Archives May 2005

On Saturday I played golf for the first time in months, it may even have been a year. It was very hot and very humid. It was a scramble format tournament, thank God. If it was conventional golf my score may have approached 120. It would not be an exagerration to say I could count my number of good shots for the entire round on one hand. Our team was 2 men and 2 women. Out of the 18 holes, we wound up using the women’s drive on at least 15 of them. I could hit the ball off the tee with good power and distance, unfortunately the trajectory normally took the ball deep into woods or into the middle of water. To say I was frustrated was a bit of an understatement. If I was around people I knew I would have been swearing my ass off but I kept it somewhat under control. With as bad as the day was, there was one shot that almost made it worth it for me. On a 233 yard par 4 I drove the green with my 4 iron. I use irons exclusively because believe it or not, I am more inaccurate with woods. I get a kick out of hitting irons as far as most hit woods anyway. I was thankful when the round was over and had no desire to pick the clubs back up anytime soon.

After the golf there was lunch in the clubhouse. We had 3 long tables of people. To serve all these people they had exactly one waitress. One 75 year old waitress with organizational and memory issues. She only seemed to want to take one thing at a time. She would take one or two orders at a time and then disappear for awhile. She forgot to take people’s orders all together. It was ridiculous. It was even more ridiculous when the bills came and the gratuity was already added on. The service was terrible yet they bill you ahead of time for it. I threw down my money and left. For everything I bet I dropped over 60 bucks for 5 hours of frustration.

Sunday was work day. We have wanted to redo the garden area for awhile. We needed to raise the level of the one end as it wound up underwater last year once the heavy rains started. We also wanted to redo the fencing around it. We had green plastic garden fence surrounding it that is ripped and stretched and gave a very white trash sort of vibe. So we went to Home Depot and bought about 600 pounds of dirt, compost, peat moss and top soil. By the time we got home and got started it was the hottest part of the day. The sweat and dirt quickly turned my arms black. It was ugly work but we had everything wrapped up in a couple hours. We dumped and tilled the dirt, ripped down the crap fence and put up a much cleaner metal fence. The area looks 100% better. I’ll throw up some pics of it.

On Sunday night we went to see Star Wars. I had heard basically positive reviews about it. I was a bit bummed that the 7:45 show was in one of the small theaters, I was hoping to see it in the big one, big movie, big theater. Disclaimer, this may be a bit of a spoiler for you, so if you didn’t see it yet, read on at your own risk. I enjoyed the movie. If it’s possible, the visuals were even better than the last two. The computer generated graphics blended in with live action almost seemlessly. The battle scenes were nothing short of fantastic. There was not nearly the amount of wooden acting as the last one. However they botched the most important part of the movie. The part where Annikan flips to the dark side. The did a decent job leading up to the moment of showing his torment and conflict about being true to the Jedi way versus the power available from the dark side. However when he turns on the Jedi master, there is 5 seconds where he says “What have I done!….” where he sounds extremely remorseful and then after that he instantly becomes totally evil and jumps right into his job as the head bad guy. Sidious tells him he has to go kill all the Jedi and Annikan has no problem with it. Go kill all the younglings? No problem… That part was bad and it’s a shame because like I said if you factor that out, the rest of the movie is really, really good. You need to see it, it will be joining my dvd collection for sure.

I finally got around to posting the pics from my recent aerial sortie online, you can take a look at them here. All my rc related stuff is here.

On memorial day we did nothing special. We spent a good part of the day relaxing and probably spent the most time ever in the pool. The solar cover had the water temperature up into the low 90’s already. Plus having the TV outside allowed us to catch up on some stuff on the Tivo while happily floating. We made burgers on the grill and had fun, a good day.

Today’s edition of dumb gym-wear is brought to you by some young guy, maybe 21. It’s almost 90 degrees here today and humid yet he is working out with a knit gangsta-style beanie on his head. Then to accent his left bicep, he has a rubber band up high to further define the muscle. My internal laughter continued everytime I saw him.

For the holiday weekend I am playing in a golf tournament tomorrow. I play golf once or twice a year and find that is plenty. I would like to see if we can find some time to go see Star Wars as well as buy a bunch of dirt to elevate and redo the garden. Ali has been sick for the last week so how much we do depends on her well being.

Carrie won although I can’t quite understand it. My ears must be clogged. I thought that Carrie sounded borderline awful on 2 of the 3 songs on Wednesday while Bo was strong throughout. Not that it really matters, they both will get contracts. I think Bo will do better in the long run, he is just a better performer. No I am not gay.

The finale show was more entertaining than years past with various musical talents performing with the kids. The one blonde that got eliminated early on who always was chunky, looked like she gained some more. When she came out for her solo act in low cut jeans and a belly shirt, letting it all hang out I was surprised. What stylist told her that was a good look? Do a few situps and cut down on the twinkies.

As I was at the gym doing behind the head, dumbell tricep extensions I thought to myself “Elbows In” This came about years ago from the one and only time I worked out at a gym with my brother’s ex-girlfriend. She was a gym rat, more hardcore than I was back then. We were on the last “family” vacation we had in Rehoboth. On the boardwalk there is a small, hot little gym that I always wanted to work out in but never did. I wanted to do it for no reason except the novelty of working out on the boardwalk, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Well when I brought up the idea she was gung ho about it so she, Ali and I went to the gym one morning. The gym had a handful of people going about their routines. I did pretty much the same routine week after week back then and I was trying to duplicate it the best I could. Then as I was doing my first set of the same dumbell tricep presses I was doing today, Kristen said “Keep your elbows in, otherwise it’s cheating” I was a bit taken back after getting workout advice from a female. However I knew damn well that she knew more about working out than I did so I pulled the elbows in and verified that it was indeed much more effective for the muscle group doing it that way.

Don’t ask me why it stuck with me but every single time I am doing that exercise I am back in the tiny, steamy boardwalk gym with Kristen saying “Elbows In…”

2 finales last night and thanks to Tivo we caught both of them. Well American Idol was the final performance but tonight is the final voting if you want to be specific. To me, the AI performance was a slam dunk for Bo. He’s a better performer and did a much better job on the original songs than Kerry did. For the first time this season Ali actually picked up the phone and threw in a few votes for Bo. He deserves to win.

The contender 2 hour finale was action packed. Surprisingly, there was a prelim fight for third between Jesse and Alfonso, which Alfonso was yet again the upset winner. That kid is something else. In the final it was a bruising battle with Peter trying to basically tie up Sergio but it just didn’t work. Sergio’s fast hands never slowed down and he won a convincing decision. It was a good fight but I would have preferred if Peter won. I felt bad for him, you could see the disappointment on top of him like a boulder.

After watching the series I think the smartest thing boxing could do is make boxing matches shorter. In a 5 or 7 round fight the fighters are able to unleash for the majority of the time instead of having to pace themselves to go a grueling 12 rounds. Every single fight in contender was good and I think the short format had a lot to do with it.

Ali started feeling sick on Friday morning. By the time she got home she was really feeling crappy. Worse yet, I started to feel sick as well with a developing sore throat. Since I was supposed to play volleyball the next day, I was concerned I too would wake up the next day feeling like hell. The first thing I did was go gargle with listerine, I have no idea if it helps but I figure it can’t hurt since listerine burns like a mother and hopefully also kills the little bugs that make you sick. I still was pretty sure my condition would degrade so I called my vball partner and left a message, saying if he knew someone else available to play, it may be a good idea to call them. I hoped to hear back from him during the night so we could talk about it.

I went to bed late, unsure of what the next day would bring. Ali and I were startled out of our sleep at 4:30 in the morning by the phone ringing. I instantly assumed it was the automated system from work calling to say the power was out or something. So just as Ali picked it up, I told her to not answer it and she hung it up. As I lay there, annoyed, I thought to myself about the outside possibility that my vball partner could have been the one on the other line. Nah, can’t be, why would he call so early…

So I got up with the alarm at 5:15 am, feeling extremely sleepy but without the feeling of illness I had the prior night. Cool. As I went out to the kitchen to start prep work, I checked the caller id and was surprised to see the 4:30 am caller was indeed my vball partner. Oh geez. Well I waited a bit and then called back but got his voicemail and told him I would be ok to play. I didn’t understand why he would have called me at 4:30 but later found out he was up all night dealing a poker tournament. Not good.

