So ... I'm out playing golf with my good friend, Bowser. He declares that, "Today is my day. I own this golf course." Yeah... right, I thought to myself.
Hole 1 is a 363 yd Par 4. It's pretty basic. A few undulations in the fairway. A sand bunker to the left back of the green. The green is fairly fast, with two levels.I hit a 258 yd drive off the tee... placed a 7 iron shot three feet from the cup and sank my birdie. Good start for a duffer like me. Bowser wacks a 308 yard drive and chips in for an Eagle. I'm 1 under and one down. Yuck.
The second hole is a nice little 161 yard Par 3. The Tee is elevated forty feet above the fairway. Three bunkers sit to the left of the green. Not a nice place.I'm thinking ... 2 iron. I know, good golfers would opt for somewhere around an 8 iron. But, hey... this is me. Anyway, I connect my drive real sweet and the ball carries the upper level of the green and floats down toward the hole, stopping eight inches from finding it's mark. Tap-in birdie. I'm 2 under. Unimpressive and undramatic since my good friend, Bowser hit a Hole-in-One. He's now 4 under after two holes. I'm beginning to believe he does own the golf course.
Hole 3 is another Par 4. It's 343 yards and doglegs left. Sand traps travel almost the length of the fairway down the left side. Sand bunkers to the left front and right rear of the green. No problem, I'm thinking. Just stay in the fairway. Wack! I hit the ball toward the left, hoping to cut the corner. Just when I think I might find sand the wind... blowing about 7 mph from the left, pushes my ball into the fairway and it stops at 265 yards. A short 9 iron puts me in putting range. Sinking my putt, I'm all over myself with pride. Three holes.... three birdies. Oh... did I mention my good friend Bowser's Eagle, AGAIN!
So.. we've play three holes. I'm 3 under Par and my good friend, Bowser is 6 under Par. I don't mind getting beat at golf. Especially by a good player, and when I'm having a good game. But this is taking getting beat to a different level. I was getting buried.
The day's young... I thought silently, as I drove the ball 285 yards downwind on the 477 yard Par 5 fourth hole. Working my way out of the rough, I managed to save Par. Bowser? No... he didn't get another Eagle, but he did birdie to go 7 under.
The wind picked-up as we drove to the 5th hole, a 355 yard Par 4. It was blowing somewhere around 15 to 20 mph. Could be that's why we both boggied... or maybe our stroke of luck was fading away.
By the time we reached the 9th it was raining and time to call it a day. My good friend, Bowser, finished the nine holes 8 under Par. It was indeed his day.
That's the way it is in my world... and so it goes.
31 October 2008
29 October 2008
Wasted Days And Wasted Nights
Wasted days and wasted nights... or, the games people play.
I didn't used to play games. Fact is, in my many years as a computer consultant I avoided having any games on my computer(s). There is, I surmised, a time for work and a time for play. My computers were work tools.
Even after retiring I avoided having games on my computer. On occassion I would receive a game link in my email and investigate. Even tried them now and then. But mostly I found little time or interest in computer games. Today there are still no games on my computer.
Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with playing computer games. Some of them are ingenious, educational, therapeutic, and yes... even fun. I just never seemed to have time for them.
How it all started:
A bit more than a year ago a good friend and I were having dinner at a local eatery and she mentioned that her son (age 16) felt bad because all of his friends had either a Play Station, Xbox or Wii and she couldn't afford to get him one. She wished that she could so he would spend more evenings at home and even have his friends over. On the way home I stopped by the "Game Station", which was near the eatery, and bought a PS 2 and a Wii along with a few of the games the store keeper said were popular with the kids. I gave them to my friend, on loan until she could afford to buy her son whichever one he preferred. She was, of course, grateful and, as it turned out her son was elated and did start spending more time at home and inviting his friends.
A couple of months ago my friend returned both the PS 2 and Wii to me. She had saved enough to by her son a Play Station 3, which was the preference of her son and his group of friends. I set them on a table, where they collected dust for a couple of weeks. Then, one Saturday afternoon, while watching golf, a Tiger Woods PGA Tour game caught my attention ... as all thing golf do.
That evening I went down and purchased the game for the PS 2. After a few trial and error games I was hooked.Within a few days I picked up a couple of games for the Wii ... Super Mario Kart and Wii Sports, which had a golf game included. There was no turning back now. Hours began melting away as I worked at master Mario Kart. When I tired and became frustrated I would switch to Wii Sports. The golf game was okay but not really one that would capture much of my time in my new game playing career. Wii Sports bowling took that honor and before long I was in a local Wii Bowling League.
While taking a break from wallowing in some dark, dank and dreary canyon off the road in Wario's Gold Mine, which I constantly drove into with Luigi, in his Wild Wing, I took a moment to explore the other Wii features. Before long I was on the Wii Shopping Channel downloading Virtual Console games: Pacman, Donkey Kong, Super Mario; (nostalgia from my younger days playing 8 and 16 bit video games in arcades) ... and YES, Mario Golf, which Nintendo ported to the Wii Virtual Console, from N64.
