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Food God People Television Travel

Saturday Morning Shenanigans

Here are a few thoughts from my Saturday morning:

1.  I walked in to Miami Internacional Aeropuerto at exactly 6:45 AM, and by 7:15 AM I had successfully self-checked-in with my airline, picked up my tag for my suitcase, and dropped off my suitcase with the screening section. By 7:30 AM I had successfully gone through security. It took a little over 45 minutes to get from the outside of the terminal to the actual gate. That’s not too bad. Anytime I can get from outside to the gate in less than an hour is a good time.

2.  Your typical big city airport may be crowded, but it can also be one of the loneliest places in the world. It’s never about the sheer number of people. It’s always about the quality of the interaction of the people. Call it fellowship. If there’s a lack of fellowship then it’s not fully alive.

3.  There were large organized groups of missionaries at the airport. Most of them came from or were headed to various Caribbean nations (such as Haiti) to assist in the relief efforts there. I know this because they all had colourful tee-shirts on stating that they were missionairies. Some of the tee-shirts had a map of Haiti on them. Some of them had a verse from Matthew on them.

4.  I usually can’t sleep at all no matter how hard I try to up in the air, but this morning I managed to somehow catch a few catnaps at 38,000 feet. I also listened to the hits on my iPod Shuffle and watched a couple of funny CBS sitcoms on the overhead monitors – “The Big Bang Theory” and “The New Adventures Of Old Christine“.

5.  Fuddruckers – It’s What Was For Lunch !  Need I say more my friends ? 

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Annoyances Blogging Driving Food Humor Internet Money Music News People Television Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

It’s the most anticipated blog entry of the week. This is how we roll on a Tuesday night in Homestead Florida !

1.  George Carlin died over the weekend at the age of 71. While I didn’t agree with virtually all of his political viewpoints (as he identified them in public) he was still one of the greatest and funniest comedians in American history as far as I’m concerned. I will miss his LIVE HBO specials every few years.

2.  I ate Chinese Food for Lunch today. I picked it up from Shanghai & Tokyo in Homestead’s Waterstone Plaza. I’m a semi-regular there. They usually give me two fortune cookies to go along with my ‘Lunch Special’. Later tonight I’ll have your special ‘double feature’ edition of ‘The Fortune Cookie Message Of The Week Club’. Don’t miss it !

3.  Earlier today I went to annualcreditreport.com and I printed out three full and complete credit reports for me from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. annualcreditreport.com is the only site that is legally able to give you free copies of your credit report from all three of those credit bureau sites. I did all of this in less than 45 minutes this morning, and I got over 30 pages of important credit information spanning virtually my entire adult life.

4.  I thrive in a hot and humid environment (such as Homestead). I could not live happily ever after in a cold and dry environment – or a hot and dry environment for that matter. It’s hotter in San Antonio (where I’ll be next week) than it is here in Homestead, but it’s less humid over there than it is over here. I’d rather have the extra humidity rather than the higher temperatures.

5.  I’ve become a semi-regular of the new Starbucks in Homestead. The people that work there are now starting to recognize me and my car. So far I have received consistent great service from them – inside as well as via their drive-thru. Let’s hope that it stays that way.

6.  The following 5 things kept me preoccupied for 7 hours yesterday at my Saturn dealership in Cutler Bay:
a.  My iPod Shuffle
b.  The latest edition of ‘Entertainment Weekly‘ (magazine)
c.  The Miami Herald (newspaper)
d.  TV Guide Crosswords & Sudokus
e.  Life Pointe Church follow-up spreadsheet (printed out)

7.  Some people have a chronic addiction to their cell phone. They just can’t stop calling people all over the free nation and sharing their private lives in public via their loud cell phone conversations. No wonder identity theft exists. Remember the good old days when telephone conversations were done in private inside the home ?

8.  Homestead Trivia – How many miles apart are Speedway Boulevard (SW 137TH Avenue) and Krome Avenue (SW 177TH Avenue) ?  The answer – exactly 4.0 miles. In Miami-Dade County each numbered avenue is exactly 0.1 miles apart to the grid. 40 avenues apart = 4.0 miles. It’s that simple my friends !

