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Annoyances Blogging Commerce Driving Health People Politics Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1.  This was originally going to be a quick tweet from me, but then I decided to upgrade it to a full-blown ‘Grab Bag O’ Thought’. This happened on the way home from work this afternoon on Speedway Boulevard (Miami-Dade County’s SW 137TH Avenue in Homestead). One slow-moving vehicle (in this case a ‘soccer-mom minivan’) can disrupt the normal flow of traffic on a single stretch of roadway for miles affecting dozens of motorists. I generally drive on the slow side. Typically out of every 10 vehicles on the road today 8 will pass me at any given time, and I will pass 2 of them. When I make note of a slow-moving vehicle then it must really be a slow-moving vehicle. These drivers are generally oblivious to the rush hour world around them. Just because you’re driving real slow does not necessarily mean that you’re driving real safe. It usually means that you’re being distracted while driving. Oh yeah – get out of the left lane !

2.  Speaking of my car by chance this past Saturday morning I checked out that brand new car wash that recently opened up on Useless-One caddy-corner to The Big Cheese. I was their only customer at the time, and I got my car washed on the outside and cleaned and dressed on the inside. They took their time and did it right. My 6½-year-old car looks nearly sparkling new now on the inside. The ultimate results far exceeded my overall expectations. I plan to be a regular customer of them in the future. After I return home from my upcoming road trip I’ll be going back there for a wash and wax !

3.  It’s Election Day here in Homestead, and I’m so glad that I’ve already voted via absentee ballot. I do it that way in lieu of being insulted at the voting precinct (inside and outside). It’s just so much more civil voting in the privacy of my own living room. On this day we’ve got the incumbant Mayor who’s a loose cannon, says what’s on her mind, and publicly degrades people along the way who she doesn’t agree with. Running against her for the job is a guy with a lot of experience in Homestead politics who’s (allegedly) got a short temper and gets into street fights with citizens (allegedly). I hesitantly voted for one of these candidates – not really for the person but really more as a vote against the other person.

4.  Last Tuesday night in the ‘Grab Bag’ I mentioned the fact that I picked up several of 8 colds in 12 months from November 2007 to November 2008 at Starbucks. Once I stopped going there I stopped getting colds. This past weekend I went back there to pick up a package of VIA Ready Brew (instant coffee). I did so because it’s the most delicious instant coffee that I’ve ever tasted in my entire life. Fast forward to this afternoon, and I believe that I now have my first genuine cold in about a year. In defense of Starbucks though I don’t believe that I picked up this cold from there. I think I got the nasty germs earlier today from either Publix or our base gymnasium. I’ll be able to confirm the mere existence of this cold as soon as later tonight or tomorrow morning – especially if it gets worse.

5.  Get ready for more seasonal (normal) temperatures around these parts of the free nation starting on Thursday and continuing through the weekend. Expect mid-afternoon high temperatures right around the 80°F mark and early-morning low temperatures deep down into the lower-60s with wind chills into the upper-50s. The humidity will be low, and the winds will be brisk and cool. Later in November I’m forecasting a major continental shift in the weather pattern (induced by El Niño) that will surge much colder air deep into Florida.

Be sure to check out my ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ in a mere 48 hours or less, and until then stay up-to-date with what I’m thinking and doing via my Twitter account.

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History Holidays News People Politics Radio

Saturday Night Retro

Exactly 47 years ago on Halloween of 1962 the U.S. was engulfed in the Cuban Missile Crisis with the U.S.S.R. Luckily it was drawing to a close as the Soviets began dismantling and removing their missiles in Cuba as a result of a deal struck just a few days earlier by President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev.

Meanwhile on the radio Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers had the hottest smash on the airwaves, as their “Monster Mash” was riding high atop the Billboard Hot 100. Every year since then it’s been an annual tradition on the radio to signal the arrival of Halloween.

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History Music Politics Weather

The Major’s Friday Night Disco Party

It hardly ever snows in Miami, but one time it did – and it made International news headlines. It was the notorious Winter of 1977 – statistically one of the coldest, windiest, snowiest, and most brutal winter seasons in modern recorded history east of the Mississippi River. Below freezing temperatures invaded virtually the entire great state of Florida, and snow dusted the ground deep into South Florida. Flurries were swirling in the air as far south as Miami, Miami Beach, and even Homestead on the morning of the 19TH of January of 1977. Snow mixed with freezing rain was even observed in The Bahamas on that historic morning !

The next day Jimmy Carter was inaugurated as our 39TH President Of The United States on a cold and sunny day in Washington D.C.

High atop the Billboard Hot 100 during both of these momentous events was this gem from British singer-songwriter Leo Sayer. It’s the biggest smash of his still-going 36-year music career, and it’s a Grammy Award winner. Here’s his gold-certified # 1 Disco smash – “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”.

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Annoyances Blogging Computers Food God History Holidays Music People Philosophy Politics

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s get spontaneous.
– Let’s get radical.
– It’s another night of ‘thoughts’ here on the big blue blog.
– On Sunday it’s my thoughts from Life Pointe Church.
– On Tuesday it’s the thoughts that started it all – in paragraph form.
– On Thursday it’s my ‘Mini Thoughts’ – in 15 words or less.
– So that’s where we are.
– My telephone has been ringing off the hook lately.
– All of the calls (dozens so far) have been from people and numbers unknown.
– The joke is on them, as I never ever answer the telephone from unknowns.
– Most of the calls are City Of Homestead election-related.
– I already absentee voted – so there !
– There’s not enough love in this world.
– Some people just don’t know how to treat other people with respect.
– Why are a lot of those people on television ?
– I am a Creationist, and I always have been.
– In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
– It doesn’t get any more straightforward and real than that.
Windows 7 is out today at retail.
– It is to Windows Vista as Windows 98 was to Windows 95.
– Windows 98 was the greatest operating system ever made.
– It fixed everything that was wrong with Windows 95.
– Windows XP was the 2ND greatest operating system ever made.
– It more than made up for the whole Windows ME / Windows 2000 debacle.
– We still use Windows XP today at work.
– Just as soon as these ‘Mini Thoughts’ are posted I plan to eat a rare Dinner.
– There’s a Marie Callender meal in my not-too-distant future.
– My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
– Don’t forget that tomorrow night is Disco night on here.
– I’ve got a special double-feature planned.
– It includes one of the funkiest Disco songs ever made – complete with afros !
– Then on ‘Saturday Night Retro’ Halloween starts a week early.
– I’m taking you back to that house on the hill.
– Be sure to be here to have some fun.
– You won’t regret it pal !
– Laterz Gatorz !