Clubhouse Grille (*** NO LIV DISCUSSIONS ***) (*** NO POLITICS/RELIGION ***)

[scotee]

Way behind here. Need to read and catch up. Living the retired life and taking Mrs. scotee's advice to do stuff while we can. Flew nearly over Conrad's place coming home 2 days ago. Spent a week at daughter 3's condo in Destin/Ft. Walton Beach. First time for us. Very nice beach and perfect weather.  Ate some good fresh fish with grits and greens and hushpuppies. Had no golf for 2 weeks but played today. Need to clean up the mistakes. 39/46 with 2 trip bogs and 3 doubles one bird and one 3 putt.

[Soloman1]

Actually, I live in a house, but it's against the law here to do any yard work yourself. You must hire other people to do everything.

 

My bizarre humor isn't working, so I'll quietly go to the next tee.

[TiScape]

Recently turned 48. I have a garage full of tools. Built my own deck and overhang. Rebuilt a few fences. Did all my own crown moldings and baseboards in my house. Can do basic car repairs, replace brakes etc. My son is 23yo and doesn’t have any interest in learning how to even change a car tire. Tells me he would just use an app.  🤦🏼‍♂️ Like @BIG STU said earlier, if something happens and the satellites go down… This younger generation is in big trouble!

[BIG STU]

On 9/24/2021 at 4:40 PM, scomac2002 said:

Heard yesterday at golf that the latest item to be in short supply is rubber.  Look out if you're in the market for winter tires!!

Yep tires are in short supply--- Some of my racing buds are having trouble finding spec tires for certain divisions. Some of the associations are letting them Sipe ( regroove) tires now to finish the season.

[BIG STU]

17 hours ago, scomac2002 said:

I remember when my mother bought a brand new pair of Kenmore washer and dryer.  It was sometime in the 70's after we had switched to gas heat.  The dryer was gas of course.  Her old washer still worked, but it was a ringer versus the newer style.  I don't remember having a repair on either in over 30 years of use.  They handled some pretty grimy work clothes over the years, not your typical lightly soiled stuff most folks have to deal with.

 

One day the washer just quit.  Wouldn't pump out the tub, so had to siphon it and fiddle around to get the clothes to the state that they could go in the dryer.  DW called our appliance guy, but he was up north fishing for a week, so she went out and bought a new pair of Kenmores, this time front loader.  Real fancy electronic controlled, high efficiency, used less water, etc. etc.  When my appliance guy returned from his fishing trip he flipped telling me that he could still buy replacement pumps for the old Kenmore.  I didn't know.  Neither did his mother who was answering the phone while he was away.  C'est la vie...

 

The washer lasted about 18 months before it bit the dust.  The suspension for the drum broke and it was going to be over $1000 to fix.  Replaced it with a scratch and dent Frigidaire that was a builder's model return from a local appliance store for $600.  A year or so later the burner went on the gas dryer, so out the door it went being replaced by a similar unmatched gas dryer I picked up on kijiji from some guy whose wife didn't want white appliances in their new house.  $250 brought that one home.

 

Our current house has a pair of Korean laundry appliances.  They were new.  My appliance guy tells me that they can't be fixed either.  We'll see how long they last...

When I worked at the scrapyard you used to see guys from the resorts here bring in seemingly new washers and dryers. Guys told me as soon as the warranty ran out they junked them some worked most did not after 2 years. On washers down here the salt and sand is rough on pumps and drums. I do know in the Korean units there is a circuit board that goes bad and it costs more to replace it than buying a new unit. There was a guy buying them for scrap price and fixing them up and selling. Some he made one out of a couple and supposedly he knew how to rat wire around the circuit board. I say supposedly. One supposedly burned a house up and the guy tried to sue and got nowhere and they tried to involve the scrapyard to no avail. I know about the time I got hurt the scrapyard would not resell ANY junked appliances to outside folks

[BIG STU]

17 hours ago, Conrad1953 said:

A 1993 Toyota Pickup with 84 miles on it sold for $45,000.00 on eBay.  Apparently it had been 

sitting in a barn with 80 miles on it these years. Some guy bought it for an undisclosed amount;

drove it 4 miles to see if anything needed to be done to it, fixed a couple things and then listed

it on eBay for a start price of $20K and the bidding took it up from there.

I had a 81 Toyota 4X4 I bought new in 81 22R carb engine. I drove it on and off for 19 years. LOL Drove it from Charlotte to Green Bay one year. I was doing the prep for me teaching in the Schneider school in Charlotte. Just a normal little old truck with white spoke wheels and Goodrich TA tires. Got stared at could not figure it out. One of the mechanics told me-- These guys up here are into 4WDs hunting and fishing and know it is a 81. They can not figure out why the body is not rusted off of it ( This was around 93 or so) then they see the South Carolina plates then they know. Now that truck went through hell but I maintained it. Pulled race cars and champ carts with it too. I changed oil in it every 2000 miles. Toyota reccomends putting a timing chain and oil pump in it around 100,000 miles. I did it around 150 K when the timing chain began slapping and wore a hole in the timing cover. Now they wanted around $150 for the cover. BS I said I took the old cover cleaned it really good and fixed the hole with JB Weld and Steel Wool. BTW the oil pump is in the timing chain cover runs off the crankshaft. Ran good the next 6 years or so. I think I had over 200K when the engine started runnin hot due to it being worn out and the piston skirts galling. Everything else was worn out the shifter was worn so bad and had so much slop I was the only one who could drive it. I suspected the ring and pinions were so worn you could shave with the ends of the gears. I basically sold it to a guy who had a huge spread in the mountains of NC. They put a junkyard 22 RE fuel injected engine in it. They only used it on the property not the road.