I wasn't surprised to discover and endless list of available game, from sports to RPG to puzzles, and more. Mario Kart, Wii Sports Bowling and Mario Golf head my list of favorites. Many of the others are more or less uninteresting to me; some are just plain wasted time. Those others I do find interesting don't fit in my playing schedule.
Yes... that's what I said, playing schedule. I got so absorbed in the games I play that I had to make a playing schedule to end this game playing madness and have a life away from Wii.
That's the way it is in my world... and so it goes.
Wii Friend ID: 0559-9800-4853
I didn't used to play games. Fact is, in my many years as a computer consultant I avoided having any games on my computer(s). There is, I surmised, a time for work and a time for play. My computers were work tools.
Even after retiring I avoided having games on my computer. On occassion I would receive a game link in my email and investigate. Even tried them now and then. But mostly I found little time or interest in computer games. Today there are still no games on my computer.
Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with playing computer games. Some of them are ingenious, educational, therapeutic, and yes... even fun. I just never seemed to have time for them.
How it all started:
A bit more than a year ago a good friend and I were having dinner at a local eatery and she mentioned that her son (age 16) felt bad because all of his friends had either a Play Station, Xbox or Wii and she couldn't afford to get him one. She wished that she could so he would spend more evenings at home and even have his friends over. On the way home I stopped by the "Game Station", which was near the eatery, and bought a PS 2 and a Wii along with a few of the games the store keeper said were popular with the kids. I gave them to my friend, on loan until she could afford to buy her son whichever one he preferred. She was, of course, grateful and, as it turned out her son was elated and did start spending more time at home and inviting his friends.
A couple of months ago my friend returned both the PS 2 and Wii to me. She had saved enough to by her son a Play Station 3, which was the preference of her son and his group of friends. I set them on a table, where they collected dust for a couple of weeks. Then, one Saturday afternoon, while watching golf, a Tiger Woods PGA Tour game caught my attention ... as all thing golf do.
That evening I went down and purchased the game for the PS 2. After a few trial and error games I was hooked.Within a few days I picked up a couple of games for the Wii ... Super Mario Kart and Wii Sports, which had a golf game included. There was no turning back now. Hours began melting away as I worked at master Mario Kart. When I tired and became frustrated I would switch to Wii Sports. The golf game was okay but not really one that would capture much of my time in my new game playing career. Wii Sports bowling took that honor and before long I was in a local Wii Bowling League.
While taking a break from wallowing in some dark, dank and dreary canyon off the road in Wario's Gold Mine, which I constantly drove into with Luigi, in his Wild Wing, I took a moment to explore the other Wii features. Before long I was on the Wii Shopping Channel downloading Virtual Console games: Pacman, Donkey Kong, Super Mario; (nostalgia from my younger days playing 8 and 16 bit video games in arcades) ... and YES, Mario Golf, which Nintendo ported to the Wii Virtual Console, from N64.
I wasn't surprised to discover and endless list of available game, from sports to RPG to puzzles, and more. Mario Kart, Wii Sports Bowling and Mario Golf head my list of favorites. Many of the others are more or less uninteresting to me; some are just plain wasted time. Those others I do find interesting don't fit in my playing schedule.
Yes... that's what I said, playing schedule. I got so absorbed in the games I play that I had to make a playing schedule to end this game playing madness and have a life away from Wii.
That's the way it is in my world... and so it goes.
Wii Friend ID: 0559-9800-4853
25 October 2008
Keeping Life In Perspective
I played golf yesterday... at Seven Hills. It's a local retirement community course where I frequent with friends who are residents there.
There was a day when I could compete in most sports with the best and hold my own or win outright. That day is a distant memory. Age does that. I ran the Gasperilla (a Tampa area 10K) until I was well into my 50's. I decided to stop the day I started the race at the back of the pack... and finished there. Finishing last in a 10K against a bunch of 20 and 30 year olds is not such a bad thing. My concern was getting to the finish line before dark set in.... :-). When you can't do that it's a good bet your running days are over.
But, I digress. This is not about running. It's about golf.
After our round, the four of us sat in the lounge talking golf. John said, "I'd sure like to play a round with the likes of Tiger Woods and some of the pros." "Why", I asked... you'd just get frustrated just like you did today when I beat up on your bony self with my 82".
"Com'on Dave," he said. "You'd love to play Tiger, admit it"."
"I did play him", I retorted .... "on my Wii, and I smoked him good. Did it agian on my Play Station 2. But, I promise you... I have no fantasies of playing him in person or the slightest fantasy that I could ever beat him on a real course. Hey those guys walk 18 holes. When's the last time we did that? Now, there's a challenge for you. Or... I continued. you can stop by my house and try beating Mario on the Wii. Now there's a game that can tax your nerves and frustration level."
One of the things I've learned, as I get older, is keeping things in perspective. It's enough to find activities that keep your mind sharp and alert, and your body in as good of shape as possible without hurting yourself. You can't stop aging. What you can do is adjust to it... physically and mentally. Trying to beat it will only get you depressed and at odds with your mind and body.
