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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Weather Delay – My return trip back home from North Texas to South Florida via American Airlines was just about as crazy and unpredictable as it was going there. My round trip flights last Thursday night and this past Monday night can be summed up in three words – ‘two-hour-delay’. My 4:20 PM CDT flight back home to the land of the ‘305’ was already delayed by 45 minutes several hours before the actual departure time. Then it was delayed by another 25 minutes. It ended up taking off into the wild blue yonder 2 hours and 15 minutes late due to thunderstorm activity all around DFW. MIA also had its fair share of thunderstorms, so while we touched down 1 hour and 40 minutes late it took another 30 minutes just to get to our assigned gate. Long story short I walked in to my front door just a few minutes before Midnight. It was another long day (and night) of travel. I was happy to be home sweet home.

Collared Way – This past Sunday night at Dinner me and my brother were required to put on (what resembled) generic bowling shirts that were provided by the wait staff of the neighbourhood clubhouse restaurant because we came in wearing non-collared tee-shirts. It became a running gag throughout the entire dinner. We pledged to ‘accidentally’ drop as much food as we possibly could on our collared shirts, and then play a round of bowling a la Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. Here’s what I think about the collared policy. A restaurant should be more concerned about upgrading their food, service, cleanliness, decor, and atmosphere before they worry so much about what someone is wearing to the table. I had issues with all five of those aspects. Here’s what else I think. If you’ve got such a policy then clearly and visibly state so at the front entrance of your joint. And this is the most important thing of them all. Don’t discriminate. Enforce your policy to all of your customers – not just the ones that look young. If you’re old(er) and you’re wearing a tee-shirt then you too should have to put on a bowling shirt in order to eat dinner. You should also have to put on long pants and socks. It makes no sense to me to wear a collared shirt with short pants and no socks to the dinner table. I’m just sayin’.

Taylor Lesley Day – My lovable little niece turned 4-weeks-old today. I met her for the very first time last week when I arrived at DFW. This much is certain. She’s even more adorable LIVE and in person than she is in pictures. She doesn’t eat any food yet, but she drinks a lot of warm milk. She totally digs her Binky. She can’t go very long without it.  Her favourite pastime is clearly sleeping. She gets about 22 hours of it per day. I’ve been told that she won’t get nearly that much when I get to visit her again in about six weeks. Quite a few pictures were taken of the two of us. I’ve got a few on my phone. My sister-in-law specializes in scrapbooking. She’s very good at it. I actually think that she could even do it professionally. I can’t wait to see that first photo album of Taylor chock-full of all of her latest snapshots. Knowing my sister-in-law that first photo album should be filled and completed by the time that I return. I’m counting on it !

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Blogging Food History Home Music Sports Travel Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– As I begin these ‘Mini Thoughts’ it’s 1:38 PM CDT on a Friday afternoon.
– That makes this a delayed edition of the ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’.
– I’m at my brother’s and sister’s-in-law home in dark and stormy North Texas.
– Showers and thunderstorms are slowly moving their way through the region.
– I’m just hoping that the power stays on as these heavy storms move through.
– Winds are occasionally gusting up to 40 MPH.
– It’s a good day to stay cool and dry inside.
– It’s a good day to play a competitive game of Scrabble and maybe some Uno.
– Uno is a longtime tradition with me and my brother dating back some 25 years.
– We may be playing a lot of Scrabble and Uno during this rainy weekend.
– The inclement weather is expected to continue for the duration of my visit.
– If I remember correctly it was like this last May when I visited here.
– May seems like the mini rainy season for North Texas.
– That’s fine, for when I return in July I’ll be able to experience sweltering heat.
– Speaking of sweltering heat – and a nice segue way …
– My flight out of Miami yesterday afternoon was more than 2 hours late.
– It actually arrived in Miami more than an hour late.
– We finally lifted up into the air at 5:25 PM EDT.
– That’s 2 hours and 20 minutes past the scheduled departure time.
– It was a smooth flight towards the northwest at 40,000 feet.
– It was in a Boeing 777.
– It was perhaps the nicest and most modern plane that I’ve ever flown in.
– I even sat in business class – no extra charge.
– I’ve never enjoyed as much arm room and leg room in any previous flight.
– It was a special and unexpected treat.
– The original 757 that was supposed to fly was replaced by this 777.
– I’m all for sudden replacements in aircraft when they are upgrades.
– We touched down at Dallas-Fort Worth at 6:53 PM CDT – nearly 2 hours late.
– It took a full hour – YES – 60 minutes – to eventually get to our gate.
– So my 5 PM arrival turned out to be an 8 PM arrival.
– That’s when I finally met my 23-day-old niece Taylor Lesley Day.
– She is as gorgeous in person as she is in pictures.
– Have you seen the latest pictures over on my Twitter account ?
– I hope that she loves me as her lovable uncle forever.
– We picked up a large Domino’s Pizza and ate it at home.
– I was so exhausted after about 11 hours of travel time.
– I actually slept pretty good last night on a foreign bed.
– This morning I woke up nice and refreshed.
– For Lunch today we picked up burgers and fries at Whataburger.
– There’s about three dozen Whataburgers in Florida – all  in the panhandle.
– I don’t know what’s for Dinner yet, but I’m hoping that it’s MASSIVE.
– I came to Texas to spend quality time with my family – and of course EAT !
– My brother said that they give extensive tours of Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
– We may try to do that on Monday before they take me back to the airport.
– I’ll be back at home late on Monday night.
– Tomorrow night I’ve got another edition of my ‘Saturday Night Retro’.
– I’ll be remembering one of the greatest years of my previous life – 1987.
– On Sunday I hope you’ll join me for ‘My Fantastic Journey’.
– I’ll be featuring a local homegrown (Dallas Texas) Christian Rock band.
– Those are my ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ for now – one day late.
– Better late than not at all.
– Be sure to follow me on Twitter, and stay tuned as the blogging continues.
– You won’t regret it pal.

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Career Commerce Home Money News Travel Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– It’s time for another collection of ‘Mini Thoughts’ on this night before Friday.
– Whenever I compile these I know that the weekend is not too far away.
– I’ve got one more work day to go, and then 63 hours of weekend fun begins.
– Next week will be a short 3½-day work week for me.
– That’s because I’m going on vacation again next Thursday afternoon.
– It’s all part of my new master plan for 2010 and beyond.
– I don’t want to be more than a month away from my next vacation.
– So far it’s working out swell like that.
– This has been a rough and tough past several days for me.
– The nonsense started on Sunday morning when I woke up in a sweat.
– My A.C. was blowing out warm and tropical outside air.
– A power surge allegedly blew out the wiring of my A.C. up in the ceiling.
– Upon further investigation it also blew out my compressor outside.
– A new compressor had to be shipped in from the Fort Myers area.
– After more than 72 hours my A.C. crew finally got everything working.
– This morning I awoke in my own bed with temperatures in the mid-70s.
– During the ordeal I slept here at home in the heat for one night.
– I slept another night at an undisclosed cheap motel in Homestead.
– I slept a final night at the luxurious new Hampton Inn in Homestead.
– Lesson Learned:  Don’t think twice about it – check in to the Hampton Inn.
– That place – like most Hampton Inns I’ve stayed at – was truly amazing !
– You will spend more money to stay there, but I think it’s definitely worth it.
– Speaking of money I’ve lost a lot of it over the past couple of weeks.
– The stock market is currently on a psychotic bender.
–  As of this morning I had lost 3.3% of my retirement savings since its peak.
– Today alone I’ve lost at least another 3.3% on top of that.
– This will probably go down as the worst two weeks combined in over a year.
– I’m in it for the long haul, and I must keep reminding myself of that.
– Nashville Tennessee has been devastated by unprecedented flooding.
– It was caused by nearly two feet of rain in just two days.
– It’s considered to be a 1,000-year catastrophe.
– People have died, and buildings have been damaged and destroyed.
– The Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center is closed indefinitely.
– It sustained millions of dollars of damage and destruction.
– Check out this video: 

– Please pray for the residents of this wonderful part of our free nation.
– Help them in any possible way that you can.
– I’ve been to Nashville just once in my life – about 20 years ago.
– I picked up my little brother from Space Camp in Huntsville Alabama.
– We went on a nice road trip from there through much of Tennessee.
– We climbed the Great Smoky Mountains along U.S. 441.
– We visited Atlanta Georgia for the first time ever.
– It’s one of our most memorable and enjoyable vacations ever.
– I will return to visit Nashville again – and hopefully visit friends too.

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Blogging Commerce Home Life Nature News Politics Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Summer In The City – The consistently hot and humid air has arrived aqui en el sur de Florida, and it’s here to stick around – guaranteed – for at least the next 6 months. After enjoying / enduring the coldest winter season that we here in South Florida have ever experienced in our lifetime this hot and humid weather feels even more uncomfortable than usual. A look at the tropical Atlantic Ocean reveals this rather startling fact – well above normal sea temperatures already into the 80s that are more typical of the middle of June rather than the start of May. It’s the perfect breeding ground for a very active tropical storm and hurricane season. Last summer the effects of the El Niño phenomenon fortunately ripped and shredded most of the developing storms out at sea, but it’s history now. While we won’t have a La Niña phenomenon in-place until perhaps next Summer we will have a fairly typical tropical scenario for this Summer – and that’s a far busier scenario than what we experienced last Summer. Now is the time to prepare for the upcoming season – not when one is bearing down on the U.S. East Coast. Be prepared. Act smart. Don’t panic.

Oil In The Gulf – We are witnessing one of the greatest ecological disasters in a lifetime. When the oil rig explosion and fire in the northern Gulf Of Mexico was first being reported as ‘breaking news’ during the early morning hours of the 21ST of April most of us didn’t think much of it. But now we know the devastating effects of it, and the story is still developing. The blame game is in full effect. Democrats are blaming Republicans for encouraging the drilling of oil in the Gulf. Even former President Bush is getting blamed for the disaster. I get the feeling that he will get blamed for everything that goes wrong in this world for as long as he lives. I also get the feeling that our current President Obama can do whatever he feels like – or do nothing at all – and still be loved and adored by the world because he’s just such a nice and friendly guy. I didn’t vote for him. I didn’t vote for the popular guy. I voted for the guy who was ready with the experience needed to be the President on Day 1.

Hangin’ At The Hampton – Tonight I’m living in luxury at the sparkling new Hampton Inn here on the east side of Homestead. The Hampton Inn is by far my favourite hotel chain in the entire world, and I try to stay at one whenever I’m on the road on vacation. I’m also a Hilton HHonors card-carrying member. I get perks – eventually. This Hampton Inn is exactly what this area has needed for a long time – since well before Hurricane Andrew – a moderately-upscale hotel. By the looks of the rather full parking lot every work day morning when I pass right by it we (natives and tourists alike) are apparently supporting it at an average pop of $150 per night (substantially higher during special events). It’s always great when big companies come to Homestead to build their respective product chains (whether it be stores, restaurants, or hotels), and then they thrive. Build it and we will come. Anyway I’m staying here tonight because I still have no working A.C. in my home. A brand new compressor had to be ordered and delivered from the southwest coast of Florida. It was supposed to arrive late this afternoon, and hopefully it did. Right now I have a 9 AM appointment tomorrow (Wednesday) back at home to get it installed, get my A.C. back up and running again, and bring those unbearably stifling temperatures down from the upper-80s to the mid-70s where they belong. Even though it’s really nice and comfortable here at the Hampton I really can’t wait to return back to my air conditioned home again and reestablish my daily routine that was so rudely interrupted this past Sunday morning when I awoke in an unexpected sweat.

In less than 48 hours I’ll be posting my ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’. They are spontaneous flashes of thoughts that hit you in 15 words or less. Be sure to check them out, and then stick around for history and inspiration this weekend as I blog my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ and ‘My Fantastic Journey’.