 About a year later that engine showed up at my shop-- This guy I know wanted me to build a car from the ground up for his son to run in Rookie 4 and the 22R was the hot ticket. He told me a guy gave him an engine out of a Pick Up. Soon as they got it there I spotted my front cover repair and I knew Hello old friend. I tore it down and my suspicions were correct worn out. Took .060 bore to straighten out the cylinders again 2 of them were darn near egg shaped. I think it took a .020 grind to true the crank back up. But it did good won a couple of races and the Championship that year. Next year he moved up to Modified 4 ( class I ran) and we went through it again. Had to sleeve the block and have the crank welded up and ground to spec. LOL throughout all of this the timing cover repair still held but when he spent a lot of money to rebuild he did buy a new cover when he went Modified. He did pretty well in Modified did not win but ran and placed high up. Never did learn the fate of the car and motor but I suspect as tough as it was it may still be running around somewhere

 

That last time I built that motor it was built right here in what is now my club shop. Had to ship parts to Charlotte for machine work but the kid's Dad insisted I build that engine and he paid me real well. I had already moved here and had sold all my racing stuff. It was the last racing engine I built. I did some in frame diesel overhauls at work in their shop but have not done a comp engine since. Was just thinking that was 20 years ago now

Edited September 28, 2021 by BIG STU

[Fellaheen51]

13 hours ago, scomac2002 said:

I did accomplish on thing that i've never done before.  I managed to get a golf ball to walk on water, skipping across a pond on a extreme thin with an 8 iron.  The ball skipped 5 times! Came to rest in the rough just below the flag in what should have been perfect position for an up and down for par.  The chip was only fair and then top it off with a 3 putt for a double bogie.  The golf gods giveth and they taketh away...

 

At any rate, I scuffled my way around the course to a rather ugly 48 with only a par on the toughest hole, the 9th, to show for it.  With that the verdict was delivered:  the irons must go.  I have no future with those ultralite shafted clubs.  They really were unsuitable from the very first use.  Some putzing was done to make them more appropriate for me, but to no avail when I compare the results to any one of a number of steel shafted irons I have at my disposal.  I actually hit heavier clubs noticeably further than any of the ultralite clubs that I have tried lately.

 

Achieved a similar skipped shot earlier this year.  Dogleg around a pond, don't recall the distance, but line of sight was 9 iron length to the green IIRC.  Ugly, bladed shot that skipped several times across the pond ending up in the rough ~20 yards from the green.  Then promptly proceeded to botch it around with ineffective chip and putt.  Uncanny how the golf gods permit a lucky shot, then "no mas" for you.  Admit to skipped a few balls before, that always sink before reaching the other side.  Maybe because I was using high spin water balls.  

_________________________________________

 

Been rather flummoxed for most of this golf season on which irons I prefer to use.  The graphite (72g) or  steel (115g).  Been hitting the graphites pretty good of late, until I don't.  And start spraying the ball around.  Have to be careful while swinging or I start pull hooking them.  Switch to the steels and like the heft for similar reasons that you state.  Until they begin feeling ponderous, and ball striking suffers with a noticeable drop-off in carry distance.   Realize the same relative distance with either, despite the steel ISI's having marginally 2* weaker lofts.  

 

Has become a game time decision on what goes in the bag for the day.  What do I feel like swinging?  And likely does me no favors switching back and forth between the two.  Given my golfing abilities or lack thereof.  For hitting a quality iron shot is fundamentally about good swing mechanics regardless of the implement in hand.  

 

Conversely, been realizing good results with an ultralight weight (50g) A flex shaft in the new 5 wood.  Good distances, ball goes straight, easy to swing.  Was something of a test to determine how I would coexist with a fairway club so configured.  Contemplating transitioning the other fairways similarly moving forward.  The 7 wood being the next candidate for a reshaft.  Another 7 wood was once my most reliable club in the bag.  But this V 7 wood for some reason has not realized the same consistency.

________________________________

 

Played a vintage bag a week ago.  Poorly.  Didn't have any fun in the so doing.  Was a slog.  Been thinking about liquidating the entirety of it.  Sell it all off for whatever I can get for them.  Donate what remains.  Getting tired of going downstairs and looking at multiple bags of random clubs that I have not nor will ever use.  What's the point in keeping them around?   They'e just there, and I'm tired of looking at them.  Once upon a time, only needed one bag of clubs to play golf with.  

 

Sell it all.  Everything.  Take the proceeds and find a nice set of big 'ol fat bottom G's with old man graphites and live happily ever after.  Purge all club futzing thoughts once and for all.  Every bud has but one set of clubs they play.  I'm becoming envious.  

 

Random musings with my coffee.

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by Fellaheen51

[scomac2002]

10 minutes ago, Fellaheen51 said:

Sell it all.  Everything.  Take the proceeds and get a nice set of G's with old man graphites and live happily ever after.  Purge all club futzing thoughts once and for all.  Every bud has but one set of clubs they play.  I'm becoming envious.

 

That was exactly my line of thinking last year as I began to play more again and the steel shafts caused me or so I thought, irritation in my neck and shoulder region.  The interesting aspect of that has been that I haven't noticed the same issues when I was playing vintage.

