Category: Driving

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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1.  Yesterday afternoon immediately after work I got in my Saturn, zoomed down Biscayne Drive, hopped on the Turnpike, and cruised on in to Homestead‘s LongHorn SteakHouse during a raging thunderstorm. I figured that the joint would NOT be jumpin’ at 3:45 PM on a Monday afternoon that was the first day of school. I was right. I was one of less than a dozen customers eatin’ good in the neighbourhood. I jammed to hot country music as I ate my delicious grub.

2.  As usual I received great service and great food there during my LuDinner. A ‘LuDinner’ is the longtime term that me and my brother utilize to refer to a late Lunch / early Dinner. It is eaten in lieu of both Lunch and Dinner at their regular times respectively. It is usually eaten sometime between 2 PM and 4 PM. It must always be a MASSIVE meal. LuDinner on Thanksgiving Day is generally mandatory.

3.  It’s been rather wet here in Homestead over the past several days with 2 (east) to 4 (west) inches of rain across the region causing temporary flooding in the usual areas that are prone to poor drainage (such as my entire neighbourhood). It’s turned everything green again after a slight brownage due to a recent lack of rain. Expect above normal precipitation for the remainder of 2009 due to El Niño.

4.  ‘My NFL Weekend Game Picks’ will NOT be returning for a 3RD season here on the big green blog. The twice-weekly blog series has officially been cancelled. I couldn’t fit it in to the new Fall schedule. Alas I have too many hit series on my hands. One such hit series was an instant out-of-the-box smash just yesterday – ‘The Major’s Tweets’. It’s where I blog my TOP 5 most memorable Twitter tweets of the past week. I plan to feature that gem every Monday. 🙄

5.  I saw something rather unusual this past Saturday night. I saw a nationally-televised game from start to finish featuring my beloved Washington Redskins actually lookin’ good and beatin’ up on a Super Bowl Champion team (the Pittsburgh Steelers). Yes I know – Pre-Season – but it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to celebrate a Redskins win LIVE on television. I may not have many moments like that during this upcoming season, so I took in that moment on Saturday night.

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Driving History Home Life Music Radio Weather

Saturday Night Retro

On this exact date 17 years ago – the 22ND of August of 1992 – also a Saturday – we were given our final instructions and orders to evacuate the air base as quickly as possible due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Andrew. We had no idea what Andrew would bring, and it ultimately brought a once-in-a-lifetime storm of mass destruction to the base and the surrounding South Miami-Dade countryside.

It was the most horrific experience of my entire life – a Sunday night / Monday morning that I never went to sleep. I never wish to relive that night or the nightmarish week that followed. I don’t like to write about it, and I don’t like to talk about it. A lot of good ultimately came out of that storm. I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t be living and working here in Homestead today 17 years later if it weren’t for Hurricane Andrew. I’d be elsewhere. But it happened, and here I am.

One song in particular was receiving heavy airplay on the radio during the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. It’s the duet of Patty Smyth and Don Henley. Together they sang “Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough”. Patty co-wrote the Grammy-nominated song that played out like a post-love song. It was the story of two former lovers who were moving away from their relationship together and moving on with life.

I interpretted the lyrics in a slightly different manner:
—
‘I don’t wanna lose you.’
—
‘And I don’t wanna hate you.
I don’t wanna take you.
But I don’t wanna be the one to cry.
That don’t really matter to anyone, anymore.
But like a fool I keep losing my place.’
—
‘It makes a sound like thunder.
It makes me feel like rain.’
—
‘And there’s no way home.
When it’s late at night and you’re all alone.’
—
‘There’s a reason why people dont stay where they are.
Baby sometimes love just ain’t enough.’

This was treated at the time as my farewell love song to Homestead. I didn’t want to leave. But I had to. The Homestead that I had known for nearly 5 years prior to that was all gone. She was completely destroyed. My home was inhabitable. My job was non-existant. I looked at Homestead one last time in my rear-view mirror, as this song played on the radio and made me cry.

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Driving Life Music Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– School is back in session again here in Miami-Dade County.
– At least it is for the teachers.
– This morning’s typical drive to work was 10 times busier than it’s been lately.
– That’s because all of the teachers were on the road !
– They were frantically getting to their schools.
– They were making pit stops at gas stations to get gas, coffee, and donuts.
– The kids go back to school this Monday.
– I can hardly wait for out-of-control school buses to be back on the roads again.
– This Monday is the 17TH anniversary of Hurricane Andrew.
– He changed the Greater Homestead area forever.
– 3 out of every 4 Homestead residents today did NOT live through Andrew.
– I did.
– It was the most horrific experience of my entire life.
– And I wasn’t even in Homestead at the time.
– I was bunkered down at a house in West Kendall near SW 100TH St.
– First sight outside – a U-Haul on the top of the roof of another house.
– We’ve come a long way since then Homestead.
– Together we stand.
– It’s the 232ND day of 2009.
– This year is over 63½% done and over with.
– The 2ND decade of this new millennium is just 19 weeks away.
– 2010 is going to be totally MASSIVE for me.
– It will be the most important year of my entire Life.
– Well those are my spontaneous ‘Mini Thoughts’ for this Thursday night.
– Oh – before I go – don’t forget about the ‘Disco Party’ tomorrow night.
– I’ve got a jam that my friend Ela was probably dancing to when she was 19.
– That’s when she ruled the Miami dance club scene.
– When you hear it you will definitely get up and dance like a maniac.
– There’s nothing wrong with that.
– Until then you can follow me on Twitter at majorhitwaves.

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Blogging Driving Health History Music People Politics Television Travel Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s get spontaneous here.
– A tourist refers to this area as ‘Southern Florida’. We know it as ‘South Florida’.
– A tourist refers to it as ‘Route 1’. We know it as ‘U.S. 1’ or ‘Useless-One’.
– I filled up with gas at my favourite Chevron station after work today.
– That’s 10.899 gallons of gas at $2.739 per gallon for a total of $29.85.
– Almost exactly a year ago I paid $3.859 per gallon of gas.
– Gas prices were beginning their hard tumble from their July 2008 peaks.
– I thought about getting a car wash there.
– But I’m forecasting a lot of rain for this weekend.
– In fact Saturday could be our wettest day in Homestead in awhile.
– President Barack Obama‘s approval ratings are dropping like a rock.
– Americans are increasingly disgruntled over his handling of health care reform.
– The President is dealing with a tough crowd.
– It’s not easy to be loved and adored forever.
– I did NOT vote for him.
– Woodstock was exactly 40 years ago this weekend.
– I was NOT there.
– I was only 26 months old at the time.
– I don’t even remember it occurring.
– People that were there don’t remember it occurring.
– I’ll do a special Woodstock edition of ‘Saturday Night Retro’.
– But before that tomorrow night is Disco night here on the big bellbottom blog.
– I’ve got a former Disco superstar who’s now a reality TV star. It’s TRU !
– See what he looked like 30 years ago at the Discotech.
– You won’t regret it pal.
– Until then keep it simple – and give a hoot – don’t polute !
– Help keep America lookin’ good in the neighbourhood.