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The Legend Of Fluffy The Manx Cat

Today it’s the return of a Christmas classic that’s been featured on my blog before in various forms. It’s the story of the greatest Christmas gift ever – the arrival of a cat.

It started out as a morning like any other, but just a few hours later it would become a morning that forever changed the lives of me and my little brother, and our Mom and Dad.

Exactly 42 years ago this morning – on Friday December 23RD 1983 – me (age 16½) and my little brother (age 8½) looked out our living room window at the snow and the ice on the ground of our backyard. It was a bitter cold morning in McLean Virginia 2 days before Christmas, and we were happy to be warm and comfortable inside.

But there was a creature stirring outside that was not warm and comfortable. It was a lonely young cat with no tail that was wandering around aimlessly on our ice-covered backyard patio deck, and it was shivering in misery. Me and my brother decided rather quickly that it did not belong in the harsh elements of the outside at that moment, so we opened the door and she walked right in to our more sheltered screened-in ‘Florida Room’.

We gave her some milk to drink. She loved us for it. We gave her some love. We heard a strange sound coming from her that we hadn’t heard before. It was the friendly and inviting sound of her purring. We let her in to our warm and comfortable home. She never looked back. In fact she refused to leave after that. We pretty much named her ‘Fluffy’ that day, and she instantly became an important part of our family – the missing link if you will.

That’s a young me in 1985 holding a young Fluffy. I was about 60 pounds lighter than I am today.

She was the 5TH member of our family, and she was the start of nearly 30 years of felines in our family. Fluffy loved us all, but she clearly adored me the most. During her younger years she anxiously awaited me to open the basement / laundry room door for her first thing in the morning so that she could run (and beat me) to my bedroom upstairs for a long round of petting and purring. During her later years in Jacksonville Florida when she was slowly dying she literally came back to life over and over again and jumped and loved on me and ran upstairs to my parents’ guest room whenever I arrived for a short visit. She lived a long, happy, and healthy life (until April of 2001), and she provided lots of love to our family starting with that very first Christmas of 1983.

There have been other cats and dogs within our family over the years since then. Fluffy eventually gained a feline roommate with Barney (also known as “the cat that never liked me”). After Fluffy’s death Barney eventually gained his own feline roommate with Pumpkin. Boots was my own loving cat and housemate for 12½ years in Homestead Florida until his (expected) death on May 17TH 2007. He was the coolest cat that ever lived.

But it all started with “Fluffy The Manx Cat”. She was the Matriarch of all of our family pets (to this day). She was the Queen of her castle. She was the stability of our family. She was our family’s common denominator. She was the center of attention. She was the most lovable cat that ever lived.

Fun Fact: This WordPress blog is a spinoff of my former hit music based massivesmash.com web site that I created in 1995. That web site grew out of a previous web site known as “MANx On The Net”. That first web site was a spinoff of “MANx Cat BBS” (1993-1997) – a dial-up bulletin board system run via MS-DOS typical of its time that was inspired by and named after Fluffy.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Church, Beef, & Eternity

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week’s post covered my holiday weekend time-period from Thanksgiving Eve – through Thanksgiving Day, and Black Friday, and Small Business Saturday.

We’re up to Museum Store Sunday now; although, this post has nothing to do with any museum stores. (Well since I mentioned it – back home – my Sebring Historical Society observed Museum Store Sunday by having our museum open for 6 hours to try to get rid of [sell] as much of our gift shop merchandise as possible to make room for new inventory.)

OK – let’s get back on track here. And let’s go to church – as a family. That’s what we did for the first time ever at their new non-denominational church in nearby Sachse Texas. (I wrote more about that experience on #SundayScripture a couple of weeks ago.)

After church me and my brother went to a busy Best Buy, and then we went to see our 2ND movie in 3 days. It seems as if every trip – either me visiting in Texas or my brother visiting in Florida – we end up seeing a movie that neither one of us was talking about in the hours or days leading up to it. Our “under the radar” movie for this trip was “Eternity”. I knew about it, but I never mentioned it because I didn’t think that he’d want to see it. And my brother knew about it, and he didn’t think that I’d want to see it. We decided about 90 minutes before the next showing at a nearby movie theatre to see it. We both enjoyed the premise of the movie. It’s one of my favorite movies of the year (out of 20+ so far), and my brother wants to see it again with his wife once it’s streamable. It was a fun movie with (surprisingly) lots of sight gags.

