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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’.

Categories
Humor Money Politics

Sunday Night Funnies

Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House. One is from Chicago, another is from Tennessee, and the third is from Minnesota.

All three go with a White House official to examine the fence.

The Minnesota contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. “Well,” he says, “I figure the job will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100 profit for me.”

The Tennessee contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, “I can do this job for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100 profit for me.”

The Chicago contractor doesn’t measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, “$2,700.”

The official, incredulous, says, “You didn’t even measure like the other guys!  How did you come up with such a high figure?”

The Chicago contractor whispers back, “$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we hire the guy #2 from Tennessee to fix the fence.”

“Done!” replies the government official.

And that, my friends, is how the new stimulus plan will work.

Categories
History Music Politics

Saturday Night Retro

Exactly 18 years ago this weekend I returned home from the Saudi Arabian sands in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Here’s a timeline:

Sat. Mar. 09 1991 0326L – Departed Al Kharj AB Saudi Arabia.
Sat. Mar. 09 1991 0833L – Arrived Torrejon AB Spain.
Sat. Mar. 09 1991 1357L – Departed Torrejon AB Spain.
Sat. Mar. 09 1991 1656L – Arrived Dover AFB Delaware.
(Spent the night at a hotel in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.)

Sun. Mar. 10 1991 0756L – Departed Philadelphia Pennsylvania.
Sun. Mar. 10 1991 1001L – Arrived Miami Florida.

3 days later I drove nearly 1,100 miles from Homestead AFB to Northern Virginia to spend the rest of the month of March 1991 with my family. (The USAF gave us returning veterans that free time off following the war to spend with our families.)

And now for your ‘Saturday Night Retro’ review I present to you “Voices That Care”. Spot the stars from 1991. They cared for us back then. Unfortunately it’s a different world today.

Categories
Home Politics Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1.  Happy Square Root Day !  3 X 3 = 9 – and that’s today’s date – 03-03-09. This numerical phenomenon last occurred on Groundhog Day in 2004 (02-02-04). It next occurs on the 04TH of April in 2016 (04-04-16), and then after that on Cinco De Mayo in 2025 (05-05-25). Numbers are my favourite toys !

2.  How many times did we hear on TV and Radio yesterday that ‘March came in like a lion’ with the late-season blizzard and Arctic-like temperatures all across the Gulf Coast and up and down the Atlantic seaboard ?  This has been an unusual Winter season all across North America. Here at America’s Riviera it’s been one of the coldest seasons in modern recorded history, and perhaps one of the dryest ever recorded. Does anyone remember what rain looks like ?

3.  Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) was widely panned by both Democrats (obviously) and Republicans (surprisingly) for looking unprepared, amateurish, and naive during the Republican response to President Obama‘s address to Congress and the Nation last Tuesday night. I just watched his response for the first time a couple of days ago, and I didn’t see anything wrong with it at all. If he were a Democrat then the media would have called him a refreshing breath of fresh air. The Democrats did what they do best – mock and ridicule anyone that doesn’t think exactly as they do. It’s politics as usual for the left-wing.

4.  My Mom and Dad and their Cat now live precisely 4.6 miles away (by road) from my Brother and his Wife and their Dog. My parents have moved to Fairview Texas, and my brother and his wife call neighbouring Allen Texas their home. That’s 1,416 to 1,420 miles away from my home here in Homestead Florida. This has been my home sweet home for the past (going on) 22 years, and I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. This is where I belong !

5.  We return to Daylight Saving Time this Sunday morning at 2 AM local time. At that precise time it will suddenly become 3 AM local time, and we will instantly lose an hour of sleep. Get ready for darker mornings and brighter evenings. Enjoy Daylight Saving Time for the next 34 weeks !