Category: Travel

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Holidays Music Travel Weather

The Major’s Friday Night Disco Party

When you think of Christmas you may think of a cold wind and a fresh snow, but in most parts of the world that rarely or never happens. It never happens in places like the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand because it’s tropical or summertime there. Here in the U.S. you’re likely to have a cold wind but no fresh snow. Some parts of the country experienced a White Christmas this year. In fact the Dallas-Fort Worth Texas area saw its first White Christmas in well over a century with at least 3 inches of fresh new snow on the ground.

If a cold wind and a fresh snow is your ideal scene then may you enjoy your “Winter Wonderland” on this Christmas Day.

Categories
Animals Blogging Driving Food Holidays Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1.  My brother, his 4½-month pregnant wife, and their dog are driving well over 1,000 miles northeast this Friday from the northeastern suburbs of Dallas Texas to northwestern Ohio. They will be taking turns driving the Interstate highway system – perhaps in 4-hour shifts – until they reach their destination. They will spend a festive Christmas week hanging out with her side of the family. Please pray that their journey up and over to Ohio and then back home to Texas is safe from all harm.

2.  Last Thursday night within my ‘Mini Thoughts’ I announced ‘a major continental shift in the jet stream’ with ‘temperatures of 25 to 35 degrees colder than now’. Are ya ready my friends ?  It’s gonna happen – really ! – this weekend !  Some of the coldest air of the winter season is getting ready to dive deep into the southeastern U.S. and even into the subtropical Caribbean. On Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday we could actually struggle to reach the 70°F mark, and we probably won’t even make it. Look for highs mostly in the mid-60s on those three days with early-morning low temperatures possibly dropping all the way down into the lower-40s in and around the Homestead area (a bit milder at the beaches).

3.  With less than 10 days before Christmas I’ve got an updated score in the annual Christmas Card Derby – 22 to 10. Translation – I’ve sent out (either mailed or hand-delivered) 22 Christmas cards thus far, and I’ve received 10. Time is running out. I’ve got a few more to send out, and I’ve got a whole lot more to receive. As is always the case Christmas cards will be gladly accepted through the ‘Twelve Days Of Christmas’.

4.  Last Friday night me and my girlfriend ate Dinner at P.F. Chang’s up at The Falls in Kendall. It was my very first visit to that particular location. I’ve been to the one near my brother’s and sister’s-in-law house in Allen Texas. It was perhaps the most delicious Chinese Food meal that I’ve tasted in quite some time, and I’ve enjoyed a lot of great Chinese Food in my lifetime. I especially adored the banana spring rolls with strawberries and ice cream for dessert. I’m looking forward to future visits to Chang’s to experiment with some of their other delicious menu items.

5.  Staying on the subject of delicious food (clearly one of my favourite subjects) tomorrow for Lunch me and a coworker and our supervisour will be enjoying a relaxing extended meal at Los Ranchos up at The Falls. I’ve eaten there a bunch of times for Dinner, but not for Lunch. I never even knew that they were open for Lunch – or even had a special Lunch menu. Incidentally their official web site is at the domain name beststeakinmiami.com. I don’t know if I would go that far, but it is some good eatin’ !

Be sure to catch more thoughts o’ mine this Thursday night here on the blog.

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History Holidays Home Life Music People Radio Travel

Saturday Night Retro

It was my 19TH Christmas on Earth back in 1985 – and my first away from home and away from my family. I was newly stationed in the USAF in the United Kingdom by 6½ weeks, so there was no chance at all that I could take leave and return back home stateside for the holidays.

While I have vivid memories of my two years spent living, working, and playing in the U.K. I don’t remember much from that Christmas of 1985 away from my loved ones. I don’t remember if I was invited out to a coworker’s home, or if I stayed at the dorm and walked to the chow hall for a very special dinner. It was obviously a cold and forgettable holiday season in my life back then.

Here’s a song that I actually do remember from that Christmas, for it was the coveted Christmas # 1 smash on the radio all across the British Isles. It’s from one of the biggest-selling male artists in British music history. He’s Shakin’ (‘Shaky’) Stevens, and THIS is “Merry Christmas Everyone” !

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Career Home Life Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1. As blizzards, ice storms, and cold and wind events sweep across the free nation from California to Maine we seem to be stuck in a summertime weather pattern aqui a America’s Riviera / El Sur de Florida. I’m forecasting a continuation of our well above normal temperatures for at least another 7 to 10 days. That means afternoon high temperatures well into the mid-80s (with heat indices approaching or exceeding 90°F). We’ll have to wait awhile to get in on some of that cold and crisp air not too far to the north of us.

2.  If you’ve been following me via my Twitter account then you already know that I’ve been working on my first big speech that I give tonight at my Toastmasters club. It’s an ice-breaker speech, so that means that I have to talk about a very familiar subject that’s near and dear to me – ME !  It’s all about me for 4 to 6 minutes. I think I’ve got it down to about 5½ minutes, so we’ll see how it all works out. I’m really looking forward to the evaluations afterwards – positive and negative. I can only get better from this point forward.

3.  I felt like a Toastmaster today at work. I facilitated a 1-hour and 40-minute briefing over at our Base Conference Center this morning in which I stood behind a podium at the front of the main briefing room and guided the slide presentation and introduced the various speakers. It was actually some great practice for tonight and future nights at Toastmasters as well as my hosting duties on occasional Sunday mornings at Life Pointe Church.

4.  On January 04TH 2010 I make the momentous 100TH monthly payment on my current home (out of 180). I’ve got a 15-year mortgage loan on my current home that I bought during the week prior to ‘9-11’ in 2001, so it’s about 55% percent paid off now. It feels weird to know that I’ve been living in this home for 14½ years now – longer than any other by far. (I rented for 6 years before I bought.) When I moved in to this home I had just turned 28-years-old. Now I’m 42½-years-old. (Yes Kelly J. I just said ’42½’.)

5.  And now I’ve got a new home on Fleming Island in Clay County Florida (southwestern fringes of the Jacksonville area) that I need to get officially transferred over to my name to make it all legal and everything. My parents lived in it for about 6 years up until this past February when I moved them over to Fairview Texas (within 5 miles of my brother and sister-in-law). Once I get their home officially transferred over to me then I get to pay for it !  BRING IT $ !

Be sure to catch my ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ in less than 48 hours !