 

I have two carry bags fully outfitted with vintage to grab and go, both with small metal drivers and laminate fairways.  I won't tire of the experience.  I figure at worst they're about 2 strokes a side disadvantage.  With a son that has expressed interest in vintage play, they're going to stay put.

 

As for the rest, I'm a bit of the mind of you in settling on a single set of moderns and just live with it and play as best I can for the bulk of my rounds.  Plenty of clubs to liquidate in that instance, some of very recent acquisition.  It's rather ironic that I finally get another R7 425 in hand and discover that the former magic no longer seems to be present.  Going back to the RBZ yesterday gained me yards without sacrificing control.  All I had to do was setup to hit a draw with an inside out swing and voila:  pretty straight down the right side of the fairway with decent yardage.  My best drive was overcooked, but still made the left edge of the fairway.  Hard to argue with that.  It was the accursed irons that killed any hope of satisfactory play.   Will try and refine the club selection the rest of the way this season.  I feel I'm close as I have plenty of history with the bulk of my everyday players.

[scomac2002]

7 hours ago, scotee said:

Way behind here. Need to read and catch up. Living the retired life and taking Mrs. scotee's advice to do stuff while we can. Flew nearly over Conrad's place coming home 2 days ago. Spent a week at daughter 3's condo in Destin/Ft. Walton Beach. First time for us. Very nice beach and perfect weather.  Ate some good fresh fish with grits and greens and hushpuppies. Had no golf for 2 weeks but played today. Need to clean up the mistakes. 39/46 with 2 trip bogs and 3 doubles one bird and one 3 putt.

 

It has been a long time since I got to experience views like that first hand.  Closing in on two years.  I miss the ocean and the beach even though we had beach days when we were out west this summer.  It just isn't quite the same.

 

No immediate plans of travel for this coming winter.  Just when you start to feel like things might finally be improving on a more permanent basis it turns the other way.  #2 son who is the winemaker out west is awaiting his COVID test results after coming down with flu symptoms late last week.  They're in the middle of harvest and he and his spouse are quarantining now until the results are back.  He said he's feeling better at this point, but that doesn't assuage the worry.  Thankfully they are fully vaxxed.

[Conrad1953]

21 hours ago, scotee said:

Way behind here. Need to read and catch up. Living the retired life and taking Mrs. scotee's advice to do stuff while we can. Flew nearly over Conrad's place coming home 2 days ago. Spent a week at daughter 3's condo in Destin/Ft. Walton Beach. First time for us. Very nice beach and perfect weather.  Ate some good fresh fish with grits and greens and hushpuppies. Had no golf for 2 weeks but played today. Need to clean up the mistakes. 39/46 with 2 trip bogs and 3 doubles one bird and one 3 putt.

 

Glad you enjoyed your stay on the Redneck Riviera. Love that sugary white sand and

turquoise water.  I first went to Ft. Walton Beach in 1975. A good friend of mine in SoCal

actually grew up in that area. His dad was a test pilot and colonel in the Air Force and

was stationed at Eglin AFB and ultimately retired there. 

 

Back then Destin was just a fishing town and the locals were bemoaning that condos

were going up in Ft Walton. Time marches on....................LOL

 

Nice pics! 

[Conrad1953]

From @Fellaheen51

Sell it all.  Everything.  Take the proceeds and find a nice set of big 'ol fat bottom G's with old man graphites and live happily ever after.  Purge all club futzing thoughts once and for all.  Every bud has but one set of clubs they play.  I'm becoming envious.  

 

I hear ya, less clutter in the mind is better. I've been engaged in mind clutter reduction for

awhile but I do fall off the wagon from time to time. So much to be unseen and unheard that

would vastly increase our golf enjoyment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scomac2002]

23 hours ago, scomac2002 said:

No immediate plans of travel for this coming winter.  Just when you start to feel like things might finally be improving on a more permanent basis it turns the other way.  #2 son who is the winemaker out west is awaiting his COVID test results after coming down with flu symptoms late last week.  They're in the middle of harvest and he and his spouse are quarantining now until the results are back.  He said he's feeling better at this point, but that doesn't assuage the worry.  Thankfully they are fully vaxxed.

 

Heard back from him last night that the test was negative.  He went straight to work when he got the news.

 

The reason that the results took so long was that the lab didn't get the sample until Monday.  I guess that public health only works from Monday to Friday... 🤬

[BIG STU]

On 9/28/2021 at 7:12 AM, scomac2002 said:

 

That was exactly my line of thinking last year as I began to play more again and the steel shafts caused me or so I thought, irritation in my neck and shoulder region.  The interesting aspect of that has been that I haven't noticed the same issues when I was playing vintage.

 

I have two carry bags fully outfitted with vintage to grab and go, both with small metal drivers and laminate fairways.  I won't tire of the experience.  I figure at worst they're about 2 strokes a side disadvantage.  With a son that has expressed interest in vintage play, they're going to stay put.

 

As for the rest, I'm a bit of the mind of you in settling on a single set of moderns and just live with it and play as best I can for the bulk of my rounds.  Plenty of clubs to liquidate in that instance, some of very recent acquisition.  It's rather ironic that I finally get another R7 425 in hand and discover that the former magic no longer seems to be present.  Going back to the RBZ yesterday gained me yards without sacrificing control.  All I had to do was setup to hit a draw with an inside out swing and voila:  pretty straight down the right side of the fairway with decent yardage.  My best drive was overcooked, but still made the left edge of the fairway.  Hard to argue with that.  It was the accursed irons that killed any hope of satisfactory play.   Will try and refine the club selection the rest of the way this season.  I feel I'm close as I have plenty of history with the bulk of my everyday players.