Fun Fact: “Eternity” and “Rental Family” (seen 2 days earlier) were the # 6 and # 7 movies of the 5-day Thanksgiving Weekend. Both played in far fewer theatres than the Top 5 movies above it.

Where’s The Beef ?: I almost forgot about it. Before the movie we ate lunch at a popular place called Portillo’s. It’s a Chicago-based fast-casual restaurant with almost 100 locations nationwide (and rapidly expanding). They specialize in Chicago beef. And I had some for lunch. I had the Beef & Cheddar Croissant. It’s a variation of the classic Italian beef sandwich that uses a croissant instead of French bread. It features thin-sliced, slow-roasted, rich, and seasoned Italian beef and melted cheddar cheese. It was pretty good. Very juicy !

And finally – I ended my favorite month of the year – November – with a great Sunday Night Football game on NBC – the Denver Broncos (a team I like) at my original hometown Washington Commanders. It was surprisingly an exciting and close back-and-forth game that extended well into overtime. My Commanders had a chance to win it by a point if they had converted on a 2-point conversion following a touchdown, but the conversion was blocked, the game ended – Broncos 27 Commanders 26 – and November ended.

Next #TravelThursday is in 2 weeks on New Year’s Day, and I’ll cover the experiences and events of the first few days of the new month of December in the Dallas Texas area. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Texas Bound

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week’s post ended with me waiting at my gate at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (#SRQ) and listening to the music that they play (rather loudly) from The Blend (SiriusXM) all throughout the terminal.

My Thanksgiving Eve flight to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (#DFW) boarded a little bit late, and it took off into the air a few minutes late as well. It also arrived at #DFW a few minutes late. It flew a nearly straight-line flight across the northeastern Gulf and over Louisiana and Texas. The Airbus 321EOW was not quire full – with a few middle seats unoccupied (including the one next to mine). There was also plenty of room in the overhead bins. I had an aisle seat 5 rows from the back of the aircraft. The flight was mostly peaceful and quiet with a few mild bumps along the way at cruising altitude (as high as 38,000 feet).

Fun Fact: An Airbus 321EOW is one that can fly up to 400 miles from shore, as it meets specific FAA requirements to do so (such as sufficient life rafts). “EOW” = “Extended Over Water”.

I met my brother at the Baggage Carousel. We picked-up my baggage, and we left for Wylie Texas (about 40 miles away) – with a stop at Kroger close to his home.

On Thanksgiving Day we stayed in all day long, and we watched football from mid-morning – through the afternoon – and into the evening. Oh – and we ate a lot of food too – from early-morning – through the afternoon – and into the evening.

A Thanksgiving Morning tradition actually ended this year. We did not open all of the presents underneath the Christmas tree as we’ve done every year in the past since my nieces have been alive (going back to 2010). There were no presents underneath the Christmas tree. But there would be soon, and we’d open them in a couple of days.

Another Thanksgiving tradition also ended. I didn’t spend much of the day packing and preparing for my return flight or drive back to Florida, as I had just arrived. No packing necessary until the following Friday.

And yet another tradition ended on #BlackFriday. I did not fly back (or begin my drive back) home to Florida. Me and my brother began our week-long quest to eat at different restaurants, shop at many stores, see several movies, and visit various coffeehouses.

On #BlackFriday we saw the movie “Rental Family” (starring Brendan Fraser). And then we ate lunch at “Flying Fish” – a regional fast-casual seafood restaurant chain. And then we went to a busy Barnes & Noble. And then we went to Target including a pitstop at the Starbucks inside Target. So that covers the restaurant, store(s), movie, and coffeehouse for the day after Thanksgiving.

On #SmallBusinessSaturday we supported a small business early in the morning – a family-run breakfast and lunch place in Sachse Texas – Woodbridge Cafe. They opened in January 2018. It was our first visit. It won’t be our last. I enjoyed cinnamon swirl French Toast, two eggs over hard, two sausage patties, and coffee.

