Category: Weather

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The Major’s Weekend Blast-Off

Happy First Day Of October Of 2010 !  Let’s BLAST-OFF this weekend !

WEEKEND GRAB BAG O’ THOUGHT:
Well Tropical Depression # 16 / Tropical Storm Nicole has come and gone. It’s a tropical system that my weather models accurately visualized some 9 days in advance. Early on they depicted a Category 1 or 2 Hurricane over or just off the coast of South Florida, but then they quickly backed-off on that scenario and simply brought a Tropical Storm over us. In actuality we didn’t receive any Tropical Storm force winds at all, as they were displaced some 250 miles east of the center of the storm. Here in Homestead we received about 5½ inches of rain. I forecasted 6 inches. Portions of the Upper Florida Keys actually received over a FOOT of rain !  For those of you who don’t live in South Florida we can handle 6, 9, and even 12 inches of rain in a single day or two. It creates a short-term nuisance, but then it drains away. We’re tough like that. We’re also very green right now after a very hot and dry Summer. Come and check us out during this upcoming Winter season once you start to shiver up north. We’ll be open for business. Our beaches never close.

BEST LUNCH OF THE WEEK AWARD:
Shiver’s BBQ – BBQ Beef Brisket, French Fries, Collard Greens, Garlic Bread, Sweet Iced Tea. I truly believe that this is the best BBQ joint that you’ll find anywhere here in deep South Miami-Dade County Florida. They’ve been in business since the 1950s, and I believe that they’ve been at the same location ever since then – at the SE corner of U.S. 1 and SW 280TH Street in Naranja Lakes. Good service. Good food.

THE FORTUNE COOKIE MESSAGE OF THE WEEK CLUB:
– It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others.

THOSE CRAZY CRAZY CATS:
Here’s a homemade video featuring two cats – one on the left that’s normal – and one on the right that’s a lunatic. The one on the right marches to his own beat. He’s got no cares and no worries. He the life of the party. The one on the left (who remarkably looks very much like my own legendary cat from the 1980s and 1990s – ‘Fluffy’) is just chillaxin’, but after awhile he feels the need to get away – far away – from that crazy cat. Enjoy:

BLATANT PROMOTION:
Tomorrow night here on the blog it’s the 101ST edition of my continuing saga that is the ‘Saturday Night Retro’. I’ll be flashing back 14½ years ago to the Spring of 1996. The more things change – the more they stay the same. I’ll also feature one of the greatest rock songs ever made – and a big hit back during that memorable era in my life. In the meantime don’t forget that you can follow me on Twitter to see what’s on my mind. Have a wonderful weekend my friends. I hope to see you out and about !

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Animals Blogging Food God History Humor Internet Life Movies Music People Travel Weather

The Major’s Weekend Blast-Off

It’s time once again for the weekly blog series that’s 7 days in the making. Let’s kick-off this final weekend of September of 2010 !

WEEKEND GRAB BAG O’ THOUGHT:
Ever since this past Monday night I’ve been tracking a developing tropical system to the south of us deep down in the Caribbean. Once we get in to late-September and definitely October and November we stop looking east for any storms that may affect us – and start looking south and west. During the latter portion of the Atlantic basin storm season our tropical systems come from behind us – from our own backyard per se. Who can ever forget Hurricane Wilma – one of the most destructive in modern recorded history. It wrecked havoc on South Florida during the final week of October of 2005. Now we’ve got Tropical Storm Matthew. It formed in virtually the same exact spot as Wilma. Its trek through the southwestern Caribbean is virtually identical to that of Wilma. Up until last night it appeared that its entire trek would mimic that of Wilma (from the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico northeastward across South Florida). My weather models consistently placed a Category 1 or Category 2 Hurricane Matthew sweeping directly over South Florida for next Thursday and Friday (September 30TH and October 01ST). This morning I awoke and I updated my weather models with all-new overnight data, and for the first time in 5 days they no longer bring that system to South Florida. They keep it over the Yucatan Peninsula for a few days where it stalls and then degenerates into an open low pressure system. I’m not quite buying in to this new scenario, but we’ll see. It’s an interesting new development, and a positive one for us. I’ll keep my eyes on Matthew, and I’ll tweet any relevant news associated with him and how he may (or may not) affect us late next week.

BEST LUNCH OF THE WEEK AWARD:
This was the work week in which I said ‘good-bye’ to a good coworker friend over a Monday Lunch at Red Lobster. On Wednesday I enjoyed a delicious Shiner Bock BBQ Burger at Chili’s. But this week my ‘Best Lunch Of The Week’ occurred at downtown Homestead‘s quaint and historic White Lion Cafe. I enjoyed the Fried Chicken dinner (not what you think). This was a MASSIVE hunk of boneless chicken breast dipped in egg and flour and seasoned to juicy perfection (not at all greasy). The mashed potatoes, mixed veggies, and sweet ice tea complemented it perfectly. I also enjoyed this feast with a good friend of mine. In fact she’s one of my longest-running friends. I’ve known her for all 23 years that I’ve lived here in Homestead, and we celebrated her birthday at one of our city’s nicest restaurants. If you’ve never experienced the White Lion Cafe before for Lunch or Dinner then try to do so whenever you get the chance. You won’t regret it pal.

RETWEET:
NEXT weekend I will almost definitely see “The Social Network“. It’s all about one of the most demonic web sites ever created by mankind.