When I play vintage with the persimmons I now move up to the Super Senior tees ( Green Over 70 years young). I had a discussion with one of the members the other day. The course sets up very differently as regards to angles etc from there. He asked how I knew that? He was unaware that I played vintage from there. I told him with a persimmon driver I was no longer than his guys with metal drivers. He asked what I could do from my regular senior tees ( gold) with a persimmon set up. I told him truthfully and named the par 4 holes I would have to hit a 3 wood or a screamer 2 iron. I will note he is a really nice old guy and was not being a smart aleck or anything close to it. He was really curious--- I told him in my vintage rounds that I really did not keep score and on some of the holes I would move back to my regular gold tees with the persimmon just to see what I could do. I told him all of it was fun to me. A lot of them know what I do and think I have a screw loose for playing the real "lumber" but funny thing is none of them will play me from the green tees and me with persimmon for any cash. LOL I did a tongue in cheek statement after we won the 9 and Dine Saturday afternoon. Some of the poor sports were grumbling about us winning again. They think it is all me but it ain't--- I had a 69 year old partner who was a stick. His wife is one heck of a putter and can put a driver out there too. My partner was outdriving me 30 yards or more. Like my bud who is one of the owners said " You do not want to leave Stuey anything from a 8 iron in on a scramble" I made the remark maybe Oct 9 th I would play persimmon from the green tees. We have the same team so basically that would be a moot point. There is not many yards seperate from the green to the red ladies tees and I am sure his wife can outdrive me from her tees with a metal driver. Iron play is a moot point anyhow since I play the signature set with blade irons all the way. All of my Mac irons are set to the same specs so that is a moot point. I think this week if I play vintage I may drag the stock Muirfields out. Have had to take care of some business this week so I have not been out to the course per say----  Actually for some this may be bad but for the first time in like 15 months I did some yard work this morning. I can cut the front yard with an electric weedeater normally in 45 minutes or so. Tried it today took probably 1 hr and I did take 3 breaks but I am feeling fine. That for me was a major accomplishment. It got hot and very humid again this Am so I am inside cooling it

[BIG STU]

15 hours ago, Conrad1953 said:

From @Fellaheen51

Sell it all.  Everything.  Take the proceeds and find a nice set of big 'ol fat bottom G's with old man graphites and live happily ever after.  Purge all club futzing thoughts once and for all.  Every bud has but one set of clubs they play.  I'm becoming envious.  

 

I hear ya, less clutter in the mind is better. I've been engaged in mind clutter reduction for

awhile but I do fall off the wagon from time to time. So much to be unseen and unheard that

would vastly increase our golf enjoyment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know I have been looking at my clutter and feel overwhelmed. My plans 2 years ago was to work and get rid of a lot of stuff but that went to crap when I got hurt. Now I feel I am recovering pretty well and will get back on it. We had looked at a couple of other places this week and had put a verbal offer in on one and they made a counter that I felt was too high so we walked. We discussed it and our home is solid with some nuances and for less money we can have repairs done if we can find someone to do the work. It is solid enough we can wait to the work situation improves and the price of building materials comes down and becomes available again. Talked to our finincial advisor at the bank and she said the market was crazy now and the price of building materials was at a all time high and if we could she advised to sit on what we have. Besides we have been here 20 years and this is the longest I have ever stayed in one place. Yeah growing up at the golf course even though my old man was there 20 years I was only there 15. And this sounds odd but we do have the wood stove here. The real estate agent questioned why when we were looking at places we mentioned Wood Stove placement. I told him that was one of the reasons we have sat out 4 hurricanes since we have been here and 2 deep freeze winters. Yep we decided to stay here since we have been here so long

[Conrad1953]

5 hours ago, BIG STU said:

I know I have been looking at my clutter and feel overwhelmed. My plans 2 years ago was to work and get rid of a lot of stuff but that went to crap when I got hurt. Now I feel I am recovering pretty well and will get back on it. We had looked at a couple of other places this week and had put a verbal offer in on one and they made a counter that I felt was too high so we walked. We discussed it and our home is solid with some nuances and for less money we can have repairs done if we can find someone to do the work. It is solid enough we can wait to the work situation improves and the price of building materials comes down and becomes available again. Talked to our finincial advisor at the bank and she said the market was crazy now and the price of building materials was at a all time high and if we could she advised to sit on what we have. Besides we have been here 20 years and this is the longest I have ever stayed in one place. Yeah growing up at the golf course even though my old man was there 20 years I was only there 15. And this sounds odd but we do have the wood stove here. The real estate agent questioned why when we were looking at places we mentioned Wood Stove placement. I told him that was one of the reasons we have sat out 4 hurricanes since we have been here and 2 deep freeze winters. Yep we decided to stay here since we have been here so long

 

Don't blame you. As @scotee famously once said................moving sucks!

 

We're done with moving and have been where we are 17+ years now. Like you, I

think this may be the longest I've lived in one house and the same for Cobi.  The 

house is paid for and we are old enough that in Alabama we are exempt from

property taxes. The real estate market is not as crazy here as some places but

it doesn't matter to us anyway as we are very content to stay here and live a

simple life. 

