Golf League - Week 6

Played the back nine last night. For once, the weather was just about perfect! Temps in the upper 60's, not a cloud in the sky, no wind to speak of... just beautiful.

Started off in a tough spot on #10... drove my tee shot into the pond. Took a drop and chipped up to the right of the green. Chipped in for my par. Good finish to what could have been a bad start to the round. Bogied the next hole because I bladed my pitching wedge over the green and didn't chip close enough to the hole. Parred #12, a par 3. Hit a good drive and second shot on #13, a par 5, and was sitting about 20 yards from the hole. Hit a great chip shot to within about two feet. Putt breaks a little to the right. I pulled the putt and missed the birdie. Next is the second par 3, and I missed the green and chipped up to within about three feet. Again, I missed the par putt. My putting left me last night, for some unknown reason. Still, I'm two over after four holes, so I'm not doing too bad. Good tee shot on #15, but was a little short on my approach shot. Chipped up to about five feet and missed the par putt again. Three over now. Pull-hooked my tee shot on #16 and have to hit over some trees, up hill to the green. Hit a solid 8 iron to the front of the green. The pin was back. Long birdie putt came up just a little short, but it was a gimme putt... par. Hole 17 is a long par 5. I hit, what I felt was a good drive, but no one saw it after it left the tee. My partner said he thought he saw it start off right, but was drawing back into the fairway. We couldn't see the ball anywhere, due to the sun and shade in the fairway. Finally found it on the left side of the fairway. Hit a decent second shot and had about 110 yards to the green. Hit a good pitching wedge to the green, but was about 20 feet from the hole. Hit a good putt, but came up a little short and settled for a par. Still three over after 8 holes. I'm in good shape... I can still break 40 for this round if I don't have my blowup hole, as I have each week so far. The 18th hole is a straight away par 4. Hit a good drive even though my right foot slipped from under me as I was coming through the ball. I had about 115 yards to the green and the hole was cut in the back of the green, which slopes severely towards the front of the green. My hope was to hit below the hole to have an up hill putt. I hit a good 10 iron (I love this club), but put the ball above the hole. I had a down hill putt, with a break to the right. It's a speed putt. I looked at it from both sides, had my partner read it as well. We didn't have the same opinion as to how much the putt was going to break. I went with what my partner was telling me. Fortunately, I hit the putt well, and the ball found the bottom of the cup for a birdie. Finished with a 38. Should have been a lot better because of my putting problems, but I was happy with the score. I won a couple of skins with the birdie at 18 and a par on 17.

The one thing that I can point to in making this round what it was is the fact that I did not use my 3 wood at all. When I had a chance to use it (on both par 5's), I opted to use my 3 iron instead. I'm sure I could have been on the green, or at least closer to the hole that I ended up on these holes, but with having no confidence in my 3 wood, I chose to use the 3 iron. I really need to get to the range and hit my 3 wood, and get the confidence back with that club. I know I've said it before, but I just haven't been able to find the time. Some day...

What a long weekend...

Well, I did end up getting sick, but not bad enough to not get things done around the house...

First things first, though... golf on Wednesday night... Shot a 41. Didn't hit my goal, but all in all it was a good night. It was really windy and cool last Wednesday, not a great night for golf. Started off bogey, bogey, bogey, and then settled down. I parred the next two holes, and then came up just short (about 6 inches) of getting a hole in one on the #6 Par 3 hole. I hit a great shot... a little draw into a left to right wind and the ball hit the upslope of the two tiered green and stopped just short of the hole. Finished par, double bogey, par. I won two skins and the closest to the pin contest (on #6) and won about $26 in total. It was a good night.

I woke up Thursday morning not feeling much better. Fortunately, I didn't have to go to work. I did have a lot on my schedule at home, but didn't feel much like doing anything. I sat around until about 9:30 a.m. and then started getting things around. I needed to empty the garage, so I could begin my painting chores. It's amazing the amount of crap one keeps for one reason or another, to later realize that there was no reason to keep it in the first place. Once the garage was empty, I swept it out, and then began priming the shelves.

