"My Birthday..."

Yesterday was my 59th (next year will be BIG!) birthday!  True to form for this Leo, I started the celebration over a week earlier with lunches and dinners out (and speaking of out, my lifting belt buckle had to be moved out a notch!).  Last night, I arranged a dinner gathering for thirteen (my lucky number and in this 2013th year) local family members and friends at a favorite, regularly frequented indoor/outdoor restaurant on the Intracoastal.  I delivered a cake, selected the price fixe 3-course and beverage menu choices, and arranged for one long (wanted a square for ease of conversation but none were available) table, in the afternoon.  The celebration went well...

 

Simultaneously, my sister and her spouse were preparing to drive my nephew to Portland, Oregon to begin college, and my youngest brother and spouse were preparing to take my other nephew to begin his college in Deland, Florida.  My sister's daughter has already completed college, and my brother's daughter is applying for college entrance the following year.  Both households will be "empty nests", and it seems like we were all in college together!

 

In our contemporary world I received over 300 Facebook and other e-mail birthday greetings.  I also received a few calls from long-time friends, during which we reflected on "where has the time gone?"



"In The News..."

Bagged salad from Mexico, as used in a few national restaurant franchises, has been causing illnesses and has resulted in a National alert.

Ground beef from a national grocery store franchise has been causing illnesses.

Strawberry yogurt coloring is from the ground dried blood of beetles...check ingredients for carmine...high in protein and low in fat (lie other insects)...and determined to not be too harmful.

An increase in Millipedes has been observed in Palm Beach County.

At a marinelife lecture the guest speaker stated that 75% of the shark attacks are in Florida...the highest number is in Volusa and the third highest number is in Palm Beach counties respectively...but you have a much greater chance of dying from a coconut falling from a palm tree onto your head.

A genetically mutated type of "super-sized" mosquitoes has invaded Central Florida.

U. S. Post Office mail delivery to single family residences is being phased out, and is expected to be gone by 2022.

Costco has a new car buying department that obtains vehicles for a small service charge over dealer invoice.

This year's pro bodybuilding show in Tampa has over 200 competitors...the largest previous was 179.

Nationally 30%  of college educations are funded thru scholarships...70% by parents...loan rates have just been raised while savings institutions are lowering their interest payments.

 

The popular recreational drug methamphetamine contains Ephedrine, Sudafed, Draino, and ground battery contents; hydrochloric acid among other things.

 

Palm Beach County has 70% of the dispensed pain killers in the southeast U.S..

13 professional baseball players were fined and banned from playing due to their use of performance-enhancing drugs.

 

Traffic signals at train crossings along Alt A1A are more commonly breaking..I'm hitting them regularly.

 

2013: housing starts up 22% from 2011 to 861,000 while household formations increased 1.2 million.

 

2013: consumer debt has decreased slightly.

Only one non-hybrid car brand sold in the U.S. currently gets over 40 miles per gallon on the highway...and it is a Korean car.

The U.S. has closed their embassies in over fourteen Arab countries, and has issued foreign travel warnings based on an intercepted message from Yemen.

The U.S. Military Spouses Choir received a standing ovation on America's Got Talent...Yeah!!!