CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: Hawkinole on February 14, 2023, 11:39:30 PM
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I will get this started.
I love college football. A few other things I do include:
- I grow roses. I have approximately 38 rose bushes. I am pretty good at it, but not so good at controlling Japanese beetles.
- I have a vegetable garden. It is only 10' x 20', but my wife gets on me because we always have too much of everything.
- Photography. I am not that good at it but occasionally something clicks.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52373224031_e8d2a1ea92_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nN3sRe)Butterfly (https://flic.kr/p/2nN3sRe) by Mark Roeder (https://www.flickr.com/photos/82428620@N00/), on Flickr
[img width=500 height=217.997]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52239750684_0c31bc7280_k.jpg[/img] (https://flic.kr/p/2nAfnSC)American Countess (https://flic.kr/p/2nAfnSC) by Mark Roeder (https://www.flickr.com/photos/82428620@N00/), on Flickr
Here is the #1 Gila monster (see tail). My brother has lived in AZ for over 20-years and never saw one, and I was on a little excursion on a visit, and found one. I had the wrong lens - a wide angle lens - so I had to get close while my daughter hollered, "Dad, they are poisonous!" They are not actually poisonous, just venomous.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52039785670_2a1e92af74_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nhzveY)Gila Monster (https://flic.kr/p/2nhzveY) by Mark Roeder (https://www.flickr.com/photos/82428620@N00/), on Flickr
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You guys already know, I operate a college football card & dice game, thanks to Drew doing my website.
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Additionally, I'm a pretty good artist. Not a painter, but sketching or prismacolor/oil pastels. You could give me a subject to draw, and I can knock out a quick 30-45 second sketch that will look better than most people with no time constraint.
I only took art classes for an easy A, I honestly just doodled as far back as I can remember.
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Before the game took over my free time, I read a lot more and had a deep, ongoing knowledge of MLB. My original game idea was a mish-mash of a few existing baseball card & dice games. But there's a hundred baseball games like that, not so many college football games.
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Additionally, I'm a pretty good artist. Not a painter, but sketching or prismacolor/oil pastels. You could give me a subject to draw, and I can knock out a quick 30-45 second sketch that will look better than most people with no time constraint.
This website does not easily handle photos. After all it is a college football website. Nevertheless, can you try posting a photo of one of your sketches? I find that intriguing. People who can draw have a different brain than most of us, see things differently, and can translate it onto paper.
I know you are a teacher. What do you teach?
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This website does not easily handle photos. After all it is a college football website. Nevertheless, can you try posting a photo of one of your sketches? I find that intriguing. People who can draw have a different brain than most of us, see things differently, and can translate it onto paper.
I know you are a teacher. What do you teach?
Actually, it does. Use the Windows snipping tool, and just copy/paste. See below.
(https://i.imgur.com/B5bfthA.png)
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Fro used to be hilariously incapable of posting a pic. I'm not sure if he's ever figured it out.
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my hobby is golf
I'm not good at it, but I enjoy it.
(https://i.imgur.com/AZCA6tA.jpg)
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I think y'all know most of my hobbies/passions-- camping, woodworking, boating, waterskiing, DIY projects, enjoying live music especially outdoors, cooking (especially BBQ), and spending as much time with my kids as possible before they get too old to want to spend any time with their old man.
I also like drinking beer and wine and good liquor, and being really snobby about all three. :)
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My hobby is also Golf and I am very bad at it.
Also like going out and seeing a live local band and awkwardly move my arms & legs and call it dancing.
Almost forgot, I've been officiating HS football for over a couple of decades. Use to also officiate Wrestling, but it takes up too much time on the weekends and would interfere with me playing golf.
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Well, one of my passions has always been my business, but that passion is waning as I get older. It still takes up the majority of my time though.
I really enjoy boating and don't get to do enough of it.
Cooking is a whole lot of fun for me. I get to try new things and also apply science in a different way than work. Physics and chemistry are a thing when cooking. As are your taste buds and sense of smell.
Love getting together with friends and family. The latter doesn't happen as much as I'd like since we live pretty far away from everyone.