 

After years of being on the road from coast to coast I wondered if we might

ever miss traveling. I think what I miss is being in different places.......well, I'll

put it this way; if I could snap my fingers and be somewhere without having to 

actually drive or fly to get there, that would be the bees knees. I'm still burned

out on physical travel, though, as I said before, if we ever have a Grille meet up,

I'll be there; God willing and the creek don't rise.

[Fellaheen51]

7 hours ago, Conrad1953 said:

 

Don't blame you. As @scotee famously once said................moving sucks!

 

We're done with moving and have been where we are 17+ years now. Like you, I

think this may be the longest I've lived in one house and the same for Cobi.  The 

house is paid for and we are old enough that in Alabama we are exempt from

property taxes. The real estate market is not as crazy here as some places but

it doesn't matter to us anyway as we are very content to stay here and live a

simple life. 

 

After years of being on the road from coast to coast I wondered if we might

ever miss traveling. I think what I miss is being in different places.......well, I'll

put it this way; if I could snap my fingers and be somewhere without having to 

actually drive or fly to get there, that would be the bees knees. I'm still burned

out on physical travel, though, as I said before, if we ever have a Grille meet up,

I'll be there; God willing and the creek don't rise.

 We've been in our abode for 31 years.  Also paid off quite some time now.  We're burrowed in, likely for the duration of our time.  The thought of moving is beyond overwhelming.  Pack up all this "stuff" and transport it somewhere else?  Or liquidate?  What?...How?  Makes me tired just thinking about it.  Recognizing that there are those amongst us that have undertaken the process (the Sco Bros.).  

 

The real estate market here is on the crazy side.  Especially for homes in the $200k - $300K range.  One of the golf buds dabbles in real estate, says there is not much inventory in this price range.  So when something comes on the market, with location, multiple offers occur.  With sales resulting in a couple days.  A buyer does have the luxury of sleeping on a deal.  A friend of the Mrs. recently sold their home to move to South Carolina to be closer to a son.  Sold in 3 days at greater than offering price (don't know how much over, but they were very pleased).   

 

Northern Michigan is totally nuts.  Peeps from all over the country are buying up land and housing at a never seen before rate.  Read an article recently about people flocking to Upper Midwest locales (Northern Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota) to escape environmental and climatic conditions. Plentiful water supply, no hurricanes, no earthquakes, low population density.  Viewed as safe havens for people to escape to.   Duluth, MN  of all places a top destination for climate refuges.  Marquette, Mi on the shore of Lake Superior, once a stagnate old mining town, has had a resurgence of late.  A burgeoning restaurant and brew pub scene, new home construction, a new hospital recently built, major renovation to the downtown area, relative safety. It's become a boom town by all reports.  

 

With WFH an increasing mode of now one works, you can live anywhere as long as there's an internet connection.  A cousin was entirely office based.  Went to his cubicle and did tooling design for 8 hours.  Now he's entirely WFH with no expectations of returning.  Lots of online meetings (that are as boring as the in-person ones), but he's sitting there in his PJ's rather than his office uniform.  He's happy, less stress, he's contemplating moving far away from suburbia.  

____________________

 

No property taxes for seniors in Alabama?  A quick way to save $4k per year.  A not crazy real estate market?  Sell high here, buy low there.  Move to the Redneck Rivera and enjoy the salty breezes?  Do have some friends that moved to Biloxi about ten years ago.  They love it.  Been after us to come down for a visit.  Play bad golf on the Trail.  Have to learn how to understand the southern dialect (aka redneck).  

[BIG STU]

10 hours ago, Conrad1953 said:

 

Don't blame you. As @scotee famously once said................moving sucks!

 

We're done with moving and have been where we are 17+ years now. Like you, I

think this may be the longest I've lived in one house and the same for Cobi.  The 

house is paid for and we are old enough that in Alabama we are exempt from

property taxes. The real estate market is not as crazy here as some places but

it doesn't matter to us anyway as we are very content to stay here and live a

simple life. 

 

After years of being on the road from coast to coast I wondered if we might

ever miss traveling. I think what I miss is being in different places.......well, I'll

put it this way; if I could snap my fingers and be somewhere without having to 

actually drive or fly to get there, that would be the bees knees. I'm still burned

out on physical travel, though, as I said before, if we ever have a Grille meet up,

I'll be there; God willing and the creek don't rise.

I feel the exact same way about travel now--- But then again I can not travel far now because of my back. We are pretty content even though we get ticked off at stupid tourists. I do not miss cross country traveling one bit. 

[Soloman1]

Re: moving. When I was younger, I used to introduce myself by sticking my hand out, saying something banal like, "Hi, good to meet you," then followed up with, "Please don't ever ask me to help you move."

[Conrad1953]

2 hours ago, Fellaheen51 said:

 We've been in our abode for 31 years.  Also paid off quite some time now.  We're burrowed in, likely for the duration of our time.  The thought of moving is beyond overwhelming.  Pack up all this "stuff" and transport it somewhere else?  Or liquidate?  What?...How?  Makes me tired just thinking about it.  Recognizing that there are those amongst us that have undertaken the process (the Sco Bros.).  

 

The real estate market here is on the crazy side.  Especially for homes in the $200k - $300K range.  One of the golf buds dabbles in real estate, says there is not much inventory in this price range.  So when something comes on the market, with location, multiple offers occur.  With sales resulting in a couple days.  A buyer does have the luxury of sleeping on a deal.  A friend of the Mrs. recently sold their home to move to South Carolina to be closer to a son.  Sold in 3 days at greater than offering price (don't know how much over, but they were very pleased).   