A couple of years ago, my father in law, God bless him, built me some shelves in my garage when we were out of town visiting my folks. We had discussed it, and he was going to help me put them up, but being the kind of person he is, he didn't want to wait for me. So, he did it himself. They looked nice and were definitely what was needed, for storage purposes.

Once the shelves were primed, I took a time out to get some lunch and visit with my daughter, who just came home from kindergarten. After lunch, I got back at the painting. Fortunately for me, I was painting the walls and the ceiling all the same color, so there was no being careful with the paint near the ceiling. I absolutely hate painting, mostly because of the trim work. Since there wasn't any to be done in the garage, I didn't mind painting all that much.

I finally finished up painting the whole garage, the walls and the ceiling, but left the door and window trim for my wife, who said she would do that. I was done about 4:30 p.m. or so, and had to get everything cleaned up, including myself, as my son had a baseball game that night.

My son had a great game Thursday night. He played left center and third base. Caught a pop fly, while playing third, and could have gotten a double play if he wasn't so confused about where to throw the ball. There was a runner at first and second at the time, and both runners took off when the ball was hit. Caleb caught the ball and everyone, from the spectators to the coaches were hollering at him to throw the ball to second base, or first base, or anywhere. He just held onto the ball. Poor kid. He was so excited about catching the ball that he didn't know what to do next and with all the excitement, he didn't know who to listen to or where to throw the ball. He had three really good hits, one of which was a double, had an RBI or two, and scored a run. His team lost by one run, but my son had a good game and was really proud of himself that he caught that pop fly (as was his dad!)

Friday morning came, again, I didn't have to go into work, but still wasn't feeling good. With the garage work still needing to be done, I still wasn't up to getting an early start on things. Again, I sat around until about 9:30 a.m. again before getting started. Again, I swept the floor, as on today's agenda, was painting the floor of the garage. As I mentioned in a earlier post, our garage floor, when wet, becomes as slick as ice, and the kids have slipped and fallen in the past. It was time to rectify this dangerous situation once and for all.

After sweeping the floor, I opened the Quikrete Bond Lok I got at our local Lowes store and began the process of cleaning the garage floor. I wasn't sure what to expect, as I had never used this stuff before. I had to wet the floor first, and then put this Bond Lok stuff down and it bubbles/foams up on the wet surface. Using a stiff bristled broom, you scrub the floor with the broom and then rinse it away. It took me about an hour or so to clean the floor, and then I had to wait for the floor to dry. Unfortunately, the floor didn't dry before the day was over, so I had to wait until Saturday to paint the floor.

On Saturday, I swept the floor once more, and then got out the Quikrete One Step Epoxy paint and began the process of painting the floor. I added, what looked to be fine white sand or silica, to the paint, to add to the non-skid surface of the floor. After about an hour and a half, the floor was completely painted and looked great. Now we had to wait about 24 hours before we could walk on it and begin the process of putting everything back into the garage.

And that's what we did on Sunday. The floor was dry and looked good, but it could have used a second coat of paint, but I didn't feel like waiting any longer to get things back into the garage. It looked like we were having a yard sale, with all the stuff sitting outside the garage, and it was supposed to rain Sunday night. Everything is back in it's places now, and things are getting back to normal. Tonight, we can finally park our cars in the garage for the first time since last Wednesday.

All in all, it was a good, productive weekend. I'm still not 100% healthy, but getting there. I suppose if I hadn't worked all weekend, I would feel better, but I wouldn't have felt good about not getting the garage finished.

I can't be getting sick...

Not much has been going on this week. Got golf league tonight. Playing the front this week. Would really like to put a complete round together today. I'm thinking like a 36 or 37 for the night.

I feel like I'm coming down with something. It started yesterday with sneezing. I just thought it was some tickle in my nose that wouldn't go away. Well, the tickle finally went away, but the sneezing and runny nose is sticking around. Took some meds last night and this morning, and hopefully will begin to feel better as the day goes by.

Got a whole weekend planned of things to do around the house. Today is my last day of work this week. I'm taking Thursday off (we get Friday and Monday off for the Memorial Day holiday... we've got four floating holidays... Friday is one of them.) I will be painting the inside of my garage on Thursday, and then painting the garage floor on Friday. Our garage floor, when wet, is like an ice skating arena. When the kids play with their squirt guns during the summer, and the garage floor gets wet, it becomes dangerous. I'm hoping that this stuff I bought from Lowe's will help resolve this problem.

