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

[tolmij]

Electrician back this morning to finish off, he is an awesome man, 70, double hip transplant six months ago and he is crawling through the ceiling space like a youngster. His attitude suits me perfectly he is an OGA of life, his attitudes would suit the Grille but he does not like or own any technology apart from a phone.

Three hours yesterday, one hour this morning, several new points and alterations to existing light switches several long lengths of wire and all up he only charged us $350 for cash ?He lives just across from us and he and his family are brilliant neighbours, we are so lucky where we live.

back to work, painting and plastering to do today.

[Conrad1953]

Glad the reno is going well Tol.

 

Not much going on here..............except rain rain and more rain. Indoor activities for the most part; daily time on the piano

and binge watching Netflix TV shows; lately the comic book shows; like Super Girl, Flash and Arrow.

 

Like Fella said; don't like commercials............so we watch more Netflix than anything else. Maybe get back on the golf course

soon..........if the rain stops long enough for the courses to drain and dry out a little bit. I don't like playing when the courses

are soggy. The Judge course and half the Legislator course were flooded and closed for awhile. With all the rain coming

down the Alabama river is flooding and wouldn't surprise if those holes down by the river close again.

[Conrad1953]

Man, I'm ready for some sunshine and warmer weather. Here's a video a teaching pro shot doing a 3 hole round on the Judge.

[Fellaheen51]

Sheesh. Lot of water, swamp and swale on the Judge! Better be loose and ready to roll on that first hole. Couldn't help but think of the number of balls that I would deposit in the Alabama river before reaching proximity of the green. Maybe they have a forward tee at the bottom of the hill that one could start from (the ladies tee has to be down there somewhere). Then use 8 iron 3x to keep the ball in play. Have a preference for "easier" first holes, so that I have a chance to acclimate and get into the swing of things. Carding a 9 on the very first hole doesn't set the proper tone for the rest of the round. Par 3, 215 yards, all carry? Hitting a 6 iron? Heck, don't know if I could get there hitting a driver. Some play a game I'm totally unfamiliar with. Nice course though.

[scomac2002]

I think that the teaching pro was more concerned with getting his product placement endorsement in than providing us mere mortals with good useful instruction. That was brutal. Nothing like some time off to give a fella a fresh perspective.

[scomac2002]

I think that I've gotten caught up in all the news of the past few weeks. It's good to hear that the grillers who have been suffering with various ailments are now well on the mend.

The cruise was great. I shut my phone off when I got on board and was completely out of touch with the outside world until we got back to San Diego. I think that we can all use a detox of that sort every now and again.

My favourite stop was Guatemala. So lush and green and the people were amazing. All the little aboriginal women selling their wares in the town squares. So colourful and bright the patterns in their textiles. We visited a coffee plantation that day for lunch that was in the mountains at 5500 feet elevation. Much cooler and less humid that at the port city of Puerto Quetzal.

Saw lots of exotic wildlife along the way. Many sea/coastal birds and crocs in Costa Rica. Whales were regularly spotted as we sailed up the Pacific coast. WE followed a pod of three Humpback whales for over an hour on a sunset sail in Banderas Bay in Puerto Vallarta. Very cool to get so close to such majestic creatures. Unfortunately all the pics are on DW's camera.

[Conrad1953]

I dislike the 1st hole on the Judge. It's too difficult. It would be better if it came later in the round when one has gotten

into the swing of things. He played form the purple tees, which are over 7,000 yards, though it's over 7,500 yards from

the black tees. From the white tees that par 3 12th is only about 110 yards, and about 160 from the orange tees. There

is a tee set up from the whites, which are the teal tees (ladies/senior tees). There are 5 sets of tees on that course.

 

From the white tees you still have quite a few forced carries but the distances are much more manageable for us old

short knockers.

 

The Judge is not my favorite course there but it seems to get all the pub. The other 2 courses are better IMO though

not necessarily any easier; just less water and less forced carries off the tee though other troubles come into play that

can eat up strokes.

