Mr. Mustachio's 2011 Christmas Mix

I know that everyone hasn't been able to celebrate the Christmas season properly without their new mix from Mr. Mustachio. So, consider this an early Christmas present from me to you. In fact, consider this the only Christmas present from me to you. For a refresher on the songs that were featured last year you can click here: Mr. Mustachio's 2010 Christmas Mix.

This year's disc features 25 songs as well. Here are my top 3 favorite songs to hear this year:
#3 Mrs. Claus Ain't Got Nothing on Me - Little Jackie.


This is a song from last year's Christmas compilation from Target. It has a catchy tune and encourages Mrs. Claus to kick it up a notch.

#2 Christmas Day - Dido

A simple song with simple lyrics that lets you focus on the great voice that Dido has.

#1 Winter Paradise - Liam & Me.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for songs about long-distance romance and California.

Here is the entire track list for this year's disc. As always, I can let you "borrow" a copy.
1. Christmas Day - Dido
2. Mrs. Claus Ain't Got Nothing On Me - Little Jackie
3. Winter Paradise - Liam & Me
4. Up on the Housetop - Jackson 5
5. Last Christmas - Wham!
6. Tiny Tree Christmas - Guster
7. Oi to the World - No Doubt
8. You Gotta Get Up - Five Iron Frenzy
9. Christmas in the Air - Carole King
10. Marshmallow World - Darlene Love
11. The Man in the Santa Suit - Fountains of Wayne
12. Song About Christmas - The Snowballs
13. Got Something for You - Best Coast
14. Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
15. A Winter's Tale - The Tunics
16. Holiday - The Hopefuls
17. Christmas Day - She & Him
18. The Christmas Waltz - Frank Sinatra
19. Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses
20. Suzy Snowflake - Rosemary Clooney
21. Frosty the Snowman - The Ronettes
22. Funky Funky Christmas - Electric Jungle
23. We 3 Kings - Blondie
24. Jingle Bell Rock - Hall & Oates
25. Ding Dong (A Christmas Song) - Gunther & The Sunshine Girls

Happy Holidays!

Cellphone DJ

If you aren't familiar with the everlasting joy that is constantly gifted by The Cellphone DJ, then you haven't checked off everything on your bucket list. For the deprived few, let me explain what Cellphone DJ is and how he came to be.

Long before "Facebook", my family and I had our own way of "Checking-in" at certain events. I don't remember who started this wonderful tradition, but it was either myself or my brother, Jed. The basic process was to use your cellphone to call other family members during important parts of the event you were attending. This started with baseball games that we were at. We would allow our parents or brothers to enjoy the National Anthem with us, or Take Me Out to the Ballgame, or an exciting part of the game. This gradually expanded to include concerts, amusement parks, or other random events. No words are ever spoken. You just call the person and let the surrounding sounds do the rest. The person answering on the other end of the phone would be treated to the fun of trying to figure out what they were hearing and where it might be coming from. There really aren't any rules involved with this. There is no consideration taken for what time the event might be occurring, which makes late-night concerts particularly enjoyable.
A few months back I was faced with a couple of troubling dilemmas. First, I was piling up thousands of rollover minutes on my cellphone. The truth is, I hardly ever use my cellphone as an actual phone. I prefer to communicate through text messages, emails, Facebook posts, and our land line at home. Any way of avoiding actual vocal conversation is preferred. So, the thousands of rollover minutes were starting to expire. That was making me feel like I wasn't getting the full value of what I was paying for. And since I am a cheapskate, I knew I had to do something with those minutes.

Secondly, I was starting to get bored with my commute to and from work. I was putting in the effort to make the drive entertaining. Trying to figure out what personalized license plates meant, creating acronyms for the license plates that weren't personalized, having dance parties in the car, challenging other drivers to car dance party battles, freestyle rapping, playing games of "slugbug" against myself, yelling at bad drivers, rolling down the window and hanging out of the window to yell at bad drivers. Frankly, road rage was starting to creep into my daily drive. I needed to figure out something new to keep me occupied on my way to and from work.One day, in a stroke of genius, I came up with a way to solve both dilemmas. That is when I morphed from a normal, very handsome, man into the superhuman personified version of awesomeness known as Cellphone DJ. I could use my cellphone minutes AND keep myself occupied during my commute by allowing not-so-random people on my contact list enjoy the music I was listening to. It was genius! Not only would I solve my two problems, but I would also be providing a wonderful service to others! The Cellphone DJ listener list started with a select few. Of course, all of my family was a part of the initial play list. Then gradually extended family were blessed with the pleasure of experiencing Cellphone DJ. Friends started getting added to the list, and the Cellphone DJ fan base started growing like the hair of a Chia Pet. Based on the good reviews from listeners, more and more people were being added to the list. I now spend my entire commute trying to meet the demands of my fans.These may be a few questions you have about Cellphone DJ:

1. How does the Cellphone DJ decide what songs to play for his listeners?
Not having a functioning cassette player, cd player or the ability to hook up an mp3 player to my car stereo system, I play music that is currently being played on the radio while I drive.