My son has a baseball game on Thursday night, so hopefully the painting of the garage walls and ceiling will go quickly and I'll have time to get cleaned up to go to the game.

I can't be getting sick. I've got too much to do this weekend!

Little League Baseball - Game 5

Another loss for the good guys again. Fell behind around the 3rd inning and then tied it up, but then had another bad last inning. Unfortunately, the weakest part of the lineup came in the bottom half of the 6th and final inning and had three strike outs to finish the game. My boy did well, with two hits and an RBI (I think.) He got tagged out trying to "steal" home. I say "steal" because he heard everyone in the stands yell "GO!" or "RUN!" when the ball was hit, but didn't know he didn't have to run, and didn't hear his coach calling for him to stay. All of us in the stands (sitting on the 3rd base side) were yelling to the kid who hit the ball. Poor kid... he wasn't sure who to listen to (but knows he's supposed to listen to the coach first ;-) )

No game until next Thursday, but there might be a practice this weekend.

Golf League - Week 4

Well... there was a thought that we would be rained out again tonight, but the rain moved East and it cleared up a little bit. Cool, windy, and wet... not great golf weather, but it was better than not playing at all.

I started out good. We played the back nine this week. I parred the first five holes, but should have had a birdie or two in there. On the 10th hole, I was pin high off the green, and chipped on and hit the pin, but the ball didn't fall into the hole. I should have straightened up the pin before hitting my shot, as the pin was leaning towards me. Starting with the 15th hole, I bogied, double bogied, double bogied, and bogied to finish with a 42. I wasn't happy at all. Bad second shots on 15 and 16 (both came up short of the green) and my putting, which was great for the first five holes, left me stranded somewhere. On 17, I didn't hit my drive particularly well, but I was ok. I've abandoned my 3 wood now and tried my 5 wood. Not much better. I'm either going to have to find a new set of fairway woods, or just stick with my 3 iron, which I hit much better.

It was a disappointing end to what could have been a great round for me. I've got to find some time to hit the range and feel more comfortable with my fairway woods.

Little League Baseball - Game 4

I'm a little late on this one, but Game 4 was played Tuesday night. Nice night, but a little windy and cool. My son had 3 hits, scored once, in a losing effort. It seemed the kids were a little preoccupied with things other than the task at hand, and were daydreaming and looking at everything but what was going on in the game. It's kind of scary at times, especially when my son was playing third base and wasn't particularly paying a lot of attention. I kept hollering at him (nicely) to pay attention, as I was afraid of a line drive hitting him in the face when he wasn't looking. The kids wouldn't sit still on the bench and the coach get getting after them about it. It's hard to contain all that youthful energy at times.

Next game is tonight. Hopefully it will have a better outcome.

Monday Morning Review...

What a weekend!

Played golf on Friday afternoon. What a beautiful day. Shot an 82, but double bogied the last two holes. Still, I played well and had a good time with friends.

Saturday was my birthday. My son had Opening Day Ceremonies for little league baseball. He had pictures at 9:15 a.m. and his game at 10:15 a.m. They had a pancake breakfast from 8-10 a.m. and blowup things for the kids to play on. My son's team won their game, 11-7. He had two hits (a single and a double, an RBI or two, and scored two runs.) We finally left around 2:30 p.m. When we got home, I decided that if I didn't mow, I wasn't going to be able to do it before this coming weekend, and by then, it would too high, so I got on the rider and mowed. Took me a couple of hours, but it looks better.

Sunday was Mother's Day. Being that I was actually born on Mother's Day, it's more special for my Mom and me. This is the first year in quite awhile that we've not been together on Mother's Day. I did call and wish her well, though. The weather was crappy all day... in the low 50's and rainy all day. Spent the day indoors. My wife and daughter (6) got things around for a yard sale we're having this weekend, and my son and I watched "National Treasure", golf, and women's bowling... how's that for a trifecta?