I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed across the state. The drive was a bit more manageable than last week. I like the beach at Hollywood, it’s old fashioned, small and has a very simple appeal to it. I was suprisingly energetic and pumped up to play considering the prior 24 hours. I really wanted to do well. I expected to do well. We didn’t do that well.

Our first match was against two younger kids. (I must be getting old when I call people in their early 20’s kids) I think they were both brazillian. One kid was tall and lanky. They were good players but we should have handled them. They were frustrating because they were constantly going over on one and two even though they were quite able to use 3 hits. I never saw young kids with talent play this way, it is the sort of thing normally old players or guys with little skill resort to. We lost a close game. Yet another bad start.

The next two matches were tough. We squeaked out wins in both of them but is was far from easy. We were unable to have a consistent period of good play to build a sizeable lead. We would make a great play but follow it up with unforced errors, giving the team a point and keeping them in the game.

But after 3 games, we were in the same position as the prior week. If we won, we would be in the playoffs, if we lose we were done. Just like the other games, it was close, there were great plays, but there were even more miscues causing us to drop the game and be eliminated. I was frustrated and let loose with an obscenity and whipped my hat towards the sidelines after we lost on yet another unforced error. The frustration was building from the errors and me not getting a chance to hit enough to get into a good rhythm. I just had to let a little steam release. Afterwards , after a few minutes of silence, I relaxed and it was done with.

Throughout my vball playing days I have almost always been the one that got served less, if for no other reason, I was almost always the taller player. That is why I really enjoyed playing triples or quads because it didn’t matter who got served, I still would have the opportunity to hit. Hitting is the best, most enjoyable part of the game for me. I enjoy making a good dig. a strong serve or giving my partner a good set that he hammers for a point too, just not nearly as much.

However the bottomline is volleyball holds a much lower rank in my life than it once did. It used to be commonplace for me to play 3 or 4 times a week. My performance during play was extremely important to me. I felt like if I didn’t play twice during the week, and had a tournament that weekend, I would be rusty. Now the only time I play is during a tournament. There is no interim practice, no excessive worrying about the results, so I shouldn’t expect all that much. I’m 7 or 8 years, 2 knee surgeries and 1200 miles removed from those days. However there still is a part, a small part of me that burns inside when I don’t acheive what I want to during the competition. I don’t think that is a bad thing.

On Friday I had a nice customer service moment. My dress watch has had a dead battery for a few months. On Friday I skipped the gym at lunch to give me a day of rest before the tournament. I decided to go to the mall to get the battery replaced. I went to the fast fix jewelery repair place. He said it would take 45 minutes, which was longer than I expected. So I walked the mall a bit and spent 2 twenty dollar gift cards I had in my wallet forever. I bought some clearance shirts at Old Navy and some hot wheels stuff at the toy store. I returned to the shop 5 or 10 minutes early, hoping it was done. Yep it’s done, ahead of schedule. He handed me the watch and I noticed he set it to the correct time and date. Wow. That simple, little act made a big difference on my perception of the transaction. It’s so easy to provide good customer service, it is sad that more people can’t do it.

You haven’t heard any updates on the diabetic cat because she has made more or less a full recovery. She gets more canned food and gets different insulin now. She has been acting normal, the vomiting issues have been greatly reduced and she seems content as a pig in mud to still be among the land of the living. She hasn’t used 9 lives yet but there were 3 or 4 near misses so far.

I really didn’t enjoy the Apprentice finale. It had sooo many commercials, the 2 finalists were both weak candidates and they only talked to a handful of the original 18 contestants. Trump would ask the 2 women a question and then continuously cut them off before they completed their answers, probably because it was time for another commercial. It was annoying. The jobs that they had to choose from were less impressive than years past, probably because the candidates were less impressive. Kendra won, not a surprise but I doubt she will do very well.