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I'm a jack of all trades, master of none.
I'm a sports guy (participating more than watching). My favorite is ice hockey, though through a turn of events it's been a while since I've regularly played. I'm also a tennis player and a recreational cyclist (road and some gravel). I coach my kids recreational sports teams (now more than 30 teams), which has mostly been soccer, but included baseball and softball back in the day. I'm a soccer referee with more than 250 games under my belt and I will continue doing that after my kids are out of the house. I like playing basketball and soccer, but I mostly gave up the former because it wasn't worth it to me to blow out a tendon playing the game, and the latter is just low enough on the list that I haven't made time for it (and hockey, tennis, and cycling will come first).
I play World of Tanks on the XBox. As I've played it a decent amount for more than five years, that has to be considered a hobby, though I'm a little embarrassed to admit it. Used to be mostly with my son, but he's moved on and I haven't. He still plays with me a bit, which is pretty awesome (because it's nice to spend time with my teenagers when they actually like having me around).
I love movies and thinking about movies, but I'm not going out of my way to go to new releases and I'm routinely behind on what the pop culture is talking about (and I'm just worn out by the Marvel and Star Wars universes).
I enjoy music, but I don't make it especially well--fortunately my wife and daughter do.
I enjoy wine and whisk(e)y enough to have opinions, but not enough to think I know a lot about them. And I just don't drink that much whisk(e)y, but it's mostly Scotch or Bourbon when I do.
I love to travel (and the outdoors), but like most of us, don't have enough money or vacation time to really go crazy. I hope that in retirement, I'll be able to do more.
I have more than a passing interest in politics, history, and the cultures of the U.S., but like everything else on this list, I haven't taken a deep dive into them (and like with music, SFIrish96 is actually a [so far] local politician, which has convinced me that I wouldn't like actually being a politician).
I love most food, especially dessert (and most especially ice cream), and I can cook reasonably well, but I've been accused of not having very high standards for food. Don't rely on me for Michelin ratings, but I can point you in the direction of some decent grub. I'm just as happy with tasty street food as with high-end cuisine--and enjoy both in the right setting.
Like most lawyers, I fancy writing, but don't make enough time for it.
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Reading (emphasis on 19th C baseball-1940, and then a Russian history fetish). Cooking, but not baking (that's the wife and girls' thing), also a bit of lawn/garden caretaker. Can blame Covid for that. I still outsource a few yard tasks, but keep after most of it.
Fishing, freshwater, pan, bass, walleye, muskie, northern, trout). I do love bait casting but will certainly jig, troll, sight, feel, whatever.
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I like to run naked through the streets at a regular interval the police may never figure out while wearing a gorilla mask. Nobody has ever got a description except for that monstrous thing flopping about.... akin to the Yankees, they can't keep their eyes off the pinstripes.
When it's cold, I'll wear a hat.
Wish me luck! It's coming up quick.
Other than making smart ass comments, I work... thats what I do. But... ive carefully chosen the working i do to make it seem like something else- both to myself and others. So far so good.. wish me luck!
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Fishing, boating, golf, cooking, cars- that go fast and steer incredibly well, my kids, dogs ( over the top dog lover).
PS. Bourbon when I am with friends
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Almost forgot, I've been officiating HS football for over a couple of decades. Use to also officiate Wrestling, but it takes up too much time on the weekends and would interfere with me playing golf.
A thankless job, but essential. Awesome!
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This website does not easily handle photos. After all it is a college football website. Nevertheless, can you try posting a photo of one of your sketches? I find that intriguing. People who can draw have a different brain than most of us, see things differently, and can translate it onto paper.
I know you are a teacher. What do you teach?
What should I draw? I need direction!
I teach kindergarten.
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I had no idea you taught kindergarten. I have always assumed you are male based on your posts (I was a fan of the Strato-Matic dice MLB game of the 1960s, and you developed a similar game for football). Somehow, that involves male thinking in my mind. That said, I have never known a male K-teacher. That takes a lot of patience many of us do not possess.