[tolmij]

That was one of our favourite past times at our last but one house, going on the day trip to watch the humpback whales. Where we were was a sheltered stopover for them during their annual migration From their southern feeding ground, they also had the new born calves and were in a frisky mood getting ready for the next mating season.

there is a large island just off the coast and it gives them a safe passage for a rest, when they had been there a few days they came out to play and we sat in the tour boats watching them jump high out of the water, they are also very inquisitive and would come right up to the boats put their heads out and watch us watching them.

Very strict conditions for the cruise, if the whale was within 100 yds of a boat the engine had to be cut and be stationary until they moved away, provided hours of interesting education watching the interaction between mother and calf and the preening of the males trying to get the attention of the females. They do similar trips where we are but they do not have the same conditions for them so it’s not quite as interesting after seeing it as we used to.

 

happy for you the cruise went well, sounds as if you had a terrific time.

[tolmij]

Not a fan of water carries on the golf course, my ball has the habit of being attracted to it. Our 18 th is a par three water carry but fortunately the water is only around 30 yards wide, the green is elevated around 30 ft so you have to get the ball high, which for me is a plus.

[scomac2002]

We have two forced carries over water at my 9 hole course. The carry is variable depending upon how you choose to play the holes.

The 6th is a short par 4 dogleg left. If you play the hole as a dogleg you can carry the water with 100 yards off of the whites or 150 off the blues. My league plays from the whites and a few guys will cut the corner from the whites stretching out the carry to 175.

The 9th is a 200 yard par three hitting uphill from an elevated tee to an elevated green. The water is sort of lateral from the right of the tee to the bottom of the hill and left of the green. Most of my league guys will play it as two shots to the green so the carry isn`t too bad, maybe 100 yards. But, should you go for the green then you can catch water at 170 if you pull your tee shot.

Both are classic risk reward holes where double pars are quite common, especially on the finishing hole with its severely sloped green; back to front.

[tolmij]

Me hard at work, as usual DW likes to document all our renovations. Floor tomorrow then finish painting, painting should have been done first but that’s the way it has to be. DW wants one corner finished so she can place something to make it look more civilised.

 

[tolmij]

Floor down, edging to finish this afternoon, DW very happy the house can soon be back to normal. Only took 2 1/2 hours from vacuuming the floor to finished job.

Sons cat checking it out, don’t know if he is impressed with a hard floor.

[BIG STU]

Howard and Tom Wishon two folks I pay attention to and read and absorb any time either one of them post. I have read that and not have tried it yet. May try it with the only set of graphite irons I own which is the one set of KZGs. Like you stated I can get a little quick with those and hook city happens. I was playing them back when my back was hurt but once I started healing up and really swinging again I had a tendency to hook them. Now as far as weights I do not SW my personal clubs I do it all by feel. I know a few years back one rainy Saturday morning we were at my friend the Miura dealer's shop. Now me and him have a lot of discussions on theory etc. He hates lead tape and one of the guys brought up my lead taped clubs. He told the guy that I had no idea if the weights were progressive or not. I ended up letting them SW my clubs while I went to the grill room for breakfast. He told the guy I did not know the SW on my stuff and did not want to know and did not give two hoots if they were progressive or not. He did say that my SW was all over the charts along with my CPM numbers on the shafts. But he respects that. I firmly believe in fine tuning EACH club to my feel "Proper Progression" and numbers be dammed. I have experimented with lead tape on the hosel of a Anser putter because sometimes on short putts I tend to fan the face open. Turns out on that deal it was not a weight or mechanical issue I was decelerating the putter at impact on short putts and that will "pop" the face open. I evaluated and studied that deal and figured it out. But for you I say tune each club to where it feels and hits right FOR YOU

[BIG STU]

Basically the same here Rain Rain and more rain. Rained from Tuesday to yesterday here. We have sorta the same problem here that you do. All the rivers from NC drain into the Pee Dee and Waccamaw rivers here on the way to the ocean. This sandy soil does not drain well either. Played in the Dogfight last Saturday and we had 4 holes besides the Par 3s that were CPO. That was not too bad. I am calling over this morning to see what is up before I play. It is also a little nippy this morning in the 30s here. Like you I do not like to play when it is real muddy unless I may do a vintage walking round. I did one in the showers Tuesday. Since I am semi retired I am only in the truck 2 or 3 days. They have hired some "steering wheel holders" but do not know how that is going to workout. One of them has already turned over the brand new dump trailer he bought in October. I ran up early yesterday and was on the way back when the other truck called and could not dump. I had to turn back 20 miles and un hook mine and dump his. Turn out when the other guy turned the dump over it did not turn the truck over but busted the cylinder on the trailer and lost hydraulic oil No one bothered to check the truck and refill the oil. When I got in I had to take another truck to the tire shop that was vibrating in the front end. The mechanic and myself had checked the front end and no kingpin wear etc. Come to find out the truck had 2 bent steel rims on the steer ( figure that one out). What was supposed a 6 hr up and back day turned into a 12 hour day. Thursday had a newer truck quit near the shredder and I had to tend to it. Had to disconnect the speed sensor to trick the computer to get it to run. That steering wheel holder did not want to drive it so I put him in my truck and sent him home and I took care of the load and getting the truck in. I think that steering wheel holder quit yesterday. I was pissed yesterday and told them I was glad I was retiring and was tired of hand holding. Even when I retire I plan on working 2 days a week until I max out my max earnings on SS that is if I can take the baby sitting. I am starting to get old and ill tempered. i had to learn like everyone else when I started but at least I made some effort and used common sense. But as I am sure you know getting out of the truck more has helped me physically. On my days off I have been practicing with my vintage stuff and doing some of my 9 hole walking rounds. Did 3 last week started out with only 8 clubs but carried 12 Tuesday. My back has loosened up and I am back swinging heavy shafts and I actually lost 5 lbs last week without trying. I know my flexibility has improved 110% and I feel better

[tolmij]

Only had two golf lessons from pros because for the very reason they want everyone to swing as they say they should and clubs should always be set up the same way. Could not get my head round the attitude mainly because with my Judo coaching everyone did the same basic techniques but their interpretation of the finer movements differed tremendously because EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT. Hip displacement in judo is critical as in golf, arm movement and timing of muscle flex, the similarities are endless. Stu has the best philosophy ever, just hit the ball.

 

[Conrad1953]

I don't miss trucking at all, especially with all the new rules and new equipment weirdness and mandates......but being retired

has been a little bit.............different, for lack of a better way to describe it. I have worked all my life and it feels a little weird

NOT working............like I've become a slacker or something. I have plenty of things to occupy my time and I've never been

one to be lazy but sometimes I feel like this is too good to be true and one day I'm gonna wake up from the dream, lol.

[dan360]

Still coronavirus free here. Or COVID-19 or whatever we are supposed to call it.

What is most alarming to me about all this, is just how many people weren’t washing their hands!!!!

 

[BIG STU]

What is funny here they did not cancel the Myrtle Beach Marathon after they canceled that big festival in Texas this week. I told the wife that they were too money hungry here and do not care. I told her if one of us got the Corona 19 the other one should sue the pants off of Myrtle Beach and the tourism commission.

[Conrad1953]

When I was on the road and using "public" facilities I double washed my hands and then used the paper towels

I dried them with to open the door to get out of the rest room. I also never put my hands anywhere near my

face until after they had been washed. It's amazing how many people just do their business and walk out the

door, never washing their hands. No way I'm touching a door handle after they touched it.

[tolmij]

Best of luck expecting it to get any better Stu, for some reason they seem to be born nowerdays without the ability to think for themselves. Son has similar problems where he works, we have always raised him to be self reliant but it seems not many are. He works as a programmer at an IVF facility, they have units world wide and rely on the back up staff to keep the computer servers running but recently they have been losing data because of poor safety practices and apparently it’s only because they are too idle to conduct basic checks before altering anything, this week they have lost 2 years of important patient information and it is going to take a major effort by everyone to find it, so all essential work is now on hold.