As for the 10K a Day for the weekend... got in 5000+ steps on Friday, 4500+ steps on Saturday, and on Sunday... well, I got in about 3000 steps, only because I forced myself on the treadmill Sunday evening, as I looked at the pedometer and I hadn't even reached a 1000 steps yet that day.

All in all it was a great weekend. Going to be a busy week this week with two baseball games, golf on Wednesday (if the weather holds out), and a yard sale Thursday through Saturday. Sounds like more fun than humans should be allowed, huh?

Have a great week!

It's Friday !!!!

It's a sunny, cool day today. A lot of work to do, but it's going to have to wait until next week. Got a call from one of my best friends, and my golf league partner. When he calls on days like this, I know what he wants before he says anything. Yup... we're taking the afternoon off and going golfing and drinking some adult beverages and enjoying life and the weather.

Besides... my birthday is tomorrow and I know I won't be able to get out to play, and Sunday is Mother's Day.

Have a great day! I know I will, regardless of how I do on the course.

10K a Day - Day 4

Better yesterday. The sun was out, although it was still on the cool side, I was able to get out for my two mile lunch walk. Got in about 6700 steps.

I'm thinking that after the 7th day, I'll stop the daily posts on this. I'll just update it weekly. Make more sense, at least to me.

Little League Baseball - Game 2

The kids played a lot better this week. Stopped the balls when hit to them, and hit the ball pretty good. It was cold... around 54-56 degrees. I'm thinking because of the cold, the kids were a little slower with the bats, as most were swinging way behind the ball tonight. Of course, all of this is leading up to my boy going 0-3 this week. He was swinging way late on the ball. He still had a good time. That's all that matters to me.

It's another Woot! Off

Woot! is having a Woot! Off today. When one item sells out, they put another up. Could go all day... could go for two or three days. You never know when the Woot! Off is done. Check it out.

Also, Woot! has two other daily sales sites... T-Shirts and Wine. Give them a look too.

Golf League - Week 3

We were canceled due to rain. Personally, I think we could have played. We might have been sprinkled on a little bit, but it was nothing we haven't played in before. Canceling the round at 3:30 p.m. when our tee time is at 5:50 p.m. was a little suspect, but being a former golf league commissioner/secretary/whatever you want to call the position, I'm not going to complain too much. It's a thankless job and you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

10K a Day - Day 3

Not so good yesterday. It was rainy, so I wasn't able to get out for my walk. I was going to go to the mall to do my walking, but went home instead. Only got about 1700 steps in. I'm going to really have to do better today. It's a little on the chilly side today, and there is a chance of rain, but I'm better prepared for it today.

Another Quickr question

I'm still playing around with Quickr on Greenhouse, I have a question about the Quickr Connector and sending emails.

Let's say I have an email I would like to send to people internally (employees) and externally (vendors, customers, etc.), and I have an attachment to accompany the email. I know that with the connector, I can choose to send a link to the document, rather than the attachment itself. Since we do not allow access to our servers by people who are not employees, what happens with this email to those external people? Do they get a link that they cannot access? Do they get the attachment itself?

What I would like to see happen is that the internal people receive the link and the external people receive the attachment. I'm not seeing that as an option with the Quickr Connector at the moment.

Just wondering...

10K a Day - Day 2

Did a little better yesterday. Got 7300 steps in. Walked two miles at lunch and then another mile or two this evening. It is supposed to rain today, so it will make it a little tougher to get the walking in at lunch. I may have to go to the mall and join the seniors in their walks.

10K a Day - Day 1

Well, after one day, I put in about 5300 steps. The pedometer needs a little tweaking, so I might have had a little more than the 5300 steps yesterday. Not quite sure how I'm going to get 10K steps in a day, unless I don't sit at my desk all day, walking around aimlessly, just to get the steps in. I did walk about two miles during lunch, since the weather was nice. Also walked a little at home last night. Still, the 10K goal looks to be a little "out there." Time will tell.

Greenhouse Quickr and the Connector

OK... so I'm playing around with Quickr on Greenhouse. I've downloaded and installed the Quickr Connector on my laptop, but I am unable to connect to the Greenhouse site with this connector. Am I wrong in assuming that I should be able to do this?

