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The Major’s Walk-A-Thon

Sky: Clear
Temperature: 66°F
Dewpoint: 45°F
Relative Humidity: 47%
Winds: SE 6 MPH
Barometric Pressure: 29.92 Falling

After I watched my visiting Washington Redskins give up the shutout and the game to the hometown Dallas Cowboys in the last 3 minutes of the game I decided that the only reasonable thing for me to do was to walk around my brother’s neighbourhood for a little while, and so I did for a refreshing 28 minutes and 48 seconds.

Here are my walking thoughts in 15 words or less:

– Me, my Brother, Sister-In-Law, and their dog Buddy went on a 1.5-mile walk.
– They live in a rather large subdivision of cookie-cutter style split-level houses.
– It’s a peaceful and quiet neighbourhood just perfect for suburban families.
– The sky was crystal clear and as deep blue as can be during the 3 PM hour.
– It was in the mid-60s, but this was a different mid-60s than I’ve felt before.
– It was a dry mid-60s – compared with a more humid mid-60s typical of home.
– At first Buddy (the dog) was leading the way.
– But soon thereafter he was slowly stalling out.
– He was pretty much exhausted halfway through the walk.
– What do you expect from a canine that’s approaching his 60s in dog years ?
– Right now Buddy is passed out on a chair.
– When my sister-in-law exclaimed that we had gone a half a mile I concurred.
– All I did was look at my watch and see that 9½ minutes had elapsed.
– Since I typically walk a mile in 19 minutes flat I knew that she was right.
– Once our walk was done we had all worked up a sizeable appetite for food.
– So we ventured over to The Cheesecake Factory for a MASSIVE Dinner.
– I enjoyed the Lemon-Herb Roasted Chicken.
– Of course I saved room for a large slice of cheesecake too.
– Of course I indulged in the ‘for a limited time only’ Pumpkin Cheesecake.
– Walking hard and eating hard – that’s how I roll on this Sunday !

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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.

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Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– For the first time ever I’ve got 2 systems connected to the ‘Net simultaneously.
– I bought a ‘Wireless-N USB 2.0 Adapter‘ for my antique laptop.
– That’s the laptop that was my main system before I bought my new desktop.
– It’s so old that wireless technology was a mere option when it was new.
– Now I can access the Internet whereever there’s Wi-Fi.
– OK so I’m about 5 years behind the times here – at least I arrived.
– This suddenly rejuvenated laptop is going on a long road trip with me !
– Next Thursday night at this time I’ll be on vacation.
– I’m actually working for about 5 hours next Thursday morning.
– After that I’m off for the rest of the month.
– I return back to work to celebrate my 22ND anniversary at the air base.
– I’ve got an early departure time to hit the road next Friday morning.
– I’ve got about 825 miles to cover on the first day of my road trip.
– I can’t wait to get out on that open road.
– Late this morning I ventured over to Beef ‘O’ Brady’s for Lunch.
– I rarely eat cheeseburgers nowadays, but when I do Beef’s is the place.
– They also serve up some mightly tasty buffalo wings !
– Pretty much everything that I’ve ordered there was hot and delicious.
– Well the cold air from the north is advecting our area as I type this.
– Once the skies clear out our temperatures will tumble rapidly.
– I’m forecasting a low of 56° for Homestead from 6 AM to 7 AM on Friday.
– But wind chills will actually be closer to 50° !
– Tomorrow (Friday) we will struggle to reach 75°.
– It’ll be another chilly morning on Saturday.
– I can’t wait until I can walk around my neighbourhood in it !
– That’s right – I’m doin’ a ‘Walk-A-Thon’ on Saturday morning.
– This Saturday night on the ‘Retro’ I’ve got a funky Neil Sedaka from 1975.
– But first before that we’re gonna do the “Jungle Boogie” at the ‘Disco Party’.
– Be sure not to miss those weekend shenanigans.
– Those are my ‘Mini Thoughts’ for this Thursday night.
– I thank you for checking them out, and I’ll see ya back here tomorrow.
– In the meantime – REMEMBER THIS !

Chris At The Beach

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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1.  Today was a very tough day at work for me and my co-workers in my building at the air base. We received the unsettling news shortly after 7 AM that one of our own was down on the street (SW 288TH St. – just down the road from the base) in very bad shape after being t-boned by a car and thrown off of his motorcycle. Word came in a short while later that he had died as a result of his injuries. Our building was in mourning for much of the day, and one of the  Base Chaplains spent much of the day with us. The guy that we lost was well liked by all, and I considered him as one of my favourite people to talk to and hang out with during the course of any given work day. Yesterday afternoon I spent the last 10 minutes of my work day doing just that – talking, hanging out, and laughing with him – not knowing that it would be the last time that I would ever be able to do that. God – Please bless Kevin up in Heaven, and take care of my buddy. I know that he’s in a much better place now that he’s with You. Thank You Kevin for being a good man – and for being my friend.

2.  This was actually the 2ND death in our base’s extended work family in the span of roughly 36 hours. The pilot who lost his life on Sunday night when his private plane crashed into the Everglades near I-75 was also one of our own. He was a Lieutenant Colonel / Deputy Commander on the base, and I used to work with him back in the mid-1990s when he was a Captain. He left work on Sunday night, went to Tamiami Airport, and took off in his plane to fly back home to North Central Florida. He never made it. He was 49.

3.  Yesterday was Day 7 of my severe cold that was born at work exactly one week ago today, and I still had a noticeable trace of the leftovers of the cold via sporadic sinus pressure and drainage issues. I’m not yet ready to officially declare my cold to be completely done and over with because I just now blew my nose quite thoroughly, and a lot of excess leftover snottage came out and my nose made some funny drainage sounds during the process. I do wish to thank my friends Airborne, Zicam, and Cold-EEZE for their great efforts to make me feel just a little bit better during the peak of the severe cold.

4.  I never knew that my all-time favourite take-out Chinese Food restaurant actually has the biggest, boldest, and bestest chicken wings in town – but they do. I deviated from my regular Lunch on Monday, as I ordered a pint of won ton soup, an order of 4 chicken wings, and an egg roll. These chicken wings were GINORMOUS. They were hot, juicy, and tasty. I highly recommend them. I must warn you though that these are your standard fried chicken wings – no sauce – no seasoning – but if that’s all that you want – and you want them BIG – then go and get you some at Shanghai over at the Waterstone Plaza in Homestead.

5.  Get ready for cooler and dryer air to sweep through America’s Riviera early this Thursday morning. Our coolest morning should actually be Friday with actual air temperatures bottoming out in the upper-50s and wind chills in the mid-50s. Friday should be sunny, crisp, cool, and dry with temperatures getting no higher than the mid-70s. It should be a little bit warmer on Saturday, Sunday, and beyond, but no rain is expected after tomorrow (Wednesday).

Be sure to check back here in about 48 hours for my weekly ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ in bullet statements of 15 words or less.

Tomorrow is Veterans Day here in the U.S.A. Never forget all of those brave men and women who have served and who are currently serving our country and defending democracy and freedom during wartime.