Regarding art, I suggest you post something you like, that you already sketched. Otherwise, if you need direction, on sketching something new I can provide it by PM with a photo -- but
do you sketch people - or things?
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I don't save sketches. They're nothing, throwaway things to me, because they're quick and easy. Other people sometimes want to keep them, but they're a dime a dozen to me.
Anything you'd like. I'll take a picture of it, and won't take more than 2 min on it.
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Draw a picture of OrangeAfroMan.
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We love to go on cruises, especially Trans-Atlantic on our way back from Europe. Travel is great. My wife is retired, and I get 7 weeks of vacation, so we get a lot of opportunities.
This year is gonna be a lot of back and forth up North. Granddaughter is gonna be 2 in May, and we have grand-twins coming in late July.
If they are boys, I'm hoping one of them will be James, and the other one Jim.
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Thanks to Hawkinole for starting this off-season thread
I'd like to see it pinned so I/we can continue to add to it and refer back to it in the future.
my memory has never been good and it's not getting better
This community and previous message boards are one of my most cherished hobbies.
Thanks to everyone for your contributions
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I love playing golf, but as others have said I am not very good at it. One of my favorite experiences is a crisp, cool summer morning on the first tee box with 3 friends enjoying their company.
Outside of that, I enjoy shooting. Rifle, pistol, shotgun, I love it all. I have a friend about 2 miles away that has rifle and pistol ranges, skeet houses and trap shoots. During the spring, summer and fall, I am usually there at least 1 night a week.
I too was a HS Football official for almost 30 years. I enjoyed seeing different teams every week and spending Friday evenings with our crew. We would try to schedule games according to places with good restaurants for after the games. We mainly tried to work small school games but did work some of the bigger schools in Northwest Ohio which meant a lot of travel to and from the games. But it was a fun activity and I got to see a lot of good football and some great players. (Orlando Pace, Charles Woodson, Tim Anderson, etc.)
I also coached a lot of youth sports when my kids were playing, and some when they were not. I coached all levels of baseball and softball, volleyball, basketball and football. I didn't know a lot about volleyball and basketball, but I learned from the other coaches and was able to contribute.
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very few people think they are good at golf
we shall see if Tiger thinks he's good after today's round
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A thankless job, but essential. Awesome!
Even with the occasional Idiot coach or enraged fans, I still love doing it. It is more about the comradory with crew members these days.
Not sure how much longer I am going to do it, still enjoy it, but the old knees tell me about it the next day. Also thinking about become a snow bird which would mean being one part of the country the beginning of the football season and another part in the later half.
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We love to go on cruises, especially Trans-Atlantic on our way back from Europe. Travel is great. My wife is retired, and I get 7 weeks of vacation, so we get a lot of opportunities.
This year is gonna be a lot of back and forth up North. Granddaughter is gonna be 2 in May, and we have grand-twins coming in late July.
If they are boys, I'm hoping one of them will be James, and the other one Jim.
We like to cruise also, Been on 2 cruises since December and have 2 more schedule in the next 3 months. Wife gets plenty of time off and I just take time off with no pay if I don't have any PTO accrued (nice to not have to worry about being paid). We are looking to do a trans-Atlantic cruise, wife hates the flight length over to Europe, but still have places we want to see over there.
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We like to cruise also, Been on 2 cruises since December and have 2 more schedule in the next 3 months. Wife gets plenty of time off and I just take time off with no pay if I don't have any PTO accrued (nice to not have to worry about being paid). We are looking to do a trans-Atlantic cruise, wife hates the flight length over to Europe, but still have places we want to see over there.
Flight to Europe isn't bad. It's far easier to fly East than it is to fly West, at least for us. On the cruise home, they change the clocks every-other-day so by the time you get back, you're all good. Check out Azamara. Small ships (700 people) and large crew of 450. Mostly 55+ years old on board.
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Carnival & Disney for kids
all others for Blue Hairs
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Lots of kids on the last Celebrity we did. Not using them again.
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very few people think they are good at golf
we shall see if Tiger thinks he's good after today's round
Agree. Define “ good”. Lol
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things i like to do besides watch cfb:
- woodworking
- hiking/camping
- gaming
- mrs. rtf
- designing and 3d printing
see woodworking thread for recent and upcoming projects.
family loves to go hiking and they love the idea of camping, but i seem to be the only one that's actually enjoying it when we do it. but every year starting... about now, actually, we start scouting new hiking trails. mostly looking for ones with a nice 'destination', like a waterfall or some such at the end. there are some beautiful hidden gems around west alabama.
i've always been a gamer. all the back to atari. had almost every system out there, but still haven't jumped to the latest gen consoles. mrs rtf threatened our boys that if they didn't behave they'd get a switch for xmas, so that's what we did. except it's a nintendo switch. which is ridiculously fun. this summer thinking i might move on up to next gen and/or a nice pc. leaning pc. partially because...
i got a 3d printer recently. it kinda goes hand in hand with the pc i mentioned. i've always wanted to fly, be a pilot. and i'm a middle aged-ish male, so i love ww1 and 2. and there are some really awesome sims for flight and combat, but needs a nice pc. and then i went down rabbit hole and found a company that has designs for 3d printed flight sticks, throttle controls, etc. give is a real sim feel. so, i jumped in a bought a 3d printer. and have been goofing around with it since xmas or so, even designing a few things myself (custom tool holders and what-not). i've found myself enjoying that part as much or more than the printing. just last night i modified a craft... thing, not sure what to call it, for my daughter that likes to make bracelets and necklaces and such. gonna get it on printer tonight, i think. if she approves. but she's gonna love it.
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I don't save sketches. They're nothing, throwaway things to me, because they're quick and easy. Other people sometimes want to keep them, but they're a dime a dozen to me.
Anything you'd like. I'll take a picture of it, and won't take more than 2 min on it.
how about school mascots or logos? start with playoff participants. or b1g and/or sec.
would be fun for us to have a collection of those to use around here. with your permission, of course.
maybe caricatures of some too, for funs.
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Lots of kids on the last Celebrity we did. Not using them again.
Just did Celebrity for the first time, a couple of weeks ago. Almost no Kids. I think kid infestation has more to do with the timing of your cruise than the cruise line (other than Disney and Carnival).
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(https://i.imgur.com/zhNH5pZ.png)
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- woodworking
- hiking/camping
- gaming
- mrs. rtf
- designing and 3d printing
Almost said "one of my stepsons has the same hobbies" but then I thought, wait a minute....
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Just did Celebrity for the first time, a couple of weeks ago. Almost no Kids. I think kid infestation has more to do with the timing of your cruise than the cruise line (other than Disney and Carnival).
Yeah, ours was probably bad timing. It was around spring break. Still, I like the smaller ships, awesome food and free drinks that Azamara provides. Great entertainment too.
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Man I find flying east (to Europe for example) to be much worse than flying west as far as jetlag and general crappiness go.
We've done a couple of Carnival cruises with the kids, and had a really good time.
I'd absolutely love to do one of those nicer European cruises like @847badgerfan (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=5) does. Maybe someday when I grow up to be as cool as he is. :)
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Draw a picture of OrangeAfroMan.
(https://i.imgur.com/BvWIORD.jpg)
Definitely a lil rusty. I'm surprised I could find a pencil. This is sort of a doodle/sketch. Quick, frantic sketching, then a once-over with darker overlay.
If I cleaned it up and spent 20 more minutes on it, that would include the shading and it would be a proper pencil drawing.
I took a lil more time than I thought I would, but that's not important.
Orange afro wig with orange-dyed beard. Blue face paint U-F on my cheeks.
(https://i.imgur.com/VHDB3nf.png)
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Did you really dye your beard orange? That's awesome!
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Kind of.
I had an old orange nose-coat sunscreen thing. It was in one of those circular makeup snap-case things. I'd apply it to my beard and it looked just like I dyed it.
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One of the big-screen "Gatorvision" sideline cameras was right in front of us, and we had front-row season tickets. So I was on the jumbotron all the time. That's where OAM comes from - they named me that, with my own graphic on the screen.