 

Northern Michigan is totally nuts.  Peeps from all over the country are buying up land and housing at a never seen before rate.  Read an article recently about people flocking to Upper Midwest locales (Northern Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota) to escape environmental and climatic conditions. Plentiful water supply, no hurricanes, no earthquakes, low population density.  Viewed as safe havens for people to escape to.   Duluth, MN  of all places a top destination for climate refuges.  Marquette, Mi on the shore of Lake Superior, once a stagnate old mining town, has had a resurgence of late.  A burgeoning restaurant and brew pub scene, new home construction, a new hospital recently built, major renovation to the downtown area, relative safety. It's become a boom town by all reports.  

 

With WFH an increasing mode of now one works, you can live anywhere as long as there's an internet connection.  A cousin was entirely office based.  Went to his cubicle and did tooling design for 8 hours.  Now he's entirely WFH with no expectations of returning.  Lots of online meetings (that are as boring as the in-person ones), but he's sitting there in his PJ's rather than his office uniform.  He's happy, less stress, he's contemplating moving far away from suburbia.  

____________________

 

No property taxes for seniors in Alabama?  A quick way to save $4k per year.  A not crazy real estate market?  Sell high here, buy low there.  Move to the Redneck Rivera and enjoy the salty breezes?  Do have some friends that moved to Biloxi about ten years ago.  They love it.  Been after us to come down for a visit.  Play bad golf on the Trail.  Have to learn how to understand the southern dialect (aka redneck).  

 

I've read about the flight to the "exurbs"; a term I had not heard of until recently. I'm not

surprised people, who are able, are moving out to the boonies to live a more peaceful

life. Although we never WFH, we did drive for a nationwide company as independent

contractors and realized one day "hey we can live just about anywhere we want and still

do what we do" and fled SoCal and moved here.

 

The primary reason we stayed south was to keep running in the northern freight lanes

in the winter to a minimum. If we moved to say, Montana, we knew coming and going 

from home in the winter was going to be a PITA. Plus, freight tends to run in "lanes"

when going from coast to coast and if you live up in the northern lanes you're gonna

tend to do most of your running up there; having to chain up a lot in the mountains

on top of just the stress of driving in winter conditions; slippery roads, poor visibility

and cold. When you get paid by the mile you don't want all the delays that can come

with winter weather, as well.

 

When it comes to taxes I did some research by state before we moved. The truth is

every state is gonna get your money one way or another. Our property taxes were

very low anyway before we became exempt.......BUT......our sales taxes are high, as

in 10%.....on everything; even food.....and we do have an income tax. On the flip

side our annual car tag total for both vehicles is only $100 and Alabama has no

smog checks so no expenses messing with that.

 

More often than not, small or non existent taxes in one category are made up in

some other category. Over the course of a year it all adds up. The good thing

for us is we do not have to lay out large lump sums for taxes. I grumble sometimes

when I look at receipts for purchases as I walk out of the store but that's as

far as it goes.

 

 

[Qqq123xx]

I changed my air filter today. Pretty much a do it yourselfer for sure. 

[scomac2002]

48 minutes ago, Qqq123xx said:

I changed my air filter today. Pretty much a do it yourselfer for sure. 

 

I bought a new furnace.  They changed it for me... 😉

[scomac2002]

How do you spell suck?  I spell it @scomac2002...  Played Wednesday on quicksand slow greens that threw up rooster tails when you putted and must have stimped about 2 to the situation today where freshly aerated, sanded and rolled greens that stimped about 12 and you can imagine the joy that putting was on both occasions.😱

 

3 putts?  Nay.  How about 4 putts?  It's a great way to induce a case of the yips.  At least I started with a par and finished the same.  What was in between was bloody awful.  WE often talk about the canned response of a chip and a putt for par.  Our version is now the chip, chip, putt, putt  as that seems to happen about as often as the desired outcome.  Today I found new depths with the chip, chip, chip and putt, putt for a triple following a really nice tee shot on a dog leg par 4.  And then my playing partner had his version of torment with the chip, putt, putt, putt for a 5 following an equally good tee shot on a longish par 3 that would normally have rolled onto the green if it wasn't for the mushy conditions in front of the green.

 

🙄🤬🤪

Edited September 30, 2021 by scomac2002

[billh17]

s@ Scomac : super glad to hear they are vaccinated! No politics involved, just anything to help folks get thru this crazy time !

@ Fella:         we have a guy in our group, that will sometimes play steel, High R, on the  front and   switch to senior flex for the back .  Since all my group are all non-official member of  OGA, none of us care. We are all total advocates of have fun and play whatever ya want !

                    Reading all of the home comments, it does seem we grillers are all pretty much alike in a lot  of ways,  We have been here for 22 years now, and our yard sale last weekend cleared a   bunch of stuff from the garage and shed. Some things had not been used for years so we

just chose to get rid of things. Fellas, I am down to two sets of irons...both are one length.....one with steel shaft and i play the graphite. Still using the R9. We both have both shots, and dont care if other

folks dont agree with the vaccine.. At our age we figured every little advantage our way helps ! 

Apple festival was last week, and the apple sauce is fantastic ! Golfing every chance i get, sometimes

4 days a week. I have NO plans for playing when the temperatures get below 45 !  Have a good weekend

and GO BROWNS !

 

     

Edited September 30, 2021 by billh17

[BIG STU]

12 hours ago, billh17 said:

s@ Scomac : super glad to hear they are vaccinated! No politics involved, just anything to help folks get thru this crazy time !

