Do you smell that ?  It’s the smell of your hard drive burning !  The most destructive virus ever created by mankind has infected your system, and it’s literally burning a physical hole right through the middle of your hard drive.

Read all about it on a SHOCKING ‘Thursday Night Internet Hoax Hall-Of-Shame’ tomorrow (Thursday) at 5 PM Eastern / 4 PM Central / 11 AM Hawaiian. It’s what everyone will be talking about on Friday morning over at Denny’s in Florida City (where all of the food is).

Don’t forget about the original ‘Friday Night Blogroll Review’ featuring the greatest blog entries of this past week from the greatest bloggers that are near and dear to me. That includes this crazy cat who reminds me of me because when I read his blog it looks just like my blog !  Phil - One Sunday we should really mix it all up by having me guest-write your ‘Talk Soup’ on your blog in your style, and having you guest-write my ‘Tossed Salad’ on my blog in my style.

OK enough of all of that lunacy. THANK YOU BLOGGERS for blogging on here with me. Even if you don’t have your own blog and you’re just here to read what I have to write then that still makes you a blogger. If you read blogs then you blog. It’s that simple.

So until we blog again - REMEMBER THIS from 40 years ago !

OK honorary club members - Here’s this week’s message straight from my fortune cookie to my blog:

‘You are known for being quick in action and decisions.’

YES - That’s me. It seems that the longer I go in trying to make a decision the less desirable the outcome is. It’s the quicker decisions and the actions that go along with them that generally seem to work out the best.

I know what you want. Here it is:

1.  Tuesday nights have become ’me’ nights at home. On Mondays I’m typically away from home for 13+ hours with work and the weekly staff meeting at Life Pointe Church. On Wednesdays I only have about 3 hours at home after work and before Life Group. But Tuesdays when I get home I stay home and catch up with stuff. It’s my ‘fun’ day - my ‘I don’t have to run’ day !

2.  TODAY I extended my ‘fun’ day by 4 hours and worked just a half a day. I went to Target for the first time since perhaps last December, and I went on a 90-minute shopping spree. Actually for the amount of time that I was scouring that store I didn’t really buy too many items (17). I could have really gone wild and bought 35 items !

3.  Standing right behind me at the same checkout counter at Target ? - This fellow LPC Blogger Extraordinare.

4.  If we had a Target that was closer to home then I’d probably shop there at least once every couple of weeks or so instead of once or twice a year.

5.  Jesse wants to see “Step Brothers” with me.

6.  I’m having a lot of fun and learning a lot too with my fresh new Panasonic DVD Recorder / VCR Combo. I bought it online at circuitcity.com a couple of Saturday nights ago, and FedEx delivered it to me (free of charge) less than two business days later !  I couldn’t believe my four eyes when it arrived that fast ! 

7.  Since my new DVD recorder has a digital tuner I’m exploring and enjoying crystal clear digital television for the first time ever. I have 90 new digital channels (expanded basic) that I always had but couldn’t access until now. That includes 50 music channels. I dig that !

8.  Last night and this morning I recorded four hours of digital television programming on DVD-RW for the first time ever. I’ve got some tweaks to make to this process. I recorded it all in EP mode (which allows for 8 hours of programming onto a single 4.7 GB DVD). The picture quality suffered a bit. I’ll have to bring it down a notch for my next recordings. I’m learning.

9.  I’ve pushed back the purchase of my fresh new HP Pavilion laptop indefinitely - but not for too long. Once the initial enjoyment value for my DVD Recorder / digital television revolution begins to wind down a bit then it will be time for me to buy my next new toy - the laptop. It should happen sometime in August.

10.  Bright and early this morning I was once again reminded why I rarely go through the drive-thru at the McDonald’s at the Oasis Plaza en el este de Homestead. It’s because the service is subpar. They get confused handling more than one order at a time ! 

It’s time to count ‘em down again. This week I’m counting down my TOP 5 favourite movies that I actually went to a movie theatre to see over the past 13 months. Check it out:

5.  The Happening
I saw this one at the AMC Theatres at the Rivercenter Mall on the River Walk en San Antonio three weeks ago. After I saw it I was extremely conscious (and cautious) while walking back from the movie theatre to my hotel room.