2. Does the Cellphone DJ choose specific listeners for certain songs?
Not very often. However, there have been times where requests have been played.

3. Does the Cellphone DJ consider the time of day and what time zones his listeners are in?
Nope.

4. Is the reaction to receiving a call from the Cellphone DJ as good as the Cellphone DJ imagines it is?
It is scientifically proven to be even better than the Cellphone DJ imagines.

5. If I call the Cellphone DJ, will my call be answered with music?
Most likely.

6. Has the Cellphone DJ ever merged calls to reach more listeners at once?
Yes, on many occasions.

7. How does one get on the Cellphone DJ's listener list?
If I have your cellphone number, if you post your phone number on Facebook, or if you make a request at the Cellphone DJ website, you will be added to the list(to check out the web page, click here).

8. Can someone be removed from the listener list?
I can't imagine anyone wanting that to occur.

9. Can I help the Cellphone DJ improve his quality control?
The comments section on the web page provides you with a way to help improve the process.
And that is how Cellphone DJ came to be. AT&T must have recognized the charitable work that the Cellphone DJ was doing, because they recently upgraded his cellphone plan to include free mobile-to-mobile minutes. Now the music will never stop!

Change of Plans

CAREER ASPIRATIONS

INTRODUCTION

The industry that I would like to go into as an occupation is the refuse industry. The garbage industry has always amused me and I have always wanted to do something different than others, so this career would be perfect. There are different aspects of the garbage industry, and also many different employment opportunities. Some of those include garbage truck drivers, dump truck drivers, the garbage can dumpers, and many others.

EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

There is no minimum educational requirement to get into this industry. Many trucking jobs only require a high school diploma. However, the truck drivers are required to have a license for the class of vehicle that they are operating, but some employers may only require drivers to be 18 years old. Because of these reasons, I do not plan on attending college, but I do plan on going to a truck drivers school as my career gets underway.

CLASSES NEEDED

The suggested classes to be taken in high school in order to obtain my career goal are Driver's Education, Reading, Automobile Mechanics, and Physical Education. Another preference is that the employees be fluent speakers of English. The only class I have not taken in high school is Automobile Mechanics, which really isn't necessary for me in the garbage truck industry, because I would not be traveling long distances. Basically, the only thing I really need to do in high school to obtain my career goal is to graduate.

CAREER DESCRIPTION

As far as my career goes, I plan to start as a garbage collector, which in essence means that I pick up the trash cans and I dump the trash out of them into the trash truck's hydraulic lifting device. This job would give me a variety of working conditions, because I would work in all kinds of weather. I would also have somewhat of a variety in the places I would work, because I have different routes to cover every day. In some cases, I must have physical strength to lift trash cans.

CAREER PLANS

From being a garbage collector I plan to advance to driver after I obtain my class I or II drivers license. This would involve a little more responsibility and some more skill. Some of the skills involved will be the ability to judge distances accurately, operate vehicles safely and economically, prepare delivery forms and keep accurate

records, must be familiar with traffic laws and U.S. Department of Transportation regulations.

JOB PLACEMENT

There are 124,665 refuse collectors projected to be employed by the year of 2005, with 4,335 new positions between 1992-2005. Little growth is projected through 2005 for trash collectors. The average entry level pay on the national scale for trash truck drivers ranges from $6.75 to $15.50 per hour. Garbage collectors are paid slightly less than the drivers. Pay depends on geographic region. Top pay may exceed $15.50 to $20.75. Advancement to supervisor, dispatcher, and manager are limited by the small number of jobs, but is possible with experience. Benefits include health benefits and holidays off.

RELATED OCCUPATIONS

With my experience in the garbage industry I would also qualify to go into many other occupations. Some related occupations would be tank truck drivers, who operate equipment that carry liquid and gaseous products. They load, transport and deliver these products. Tow truck drivers drive a tow truck to move stalled motor vehicles, those damaged by accident, or ticketed by police officers for traffic violations. Truck drivers operate trucks or trailer combinations to deliver various materials to manufacturers and markets. Long-haul truck drivers operate diesel, butane, or gasoline-powered trucks and trailers over distances ranging from hundreds to thousands of miles. Other drivers operate log trucks, delivery vans, and numerous other types of vehicles primarily within local areas.