@ Fella:         we have a guy in our group, that will sometimes play steel, High R, on the  front and   switch to senior flex for the back .  Since all my group are all non-official member of  OGA, none of us care. We are all total advocates of have fun and play whatever ya want !

                    Reading all of the home comments, it does seem we grillers are all pretty much alike in a lot  of ways,  We have been here for 22 years now, and our yard sale last weekend cleared a   bunch of stuff from the garage and shed. Some things had not been used for years so we

just chose to get rid of things. Fellas, I am down to two sets of irons...both are one length.....one with steel shaft and i play the graphite. Still using the R9. We both have both shots, and dont care if other

folks dont agree with the vaccine.. At our age we figured every little advantage our way helps ! 

Apple festival was last week, and the apple sauce is fantastic ! Golfing every chance i get, sometimes

4 days a week. I have NO plans for playing when the temperatures get below 45 !  Have a good weekend

and GO BROWNS !

 

     

True OGA style---- When I play in the late afternoon by myself I have both the signature set and a assorted vintage set strapped on the cart complete with persimmon woods. Also have my shag bag and little cooler on there too ( no adult beverages for me) I stay out until dark hitting different shots with different stuff. 

[Fellaheen51]

14 hours ago, scomac2002 said:

How do you spell suck?  I spell it @scomac2002...  Played Wednesday on quicksand slow greens that threw up rooster tails when you putted and must have stimped about 2 to the situation today where freshly aerated, sanded and rolled greens that stimped about 12 and you can imagine the joy that putting was on both occasions.😱

 

3 putts?  Nay.  How about 4 putts?  It's a great way to induce a case of the yips.  At least I started with a par and finished the same.  What was in between was bloody awful.  WE often talk about the canned response of a chip and a putt for par.  Our version is now the chip, chip, putt, putt  as that seems to happen about as often as the desired outcome.  Today I found new depths with the chip, chip, chip and putt, putt for a triple following a really nice tee shot on a dog leg par 4.  And then my playing partner had his version of torment with the chip, putt, putt, putt for a 5 following an equally good tee shot on a longish par 3 that would normally have rolled onto the green if it wasn't for the mushy conditions in front of the green.

 

🙄🤬🤪

 

Us scufflers are challenged enough under "normal" conditions.  Start mixing in dramatically different green speeds day to day, mushy conditions that prevent maximizing our already distance challenged yardages, our ability to adapt and/or compensate is taxed.  

 

Played a very familiar course Wednesday, as close to a "home" course that we have.  They had recently aerated and top dressed the greens.  Kinda bumpy.  Combined with the heavy dew, the putting was maddeningly slow.  Struggled bigly trying to get the ball to the hole.  Didn't really figure it out, way to many 3 putts.  Other than on one par 3 hole where I was just on the green, ~40' to the wrong side of the hole.  Took what felt like a 7 iron swing at the ball, whacking it up an incline, and lo and behold if it didn't roll into the cup for a birdie.  I laughed.  

 

Tee to near the green, was mostly pleased with the play.  Better than the typical, was realizing more than customary GIR's.  Way to much poor putting to take advantage.  And two par 5's that I failed to execute basic pitches onto the green.  Traverse ~375 yards with drive and fairway, dogleg down a hill, to perfect flat lie position, then stub a PW.  And indifferent pitch onto the front of the green and three putts latter walking off with an 8 while muttering WTF.  Another par 5 was similar, 110'ish out and couldn't clear a small creek in front.  Drop, pitch, putt to another 8.  And more expletives.  Despite these two terribly played holes still managed to card a 45/44 somehow.  Mostly content with how I hit the ball overall, despite a nagging "coulda, shoulda" if I had executed just a few shots better.  Putted just a little bit better.  Scuffler's lament I suppose.  

[Fellaheen51]

50 minutes ago, BIG STU said:

True OGA style---- When I play in the late afternoon by myself I have both the signature set and a assorted vintage set strapped on the cart complete with persimmon woods. Also have my shag bag and little cooler on there too ( no adult beverages for me) I stay out until dark hitting different shots with different stuff. 

 

Brilliant Stu.  Why hasn't this ever occurred to me?  Play a fair amount solo, take two bags.  A classic bag of wood and blade to mess around with, the moderns as a fall back position if the old stuff isn't working out.  A passel of clubs to to play golf with.  Outta catch some curious eyes if for no other reason.  Anyone inquires, I'll tell them it's Big Stu style.  Yep, next time that's what I'm gonna do.  

[Fellaheen51]

13 hours ago, billh17 said:

s@ Scomac : super glad to hear they are vaccinated! No politics involved, just anything to help folks get thru this crazy time !

@ Fella:         we have a guy in our group, that will sometimes play steel, High R, on the  front and   switch to senior flex for the back .  Since all my group are all non-official member of  OGA, none of us care. We are all total advocates of have fun and play whatever ya want !

                    Reading all of the home comments, it does seem we grillers are all pretty much alike in a lot  of ways,  We have been here for 22 years now, and our yard sale last weekend cleared a   bunch of stuff from the garage and shed. Some things had not been used for years so we

just chose to get rid of things. Fellas, I am down to two sets of irons...both are one length.....one with steel shaft and i play the graphite. Still using the R9. We both have both shots, and dont care if other

folks dont agree with the vaccine.. At our age we figured every little advantage our way helps ! 