I would very much like to demo Quickr to the powers that be here at work, and can get around this piece of the puzzle, but it would be better if I could get it to work. I've tried it from home and at work (through a proxy server), and could not get connected.

When I've tried from work, I get the following window:

DICore:

The handle is in the wrong state for the requested operation

Also, I've added Discussion Forums to my Greenhouse Quickr Place, but there is no way to add a thread. This seems odd to me, in that it is a discussion forum, and in order for there to be a discussion, you need to be able to add a post. How am I to add a post if there is no link to do this?

I would appreciate any help.

10K a Day for One Month

Our company has started a 10K a Day for One Month health program. Today is the first day. The idea is to get up to at least 10,000 steps in one day. The company has about 45-50 people (out of about 120) signed up for this program, and has given everyone a pedometer, a fanny pack with a water bottle which you won't see me wearing), and a log to keep track of how many steps you took. At the end of the four weeks (June 4th), all logs are turned in, and names of all the participants (who turned in the logs) will be entered into a drawing for an unnamed prize. This should be interesting.

It's no secret that I need to lose weight. I figured this would be a good way to help in that process. I've been trying to get on the treadmill at home, but my will power is not what it once was. I've worn this pedometer since I got it sometime last week. The most steps I've taken in one day is about 1500. I've got a long, long way to go.

I wish they would have started this back in January... say around Lotusphere time...

Wish me luck.

Little League Baseball - Game 1

Well, after two practices and one scrimmage, the boys and girls played their first game last night. They lost 13-9 in a six inning game. My son had two singles, at least one RBI, and scored a run. He played left-center field and did good out there, but only had one or two balls come his way during the game. Before the game, my wife and I took pictures of my boy in his first baseball uniform. He say "Take a picture while I'm clean, and then take a picture after the game with I'm all dirty." We laughed. Funny thing was, the only two people to get dirty (sliding into first base and sliding into home plate for no obvious reason) were two of the three girls on the team. Two of the girls are also the only one's to get hit by the ball... one as a batter, who was standing too close to the plate, and when she swung, the ball hit her hands, the other while playing catcher, with the ball hitting her solidly on her knee cap. I heard it from where I sat, so I know it must have hurt, and she had the full catcher's gear on.

I'm not sure how I feel about the coaches, though. Our coachs seems like pretty decent guys, but I haven't talked to them a whole lot. The other team's coach seemed to be the kind of coach I'm not thrilled about. Sure, you play to win games, but at this age, the games should be more fun and not as much about winning. We sat behind the wife of one of the other teams coaches. She was keeping score. After each at bat, the coach wanted to know how many runs were scored. Sure it is important to know, but it seemed a little ridiculous to me. Our coach, after the game, got on the team a little bit, in a nice way (not yelling and screaming), about how they played in the first couple of innings for not handling the grounders very well. They didn't, but I blame this on only having two practices.

It was fun to watch and it did look like the kids had a good time. Especially the kids who played in the outfield, who were putting dirt/sand in their gloves or building sand mountains or watching the train go by. They're kids... what more do you want?

For the Star Wars fan...

I can't think of any Star Wars fan that wouldn't want one of these...

Star Wars R2-D2 DVD Projector

It's only $2900

Golf League - Week 2

Had our golf league last night (Wednesday nights.) Shot a 40 on the back nine. All in all, I was happy with my game. Started off a little worried, but came around and played well. Temps were in the mid to upper 50s with a slight wind. As the sun went down, it got a lot colder... probably lower 50s by the time we finished.

Wolf Creek Golf Club in Adrian, MI is the course. Again, if they had a website, I would link you to it.

Hole 10 - 311 yard Par 4
This is not a difficult hole. It does have a pond... well, what used to be a pond, at the end of a decent drive, but it is located to the right side of the fairway. A long drive could reach it. I say "used to be a pond" as we've not had any rain this year, and the pond is pretty much empty, save for about a foot of water near the center. Anyway, I hit a good tee shot and was about 100 yards away. A little too much for a full pitching wedge, not enough for my sand wedge. So I chose a soft pitching wedge and barely made the left side of the green. Up hill putt with a slight bend to the right. Hit the putt a little too firm and went by the hole and missed a 5 footer for par. Took a bogey.

