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Blogging Computers Driving Internet People Television Travel

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

I.  April 20TH 2004 – April 19TH 2010 – If you follow me on Twitter then you probably already know by now that I made a somewhat radical (some would even state shocking) upgrade to my technological life. I replaced my often ridiculed 6-year-old antique cell phone with a brand new modern one. Here’s the most fascinating aspect of it all. I unknowingly did this almost exactly 6 years to the date that I bought that antique cell phone. My T-Mobile service agreement that was given to me upon leaving the store yesterday afternoon showed my original 1-year contract period (from my original phone) for the 20TH of April in 2004 through the 19TH of April in 2005. I thought that it was a misprint until I came home and looked at my old credit card statement from April of 2004 that shows me buying that antique cell phone exactly 6 years ago today. So there’s something quite special about the 20TH of April that makes me want to go out and buy a brand new cell phone. Here’s hoping that I buy my next modern new cell phone before the 20TH of April in 2016 !

II.  Hablo Inglés, ¿ Como ? – I found this rather fascinating. It was a question on a recent episode of “Are You Smarter Than A 5TH Grader ?” It’s the most spoken languages in the world by number of native speakers. Arabic is in 5TH place – followed by Hindi in 4TH place. The TOP 3 are fairly obvious with Chinese at # 1 (one billion people who understand each other) – and Spanish and English virtually tied for 2ND place. But there are evidentally a tad more Spanish speakers than English speakers, so Spanish is at # 2 and English is the 3RD most spoken language here on the Planet Earth. I wonder if there are more English-speaking people that can speak Spanish as a second language, or if there are more Spanish-speaking people that can speak English as a second language. I’m guessing that those two numbers are fairly similar as well.

III.  Road Trip ! – My self-imposed ‘Vacation Of The Month Club’ kicks into high gear this upcoming weekend. I’ll be visiting a large chunk of southeastern Florida that I’ve never seen before during my 22 years of living here in Homestead. It’ll be roughly a 400-mile road trip as far west as the eastern shore of Lake Okeechobee – and as far north as Fort Pierce Beach along scenic Florida State Road A1A. This week is a rare two-blog-post week. I’ll have your ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ in just about 48 hours from now, and then I’ll have no new blog posts until next week’s ‘Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’. Be sure to follow me on Twitter. Now that I’ve got a 5 megapixel camera with my brand new cell phone I can take some cool pictures of my adventures on the road and then upload them instantly to Twitter and this blog. I’ll try not to get too carried away with the taking of pictures on my new toy.

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Blogging Career Computers Driving God History Internet Money Nature People Shopping Travel

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s roll.
– I got off work like 90 minutes earlier than normal this afternoon.
– I’m actually away from the office all this week in a network security class.
– I knew next to nothing about this material when we started on Mon. AM.
– Now I think that I can pass the big test first thing tomorrow morning.
– That was the goal of this training – to pass the big test.
– It’s material that has next to nothing to do with my daily job.
– Next week I go back to the wonderful world of MONEY !
– That’s my real job is all about – the ‘dolla-dolla’.
– Like – you know – like – you know – like – you know – like – you know – like …
– That was my impersonation of a 16-year-old kid talking.
– It’s gonna be a nice and peaceful and relaxing weekend starting tomorrow.
– I’m hosting the 9 AM service again this Sunday morning at Life Pointe Church.
– That means Scripture study on Fri. and compilation and rehearsal on Sat.
– Next weekend I’m embarking on a nice little road trip not too far north.
– The furthest north I’ll drive is the A1A on Fort Pierce Beach.
– I’ll be visiting a large chunk of Florida that I’ve never seen before.
– I’ll also be checking out Lake Okeechobee for the first time ever.
– Less than 3 weeks after that I’ll be flying to Dallas Texas to visit my family.
– My niece is due to enter this world sometime in the next 15 days !
– I want to be known as the ‘lovable’ uncle – not the ‘scary’ uncle.
– Happy Birthday to my lovable sister-in-law who turns 29 this Saturday !
My little baby brother turns 35 in a little over 2 weeks.
– I’m just about 50 days away from turning 43 (an odd age).
– People that don’t know my age usually think that I’m in my 20s or 30s.
– Of course there are the anomalies.
– Like that lady that thought I was a teenager over in Estero last month.
– Flattery will get you nowhere you cougar !
– Hear Me Now !  I am serious about buying a modern new cell phone !
– I actually watch intently all of the cell phone commercials on TV now.
– My bud Jonathon told me to donate my current cell phone to the Smithsonian.
– I have a Seiko watch that they may also be interested in.
– I like to rock it ‘old school’, but there’s a certain point where it’s just time.
– It’s just time to say ‘good-bye’ to a longtime friend.
– So long 2003-era cell phone that everyone makes fun of.
– Speaking of rockin’ it ‘old school’ I’m rockin’ 1988 on ‘Retro’ this Saturday.
– And don’t forget ‘My Fantastic Journey’ on its new day – Sunday !
– Until then my friends – keep on doin’ your thang.
– Be safe.
– Love all.