Next #TravelThursday – I attend a non-denominational church service with my brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces for the first time ever. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Commerce Driving Geography Holidays Home Music Radio Shopping Travel

Texas Bound

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. The week before Thanksgiving (last Thursday here in the U.S.A.) was quite unusual for me for the simple fact that I was home at the time. For as long as I can remember – at least going back almost 20 years – I’ve always been in Texas or Ohio (where my family lives or used to live) during the week leading-up to Thanksgiving. And then on the day after Thanksgiving – known as #BlackFriday – that’s the day that I usually flew back home (or began my journey driving back home).

I usually arrived in Texas or Ohio on the Wednesday or Thursday of the week prior to Thanksgiving. Some years I arrived even earlier than that. Just 4 years ago in 2021 I departed South Florida for North Texas on November 11TH (Veterans Day), and I arrived in North Texas 2 days later on November 13TH – staying there for 13 nights. (That was a fun 2,822-mile road-trip that was documented here on #TravelThursday.)

I don’t think I’ll be driving to Texas ever again. (My last such trip was in April 2024.) I’m terrified of driving on Interstates, Turnpikes, Expressways, and Freeways – basically any high-speed highway with off-ramps, on-ramps, and merging lanes. So I pretty much avoid them completely. It’s a condition known as “amaxophobia”. I have a mild case of it. It’s been gradually progressing over the past 30 years. I’m certainly not afraid of driving my car, and I do just fine on backroads and surface streets. I’m even comfortable (for the most part) on U.S. 27 in Sebring and Avon Park. #IYKYK

If I do decide to take perhaps one last road-trip to and from North Texas then it’ll be via old U.S. highways and state and county roads – much like my April 2024 road-trip.

Fun Fact: Thanksgiving Day occurs on the 4TH Thursday of November here in the U.S.A. It can occur as early as November 22ND – and as late as November 28TH. This year it was on November 27TH. #BlackFriday is the day after, and it’s the official start of the Christmas shopping season; although, many Americans like to get started well before that – even in September and October. Most major stores are happy to accommodate.

So earlier this year – me and my brother decided to continue our family’s #ThanksChristmasGiving tradition where we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas simultaneously. But my brother wanted to add a new wrinkle to it. Instead of me flying in 7 or 8 days before Thanksgiving Day – fly in the night before Thanksgiving Day – and then stay through the first week of December. I think my brother’s rationale was that we would have more time to have fun (shopping, eating, seeing movies, etc.) without his daughters / my nieces getting in the way, as they will be back to school during that first week of December.

Good idea, and so I purchased my round-trip airfare back on August 05TH. 113 days later – I was on my way from home to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (#SRQ).

Thanksgiving Eve traffic westward into the Sarasota-Bradenton area was reasonable – not any busier than past such trips into Florida Gulf Coast suburbia. In fact – the airport itself was noticeably less-busier than I’ve seen it before. But parking was packed like sardines. Long-Term Parking and all of the various overflow parking lots were full and closed. Incoming traffic (for parking) was diverted through and then off airport property, onto adjacent U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail), and then back onto the far-western edge of airport property to a temporary (occasional) parking lot near the control tower. (Most travelers had obviously flown out of #SRQ for Thanksgiving already.) The good news is that a reduced fare of $14 per day is charged at that temporary parking lot that’s only utilized when main parking lots are full and closed.

I wonder if my car will be the last one remaining in that lot when I return ?

A shuttle took us to the airport terminal about a mile away. I processed my baggage tag at a kiosk. I dropped-off my baggage at the counter. I made it through TSA PreCheck with no issues. I was at my gate almost 3 hours before departure time.

Incidentally – Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (#SRQ) is my favorite airport in Florida for so many reasons, and one of them is the music that they play (rather loudly) all throughout the terminal. They mostly play The Blend (SiriusXM). The music is so good that I don’t need to listen to the great music on my Spotify playlists with my AirPods.

I’ll board my flight to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (#DFW), and my Texas adventure will begin – on the next #TravelThursday. In fact – I’ll write about it for perhaps the next 10 weeks. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp