Boys Keep Swinging

We've finally arrived at Spring.  Or Summer.

Last weekend it was cold and hailing. The comforter went back on the bed and long sleeves were required.

On a side note, maybe it's the lack of sleeves I'm wearing, but my arm no longer has that lingering pain. The wind doesn't hurt it, so that's a good sign. What's funny (not "ha-ha" funny) is that one notices pain, but rarely notices something no longer hurting.

It was only yesterday afternoon that it dawned on me that the arm no longer hurt.  I mean,  once I get into a dress or sweat shirt we'll see, but I'm hopeful.

Anyhoo....back to Spring.  We were up in the mid-80s yesterday and the upper 70s a few days before that, so we're bordering Summer weather.  I'll take it.  Petey even was out for hours yesterday, not wanting to come in.

Due to the weather, I opted to do something different and went to a driving range to hit a bucket of balls.  Golf balls.

I had not swung a club since 2010.   ..actually, that is not entirely true.  Two weeks ago, I was at my parent's house and went to their back yard to hit a dozen or so balls.  They back up to a driving range and my dad certainly can't use his clubs that are still in the garage.

But for $8, I got a medium sized bucket and knocked through them with a 3, 5 and 7 iron, just to see where I was.

Not much has changed.  I still have rotten shots and then I will hit it 200 yards.  Rarely an in between. My swing is still too fast and I always look up from the ball too soon.  I'm still seven years old in this regard.

On the plus side, PT must have helped, along with me not doing any weight lifting over my head / shoulders.  I had no pain swinging or hitting. In theory, that should have really hurt my left shoulder.

I might go back just for fun and something different. It's not really getting me to want to go play 9 or 18 holes.  I could, with the right people and enough beer.

Oh oh oh.....and on the real plus side, you might remember from that last golf outing, the good thing of only going to the driving range is that the time decrease in the sun is by about four hours - so I don't get burnt like I did last time. 



Song by: David Bowie

Sand and Water

The things we do in the name of business - or a job. It can just be horrid.

Take yesterday.....................please! (thank you Mr. Youngman!)

Yesterday, I played golf. Yes, golf. Clubs, balls, tees, flags and carts. Does this sound like me? Well.........the me that you guys think you know?

It really doesn't, but I can give you a little background filler: I have been playing golf off and on since I was seven. I grew up on a course and during those summer months, my parents kicked me out of the house at least twice a week for lessons - for years on end.

Fast forward a few decades, I'm still as capable of a golfer as I was when I was seven. As my father would tell me continually, "Drives for show, putts for dough". I was neither showy or a money-maker. I could do neither, but my short-game was, and is, particularly horrid. They don't call me "three putt Blobby" for nothing. Actually, the entire time I golfed and had to golf with him would borderline ruin what little relationship we had.

I find golf to be a lot like gambling. You suck at it for a long long time (or lose hand after hand - depending on which side of the analogy you're on here) and just as you're about to totally walk away, you do well - and it just draws you back in.

I had not picked up my clubs in over a decade and really thought I was done for good - not that I ever got rid of them though. But in business, sometimes you have to do things you don't particularly feel like doing. Such as golfing.

The fretting over this adventure had been nagging at me for weeks. Not enough for me to go to a driving range so I wouldn't be a complete embarrassment. Noooooooo. My recent back-thing was of concern too....all that swinging and turning couldn't be good - right? (oddly enough, I think it helped me in that arena.)

Here's the thing......I didn't suck at it. We played Firestone Country Club, you know the course where Tiger Woods just got the worst score in his entire career? I didn't do quite as well as he did, but I also didn't bang 19 skanks either, so........there's that.

I had some decent shots and a lot a number of awful ones too. This course had a lot of sand and a lot of water - and I found a bunch of them. But unlike other outings, I didn't just stop talking to people by the 12th hole and pout the rest of the way.

I am sooooo mature now!

But I thought I'd share a few pics of the day. Nothing too exciting.

The driving range. If it weren't for the clouds, I think it would just a ho-hum picture, but I think it came put pretty neat.

Some hole with some water I had to get around. You'd be surprised how many holes you have to go over water, there is no around.

I loved the fancy-schmancy toilet paper press where they had to emboss the name of the club onto something you'd wipe your ass with. Doesn't that sully the good Firestone name?

Can you see the V? Can you???

I'm such an idiot. I slathered my head with sunscreen, but didn't think that I was wearing a V neck t-shirt and a golf shirt. Yes, I singed myself again. I know some of you will say I should have learned my lesson, but clearly I haven't.

I think it's like this - if I went out in the sun more often for something other than a bike ride, I would, but I don't. So even when I think I do the right thing, I don't. Not completely. You don't even want to see the top part of my arms below the elbow.

Here's the really scary thing - I think I might want to go out and play another round soon. Avec sunscreen.


Song by: Beth Nielsen Chapman