Playing golf, or any sport these days, for me, is not about winning. It's about participating to the extent that I can, realizing my limits. There are days when I can no more swing a golf club than flap my arms and fly like a bird. It's a philosophy I have a hard time getting across to some of my friends. Especially the Alpha Male types overloaded with machismo and ego leak, who sometimes impress me as being a few fries short of a Happy Meal. I mean, there's reality and then there is the imagined or hoped reality that's stored in an attic collecting spider webs. But hey ... they're my friends and I can live with their fantasies so long as they don't expect me to follow suite.
That's the way it is in my world ... and so it goes!
There was a day when I could compete in most sports with the best and hold my own or win outright. That day is a distant memory. Age does that. I ran the Gasperilla (a Tampa area 10K) until I was well into my 50's. I decided to stop the day I started the race at the back of the pack... and finished there. Finishing last in a 10K against a bunch of 20 and 30 year olds is not such a bad thing. My concern was getting to the finish line before dark set in.... :-). When you can't do that it's a good bet your running days are over.
But, I digress. This is not about running. It's about golf.
After our round, the four of us sat in the lounge talking golf. John said, "I'd sure like to play a round with the likes of Tiger Woods and some of the pros." "Why", I asked... you'd just get frustrated just like you did today when I beat up on your bony self with my 82".
"Com'on Dave," he said. "You'd love to play Tiger, admit it"."
"I did play him", I retorted .... "on my Wii, and I smoked him good. Did it agian on my Play Station 2. But, I promise you... I have no fantasies of playing him in person or the slightest fantasy that I could ever beat him on a real course. Hey those guys walk 18 holes. When's the last time we did that? Now, there's a challenge for you. Or... I continued. you can stop by my house and try beating Mario on the Wii. Now there's a game that can tax your nerves and frustration level."
One of the things I've learned, as I get older, is keeping things in perspective. It's enough to find activities that keep your mind sharp and alert, and your body in as good of shape as possible without hurting yourself. You can't stop aging. What you can do is adjust to it... physically and mentally. Trying to beat it will only get you depressed and at odds with your mind and body.
Playing golf, or any sport these days, for me, is not about winning. It's about participating to the extent that I can, realizing my limits. There are days when I can no more swing a golf club than flap my arms and fly like a bird. It's a philosophy I have a hard time getting across to some of my friends. Especially the Alpha Male types overloaded with machismo and ego leak, who sometimes impress me as being a few fries short of a Happy Meal. I mean, there's reality and then there is the imagined or hoped reality that's stored in an attic collecting spider webs. But hey ... they're my friends and I can live with their fantasies so long as they don't expect me to follow suite.
That's the way it is in my world ... and so it goes!
20 October 2008
This and That
I watched Dillinger last night (starring Warren Oates and Ben Johnson). The movie is full of memorable quotes ... like this conversation:
Samuel Cowley: Can't touch Dillinger, no federal offense; he doesn't deserve to be there. I don't want anyone up there I can't legally shoot!
Samuel Cowley: Can't touch Dillinger, no federal offense; he doesn't deserve to be there. I don't want anyone up there I can't legally shoot!
Melvin Purvis: Shoot Dillinger and we'll figure out a way to make it legal.
and
Baby Face Nelson: One thing. If we're going to work together, I want it understood I don't take no orders.
Pretty Boy Floyd: I believe this is Mr. Dillinger's gang.
Baby Face Nelson: Bah! He ain't my leader, I've got my own way of taking banks. I come in shooting, I kill everyone inside and I grab the dough. Very easy, it works very well. You don't like it, you get someone else.
What a bunch of clowns.
----------------------------------
There are many reasons why this time of year is my favorite. Cold fronts creep in from the north dropping the Florida temperature to a comfortable 70 degrees; clear nights are accented by ocean breezes and the pugent odor of salt riding on the wind; the heavens are saturated with millions of stars and deep space object, all viewable with my 8" Celetron.
The Pleiades - also called the Seven Sisters, in the east, said to be the incubator of life; the Dippers and Cassiopeia wrestling for center stage in the north; and my favorite... Orion, majestically sitting on the throne of the heavens in mind-boggling spendor, constantly giving birth to more miricles of the universe.It's a season for spectacular meteor showers: The Orionids in October (due on stage tomorrow); the Leonids in November and Geminids in December. I'm a night sky junkie and I can find no beauty here on earth more eloquent than the wonders of the universe. Hear the music?
The Pleiades - also called the Seven Sisters, in the east, said to be the incubator of life; the Dippers and Cassiopeia wrestling for center stage in the north; and my favorite... Orion, majestically sitting on the throne of the heavens in mind-boggling spendor, constantly giving birth to more miricles of the universe.It's a season for spectacular meteor showers: The Orionids in October (due on stage tomorrow); the Leonids in November and Geminids in December. I'm a night sky junkie and I can find no beauty here on earth more eloquent than the wonders of the universe. Hear the music?
That's the way it is in my world... and so it goes.
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