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I remember it
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Kind of.
I had an old orange nose-coat sunscreen thing. It was in one of those circular makeup snap-case things. I'd apply it to my beard and it looked just like I dyed it.
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One of the big-screen "Gatorvision" sideline cameras was right in front of us, and we had front-row season tickets. So I was on the jumbotron all the time. That's where OAM comes from - they named me that, with my own graphic on the screen.
Can you post a screenshot?
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I love to fish, and me and my sons spend a lot of time and money pursuing this. I’m expanding my water well business, going to start drilling wells soon.
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Used to be:
* Basketball (pretty good)
* Beisbol (meh, I wasn't picked last but not first either)
* Drums (made a great secondary income for years)
* Bass (meh, nobody was going to pay me, but were usually happy to have me free)
* Piano (terrible, but hey, nobody says you gotta be good at a hobby)
Can't really do any of those anymore, unfortunately, due to physical drawbacks. Always have loved reading, particularly sci-fi/fantasy but in recent years I've trended way more into non-fiction. I teach an apologetics class at my church that I enjoy doing. Built a book-case with my dad for my now-wife a couple years ago that I enjoyed working on, and thought I might like to get into woodworking, but I don't think my true interest matches the expense of a hobby like that. But maybe when I'm done with school I might try a few more things.
ETA: I also like to annoy rtf4 and utee, which is a lot of time and hard work, but it's worth it.
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Almost said "one of my stepsons has the same hobbies" but then I thought, wait a minute....
i hear there are videos of such arrangements. i have yet to find mrs rtf in one, but i'm not perusing those videos all that often.
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Kind of.
I had an old orange nose-coat sunscreen thing. It was in one of those circular makeup snap-case things. I'd apply it to my beard and it looked just like I dyed it.
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One of the big-screen "Gatorvision" sideline cameras was right in front of us, and we had front-row season tickets. So I was on the jumbotron all the time. That's where OAM comes from - they named me that, with my own graphic on the screen.
you must have told this story before, cause that sounds really familiar.
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Used to be:
* Basketball (pretty good)
* Beisbol (meh, I wasn't picked last but not first either)
* Drums (made a great secondary income for years)
* Bass (meh, nobody was going to pay me, but were usually happy to have me free)
* Piano (terrible, but hey, nobody says you gotta be good at a hobby)
Can't really do any of those anymore, unfortunately, due to physical drawbacks. Always have loved reading, particularly sci-fi/fantasy but in recent years I've trended way more into non-fiction. I teach an apologetics class at my church that I enjoy doing. Built a book-case with my dad for my now-wife a couple years ago that I enjoyed working on, and thought I might like to get into woodworking, but I don't think my true interest matches the expense of a hobby like that. But maybe when I'm done with school I might try a few more things.
ETA: I also like to annoy rtf4 and utee, which is a lot of time and hard work, but it's worth it.
and what's the pay rate for the edited bit?
also, what scifi series do/have/are you read(ing). i read scalzi's old man's war series last year and liked it enough to start reading the rest of his books. started the first outside that series just last night, actually. redshirts, i think it's called. only got a couple pages in, but it's got a good bit of humor already, and a light read, which is what i'm aiming for right now.
my daughter is an avid reader. she's a young teen, but she's already writing her own novel. she loves mystery books, enola holmes type stuff. so it's in that genre so far. it is quite good, and not just in a 'for her age' type thing. i've found helping her edit and figure out where to take the plot is about as fun of a hobby as i have right now.
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you must have told this story before, cause that sounds really familiar.
I assume I have.
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and what's the pay rate for the edited bit?
also, what scifi series do/have/are you read(ing). i read scalzi's old man's war series last year and liked it enough to start reading the rest of his books. started the first outside that series just last night, actually. redshirts, i think it's called. only got a couple pages in, but it's got a good bit of humor already, and a light read, which is what i'm aiming for right now.
I do it for free, that's why it's a hobby.
