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Animals History Holidays Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Here are today’s top stories:

1.  Hola mis amigos. Hoy es el Cinco de Mayo. Go forth and enjoy some delicious Mexican food tonight to celebrate this muy especial day that marks the grande victory of the Mexican army over the French army in the Battle Of Puebla in 1862.  ¡ VIVA MEXICO !

2.  In just about 50 hours I’ll be arriving at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to begin a long weekend vacation con mi familia. I’m planning to continue the ‘2009 Economic Stimulus Tour’ (of tourist attractions) this weekend with a visit to the Dallas Zoo. It’s the largest zoological experience in Texas !

3.  I never got to go to the zoo when I was a little kid, and I actually had an Uncle that worked at one (as Security). That’s right – I was totally deprived of the zoo experience as a kid. Since I’ve pretty much outgrown the traditional amusement parks (and wild rides make me dizzy) I’ve gone back to basics by visiting the animals as much as I can. I love the animals !  The’re just like you and me !

4.  Speaking of amusement parks with wild rides – and animals – me and a buddy may visit Sea World up in Orlando during the upcoming  Memorial Day holiday weekend. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there. We may also visit nearby Gatorland. I haven’t been there since they rebuilt the place following the devastating fire of November 06TH 2006.

5.  Are you ready for the upcoming rainy season aqui en America’s Riviera ?  It starts within the next couple of weeks, and based on my analysis and research I’m forecasting an extra wet rainy season this year with southerly, southwesterly, and westerly wind flow the norm. That means that all of those strong thunderstorms that develop over the Everglades should drift eastward over us rather than westward towards Naples. I’m also forecasting a below normal hurricane season with most storms staying away from us due to our westerly wind flow and the long-awaited reemergence of our good friend ‘El Niño’. We’ll see how this forecast works out for all of us.

Take good care of yourselves my friends. THANKS for reading what’s on my mind.

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Blogging Career God Holidays Home Money Music Radio Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

It’s the fastest-growing weekly series in the entire history of this blog:

– You know how we do this.
– So let’s get this party started.
– Complete sentences not required here.
– It was another interesting and exciting day at work.
– I even got into heated discussions with one of my closest coworkers.
– It’s all good.
– My worst day on this journey – far greater than my best day beforehand.
– I love going to work in the morning.
– I’ve been able to state that for only the past 20½ months.
– My career renaissance began at the end of July 2007.
– That’s when I moved from my previous job to my current job.
– I physically moved one-tenth of one mile south to my current job.
– The difference is that of night and day – dark and light – evil and good.
– Dear Lord I pray to you that I don’t spend any money at all next Monday.
– I currently have one of the largest VI$A bills in modern recorded history.
– The cold air outside is almost gone, and my A.C. is back on again.
– We hit 52°F early this morning with an identical wind chill.
– It was 53°F early on Wednesday morning with a wind chill in the 40s.
– Get ready for the mid-80s to return this weekend and stay indefinitely.
– We’re gearing up for a busy Easter Sunday at Life Pointe Church.
– This is the Sunday that you need to wake up early and get to the theatre.
– Gather up the crew, stuff them into the soccer-mom minivan, and get there.
– I can’t wait to see Ela before the first service.
– Ela is one of God’s many miracles.
– Here’s a video for a song that I discovered quite early on during this journey.
– It’s from Watashi Wa.
– They were from Southern California.
– They were together as a band from 2000 to 2004.
– They were rather dysfunctional as a band.
– They loved Jesus.
– They managed to release this gem during the Summer Of 2003.
– I was far from God during that Summer.
– Watch this video and listen intently to what the’re singing.
– I’m not a lot, but you can have “All Of Me”.

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Astronomy Blogging Career History Holidays Music Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

It’s the longest-running episodic weekly series in the entire history of this blog:

1.  So far March in America’s Riviera has been windy and soggy – and that’s a good thing considering the fact that November, December, January, and February were pretty much chilly and arid extra dry. This morning I drove through a ferocious rainstorm in the dark. It lasted all but three minutes, but I thought that I was either gonna drown or blow away to Kansas during the peak of it.

2.  I’m allergic to a bunch of things to include cologne and freshy cut grass. They make me sneeze. I don’t wear cologne. I don’t need to. I smell fresh and delightful naturally primarily because I take regular showers. Some people use cologne in lieu of bathing. They make me sneeze. Oh yeah – and they smell nasty.

3.  I moved over to my current workplace on base almost 20 months ago. I don’t have very many ‘low’ days, but of the ones that I’ve had they’ve all been far better than my ‘high’ days at my previous workplace on base of over 13 unlucky years. My career renaissance continues.

4.  Exactly 22 years ago tonight (on March 24TH 1987) I saw British musician Howard Jones LIVE in concert at London England’s historic Royal Albert Hall. That place has been standing there for nearly 140 years (since 1871).

5.  Last year March 24TH was the Monday after Easter Sunday. This year Easter Sunday occurs on April 12TH. That’s because it’s the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the 21ST of March. (The full moon occurs on April 09TH.)

That’s what I’ve got for you for this week. Be sure to check out my ‘Mini Thoughts’ this Thursday night here on the big green blog. You won’t regret it pal.

Categories
Animals Driving Health Holidays Money Music Politics Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Nearly 16 months of historical statistics reveals that Tuesday is by far the busiest day here on the big green blog. I think that we all know why that is so:

1.  We may actually receive some significant rainfall here in America’s Rivera between tonight and Sunday as a couple of old cold fronts from the north ease closer to us. Don’t expect a flood or anything close to that, but don’t be surprised if we manage to receive up to an inch of the much needed rain that we so desperately need. There’s also a very remote possibility that I may actually issue a late-season ‘Homestead Cold Weather Alert’ for both Saturday and Sunday mornings as wind chill temperatures may approach the upper-40s for a brief period of time.

2.  I’m not exaggerating here when I state that most motorists here in America’s Riviera totally ignore the green traffic light arrow that points to the left that states that you have a protected path to make a left-hand turn. I guess they don’t teach that in traffic school down here. GREEN = GO !

3.  Weight Check – I’m slowly easing down into the lower-170s. I just weighed in at 172.5. My goal is to get back into the more comfortable upper-160s. Yes I can !

4.  We probably won’t find out that the recession has ended until at least six to nine months after it has actually ended. It may have ended already, but we won’t really know for sure until perhaps Thanksgiving or Christmas. Politics and policies aside I’m rooting for a strong and robust economy in 2009 and beyond. How can you not root for that ?

5.  It’s St. Patrick’s Day in 2009, and I wore virtually all green today. I’m proud of my Irish heritage. My ancestors on the paternal side had a last name of ‘O’Day’. The ‘O’ was dropped when they emigrated from Ireland to The U.S. back in the late-19TH Century. For over 17 years our beloved cat Fluffy – a Manx – was an integral part of our family. The Manx breed originated from The Isle Of Man in the Irish Sea. I lived in the U.K. for exactly two years from 1985 to 1987, and I did quite a bit of traveling during that time. But one regret is that I never got to visit either Northern Ireland (part of the U.K.) or The Republic Of Ireland. Some day I hope to visit both countries. While living in the U.K. two Irish bands – The Pogues and The Dubliners – joined forces to become one, as they performed a traditional Irish song about a MASSIVE ship in the sea. Check out this 1987 performance of “The Irish Rover”. It was a U.K. TOP 10 pop smash back then, and I present it to you as a very special St. Patrick’s Day edition of the ‘Saturday Night Retro’.