 

What I cannot understand as with your situation they think this is OK and the employers let them off with it time and time again, there is no way I would have still been employed if I had been that stupid. One engineering company I worked at they moved very slowly around the shop and stood talking drinking tea and coffee for 1/2 hour every morning before starting work, this was charged to a customer as we had to log in at least 8 hours every day. After I had been working there for two days I was approached by the rest of them telling me to slow down as I was making them look inefficient, I said the only people making you look inefficient is you, now stuff off so I can get on with the job. Less than six months later the whole engineering staff had been replaced with older more dedicated people that were a pleasure to work with.

 

I have never been one to shuffle around at work as I consider if you do not put in a decent effort it is theft, you are paid to work not daydream.

[tolmij]

Some of our local markets have had first fights, knives drawn and police with tasers breaking up the crowds all this for toilet paper, the shop we use is always quiet with good customers and a manager who is hands on and intelligent, any silly stuff is sorted immediately, as a precaution we now disinfect the trolly before we use it and wash our hands when finished, apart from that and total isolation it’s difficult to know who to believe as some of it seems genuine and other bits of information looks like total overkill.

[BIG STU]

My late Boston Terrier would have loved that floor to slide around on. She was worse than a kid on snow and ice

[tolmij]

Cats have already tried it out, turn as they slide and finish going backwards. Your Boston sounds like a typical Grille member?

[dan360]

I like his swing, just kind of lets the club fall behind the ball with a good explosion. Although that 210 yd 5 iron looked like he gave it all 130 pounds!

 

 

[BIG STU]

I guess since you said it she kinda was. She used to sit in my lap with her head on the desk looking when I was on here typing. Lost her to a seizure 2 years ago this past New Years day

In fact that was what she was doing when I snapped this picture of her on the back of the couch watching me type on here. Believe it or not she was the most agile dog I ever saw. She was as agile as any cat. We have the little man we rescued and he is cool in his own way but he ain't her

[tolmij]

lovely looking dog a Stu, bet you miss her heaps.

All animals are special but I know what you mean some are just more special. DW has had two dogs that were that way, our first ever dog was a black boxer and boy was he special, extremely intelligent. The other was quite recent a red Doberman. Both of them were gentle loving dogs but if anyone looked sideways at my wife it was kill mode, they both took their job of protecting her very seriously, never had a problem leaving her at home alone and with the Doberman that was really isolated. Our present boxer barks when someone is at the door, but as soon as it is open he runs behind my wife and hides.

 

DW still looks back at them both with regrets that they could not be with us longer

[Conrad1953]

Ah, spring forward; one of my favorite days of the year....cheers to all Grillesters!

[scomac2002]

Not sure why this is, but I always seem to have to be somewhere early the day the clocks spring forward after having been crazy busy the day before. Played in a bonspiel yesterday, so that was three games played in 24 hours including our league game Friday night and then church this morning. I'm still tired and I just woke up from a 2 hour nap in my recliner!

[Added] Probably didn't help having to go through a 3 hour time change the other direction last weekend!

[tolmij]

I have never and cannot get my head round the need to alter the time. We do not have it in Queensland and I do not find any disadvantage at all. The rest of Australia Does it and not all on the same day so it causes major disruption to the trading between states. The Gold Coast which is the southern most part of Queensland is also the northernmost part of New South Wales, the dividing line between the two states is there, one part of the town is on Summer time and the other on normal time, crazy. It’s just the politicians playing with our heads.

We used to have it in Queensland until they saw sense, at that time I was working night shift in an engineering works and it caused major disruption to the shifts that were on during the changeover as in Australia the first night shift of the week starts at 11.30pm on Sundays, there was great cheering when the Queensland government cancelled it, it was only one day but still totally unnessesary.

[Conrad1953]

If we stayed on daylight savings time year round here in Bama then I would agree. We live on the far eastern edge of the central time zone.

If we were in the eastern time zone then I would be fine staying on standard time year round. Who needs daylight at 4 friggin' o'clock in

the morning?