4.  Forgetting Sarah Marshall
I saw this one for free with (are you ready for this ?) Anne J., Venus D., and Alex S. in Orlando. Venus refuses to admit how much she laughed hard all throughout it.

3.  What Happens In Vegas
I saw this one on the way home from a Sunday morning service at Pastor Nathan’s InDependence Church up in Western Broward County.

2.  Evan Almighty
It was better than the original as far as I’m concerned, but most critics will disagree with me. It was set in my former hometown region of Northern Virginia (just outside of Washington D.C.). 

1.  License To Wed
It’s religious hijinks at the box office with Robin Williams in the role of a lifetime - as a crazy Lead Reverend of a modern church. This is probably my all-time favourite Robin Williams film.

OK friends we’ve got a busy week ahead of us here on the big blog. You crazy cats made this past (Monday to Sunday) week the busiest week in the entire history of this blog’s young life. We finished the week with just a tad over 900 total views !  That’s way more than double our average weekly views from March 2008. Thank You Everyone for supporting this blog and participating on it !  Let’s keep on doin’ our thing !

TOMORROW on the big blog I’ve got your ‘Monday Night Countdown’ (a fresh new regular weekly feature on here that was inspired by this cool dude). This week’s countdown features the TOP 5 movies that I’ve seen over the past 13 months. You’re not gonna wanna miss that my friends !

Then be sure to round-up your crazy crew and hang out with the hipsters for the legendary ’Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’. It’s the most spontaneous blog entry of the week. I totally plan it that way !

That’s what’s happenin’ on here over the next 48 hours, so be sure to keep it locked in to the big blog. You won’t regret it pal.

Until we blog again - REMEMBER THIS !

Surferdog

1.  It’s certainly not a competition as to who gets to the movie theatre first in the morning, but (for a change) I beat Anne J. there this morning by at least a couple of minutes. Then again David C. and David ‘Ritz’ were there before me. They just didn’t know that the front door was already unlocked !  (They were waiting out front.)

2.  Due to personal reasons near and dear to me this morning’s 9 AM service was the most emotional Sunday morning service for me ever - in the 18 months (exactly) that I’ve been attending Life Pointe Church. During selected portions of this morning’s service it truly felt like Pastor Travis was speaking directly to me and about me regarding some situations that are currently going on in my Life. I’m sure that some of my fellow brothers and sisters in attendance felt the same way - that Pastor Travis was talking to them and about them from the stage. The fact of the matter is that God is using our Lead Pastor to communicate to us corporately each and every Sunday morning. That makes Pastor Travis very relevant. God is truly omnipotent.

3.  Pastor Travis spoke on exhaustion this morning. The following statement in his teaching caused me to get the chills and get very emotional with tears - ‘To run with endurance all the way to the end, you have to drop your dead weight.’ It’s based on Philippians 3:13-14:
13  No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
14  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

4.  A few of our regular attenders have been asking me about the next membership luncheon at The Capri Restaurant in Florida City (where all of the food is). The next one is scheduled for Sunday August 17TH at 2 PM. You can sign-up for it at the Information Booth next Sunday morning, or you can let us know that you (and your family - if applicable) wish to attend via your connection card next Sunday. If you have any questions regarding the membership luncheon then please feel free to stop me in the hallway next Sunday morning and ask me about it.

5.  I recently switched over from the 10:30 AM service to the 9 AM service, and you can too. There’s plenty of seats available during that first service, so consider making that switch. Be sure to arrive at the theatre in time for the actual start of each service - whether it be precisely 9 AM or precisely 10:30 AM. Jesse leads the LPC band up on stage with at least 15 minutes of rockin’ music that will surely get you up on your feet, singing loudly, clapping proudly, and even gettin’ down with a little bit of dancing. If you’re missing the big music show at the start of each service then you are definitely missing something !

TODAY I paid the second of two homeowner’s insurance policies for the upcoming year that begins for each of the policies in about 6 weeks. One of the policies ($754.00 for the year) is for all perils except for wind, and the other policy ($949.10) is for wind only. So that’s $1,703.10 combined for the year - or less than $4.67 a day.

