe after drinking !

4.  I filled up my car with gas this afternoon on my way home from work. I’ll be doing it again this Friday morning up near Orlando along Florida’s Turnpike. And then I’ll do it again about 5 hours later up in the northwestern panhandle of Florida along I-10. And then I’ll probably do it again another 5 hours after that at my first pit stop on my road trip. The adventure begins in less than 60 hours !

5.  The weather should be nice and seasonal on my way to the Dallas Texas area this Friday and Saturday with temperatures within a rather narrow range on both days – pretty much mid-60s to mid-70s on Friday and low-50s to mid-60s on Saturday – so neither cold nor hot. I should be able to maximize my gas mileage during my trip there by not using the A.C. We’ll see.