9.  Me, My Brother, His Wife, & Fuddruckers – That’s the plan for Lunch as soon as I touch down in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex this Saturday. After that we will all go and play a round of minature golf. I totally dig that plan !

10.  Next week your ‘Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’ will come to you LIVE from the River Walk in San Antonio. I’m also planning at least a couple of special editions of ‘The Major’s Walk-A-Thon’. You’re not gonna wanna miss it my friends.

Categories
God People Politics Television

Life Pointe Church Sunday Morning Tossed Salad

1.  David Corrado and Richie Nieves arrived at the movie theatre long before anyone else did this morning. They were there long before Pastor Travis, Pastor Paul, Anne J., and myself were there. They wanted to get a head start in transforming a public place of Hollywood movie magic into a public place of praise and worship for God. David and Richie are so assimilated into our living and breathing body that is our Life Pointe Church family. That’s what it’s all about.

2.  There is no ‘summer slump’ in-progress at Life Pointe Church. I think that Flagship Cinemas Corporate Headquarters (up near Boston Mass.) would have been totally ecstatic to have a crowd show up at any one of their movies during the week that showed up for our 9 AM service. It was ‘bumping in to other people room only’ all throughout the main lobby just before the 9 AM service, and then again just before the 10:30 AM service. It was surely our busiest Sunday morning since Easter Sunday morning in March !

3.  Pastor Travis spoke on ‘The Funk Of Suffering’ as part of our summer-long ‘Got Funk ?’ message series. Suffering exists because sin exists. God sees and hears all of the suffering in His world that He created. He is compassionate about it all. He endures it all. He never avoids it. Everyone suffers, but will you suffer in a way that God can do something through you ?  Will your suffering compel you to love Jesus more ?  Will your suffering reprioritize you toward the mission of Jesus ?

Next Sunday morning Pastor Paul will speak on ‘The Funk In Death’. Tim Russert’s death has hit me rather hard. I was a big fan of him. He was an important part of my extended Irish family. I got very interested and knowledgeable in politics and the world around me because of him. I’ve been a 16-year fan of “Meet The Press” on Sunday mornings because of him. I never met him in person, but if I had a TOP 5 list of Americans I’d most want to meet and have dinner with he would have definitely been on that list. He’s up in Heaven now. God needed his Moderator and Managing Editor up there, and He got him. He’s probably staying up late and doing his extended research right now so that he can finally discuss the important issues of the century with Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. up there around the big table after all of these years. It’ll be the most intelligent and topical hour of LIVE television that the angels have ever seen. Rest In Peace Tim. Because if it’s Sunday – it is “Meet The Press” – but it will never be the same without you. This is BIG – Heaven’s got you now !

Categories
Blogging Food Music Television

Bedtime Stories

Greetings my friends. It’s the Friday night edition of the ‘Bedtime Stories’ – right here – right now.

I’m currently watching the 81ST Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee LIVE from Washington D.C. on ABC-TV. I totally dig this event. Most people I know use a spell-checker. I am a spell-checker !  Yeah I said it. 

I’ll probably go to sleep tonight at around 11 PM. Friday nights are generally the only night of the week where I feel comfortable enough to stay up just a little bit later than the other 6 nights of the week. It’s because I can pretty much wake up whenever I feel like it on Saturday mornings. I can’t do that on any other morning during a typical week.

I may be taking my ‘Great American Saturday Morning MASSIVE Breakfast Tour’ to The Atlanta Bread Company for the first time ever tomorrow morning. 7 weeks ago I tried this, and I failed miserably because I got there at 7:30 AM. I thought I got there a full hour after they opened for business. As it turns out I actually got there 30 minutes before they opened at 8 AM. I may give them another shot of my business tomorrow morning. I want a Ham & Swiss Omelette !  😛

Be sure to catch the ‘Saturday Morning Shenanigans’ tomorrow morning as I blog all about my MASSIVE breakfast. The unimpressive story on why I stopped making coffee in 1989 will not be blogged about tomorrow morning. It is so unremarkable that it may simply be a mere statement on a future edition of the ‘Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’.

Have a safe, peaceful, and relaxing evening with your loved ones everyone, and until I catch you on the flip side remember this: