Category: Holidays

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Saturday Night Retro

Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. Visit MLKDay.gov.

On this upcoming Monday January 18TH 2010 we observe and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day all across the great U.S.A. Click on the banner above for a wealth of information and ideas on how you can change it from a ‘day off’ to a ‘day on’ – a day of service for your fellow mankind.

President Ronald Reagan signed the ‘Martin Luther King Jr. Day’ Federal holiday into law in 1983. It was observed for the very first time on January 20TH 1986. 

Later in 1986 the long-running English electronica pop group of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD) released their classic album “The Pacific Age”. On the album was this awesome cut called “Southern” that served as a beautiful tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Check it out.

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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 God History Holidays Life Music Travel Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– It’s New Year’s Eve y’all !
– At 6 AM here on the U.S. East Coast New Zealanders were ushering in 2010.
– As I type this ‘Mini Thought’ at 4 PM Saudi Arabians are celebrating 2010.
– I arrived in Saudi Arabia 19 years ago this week for the first Gulf War.
– I was over there for 9 weeks through the conclusion of Desert Storm.
– That was my most memorable New Year’s Eve / Day.
– 2009 was a success story for me both personally and professionally.
– Every year since 2006 has been an overwhelming success story for me.
– That’s because I have been reborn.
– I totally expect 2010 to be the brightest year yet for me.
– I’ve decided that I will always pronounce the new year as ‘twenty ten’.
– It just sounds so right to say ‘twenty ten’.
– Last Feb. 28TH I thought that I had seen the last of the Jacksonville area.
– That’s when I drove from there for the very last time (as I thought).
– I had just finished moving my parents over to the Dallas Texas area.
– I no longer have any family members living up there.
– Next weekend I’m driving back up there to my parent’s old neighbourhood.
– I’ll be up there for one full day and two nights.
– I now own their former home.
– It’s all mine – debt and all !
– I’ll be talking face to face with the management company that’s renting it out.
– I’ll be getting a lot of answers for a lot of questions.
– The answers will assist me in making decisions and taking actions.
– Get ready for a cold month of January South Floridians.
– It’s the extended period of colder weather I’ve been shouting about.
– It all starts on New Year’s Day when temperatures drop like a rock.
– We’ll go from heat indices in the lower-80s to wind chills in the mid-40s !
– We’ll be stuck in the 60s for daytime highs for at least 5 days in a row.
– We’ll have nighttime wind chills in the 30s for at least 4 nights in a row.
– This extended cold snap is the first of several during the month of January.
– Our chances of experiencing a hard freeze later in January are quite high.
– If you dig cold weather then you’ll dig January here in America’s Riviera.
– After three weeks of Christmas music on the ‘Retro’ we’re goin’ back to basics.
– We’re gonna spin up the ‘Wheel Of Cheese’ this Saturday night.
– It’s a cheesy gold-certified # 1 smash from over 35 years ago.
– It comes complete with an antique music video you’ve gotta see to believe.
– But before that it’s another Disco smash tomorrow night on the ‘Disco Party’.
– And the hits don’t stop ’til we reach the top !
– Have a safe and festive New Year my friends !
– Peace be with you.
– And also with you.

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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

It’s time to kick it with the final ‘Grab Bag’ of 2009. Let’s rock and roll:

1.  Technology-wise I made GINORMOUS strides in 2009. I ditched analog cable television after nearly 25 years and switched over to AT&T U-verse. That switch included my first experience with a modern DVR; thus, upgrading me from VHS (gasp !) and DVD recording of television shows. It also included my first exposure (believe it or not) with wireless technology. I now have two working computers – a fixed desktop and a roaming wireless laptop. I’ve also got a real nice digital (DECT 6.0) telephone system in place with three handsets scattered around my home. Just last week I bought my very first LCD HDTV set, and I upgraded my AT&T U-verse to enable all of the HD channels. Everything looks sparkling bright and amazingly clear in HD !  That’s a lot of technological change I can believe in for a single year !  What shall 2010 bring me that’s modern, new, and exciting ?  BRING IT ON !

2.  As far as sleek new personal hygiene products are concerned I haven’t been very successful with them in the past. I lost count of how many nose and ear hair trimmers I’ve bought that I used just a few times until I realized that they hardly worked efficiently. So you can imagine my skepticism when I saw ‘The Essential Do-It-Yourself Electric Back Hair Shaver’ from Mangroomer on sale at Bed Bath & Beyond. I bought it this past Sunday morning, and I used it that same afternoon. Let’s just say that for the first time in several years I now have a non-hairy and somewhat smoothly shaved back. It actually feels weird like that – and cool like that at the same time. Thank You Mangroomer for such a spectacular personal hygiene product that I can believe in !

3.  Why is it that the Christmas spirit (the decorations, the cards, the shopping, the gift giving, etc.) seems to begin earlier and earlier each year (right after Halloween it seems), but then it all comes crashing down on the first day after Christmas. I actually know people who took down all of their decorations and threw their Christmas tree out with the garbage on the 26TH of December !  What’s THAT all about ?  Aside from the whole true meaning of Christmas being lost in the first place whatever happened to the “12 Days Of Christmas” ?  They start on Christmas Day (the 1ST day of Christmas) and then continue on through January 05TH (the 12TH day of Christmas). That’s followed by Epiphany on January 06TH. Don’t be a Scrooge. Keep the Christmas spirit alive !

4.  It appears that I’ll be taking a nice long drive up to the Jacksonville Florida area sometime within the next couple of weeks to discuss local real estate conditions with the management company that’s currently managing my newly acquired home up there. I have a lot of critical decisions and corresponding actions to make soon that have a lot of legal and financial ramifications. Hopefully this situation will work out beneficially for me, my parents, and the management company.

5.  It was a cold morning this morning in and around Homestead with 47°F officially at the air base with wind chills deep down into the lower-40s !  Tomorrow morning I’m forecasting a low temperature at 7 AM of perhaps 8°F milder – right around 55°F (still a bit nippy). Our next cold front arrives with a vengeance from the northwest during the day on New Year’s Day – and it’ll be a doozy !  It’ll be the start of an extended cold snap for us that could last for 5 to 7 days with daytime highs stuck in the 60s and nighttime lows deep down into the 40s with even some 30s possible out in the Everglades. Cold weather fans (hello there Ela O.) – you’re gonna love it !

Be sure to check out my ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ LIVE this New Year’s Eve here on the blog that’s cool like that. You won’t regret it pal !