Hole 11 - 376 yard par 4
Nice straight way hole. Slight drop in elevation about 50-75 yards in front of the tee. Pulled my drive to the left rough, but still had a good shot to the green, about 115 yards away. Being that I have a set of Callaway clubs, which includes a 10 iron (between a 9 and a PW), I chose the 10 iron. Hit the ball to the back of the green. The pin was in front. Slight downhill putt and it looked faster than what it actually was, and my putt made it a little more than half way to the hole. Missed the par putt for another bogey.

Hole 12 - 140 yard Par 3
Downhill par 3. Trees to the right, trees and a creek to the left, with a sand trap guarding the back left of the green. Tee was placed at around 125 yards to the green. Since it was downhill, and the pin was in front, I thought I could hit my 10 iron pretty close. Finished short of the green, but just in front. Chipped on and made the 9 footer for par. Finally.

Hole 13 - 501 yard Par 5
Nice long par 5. Tee sits down below the fairway. The fairway is wide, but on the right side there is a bowl shaped crater, still part of the fairway, but it makes for a blind second shot. Trees on all along the left hands side, and past the bowl, trees along the right. Hit a good tee shot into the bowl. A little too close to the hill to use my 3 wood, but I really didn't have a choice if I wanted to get close to the green. Hit the top of the hill, but the ball went far enough that I had a little less than 100 yards to the green. Didn't hit my PW hard enough to reach the green, but chipped up to a gimme par putt.

Hole 14 - 155 yard Par 3
No elevation changes on this little par 3. Hit an 8 iron off the heel of the club, but hard enough to get it up close to the green. Chipped past the hole about 5 feet and made the par putt.

Hole 15 - 348 yard Par 4
This is a U-shaped hole, in that the tee sits above the fairway and then the fairway slopes up to the green. Hit a good drive to the top of the fairway, leaving me a good SW to the green (about 75-80 yards.) Hit a good shot and put the ball about 15 feet from the hole. Slight break to the right and didn't hit it hard enough to get it in. Tap in par.

Hole 16 - 290 yard Par 4
Another U-shaped hole, with a creek about 240 yards from the tee. Can't hit my driver here. Hit a 3 iron, but my right foot slipped as I was coming through the ball, and the I pushed it right. Not too bad, but had about 150 yards to an uphill green that slopes towards me. Hit a good 7 iron to the right side of the green. Pin is on the left side of the green. Hit a good putt, but finished below the hole about 5-6 feet. Made par putt. That's 5 pars in a row, if you are counting. I shouldn't be, but I am.

Hole 17 - 556 yard Par 5
Again, a U-shaped hole, but a little different. The landing area of the drives usually finish on the up slope of the hill, leaving an uphill lie for the second shot. Hit a good tee shot, a little right, but still in good shape. Me and my 3 wood haven't been getting along over the past several years, but I told myself that I need to get comfortable with it again. Well, we still aren't getting along. I got under the ball and popped it up to the right of #16's tee, about 40 yards. Have a good lie, but still need to hit the 3 wood again to get close to the green. Topped the damn ball and it stopped on the back of the down slope of #16's tee. Put the 3 wood back in the bag and hit a good 3 iron, just short of the green. Chipped past the hole, about 12 feet and missed the bogey putt coming back. Tap in double bogey. So much for the string of pars and I knew it.

Hole 18 - 380 yard Par 4
Nice, straight away par 4. Driving range to the left, so don't pull the ball, or you'll be searching for a needle in a haystack, amongst the driving range balls. Hit a good tee shot, a little right, but in the fairway. I've got about 140 yards to the hole, but have a big tree that I have to get over to reach the green. The pin is in front. I hit one of the best 8 irons I've hit this year, and finished on the fringe, right in front of the hole. Had an 7 footer for birdie, but missed it. Just didn't hit the putt hard enough.

All in all, a good round. A little tentative with my putts, but I just don't have a feel for the speed of the greens right now. With some rain, the greens will come into shape, and the speeds will be more consistent. It's still early in the year, but my game is pretty good right now.