CONCLUSION

I believe that my career aspiration will be an enjoyable and life long experience, which will provide good pay, hours, benefits, and new experiences every day. This will also open doors into other occupations also if I find that I am not satisfied with the garbage industry. So, as I have just shown, the garbage industry is an occupation that society looks down upon and considers dirty and smelly is actually an excellent field to go into.

Long Legs BJ

I received word on Monday morning that my grandmother on my mom’s side had passed away. Of my extended family members that have passed on, Grandma Bishop has been the one I’ve been closest to. Both of my grandfathers died when I was still fairly young, so the bond didn’t have as much time to develop. In fact, the women have long outlived their husbands on both sides of my family (which seems to be a troubling pattern). She had lived a full life, and I trust that it was her time to take this next step in her eternal journey.

I’ve had a few days to reflect on the influence that my grandma has had on my life. The first thing that comes to mind is the importance of family. My memories of going to visit Grandma Bishop usually meant that we were going to get together with all of my aunts, uncles and cousins. Trips to Grandma Bishop’s meant games of football in the yard, digging up potato bugs, the giant pig next door (was his name George?), picking grapes from the vine, checking out the outdoor fish tank, intense board game battles, tons of delicious food and lots of laughs. Most importantly it meant that everyone was going to be there. When you start adding up all the aunts and uncles, the 15 grandchildren and the random friends and neighbors that might stop by, it was never a small group. And with a few exceptions it was always like that. Everyone would make the trip to Grandma’s. The bond that was developed with my extended family during those times became very strong, and we still maintain contact regardless of how far we have moved away from one another. I think that The Bishop Bunch has kept family close because of Grandma Bishop’s influence. After all, she did live in the house right behind Great Grandma Rich for all those years. You can’t keep family much closer than that.

Another thing that came to mind was how cool Grandma Bishop was. One of the things I like to think about with older people is whether or not I would have hung out with them in school. Grandma Bishop was one of the old people who would have made the cut. I don’t know what exactly that means, but I think it means that I would have liked her even if we weren’t family. On the occasions that we would have friends and family together she was always talking my friends’ ears off. We would tell them that she used to be an exotic dancer. She not only went along with it, but said that her stage name was “Long Legs BJ”. She seemed to fit right in. She didn’t let technology slow her down. I was out of the country when the whole internet thing happened. When it came to email and instant messaging, she was way ahead of me. She not only had a Facebook account, but she constantly used it. She would keep us up to date on how she was feeling, she would send out birthday wishes and she would let you know what she thought of the activities you posted. She wasn’t a person of rich means and she always “wished she could give more”, but for me she epitomized the phrase, “It’s the thought that counts”. She was someone I liked being around.

The thing I will remember most about Grandma Bishop is her laugh. People have often said that I have a wonderful sense of humor (Nobody has actually said that to me out loud, but I’m sure they are thinking it). I think my unique sense of humor has many influences (many of which would probably not like to be named), but I see a lot of my sense of humor being similar to Grandma Bishop’s. We both could be a bit irreverent at times, we both could get loud at exactly the wrong moment, we both could be the butt of a joke for the sake of the laugh and we both could usually find the humor in serious situations. My missionary companions always chuckled about me getting mail from Long Legs BJ, and then finding out that it was from my grandma. And she always kept me up to date on what was happening with the O.J. trial.

As I look back on all my experiences with Grandma Bishop the one that keeps coming to the front of my mind is a time when she was over at my parents’ house. I don’t remember what the occasion was, but I remember us sitting on the couch and watching the movie “The Naked Gun” together. That is my all-time favorite movie. Some people might not think that it is the best movie to sit and watch with your grandmother, but I’m not some people and my grandma isn’t your average grandmother. We sat there laughing louder and louder as the jokes got stupider and stupider. I recall one particular scene that made her laugh so hard that she started crying. And that is how I will remember my grandma; laughing together at something mildly inappropriate.

I regret that she never got to meet Sawyer, but my faith in the afterlife gives me the hope that they will one day get to laugh together. I’m not sure how everything goes down after death, but I can picture Grandma giving Grandpa a piece of her mind for leaving this life so many years before her. Then I see them grabbing their fishing gear, with the sound of grandma’s laughter tailing off as they head to the lake.

Until we meet again Long Legs BJ, I’ll keep the laughter going.

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