Category: Shopping

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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

The Tuesday night tradition CONTINUES:

1.  Since the rainy season began with a vengeance not quite 4 weeks ago the Homestead / Florida City area (including the northern communities up to Cutler Bay) have received between 16 and 18 inches of rain. My forecast from a few months ago (during the severe dry season) of a much wetter than normal rainy season is right on track. I may not know how to fix things, but I can give you a reasonably accurate weather forecast.

2.  We’re actually at the start of a short dry spell. Thunderstorms should be less numerous over the next several days through this weekend. Any isolated storms that do develop should be quick and benign. Expect lots of bright sunshine during the days with highs approaching the low-90s.

3.  I visited The Falls (Shopping Center) on 3 out of 5 days from last Thursday through this Monday. My economic impact to the mall exceeded $550 combined during those 3 days. Talk about a 2009 Economic Stimulus Package !  Nowadays I typically visit The Falls perhaps 3 to 5 times per YEAR. I feel like I’m reliving my childhood whenever I visit The Falls because it’s the first place I really ever hung out at on a regular basis when I first moved here back in the late-1980s. One thing is for sure. I like how they’ve remodeled the longtime United Artists / Regal Cinemas there. That old movie theatre is in much better shape than another one I know. I’ll have to see more movies there in the future.

4.  TODAY I ate Lunch at Beef O’ Brady’s. I did NOT have the Reuben sandwich there although they do make a good one. I enjoyed the Watterson instead. It’s basically hot roast beef piled high with melted swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayo in-between two crispy slices of grilled rye bread dude !  I always enjoy great food and great service at the Beef’s. My only ‘Beef’ with the joint is its obscure location in relation to my home and workplace.

5.  In just 8 days I embark on yet another short trip to the northeastern suburbs of Dallas Texas to visit my brother, his wife, their dog, our Mom, our Dad, and their cat. I’ll be there for Father’s Day Weekend. Don’t worry – the blogging will continue every single day with all of the regular weekly series on their normal days.

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Food Health History Life Movies Shopping

My 42ND Birthday

So TODAY I am officially 42-years-old even though I’ve been stating my age as 42 since pretty much the latter portion of 2008. Tomorrow I technically begin my 43RD year, but I won’t be ready to tell people that I’m 43 until perhaps Thanksgiving or Christmas. 42 just seems like a nice cool even number age. It’s the year that Elvis Presley died.

THANK YOU to all of my good friends (and my cool little brother) who sent me cell phone text message greetings, blog comment greetings, and E-Mail greetings today. Every year I try hard to keep my birthday a secret, yet word somehow seems to get out to the world. It never fails.

I spent about 5 hours at The Falls today (in addition to the 3 hours that I was there last night). I had my annual eye exam. While my pupils were COLOSSAL I ate an ENORMOUS Lunch at T-G-I-Fridays, and then I saw “Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian” at the Regal Cinemas there.

Here’s an interesting tidbit of useless trivia. I saw the original “Night At The Museum” movie on New Year’s Eve in 2006. It was the last movie that I saw at the Flagship Cinemas in Homestead before I attended Life Pointe Church for the very first time at that movie theatre exactly 3 Sundays later.

As far as my eye exam was concerned my longtime nearsightedness continues to slowly improve with age (that’s apparently normal), but my relatively new farsightedness (reading vision) continues to slowly worsen. I had to get all-new glasses to reflect the change in my vision. It’s a sign of old age maturity.  😯

It’s hard to believe that 24 years ago tomorrow – the 06TH of June – I graduated from high school. I thought that I would never make it. TOMORROW on the ‘Retro’ I’ll share a picture of me dressed up in my high school graduation cap and gown.

But until then check this out from 42 years ago tonight:

Chris At Birth - Selma Alabama - June 05TH 1967
Chris At Birth – Selma Alabama – June 05TH 1967

Birth ID  

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Commerce Food Health Life People Politics Shopping

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– My extended 87-hour 42ND birthday celebration weekend has commenced.
– This is Hour # 2.
– I have a date with Glenn Beck tonight.
– I have a feeling that I will agree with most of what he has to say.
– He reminds me of a young Rush Limbaugh.
– Rush Rules !
– Tomorrow morning I continue a birthday week tradition.
– That’s right kids – I’m getting my annual eye exam done.
– That means that I’ll be blind for HOURS tomorrow.
– My pupils will be dillated no doubt.
– I’ll look like a stoner.
– Guess I’ll just have to hang out at T-G-I-Fridays while that’s goin’ on.
– My eye doctor is at The Falls.
– I thought that I needed to clarify that.
– I wish that we had a T-G-I-Fridays aqui en Homestead.
– The joint would be jumpin’.
– You should have seen the line in front of the new Olive Garden yesterday.
– It extended out from the front door and wrapped around the parking lot.
– There were HUNDREDS in line looking for a job.
– A little over a hundred will be hired.
– I can’t wait for Olive Garden to open up.
– That way I can finally eat at the LongHorn SteakHouse !
– It’s really cool to see places here in Homestead totally PACKED !
– The sudden death of Homestead was greatly exaggerated.
– Don’t mess with my hometown.
– I’ll defend it.
– I have nearly 22 out of my 42 years invested in this place.
– That’s a half a lifetime !
– Well that’s about all for now.
– Those are my Mini Thoughts for this Thursday night.
– I sincerely thank you for spending a few minutes with me reading these.
– Go forth and live your Life to its fullest.
– You won’t regret it pal.

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The Major’s Walk-A-Thon: Special On-Location Edition – Everglades National Park

– My ‘2009 Economic Stimulus Tour’ continues.
– For the 2ND Saturday morning in a row I went to Everglades National Park.
– But this time I went to the north part at Shark Valley off Tamiami Trail.
– Me and a buddy got there shortly after 11 AM.
– We took the 2-hour / 15-mile tram tour starting at 12 noon.
– Our tour guide was a crazy lady who was a child of the 1960s.
– She took us on a tour of her ‘office’ – The Everglades.
– She was good, as she definitely knew her stuff.
– She clearly demonstrated that she has an intense adoration for the ‘Glades.
– She was totally passionate about her ‘coworkers’ – the wildlife.
– She introduced us to all of her alligator friends.
– The gators were just chillin’ in the shallow water tryin’ to get some sun.
– Some showed off their teeth as if they were smiling.
– The gators are just like you and me !
– We saw a whole bunch of baby gators.
– It’s breeding season dude !
– If the gator is less than a foot long then it’s less than a year old.
– If the gator is between 5 and 6 feet long then it’s an adult.
– Most gators stop growing in length after that and start getting plumper.
– The gators are just like you and me !
– If you see a gator that’s 8 or 10 feet long then it’s well fed !
– Female gators never lose the ability to give birth to baby gators.
– In addition to the 15-mile tram tour we also did a whole lot of walking.
– I’m talkin’ several miles of walkin’ in the hot and dry Everglades.
– We hit up this tower:

shark-valley-tower

– The 18-mile panoramic view up top was really cool.
– That tower is about 27 miles due west of The Falls Shopping Center.
– I thought that I saw Macy’s from afar.
– The sound of the Everglades – incomparable to anything else in Miami-Dade.
– The smell of the Everglades – it’s pure nature – as natural as can be.
– Man has already destroyed much of what used to be the Everglades.
– But the Everglades is tough – so tough that several million acres still exist.
– I will respect the Everglades.
– I will also visit again sometime real soon.