Apple festival was last week, and the apple sauce is fantastic ! Golfing every chance i get, sometimes

4 days a week. I have NO plans for playing when the temperatures get below 45 !  Have a good weekend

and GO BROWNS !

 

     

 

Good for you Bill, playing as often (4x per!) as you can.  Been splendid weather for it by and large.  Tell your bud I'm impressed by his OGA switch of irons mid-round.  Taking the feels to another level.  

 

The Mrs. and I are in agreement that we need to have a garage sale.  Get rid of some stuff.  Except every time I mention "let's get it together and do it",  she always seems to have something else to do.  I'm not doing it by myself.  

 

At least you have a professional FB team that you can root for.  The local franchise has been inept for so long, they have exhausted whatever minimal amount of fandom I had left.  The Curse of Bobby Layne remains in affect.  Evidence?  Last week.  Not being able to stop a 4th and 19 with under a minute.  After a timeout called by the stupid ones, allowing Baltimore (no TO's) to set up a play.  Then the brilliant defensive decision to only rush three and play prevent, thereby allowing Lamar Jackson to run around and make a play.  An obvious delay of game penalty not called by the refs, with the subsequent completion gaining additional yards.  Then losing on a new world record 66 yard FG that hits the crossbar and pops over as time expires.  Ironically by the same score as a prior world record FG (63 yards by Tom Dempsey in 1970).  So Lion-esque.  Was a sap for wasting 10 minutes, sitting in my vehicle before heading into the grocery store, listening to this crap.  Cursed I tell 'ya.  

 

 

[billh17]

1 hour ago, Fellaheen51 said:

 

Good for you Bill, playing as often (4x per!) as you can.  Been splendid weather for it by and large.  Tell your bud I'm impressed by his OGA switch of irons mid-round.  Taking the feels to another level.  

 

The Mrs. and I are in agreement that we need to have a garage sale.  Get rid of some stuff.  Except every time I mention "let's get it together and do it",  she always seems to have something else to do.  I'm not doing it by myself.  

 

At least you have a professional FB team that you can root for.  The local franchise has been inept for so long, they have exhausted whatever minimal amount of fandom I had left.  The Curse of Bobby Layne remains in affect.  Evidence?  Last week.  Not being able to stop a 4th and 19 with under a minute.  After a timeout called by the stupid ones, allowing Baltimore (no TO's) to set up a play.  Then the brilliant defensive decision to only rush three and play prevent, thereby allowing Lamar Jackson to run around and make a play.  An obvious delay of game penalty not called by the refs, with the subsequent completion gaining additional yards.  Then losing on a new world record 66 yard FG that hits the crossbar and pops over as time expires.  Ironically by the same score as a prior world record FG (63 yards by Tom Dempsey in 1970).  So Lion-esque.  Was a sap for wasting 10 minutes, sitting in my vehicle before heading into the grocery store, listening to this crap.  Cursed I tell 'ya.  

 

 

I feel your pain!  After all, I am a life long Browns fan......i think i was like maybe 12 last time they had a championship team....Brown, Mitchell,and who can ever forget the QB with a savage atheletic name of

Milton Ross Plum.....oh they were striking fear in the other teams !....well....two outa three of them were.

[Fellaheen51]

1 hour ago, billh17 said:

I feel your pain!  After all, I am a life long Browns fan......i think i was like maybe 12 last time they had a championship team....Brown, Mitchell,and who can ever forget the QB with a savage atheletic name of

Milton Ross Plum.....oh they were striking fear in the other teams !....well....two outa three of them were.

 Ha!  Last championship for the Browns.....1964 (sez the googles).  Can top that...last 'ship for the Lions was 1957.  Exactly one playoff win since, way back in '91.  At least you had the Bernie Kosar years and by all appearances an up and coming team now.  At least there's optimism. 

 

The "curse" commenced the next season when they traded away the championship winning QB Bobby Layne after two games.  The legend is BL told management on his way out the door, they wouldn't win another championship for 50 years.  It's now 63 years and counting.  Mere legend?  I think not.  

 

Of course you know who the Browns traded Milt Plum too?  One guess.  During his tenure, there was the late great (edit:  Did not win the Heisman) Joe Don Looney.  Who was kind of looney as his name.  He who once infamously told the HC when asked to carry a play in to the QB (Milt Plum?)....."If you want a messenger boy, call Western Union".  

 

 

Edited October 1, 2021 by Fellaheen51

[billh17]

4 minutes ago, Fellaheen51 said:

 Ha!  Last championship for the Browns.....1964 (sez the googles).  Can top that...last 'ship for the Lions was 1957.  Exactly one playoff win since, way back in '91.  At least you had the Bernie Kosar years and by all appearances an up and coming team now.  At least there's optimism. 

 

The "curse" commenced the next season when they traded away the championship winning QB Bobby Layne after two games.  The legend is BL told management on his way out the door, they wouldn't win another championship for 50 years.  It's now 63 years and counting.  Mere legend?  I think not.  

 

Of course you know who the Browns traded Milt Plum too?  One guess.  During his tenure, there was the late great Heisman trophy winner Joe Don Looney.  Who was kind of looney as his name.  He who once infamously told the HC when asked to carry a play in to the QB (Milt Plum?)....."If you want a messenger boy, call Western Union".  

 

 

Yes, the Cardiac Kids gave us a couple years of enjoyment, and the current team is getting

gelled,  so hope has once again reared its sneering head ! Come December it will laugh at us !