PANDA WITH AN ALLERGY:

BLATANT PROMOTION:
TOMORROW on the blog I’ll be presenting the remarkable 100TH edition of my ‘Saturday Night Retro’. It’s one of the many weekly blog series that were created during the frantic 2008 heyday of this blog, and it’s the lone survivor of them all. ‘Retro’ gives me a chance each week to look back at my life and highlight some of my most vivid memories – good and bad. I can’t change the past, but I can certainly learn from all of those mistakes that I’ve made in times gone by. In the similar-concept tradition of the long-running ‘Major’s MASSIVE Memories’ (from my old hit music web site) I always include a memorable pop song from the era that I’m flashing back on. The music is the soundtrack of my life – then and now. It instantly transports me to a time period  that was once present day time and space. Music was even used by God some 49 months ago to radically change my life. That’s Life. That’s ‘Retro’.

COMING SOON:
As announced on Twitter earlier this week I’m kicking-off ‘The Great Chris Day Winter Of 2011 Cultural, Historical, & Economical Stimulus Tour’. From October through February I’ll be visiting and exploring fun and exotic locations near and far such as Everglades National Park, Monkey Jungle, Jungle Island, Naples, Fort Myers, Sanibel Island, Panama City Beach, Dallas / Fort Worth Texas, the Bahamas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and San Juan Puerto Rico. I’ll be tweeting and blogging every step of the way.

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Saturday Night Retro

7 years ago during the Autumn months of September, October, and November of 2003 remember when these 7 notable events occurred:

– Once Cat. 5 Hurricane Isabel strikes N. Carolina causing $4 billion in damage.
– Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected Governor of California.
– 11 die and 71 are injured in the Staten Island New York ferry crash.
– The Concorde flies for the very last time.
– Wildfires ravage San Diego County in California destroying over 2,200 homes.
– The Florida Marlins beat the New York Yankees in the World Series.
– Americans pay $1.40 to $1.60 for a gallon of gas.

European dance music had a spot on the South Florida radio dial via Party-93.1, and this was one of the hottest songs of the year on that memorable station that was an integral part of my life for two years. It’s a dance remake of the clasic Duran Duran # 1 smash “Ordinary World”. Here’s Aurora with Naimee Coleman:

Next week it’s the remarkable 100TH edition of my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ – now my only remaining original weekly blog series from the 2008 heyday. I’m not planning anything out of the ordinary for the milestone edition. It will all be routine standard fare. How ‘Retro’ of me. We’ll flashback to 39 years ago to the Autumn of 1971. I want you to meet an Uncle. He knows this Admiral.

See ya next week !

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Animals History Holidays Nature Travel Weather

Carnival Valor Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

I sailed aboard the gorgeous Carnival Valor during the recent Labour Day holiday week of Sunday September 05TH 2010 through Sunday September 12TH 2010. It was my 10TH Carnival cruise, and my 1ST of many more to come as a V.I.P. Platinum cruiser.

We sailed out of the Port Of Miami on a sunny Sunday afternoon, and we headed southbound into the pristine Caribbean Sea. Our 4 exotic ports-of-call were George Town, Mahogany Bay, Belize City, and San Miguel.

George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, British West Indies:
This was my 3RD visit to the rich U.K. island of banks. My last visit there was 4 years ago in October 2006 via the Carnival Miracle. The island has taken a beating from a series of major hurricanes over the past decade, but she still looks beautiful. I took a 3-hour coach tour along the far northwestern end of the island. We visited a turtle farm and a rum cake outlet before we all went to Hell !

Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatán, Bay Islands, Honduras:
This was my very 1ST visit ever to Honduras. Of course this was actually one of the many outlying islands north of the mainland, but it still qualifies as my 21ST unique country, republic, nation, or territory that I’ve visited in my lifetime. It’s a relatively new cruise ship port, and the island itself is rather quaint and primitive. On a 4-hour shore excursion we visited the Carambola Botanical Gardens, the Roatán Tropical Butterfly Garden, and then a seaside shopping and dining village. It was a fun visit to a new Caribbean island discovery.

Belize City, Belize:
This was my 2ND visit to Belize. My 1ST was 4 years ago in October 2006. Belize is the only 1 of the 4 ports that you can actually drive to from anywhere in the U.S. It’s part of mainland Central America – south of Mexico and east of Guatemala. It’s the only English speaking nation south of the U.S. in the entire western hemisphere. Although it’s geographically located in Central America it’s culturally Caribbean. We visited the Belize Zoo – about 30 miles southwest of Belize City. I dig zoos, so it was real exciting to visit this zoo in a foreign country and see the animals of the jungle. It was also a real thrill to return to my cabin back on the cruise ship after Dinner each night to see which new towel animal was hangin’ out with me. Here’s a sample of 4 of those cotton creatures:

San Miguel, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico:
And there I was again – the Caribbean port-of-call that I’ve been to more than any other – by far. 7 out of 10 of my Carnival cruises over the past 11 years have sailed there, and it always feels like my home away from home whenever I return. Hurricane Wilma devastated Cozumel back in October 2005, but it was quick to recover with all of those American dollars constantly pouring in to the island. The last time I visited earlier this year in February it was a bit chilly and dreary during a major cold snap. This time around it was hot and sunny – just like it should be on the island. I’ll be back again.

Miami, Florida, U.S.A.:
It was back home stateside this past Sunday morning after a week at sea and 4 exotic countries. This was perhaps the smoothest ride at sea of any Carnival cruise that I can remember. I barely felt the waves of the sea on the ship. Ironically that’s one of the advantages of sailing during the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season. If there’s no organized tropical systems around then the seas can be as smooth as glass during this time of the year. While I was at sea the only organized tropical system was making landfall near the south of Texas.

Until I cruise again with Carnival in less than 18 weeks – I’ll remember this: