It’s a special Sunday night edition of the ‘Saturday Night Retro’ !

Last night I checked in to my pit stop (on my return trip from the Dallas Texas area) up in the historic Florida panhandle town of Marianna. Within a couple of hours I was sound asleep on my delightfully warm and comfy Hampton Inn ‘Cloud Nine’ bedding (blatant promotion).

After a restful night of sleep I proceeded on the final stretch of the longest road trip of my lifetime – completing 2,764.7 miles from start to finish.

I listened to a lot of great Christian radio during this road trip. My car radio was pretty much locked-in to the non-commercial district of the FM dial (88.1-91.9). I heard some great music on WAY-FM, AIR-1, K-LOVE, and 89.7-POWER-FM north of Dallas Texas (among other great radio stations along the way). I even heard some great sermons and interesting call-in talk shows on various radio stations. I Love My Radio – My Christian Radio !

Here’s 1980s European singer Taffy with her smash from 23 years ago in 1987:

It’s just past 1 PM CST here in North Texas as I begin compiling this post, and in just about 9 hours I’ll be heading to bed for the final time here. I’ve got an early wake-up call in the morning of 4:30 AM, and I hope to be on the road no later than 90 minutes after that. I hope to enjoy a peaceful and quiet drive southeastward into Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida during the day tomorrow. I’m driving nearly 60% of the way to home tomorrow, and then the remaining 40% of the drive will be on Sunday.

I’m looking forward to returning to my normal routine come Monday morning. It’s always a lot of fun to go on vacation, but I definitely appreciate what I have back at home and at work so much more when I’ve been away for awhile.

This week on my ‘Disco Party’ I’ve got a dude that was born in Glasgow Scotland in 1950, but as a young chap he moved down under to Australia where he’s been ever since. He’s John Paul Young, and back in the early-1970s he played the role of the High Priest Annas in the Australian production of “Jesus Christ Superstar”. In 1978 he scored his only worldwide hit, and it was a memorable Disco smash on the radio, at the nightclubs, and at the roller disco.

Here he is – John Paul Young – with his classic “Love Is In The Air”:

- 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.

YESTERDAY (Wednesday) for Lunch me and my brother and my sister-in-law ate at their favourite workplace Chinese Restaurant in the neighbourhood – a nice joint in far north Dallas called ‘Great China’ (see reviews on Yahoo !).

The food was delicious, and the restaurant itself was quite a bit upscale compared to what I’m used to at my favourite Chinese Restaurant joints back home. The customer service was outstanding, but that seems to be my general experience at most Chinese Restaurants.

I nabbed all three of our great fortune cookie messages, so here they are:

- ‘Now is the time for peace in your life. Go along with other’s ideas.’

- ‘A new relationship is about to blossom. You will be blessed.’

- ‘Approach all areas of life with a bold enthusiasm this year.’

There’s a big difference between simply believing in God – and following, obeying, and loving God overwhelmingly. It’s easy to claim a belief in God, be done with it, and then go about your daily business. But it’s very difficult (as it should be) to really live out that belief – and really mean it. When you give it all up for God you should do so to impress nobody else but Him. He is your only audience. He is an audience of one. But there are others in this world – relatives, friends, coworkers, acquaintenances, and people you haven’t met yet. If you’re really living out your belief in God – and really meaning it deep within your mind, heart, and soul – then those others in this world should clearly see it in you. Without words – they should be able to see for themselves the overwhelming miracle of God’s work in and around you. If they can’t see it – then perhaps your audience of one – God – can’t see it either.

‘With our hands up high, we’re screamin’ …
And with our feet we stomp a cadence for you …
I’m so glad you came for me …

Scream and stomp for Jesus Christ so that He can hear you !  He shall come !

It’s in the lyrics:

1.  This morning me and my brother visited a local area (Plano Texas) Walmart, and this particular Walmart was something special. It was brightly lit, sparkling clean, smelled good inside, had fully-stocked aisles of unopened merchandise, had extra wide aisles, and had cheerful and helpful employees working all around. Oh yeah – and the MASSIVE parking lot out front had no active crime scenes. So I guess that not every Walmart is just like the one that’s close to home that I pretty much avoid.

2.  Post Walmart me and my brother drove on over to Sonic, America’s Drive-In for an early Lunch. After a few years of watching the very low-budget yet very amusing commercials on television I finally got to experience the culinary delight (in my brother’s car) that is Sonic. They have an extensive menu (including Breakfast), but I selected something very basic – the Bacon Cheeseburger Toaster Combo (with fries and a Sprite). It’s was a rather delicious 1,045 calories (424 of them fat calories). I wish we had Sonic back home in America’s Riviera. Once upon a time (before Hurricane Andrew) we had two of them in the Homestead area alone. I ate there occasionally back in the day. Nowadays in order to eat at Sonic we (South Floridians) have to go north up to The Palm Beaches or north and west over to Naples. It’s just not right !

3.  39°, 40°, and 44° – Those have been the minimum early-morning temperatures thus far since I’ve been here (Sun., Mon., and Tue.). Right now at 2 PM the actual air temperature is 61°, but we’ve got gusty northwesterly winds so wind chills are way down in the low-50s. Next week when it gets much colder here in North Texas I’ll be back home in South Florida basking in 80° warmth and higher humidity again. Bring it on !

4.  I asked my brother (who is technologically savvy when it comes to modern cell phone devices) what is the difference between ‘3G’ and ‘4G’, and strangely enough he had no clue. This made me wonder if the average consumer knows what exactly a ‘G’ is. One thing is fairly certain though. My antiquated cell phone from the middle ages (2004) is ‘ZeroG’. But it does just what I want it to do – send and receive text and Twitter messages and the occasional call.

5.  This Thanksgiving my family is trying something new and different for our MASSIVE LuDinner meal. We’re going to The HoneyBaked Ham Company to grab a 3-pound boneless ham – sliced and glazed. This will be our first turkey-less Thanksgiving meal that I can ever remember, so perhaps it’ll be the start of a new tradition. My sister-in-law will be making all of the various side dishes that will go along with the tasty ham. I just hope that one of those side dishes is either spinach or collard greens or broccoli. YUM !

Those are my ‘Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’. Be sure to check back here later this week for my spontaneous ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’.

Buddy Roosevelt Day is my brother’s and sister’s-in-law soft-coated Wheaton Terrier dog. He’s 8½-years-old, so that’s nearly 60-years-old in dog years. He was born in Orange Park Florida (near Jacksonville), and he was discovered in a pet store by my brother in October 2001. Incidentally Roosevelt was his original name, and now it’s his middle name. As the story goes my brother did not pick Roosevelt out. It was actually the other way around. Roosevelt saw my brother walking around the store, and the dog decided right then and there that he would be going home with my brother – and so he did.

That’s Baby Boy, Budster, Cook, Cookie, Cookie Monster, Kid, Little, Little Kid, Little Man, Punk, Punky, Stink, Stinker McStinkerson, Stinky, and The Boy (all various nicknames for him) as he appeared about 5 years ago.

And here’s Buddy from this past Halloween as Super Buddy:

Sky: Clear
Temperature: 66°F
Dewpoint: 45°F
Relative Humidity: 47%
Winds: SE 6 MPH
Barometric Pressure: 29.92 Falling

After I watched my visiting Washington Redskins give up the shutout and the game to the hometown Dallas Cowboys in the last 3 minutes of the game I decided that the only reasonable thing for me to do was to walk around my brother’s neighbourhood for a little while, and so I did for a refreshing 28 minutes and 48 seconds.

Here are my walking thoughts in 15 words or less:

- Me, my Brother, Sister-In-Law, and their dog Buddy went on a 1.5-mile walk.
- They live in a rather large subdivision of cookie-cutter style split-level houses.
- It’s a peaceful and quiet neighbourhood just perfect for suburban families.
- The sky was crystal clear and as deep blue as can be during the 3 PM hour.
- It was in the mid-60s, but this was a different mid-60s than I’ve felt before.
- It was a dry mid-60s – compared with a more humid mid-60s typical of home.
- At first Buddy (the dog) was leading the way.
- But soon thereafter he was slowly stalling out.
- He was pretty much exhausted halfway through the walk.
- What do you expect from a canine that’s approaching his 60s in dog years ?
- Right now Buddy is passed out on a chair.
- When my sister-in-law exclaimed that we had gone a half a mile I concurred.
- All I did was look at my watch and see that 9½ minutes had elapsed.
- Since I typically walk a mile in 19 minutes flat I knew that she was right.
- Once our walk was done we had all worked up a sizeable appetite for food.
- So we ventured over to The Cheesecake Factory for a MASSIVE Dinner.
- I enjoyed the Lemon-Herb Roasted Chicken.
- Of course I saved room for a large slice of cheesecake too.
- Of course I indulged in the ’for a limited time only’ Pumpkin Cheesecake.
- Walking hard and eating hard – that’s how I roll on this Sunday !

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.

1.  I receive a lot of junk mail in my old-fashioned traditional mailbox. I wish there was a way where we could select which specific stores we would like to receive weekly advertisements for, and then only receive junk mail from them. But then I guess that it wouldn’t really be ‘junk’ mail, but rather ‘want’ mail. I receive weekly ads from Winn-Dixie, Sedano’s, and Diaz Supermarket (among others). I don’t shop at any of these fine grocery stores. I do shop at Publix, and I think that I would actually pay a small fee just to receive their weekly ad in the mail.

2.  It’s ‘The Major’s Lunch-A-Thon’. This past Sunday I ate at Longhorn Steakhouse. On Monday I ate at Beef ‘O’ Brady’s. Today I ate at Olive Garden. The tour de force of fine dining establishments in and around Homestead continues on Wednesday and Thursday before I head out-of-town on Friday. Lunch – It does a Chris good !

3.  ‘For Crying Out Loud !’ – Where does that phrase actually come from anyway ?  It’s a phrase that some people utilize in lieu of cussing - particularly when the’re astonished and can’t believe their eyes. I don’t think that I’ve ever uttered that phrase intentionally or otherwise. I suppose it’s a phrase (like many others) that’s probably inherited from generation to generation within the family. Incidentally how can you not ‘believe your eyes’ ?  Have your eyes ever lied to you ?  Well maybe after drinking !

4.  I filled up my car with gas this afternoon on my way home from work. I’ll be doing it again this Friday morning up near Orlando along Florida’s Turnpike. And then I’ll do it again about 5 hours later up in the northwestern panhandle of Florida along I-10. And then I’ll probably do it again another 5 hours after that at my first pit stop on my road trip. The adventure begins in less than 60 hours !

5.  The weather should be nice and seasonal on my way to the Dallas Texas area this Friday and Saturday with temperatures within a rather narrow range on both days – pretty much mid-60s to mid-70s on Friday and low-50s to mid-60s on Saturday – so neither cold nor hot. I should be able to maximize my gas mileage during my trip there by not using the A.C. We’ll see.

These were (allegedly) posted on an Australian tourism web site, and the answers are (allegedly) the actual responses by the web site officials (who obviously have a great sense of humour – not to mention a low tolerance threshold for cretins !)

Q.  Does it ever get windy in Australia ?  I have never seen it rain on TV. How do the plants grow ?  ( U.K. )

A.  We import all plants fully grown, and then just sit around watching them die.

Q.  Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street ?  ( U.S. )

A.  Depends how much you’ve been drinking.

Q.  I want to walk from Perth to Sydney. Can I follow the railroad tracks ?  (Sweden)

A.  Sure - it’s only three thousand miles - take lots of water.

Q.  Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in  Australia ?  Can you send me a list of them in Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville and Hervey Bay ?  (U.K.)

A.  What did your last slave die of ?

Q.  Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Australia ?  (U.S.)

A.  A-Fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Aus-tra-lia is that big island in the middle of the Pacific which does not … Oh forget it … Sure … the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Kings Cross. Come naked.

Q.  Which direction is North in Australia ?  (U.S.)

A.  Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here, and we’ll send the rest of the directions.

Q.  Can I bring cutlery into Australia ?  (U.K.)

A.  Why ?  Just use your fingers like we do.

Q.  Can you send me the Vienna Boys’ Choir schedule ?  (U.S.)

A.  Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y … which is … Oh forget it … Sure … the Vienna Boys’ Choir plays every Tuesday night in Kings Cross - straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q.  Can I wear high heels in Australia ?  (U.K.)

A.  You are a British politician right ?

Q.  Are there supermarkets in Sydney, and is milk available all year round ?  (Germany)

A.  No - we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunters/gatherers. Milk is illegal.

Q.  Please send a list of all doctors in Australia who can dispense rattlesnake serum.  (U.S.)

A.  Rattlesnakes live in A-meri-ca which is where YOU come from. All Australian snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled, and make good pets.

Q.  I have a question about a famous animal in Australia, but I forget its name. It’s a kind of bear and lives in trees.  (U.S.)

A.  It’s called a Drop Bear. They are so called because they drop out of Gum trees and eat the brains of anyone walking underneath them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.

Q.  I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you tell me where I can sell it in Australia ?  (U.S.)

A.  Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q.  Do you celebrate Christmas in Australia ?  (France)

A.  Only at Christmas.

Q.  Will I be able to speak English most places I go ?  (U.S.)

A.  Yes - but you’ll have to learn it first.

It’s the middle Sunday of November of 2009 in the year of our Lord, and here are my takeaways in 15 words or less from this morning at the L-P-C:

- Kicking things off was an all-new ‘Praise & Worship’ band.
- But the’re not so new if you’ve attended service at our southwest campus.
- Our Plantation Key band got it done at the start of both services.
- They rocked and they rolled like nobody’s business.
- They were definitely cool like that.
- I hosted the first service for the first time ever.
- I read from 1 Peter 1:13-20 to lead us in to Communion.
- God’s ransom saved us – and that ransom – was the Life of Christ.
- God chose Him as His ransom long before the world began.
- Pastor Travis brought this week’s message all about ‘Friends & Neighbors’.
- If we treat our neighbours bad or not at all then we’re doing the same to God.
- Our friends and neighbours should easily see the work of Jesus in us.
- We should embody Jesus and be like Him to all of those around us.
- We should be like Him all of the time – not some of the time.
- We’re either hot or we’re cold when it comes to being like Jesus.
- We can’t be lukewarm, for we can’t serve two masters.
- Our embodiment of Jesus Christ must be consistent and unwavering.

This morning’s message was based on the following Scriptures out of God’s Great News:  Acts 1:8, John 1:1 / 1:14, Matthew 10:40, Proverbs 18:24 / 27:14.

Matthew 10:40 (NLT, 2ND Ed.):
Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me.

I’ll be out-of-town over the next two Sunday mornings, but I’ll be thinking about you wild and crazy cats from afar. Love your friends and neighbours, and invite them onto our fantastic journey. I’ll be back at the movie theatre three Sunday mornings from now on the 06TH of December as we kick-off our Christmas season at Life Pointe Church. Have a safe and festive Thanksgiving my friends !