– So just because it’s Thanksgiving does NOT mean I don’t have some thoughts.
– Today of all Thursdays I have a special assortment of ‘Mini Thoughts’.
– Most of them involve food.
– Did you expect anything different on this mother of all food days ?
– This morning we went to see “Old Dogs” at a local area movie theatre.
– All of the critics were right – this was one stinker of a movie.
– But I did laugh quite a bit all throughout the flick.
– It won’t win any Oscars, but it was still funny.
– Thanksgiving Dinner was served promptly at 3 PM Central Standard Time.
– It included Honey Ham, Cheesy Potatoes, Sweet Potato Casserole …
– … Broccoli & Cheese Casserole, Spinach, Brussel Sprouts, Croissant Rolls …
– And last but definitely not least – Pumpkin Pie with Cool Whip.
– Our Thanksgiving meal certainly lived up to its reputation.
– I won’t be eating like this again anytime soon.
– Tomorrow is Black Friday – the wildest and craziest shopping day of the year.
– I bet that shoppers are already camped out in the Best Buy parking lot.
– Let the maniacal stampedes begin at 4 AM !
– I’ll be sleeping in as the mass chaos commences at the shopping meccas.
– Later on in the morning we may go for a round of miniature golf.
– I need to redeem myself from what happened last year.
– I just learned that Fuddruckers is on the agenda for Lunch tomorrow.
– I’m a P.C., and Fuddruckers was my idea !
– After Lunch I’ll be packing and getting ready for the return trip back home.
– I’ll begin my long road trip home bright and early on Saturday morning.
– I’ll make it as far as Marianna Florida after about 13½-hours of driving.
– On Sunday I’ll drive the remaining 9 hours or so back to Homestead.
– After that it’s back to work on Monday the 30TH of November.
– I have no further vacations planned until the middle of Feb. (my next cruise).
– ‘Saturday Night Retro’ will be presented on Sunday night after I return home.
– No new blog will be posted on Saturday night.
– Need your Disco fix for this week ?
– Well then stick around because I’ll have that for you tomorrow afternoon.
– Until then have a peaceful and quiet remainder to your Thanksgiving.
Category: Travel
This afternoon I completed the first-half of the longest road trip of my lifetime. In addition to the 804 miles that I drove over the course of 12½ hours yesterday (Friday) I drove another 577 miles today (Saturday) over the course of about 9 hours. That’s 1,381 miles of driving on Friday and Saturday, and now it’s time to sit back and let other people do the driving while I do the relaxing.
Although I’ve driven in the great state of Texas before (mostly rental cars out of San Antonio) this is the first time that I’ve driven my own personal car here. It’s also the furthest west that I’ve ever driven in my own car – eclipsing the previous westmost record holder for me – New Orleans about 5 Summers ago.
I’ve now conquered with my own car all of the states with coastlines along the Gulf Of Mexico. I’ve also previously made it about halfway up the Eastern Seaboard – up to Maryland. This Christmas actually marks the 20TH anniversary of the first time that I drove to and from my previous home in Northern Virginia all the way to and from Homestead Florida (about a 2,200 mile round trip). I did that in my new car at the time – a 1989 Geo Spectrum.
When this song first hit the pop radio airwaves during the Summer of 1996 I thought that it was the perfect road trip driving song. It’s bubbly melody and beat totally encouraged me to surge past the posted speed limit at times and get wild and crazy on the highways !
It’s Crush with their MASSIVE dance smash that’s all about that “Jellyhead”:
This morning I woke up at 3:45 AM Eastern / 2:45 AM Central. I was on the road an hour later, and after about 12½ hours of driving 804 miles I arrived at my destination tonight safe and sound. I’m in Gulfport Mississippi. I’ve been here before – back in the Summer of 1994 on temporary military duty at nearby Keesler AFB in historic Biloxi.
Tomorrow I’ve got another 590 or so miles of driving from here to Allen Texas (northeast of Dallas). It’s the home of my Mom, Dad, Cat, Brother, Sister-In-Law, Future Nephew, and Dog. I’ll be there for 7 days and 7 nights.
But before all of that it’s time to kick-off the weekly Disco party, and this week I’ve got a crazy dude who called himself ‘Disco Tex’. Back in the mid-1970s he hung out with a band of lunatics known as ‘The Sex-O-Lettes’. Here’s their biggest Disco smash from back in the day – it’s “Get Dancin'”:
– It’s not even 3:30 in the afternoon as I begin compiling these ‘Mini Thoughts’.
– But it’s already Thursday night for me.
– That’s because Friday morning will begin sooner than normal for me.
– I just set my alarm clock for 3:45 AM.
– I hope to be on the road no later than 4:45 AM.
– I’ve got about 825 miles to cover on the road tomorrow.
– That’s about 58% of the way to northeast of Dallas Texas.
– I’m really lookin’ forward to it !
– Last night I attended only my 3RD memorial service of my entire life.
– It was for a good friend and coworker.
– The service was done nice, and a few people stood up to speak of Kevin.
– If I could do it all over again then I would get up and speak too.
– It’s just one of those missed opportunities that I now regret.
– I’m learning to not miss so many of these opportunities in this new Life.
– It was an open casket viewing, but I didn’t go up to view Kevin.
– I’d rather remember Kevin as the dude that was full of life and laughter.
– The last time I saw a lifeless body in an open casket it was my Granddad.
– It’s an image that I can’t get out of my mind – 15 years later.
– This past Tuesday night I attended my 2ND Toastmasters meeting.
– I had a fun time – and an important role – as the vote counter.
– Joining Toastmasters was a wise idea for my own professional development.
– It’ll help me out in conquering one of my greatest weaknesses – speaking.
– It’ll enhance my professional career as well as my personal Life.
– Thank You Travis for leading me to Toastmasters !
– I am planning to continue the blogging during my entire vacation.
– The weekly ‘Disco Party’ is still on track for tomorrow night.
– I’ve got a gem from 35 years ago from a dude that called himself ‘Disco Tex’.
– Then on the ‘Retro’ on Sat. night I’ve got a bubblegum pop smash from 1996.
– Then on Sun. morning it’s my takeaways from a church service I’m attending.
– This church in Allen Texas looks amazingly similar to Life Pointe Church.
– So that’s what’s happenin’ with me on this Thursday night (and beyond).
– Keep it locked in – same blog time – same blog station.
– This blog post was transcribed.
CountUp 