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Animals Blogging Driving Food God History Home Internet Music Travel

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s get spontaneous.
– Let’s not hold nothin’ back.
– Can we talk here ?
– Be reasonable – do it my way.
– Be radical – do it Jesus’s way.
– For the 2ND Thursday in a row I ate Lunch at the Longhorn Steakhouse.
– It’s my newest (and coolest) weekly tradition.
– It’s my secret hideaway for one hour away from coworkers.
– When I walk in the joint some of the hosts and wait staff welcome me back.
– They identify me as a regular attender.
– I dig that notion !
– My favourite Tweeter is Jesse Santoyo, so you should follow him.
– Come to think of it he’s my favourite blogger too.
– At least someone out there is still kickin’ it old school.
– I’m gearing up for my short weekend trip over to the Naples FL area.
– I’ll be driving over there tomorrow (Friday) afternoon after work.
– I’ll be rocking my face off tomorrow night at the Germain Arena.
Toby Mac, Skillet, and House Of Heroes are going to raise the roof !
– I used to go to rock concerts on a fairly regular basis before I was saved.
– It’s been a long time since my last one in a major arena (non-church setting).
– In fact it’s been over 3 years – since a Huey Lewis And The News show.
– On Saturday morning I have a few pit stops to make over in Naples.
– I’ve got to visit my animal buds over at Naples Zoo.
– I’ve also got to check out the Collier County Museum.
– I’ll also be glancing over at various neighbourhoods as I drive by them.
– I just have this feeling that I’m a future resident of the Naples area.
– I may even catch Lunch on Saturday at Sonic.
– That’s the closest Sonic to my home – 110 miles away !
– Rumours suggest that we may get our very own Sonic here in Homestead.
– Longtimers may remember when we used to have two Sonics on U.S. 1.
– One was in the Naranja area near SW 264TH Street.
– The other one was in Homestead south of SW 320TH Street.
– That was before Hurricane Andrew destroyed everything in its path.
– I’ll be at Life Pointe Church bright and early on Sunday morning.
– I’ve got to be there, as I’m hosting the 9 AM service.
– Grab your crew and check out that first service.
– That would help to free up seats for the second service.
– This Saturday night here on the blog it’s an all-new ‘Retro’.
– I’ll be flashing back 9 years ago to 2001.
– There is no ‘Disco Party’ tomorrow night, and no new blog post.
– Until I blog again on Saturday night my friends take care of yourselves.
– Spread Love – it’s contagious !

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Animals Blogging Computers History Internet Life Money Music News People Politics Sports Television Travel

Saturday Night Retro

In 1997 Bill Clinton began his 2ND 4-year term as President Of The United States, the Green Bay Packers beat the New England Patriots 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans, the Dow Jones Industrials rose above 7,000 and 8,000 for the first time, Tony Blair became the new Prime Minister of The United Kingdom, Hong Kong transferred over from British to Chinese rule, Diana – Princess Of Wales – died, Mother Theresa died, The Florida Marlins won The World Series, and everyone was discovering the World Wide Web on their fast new Pentium II / 266 MHz desktop computer systems running Windows 95.

I turned 30-years-old in 1997, and I mostly hung out at home with my little buddy Boots of the feline species. My Mom, Dad, and Brother lived up near the Intracoastal Waterway on the far-east side of Jacksonville Florida with our aging childhood cats Fluffy and Barney. On selected weekends throughout the year my 22-year-old brother and I would meet halfway in the state – Orlando – for a few days and nights of fun at the amusement parks, nightclubs, and shopping and restaurant meccas. One of the great techno songs that we used to dance to on the nightly countdown to Midnight celebration at Downtown Disney Pleasure Island was this rockin’ jam of the time:

This concludes another fun week of blogging for me from Tuesday night through Saturday night. 6 blog posts. 5 days. All good. I’ll do it all over again next week from Tuesday night through Friday night before I take a 10-day hiatus from the blog. In fact next week’s ‘Saturday Night Retro’ will occur on Friday night, and it’ll be a song straight out of 1985. Have a great weekend my friends, and I’ll catch ya back here on Tuesday night for my ‘Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’.