Here’s how my annual insurance costs have evolved since I’ve owned my current home (nearly 7 years):

2008-2009 - $1,703.10
2007-2008 - $1,697.30
2006-2007 - $1,922.00
2005-2006 - $761.00
2004-2005 - $703.00
2003-2004 - $701.00
2002-2003 - $707.00
2001-2002 - $331.98

THIS AFTERNOON I shaved. Why ?  Because it’s Saturday !

I shave twice a week. Why do I shave twice a week ?  It’s because I do not wish to shave three times a week. I had to shave every day for 8 years while I was Active Duty Air Force. I didn’t like it at all. It was 1 of the 57 reasons why I decided to get out of the Air Force when I did. Over 15 years later I’m still working for the Air Force - but as a D.O.D. civilian. I can shave whenever I feel like it, and I feel like shaving twice a week. In fact I feel like shaving on Saturday afternoons and Tuesday evenings. That’s why when you see me on Wednesdays and Sundays I appear to be rather clean-shaven. There’s about 76 hours between my Saturday afternoon shave and my Tuesday evening shave, and there’s about 92 hours between my Tuesday evening shave and my Saturday afternoon shave. A lot of hair grows on my face during those 76 to 92 hours. I like how my face feels once it’s all shaved off. It feels smooth like that !

If I decided to increase my shaving to three times a week then perhaps I would go with a Sunday evening / Tuesday evening / Thursday evening schedule. That way I would be clean-shaven on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

That just seems like a bit too much shaving for me.

It’s the only morning of the week in which a set alarm clock does not wake me up. During the work week it wakes me up at precisely 5:15 AM. On Sundays it does so at 6:30 AM. On Saturdays I get to sleep in, and lately (especially) I’ve been taking full advantage of this once-in-a-week opportunity.

This morning I recall waking up (for the first time) at 4:20 AM. When I quickly identified the time as ‘4:20 AM’ I just as quickly went back to sleep. I proceeded to sleep right through my normal wake up times for the other 6 days of the week, and I finally awoke (for good) at 7:47 AM. I just laid there in bed for about 10 minutes as I planned out my upcoming day. It was right then and there that I decided to not go anywhere at all today. I walked in to my home just before 3:30 PM yesterday (Friday) afternoon, and I don’t plan to walk out of it again until just before 7:30 AM tomorrow (Sunday) morning. I’ll be enjoying the comfort of my home sweet home en Homestead for 40 continuous hours. It’s just me and my home. Home is where my heart is.

Most people I know don’t spend nearly enough time in their home. They are always out and about and on the go. They rarely take ‘personal time’ away from it all. They are sort of like zombies. All work. All action. No play. No rest.

That will not be me (today anyway). My shenanigans on a Saturday would be considered to be extremely lame for many, but it works on so many levels for me. I am so much busier in 2008 than in any other previous year in my entire life. Today I am taking a day off from the rest of the world. I am recharging my batteries. I am getting refreshed. I am enjoying this home of mine. It’s got everything that I need. It’s where I belong today. It’s where I need to be.

I’ll be back outside and on-the-go tomorrow (Sunday). Catch me then (if you can).

These are my favourite blog entries of this past week from my favourite Life Pointe Church bloggers:

Travis recently got a mention in one of North America’s most-read daily newspapers - ‘The Boston Globe’. A potential future member of ‘The Chris Day Club’ was also featured in the article.

Phil explains how we are all fishermen with neat gadgets at Life Pointe Church. It’s one of his most poignant blog entries to date !

Blake was eaten alive by South Florida’s summertime bugs !  We must remember that the bugs are the true natives of this region. We are merely the guests here.

Did you know these amazing but true facts about Jesse ?

Ritz doesn’t care if you judge him. He exists to impress his Creator - not you. This is his strongest blog entry to date.

Venus is totally impressing me with her active blogging. Check out what she had to write about last Sunday morning at Life Pointe Church as well as a current conflict that she is experiencing in her Life.

Luciana reflects on her Life Group and her personal relationship with God.

Rebecca spent some quality time over at Starbucks, and she was in the company of a mysterious V.I.P. !

THANK YOU fellow LPC bloggers !  This was one of our strongest overall blogging weeks to date. Let’s keep our ministries going like this !

We do it all for Him.