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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.

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Career History Home Music

Saturday Night Retro

This weekend marks my 15TH anniversary back in Homestead following my original nearly 5-year residence from December 01ST 1987 through the destruction caused by Hurricane Andrew on August 24TH 1992. I was away from Homestead for nearly 19 months, and I never really thought that I would see it again – until just a few months before I actually moved back down here.

Homestead Air Force Base officially reopened as Homestead Air Reserve Station (now Base) on this exact weekend in March of 1994 as our Squadron of F-16 jets came roaring back to life across the subtropical blue skies of America’s Riviera.

It was “The Sign” that Homestead was starting to get back to normal again.

I present to you for your ‘Saturday Night Retro’ review – this U.S. platinum pop smash that spent 10 months on the pop charts in 1994. It was the runaway # 1 smash in the entire free nation as our jets returned back home again on that glorious 3RD weekend in March of 1994.

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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’.

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Blogging Holidays Music

Saturday Night Retro

I always look forward to doing this every Saturday night. The fact of the matter is that I’m constantly searching for old videos (music or otherwise) from You Tube to inspire me with new ideas for the ‘Retro’. For those (few) of you who have followed me on the web since the mid-1990s and the heyday of my once popular former web site you probably realize that the ‘Saturday Night Retro’ is essentially a modern-day version of ‘The Major’s MASSIVE Memories’.

I had intended to do a completely different ‘Retro’ tonight, but then my impromptu visit to Monkey Jungle earlier today inspired me to “Jump Around” instead:

It’s a U.S. platinum smash from the latter half of 1992 from American / Irish band House Of Pain in honour of St. Patrick’s Day coming up this Tuesday March 17TH. Incidentally on Tuesday night I’ve got a really cool special edition of the ‘Retro’ lined-up – St. Patrick’s Day style. I’ve got two classic Irish bands performing together as one a very traditional Irish song. It’ll make you want to dance a crazy jig right there in your living room mate.

Until then – May the good luck of the Irish be yours !