The 101ST weekly edition – and the kickoff of a brand new year of the weekly ‘Grab Bag’ begins … NOW ! Get ready for this !
1. I missed the entire ordeal as the news was breaking LIVE to a riveted International television audience last Thursday. That’s right. I was actually working – at my job – as the ‘balloon boy’ saga was playing out over the skies of Colorado. I found out about it after the fact later that afternoon. We eventually realized that it was an elabourate hoax orchestrated well in advance. Should the ‘balloon boy dad’ go to jail for his hijinks ? No. Should he perhaps be fined or be ordered by a Judge to reimburse the count(ies) and state for all expenses incurred ? Sure. The guy made some bad decisions, and he lied to the authorities. But he doesn’t belong in jail. He also doesn’t deserve to lose his kids over the matter.
2. My Washington Redskins are NOT a very good team this year. You can blame it on the special teams – the defense – the offense – the quarterback – the coaching staff – the front office – George W. Bush – El Niño – whatever. The blame game is not going to make them any better than they are now. The bottom line is that they have a lot of talent on that team, but they are simply not scoring points and winning games. The best teams in the NFL eventually became the worst teams – and vice versa. Are you a fan of your favourite sports team(s) only when they win, or are you a fan through the thick and the thin – through the blood, the sweat, and the tears ?
3. Exactly one month from today I embark on the longest continuous road trip of my lifetime. On the 20TH of November of 2009 I’ll be driving approximately 825 miles from Homestead Florida to Gulfport Mississippi over the course of 14 hours. The next day I’ll be driving the remaining 590 miles to north of Dallas Texas as I begin a week-long holiday stay with my Mom, Dad, their cat, Brother, Sister-In-Law, Nephew-To-Be, and their dog.
4. We climbed back up to the 80s this morning at around 11:30 AM – exactly as I forecasted last Saturday night when we last dropped out of the 80s at the start of our recent cold snap. Officially at the air base we dropped down to 59°F on Sunday morning, 56°F on Monday morning, and 63°F this morning. (Minimum temperatures were several degrees cooler in some of the farming areas around town.) I don’t expect another cold front over the next 7 to 10 days, so get used to a lot of sunshine, warmth, and higher humidity – perhaps even some more record high temperatures.
5. This will be our last full weekend of Daylight Saving Time. On the following Sunday morning – the first of November – at 2 AM local time we fall back to Standard Time, and I am so truly looking forward to being back on ‘real’ time. I’ll have the daylight when I want it – at 6:30 AM rather than 6:30 PM. BRING IT ON !
CountUp 