Last night I was going out on the lanai and jumped a bit when I spotted this hanging on the wall. I got him down onto the plant stand and then just carried it outside. It had some interesting markings and a diamond shaped head so it could have been a baby version of a nasty snake. I sent the pics to my resident snake expert, Tim for identification. Of course Ali is a little freaked out.

I normally try to not play volleyball tournaments on consecutive weekends to minimize the injury potentital but I am making an exception this week. I will be going to Hollywood, FL to play on Saturday. After missing the playoffs last week I feel the need to get right back out there and perform well. I’m hoping the end result is better this time. It’s a nice venue with a cool little “boardwalk” area. (shops along the beach with a macadam strip in front)

You can imagine that Baby V fever was high around here since this is her home area. It was disappointing that she got the boot. I think she is as good as Carrie and has tons more personality. That being said, I think Bo is the best contestant hands down. I expect him to win it all.

Nothing all that exciting going on. I’ve been increasing my food intake a bit to allow for me to put some weight (and hopefully strength) back on. I am still limiting my WoW at night. I haven’t had a post midnight bedtime for a couple weeks now.

Yesterday in the local paper there was an article saying that Collier County has the highest average single family home price in the state! Not only was it the highest at a median price of $469,000 the second highest county was more than 100,000 less!!!! If I moved here now there is no way I would have been able to afford it. We were very fortunate in that regard.

I forgot to mention some more oddities regarding the vball tournament. The guy that looked like a middle aged woman when he wore his big hat had more weird things going on. Like I said before, instead of setting conventionally, he would but his hands in the shape of an A and then bounce the ball off them. He wore torn up, indoor kneepads, he had his tank top neatly tucked into his shorts and funniest of all, he had a white towel tucked into his shorts in the front, hanging down. He used this towel to clean the ball of every last particle of sand before every play. He was obsessed with it. I never saw anything like it.

There was also a team that exhibited some of the craziest matching outfits I ever saw. They had matching shaved heads, matching white shorts and matching tight, white, long sleeve spandex shirts. I have no idea how they could think that was a good idea, it looked soooooooo dumb.

We watched the contender last night. Everytime you think it can’t get better, it does. It is the semi-finals now so they have stretched the fights to 7 rounds. The fight was between two guys that fought before. The guy that lost the first time (Peter)was previously unbeaten. The guy that beat him is a mexican (Alfonso) who is just tough as nails. He doesn’t look like a physical specimen but he just fights hard and never gives up. The fight was amazing. It looked like the mexican kid was going to win again for awhile. However as the fight progressed Peter took control and just started to pepper Alfonso. Peter won the decision. By the end of the fight, Alfonso’s face looked like he stuck it in a jar of bees, it was that swollen. It was an awesome fight. On Sunday is the other semi-final and then next Tuesday is the live final. You have to check this out. These guys are really good people. It is quite the contrast to the typical stereotype I had of boxers prior to seeing this show.

I think last night at the gym finally made my mind up. I prefer weighing a few pounds more in exchange for being stronger. The moment that convinced me was as I was benching last night. I had 225 on the bar, something that at my peak I could do 6 or 7 times. When I had to ask Ali to assist on rep number 2 I had had it. I’ve been pushing hard at the gym yet losing strength so I have to assume it is something to do with not giving my body enough fuel to build up. It seems like carrying an extra 5 or 6 pounds seems to make a huge difference in my strength. Plus since I have been holding at this lower weight my joint issues have been constant. My shoulders, elbows and wrists all hurt to varying degrees most of the time. Time for a change.

Today I didn’t go to the gym at lunch (going after work) and instead went out to get dog food for Nicki. On my way back as I am almost back to the office when an older guy, mid 50’s maybe goes driving by me in a convertible Lotus ($$$)with the top down. I see his arm out the drivers side and his hand moving all around, at first I assumed he was gesturing, being an ass, who knows. As he goes past I notice not only is his hand moving but his entire arm and body as well in a Dr Roboto/Hand Jive/Snake Charmer/I just hit the lottery, kind of way. He has his arm fully extended out the side, wiggling it all around. He obviously was quite content about something. I can only imagine what that might be.