Siamese Moose

Back in the early 90's (IIRC) my instructor got me a cheap deal on a Titleist PT Mid driver, which worked quite well for me. I told him I was interested in getting matching fairway woods. He checked, and came back with, "I can't get the mids, but the regular PT's are available, and I think they'd be better for you as a fairway wood anyway." He ended up getting me two demo clubs, 3 and 5, for a total around $40. I don't know how many of you remember the PT fairways, but "that's what Tiger plays!" (This was just before the club became stupidly hot.) About a year later I sold them for over $300 each, and even got $200 for the driver. Still feel guilty I didn't buy my pro a bottle of whiskey!

Spoke on a Zoom meeting with a friend who's an EMT. In his words, the official statistics for our area (Greater Cincinnati) are pure fiction. There is a large nursing home in his area. Officially, they have two cases and no deaths. His station has made over 100 runs there since this started. He estimates 40-50 COVID deaths. We're allowed to use a bicycle for exercise, and going by there was on one of my routes. Intellectually, I know the street in front of the place is OK, but emotionally I can't go that way any more.

Most, if not all, of the Garmin watches do. My watch (Vivomusic 3) is primarily a fitness tracker, and getting the golf GPS was a bonus.

I've had three without a hole in one. I'm sick to death of people telling me I'm a liar, because of what some website lists as the odds. I'm quite pleased to hear of someone unluckier than me! I sincerely hope you get your ace this year!

I have three albatrosses, but no hole in one. I would trade all three for a hole in one. No one gives you a plaque for an albatross. Nobody asks you how many albatrosses you've had. (OK, some golf hardcore people might.) There's an excitement level for a hole in one that I have not experienced with my shots. God willing, I'll get to find out if that's true.

Don't let my mileage freak you out! I've been racing since I was 17, and am currently putting in my volunteer time as the President of the racing team. After having had three straight seasons cut short due to injury I'm finally getting to ride as much as I want. I'm lucky that cycling for exercise is an encouraged behavior during quarantine, and I'm focused on getting back a lot of the endurance I've lost. With no races currently I'm emphasizing base endurance over power work, so that means more miles. I hope that when races come back that I return to being competitive in my age group (60-64), as well as able to hang with the non-elite youngsters. Great move to do the fit before picking a bike! With the tools available to fitters, it's amazing how efficient the modern process is.

We normally would have started last week, for 20 weeks. While the course should open in May, their financial conditions for leagues (prepay the entire season, including cart fees, no walking, no refunds for rainouts, and more) are outrageous.

I learned yesterday that my league is canceled for the year.

My most memorable moment came almost 20 years ago, the first time I broke par for 9 holes. Showed up for a Saturday round, and was informed that they screwed up, and had an outing, so we could only play nine. After 6 holes I was 4 over (about my norm). #7 is a very reachable par 5. Reached in 2, made a 30 footer for eagle. #8, par 4, chipped in for birdie. #9 is another par 5, but I had never reached in 2 before. I hit a great drive, and went for and made the green, to about 15 feet. I'm now thinking, "If I make this I'll be under par for the first time in my life!" This green is right by the parking lot, which was loaded with 144 players for the outing sitting in their carts waiting for their shotgun start. Somebody noticed I was on in 2, and word got around. When I made the putt there was a huge explosion of applause from the parking lot. Last three holes in 5 under to finish 1 under. That last putt was the most pressure I've ever felt on a golf course.

My wife's birthday was in early March. I gave her an Oomi portable pizza oven. Damn did that turn out to be a timely gift!

Wild Turkey should not be put in the freezer! It should be served neat at room temperature, or at most with one large cube of ice.

Until last year we had a feeder right outside our family room (almost a full wall of glass, with 12' ceiling), but I had to take the feeder out. A number of predators had discovered the bounty of prey present (gives a new meaning to "bird feeder"), and we had constant crashes into the windows. When a red tail in full chase hits the window the whole house shakes! Needless to say, the windows were getting damaged, and the seals on most of them popped, so the windows were fogging up. One red tail figured out the glass, and learned to approach from the right angle to drive mourning doves into the windows. They'd fall to the ground, stunned, and he had an easy catch! The red tails would usually only be present in spring, as once the trees fully leafed out the maneuvering room got too tight for their liking. At that point the Cooper's would take over. We usually only saw them as a flash going by. I only saw a sharpshin twice, but the one time was spectacular and gruesome. He caught a cardinal that was bigger than he was, and they fell to the ground fighting. That fight lasted several minutes before the cardinal lost, and then the hawk was too gassed to fly for nearly an hour.

Quite some time ago I was sitting in a cart with my wife waiting on the group in front. We were in the shade of a lonely small tree when a sharpshin hawk came diving out of it right in front of us. He passed below our eye level in a flash, and grabbed a small rodent before we knew what was happening. My kingdom for a high speed camera, and the skill and luck to use it!

Great line!

I started wearing a smartwatch (also Garmin) because of the phone notifications. My phone is now always on silent, and I don't have to worry about muting it for meetings, movies, etc. It's already done. I used to dislike wearing a watch while playing, but either I've just gotten mellower about it, or the bigger yet lighter smartwatch sits more unobtrusively on my wrist. Bonus: It's a golf GPS!