If there is one thing that I have learned during the time I have lived in Florida it is that there should never be a decision about using sunscreen.  Even if it supposed to be 50 degrees out with a pretty good chance of rain you should go ahead and put some on anyway.  You will save yourself the misery that comes later if you didn’t.  As a bonus for me when I put on sunscreen there is a pretty good chance the sun will go behind the clouds anyway.

Could be a very exciting week . . .

• Random thought #1 –  It is fair to say that I do not often clean out the inside of my car as I am generally the only one in it.  However finding some mail dated from 2010 under the seat when I did so recently was a pretty good indicator that I probably should get to it a bit more often.
• Random thought #2 –  I in no way want to make an effort to do so myself, but a part of me wonders what it is like to drive into a house.  After seeing the aftermath of that the other day and I am curious how exactly that happens in the middle of the day on a beautiful sunny afternoon.
• Random thought #3 – Has anyone in the history of popcorn ever eaten more than a few pieces without some of it ending up stuck in their teeth?  An official study needs to be done to see if that is even a possibility.
• Random thought #4 – As passionate a fan as I am for the teams that I support, I also think that sometimes sporting events are very much more enjoyable to watch when you really do not care who wins.  At some point you lean toward one side or the other, but it is still a lot less stressful.
• Random thought #5 – In the same way that it is really important to be drinking a beer while brewing your own beer at home I think that it is also a very good idea to be drinking a good beer while reading about beer.  Just consider it a study aid.

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Every so often I have one of those days where it seems like I can drink gallons and gallons of water and stay incredibly thirsty the whole time.  Aside from being a very good indicator of my inability to maintain hydration over the previous days it is also quite a frustrating scenario.

Before I continue to rehydrate . . .

• Random thought #1 –  There is no good excuse that I can think of to still have your Christmas lights up at this point if you live in Florida.  You do not have to go out in the cold to take them down let alone shovel and move any snow to get the job done.  The season is over and you need to move on.
• Random thought #2 –  Regardless of the many reasons I should be against the idea, I really would not have much of a problem with a few mice living in my garage if they would agree to not chew on/through anything.  Unfortunately for them they cannot be reasoned with so they have to go.
• Random thought #3 – I do not have any basis  for judging the quality of haggis, but if the stuff I consumed at the Central Florida Scottish Highland Games is any sort of indication of what it is supposed to taste like I enjoy it very much and would like to try eat it again at some point sooner than later.
• Random thought #4 – As a flashback to what college was like I was recently reminded that the worst part of going too many hours without sleeping is not being sleepy.  At some point that goes away.  The worst part is certainly the overall body ache that comes on after you are no longer sleepy.  Ah, I miss the college days.
• Random thought #5 – Somehow having a few beers in the morning hours seems like the right thing to do when attending an outdoor festival.  I am not saying that it is otherwise a terrible idea, but there is something about watching people throwing heavy objects for distance and launching items over a bar with a pitchfork that just warrants a beer or two in hand.

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Contrary to any belief you night have, drinking beer from the state of your favorite team during their game as a show of support does not at all increase their chances of victory.  With that, increasing the number of those beers that you drink also does not increase the probability of the team winning the game.

Moving to the offseason . . .

• Random thought #1 –  If I have not said this here before I will do so now.  Of course you can say in your commercial that most people prefer vanilla soy milk to regular milk on their cereal.  What kind of comparison is that?!  Why don’t you just tell us that most people would prefer to drink a glass of chocolate milk over regular milk?
• Random thought #2 –  One of the unofficial activities to participate in while losing your money in Las Vegas is to watch all of the other people losing their money.  I have recently been reminded that people watching at a popular amusement park is right up there with the enjoyment of doing so in Vegas.
• Random thought #3 – In the same way I enjoy driving an older car where burglary and damage are not a real concern of mine I also like having plants on my property that I don’t care enough about to cover up during overnight freezes.  I have better things to do with my time than to find sheets to cover up the shrubs with.
• Random thought #4 – I am mesmerized by a certain late night talk show that consists almost entirely of banter between the host and a robotic talking skeleton that looks like it belongs in a bad ‘80s movie.  When I first saw it I thought that whole thing was just a bit but it actually appears to be the whole show.
• Random thought #5 – If I pretend for a minute that I am not crazy and hearing things and there is a creature living in the wall of our garage I then have to move on to figuring out exactly how I would go about getting that creature to leave.  In that scenario I wish I actually was crazy.

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As we spent a few hours working on our front yard yesterday I did notice at least a few people staring as they drove by.  I am not sure if it was because they liked what we were doing or if they wondered why we were working so hard outside on Christmas Day.  Either way I like that we finally made some progress after talking about it for so long.

Beginning the last week of the year . . .

• Random thought #1 –  If you are a person who rarely ever has cookies (or sweets really) in the house throughout the year it is a good idea not to eat about six Christmas cookies as soon as you get them unless you want to feel like hell about an hour later.
• Random thought #2 –  I am enjoying the jobs that I have, but I would like to find one of those jobs where you get suspended with pay when you do something dumb.  That seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.
• Random thought #3 – Even if I blindly love a television show it doesn’t mean that I don’t take offense to the blatant product placement that seems to be in every episode now.  I understand why it happens, but at least try to make it less obvious and maybe fit into the storyline once and a while.
• Random thought #4 – Unless I am not understanding the intended meaning of the title “Executive Producer” I am pretty sure that a show should not have more than one.  if multiple are needed for some reason I think a different title should be applied.
• Random thought #5 – Every day that I sit here at my desk and see all of the bottles of beer on the other side of the room collecting dust I wonder why I am bothering to hold on to any of them.  Sure they could get better, but they could also taste worse when I finally open them.  I think it is time to start whittling down the collection a bit.

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At some point in my life the days around Christmas became a time to do projects around the house because The Wife and I had a few days off together rather than really notice that it was, in fact, Christmas.  I don’t think it started right when we bought the house, but shortly after that each holiday had a similar theme.  So with less than a week to plan, will it be a home improvement kind of weekend or a sort of rest and relaxation and maybe a day trip kind of weekend?  Not sure just yet.

Much planning to do  . . .

• Random thought #1 –  How exactly is it more convenient for me to pay a bill online if it costs me 12 dollars every time to do so?!  That isn’t exactly a “convenience fee” and unless I have been sleeping for a while a stamp doesn’t cost nearly that much (yet).
• Random thought #2 –  There is really no reason for “Cheesy Bread” to exist at all (you know who I am referring to).  A pizza is bread with cheese on it already so what exactly are you trying to accomplish?  Are there that many people out there who want their cheese pizza without sauce?  Oh wait, you provide the sauce to dip the non sauced pizza into . . . that makes sense.
• Random thought #3 – I am not sure how much effort one should put into trying to get the lights to work on an old pink feather (yes pink feather) Christmas tree before giving up, but it might be more than the five minutes I spent.  With that, we currently have a tree that does not light up at night.
• Random thought #4 – A good way to be sure that you will do multiple shots of tequila in a short amount of time is to make some sort of declaration early in the night that you are not doing any shots of anything.  At least do yourself the favor of having friends that drink good quality tequila now that you know that.
• Random thought #5 – Sure it is easy to grab some home brewed beer that has been sitting around for months and throw it in the fridge, but for some reason it is not as easy to dump it out when you notice that it is tasting old.  Not bad necessarily, but not in prime condition.  Probably should rip the band aid off on that one.

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