My sci-fi reading has been minimal for the past few years, but the most recent series I read that might qualify was Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas books, but that really goes more in the realm of para/supernatural type stuff, not exactly sci-fi. I've been slowly re-reading one of the short-fiction compilations of Orson Scott Card called Maps In A Mirror, though again, it's about 50/50 between sci-fi and fantasy. I liked his Ender's Game series and the companion follow-up Ender's Shadow series. I recently re-read 1984 and Brave New World which qualify as sci-fi but I actually read them this time more to take in the social commentary. The SyFy channel had a show called The Expanse which Amazon Prime later picked up that was based on a book series and I want to give those a try next. Same for an Amazon show called The Peripheral, although I heard the book(s) was significantly different. I'd have to look up who the authors are and obviously can't recommend them. I've read a lot of stuff from Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov that I remember liking, but it's been a long time for those.
Hard to believe your girl is a teen now. I think I remember when she was born. Musta been hanging out in this joint for a long time now.
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9 minute Heupel......1 part "he's jabba the hut" and 2 parts real:
(https://i.imgur.com/jrNcF0l.jpg)
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10 minute Bijan.
These aren't careful pencil drawings, they're frantic, constant-movement sketches. Almost no erasing, just adding as you go. You basically just get the spacing right and then gradually add detail.
(https://i.imgur.com/2ZWHm57.jpg)
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I do it for free, that's why it's a hobby.
My sci-fi reading has been minimal for the past few years, but the most recent series I read that might qualify was Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas books, but that really goes more in the realm of para/supernatural type stuff, not exactly sci-fi. I've been slowly re-reading one of the short-fiction compilations of Orson Scott Card called Maps In A Mirror, though again, it's about 50/50 between sci-fi and fantasy. I liked his Ender's Game series and the companion follow-up Ender's Shadow series. I recently re-read 1984 and Brave New World which qualify as sci-fi but I actually read them this time more to take in the social commentary. The SyFy channel had a show called The Expanse which Amazon Prime later picked up that was based on a book series and I want to give those a try next. Same for an Amazon show called The Peripheral, although I heard the book(s) was significantly different. I'd have to look up who the authors are and obviously can't recommend them. I've read a lot of stuff from Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov that I remember liking, but it's been a long time for those.
Hard to believe your girl is a teen now. I think I remember when she was born. Musta been hanging out in this joint for a long time now.
I am currently reading through Herbert's Dune series. I had read the first 3 a number of times, but hadn't read the last 3. I love Heinlein, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" is one of my favorite books. Asmiov's Foundation series is a good read. Ursula LeGuin is also very good, particularly "The Left Hand of Darkness". Had to read "The Mote in God's Eye" when I took an elective on Sci-Fi Literature and enjoyed it.
I must admit I haven't kept up with newer Sci-Fi, but I find myself continually going back and rereading old stuff.
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I've got a few hobbies I dabble in. I enjoy cooking. One of the things my wife and I took a bunch of classes on during COVID was baking. Several photos of our handwork are in the cookbook thread.
I officiate high school sports. I ref high school basketball in the winter, fastpitch softball in the warmer months, and forensics (speech and debate) in the shoulder season. Someone thinks I do a decent job of umpiring softball, as I was selected to work the state HS softball tournament for the first time last spring.
I also dabble in road cycling. It makes one a better civil engineer when they can see their designs from the perspective of the non-vehicle.
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I also dabble in road cycling. It makes one a better civil engineer when they can see their designs from the perspective of the non-vehicle.
Have you combined road cycling with alcohol, food, viewing landscapes, and socialization, i.e. RAGBRAI?
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I officiate high school sports. I ref high school basketball in the winter, fastpitch softball in the warmer months, and forensics (speech and debate) in the shoulder season. Someone thinks I do a decent job of umpiring softball, as I was selected to work the state HS softball tournament for the first time last spring.
you brave soul
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indeed. I really did enjoy reffing (church league volleyball), and umpiring little league and fastpitch during my upper teens and 20s. The problem was always the girls' fast pitch. I think those fast pitch parents and the youth basketball parents are some of the worst demos in a civilized society.
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Yeah, I witnessed a brawl when I visited my friend in Vegas last month.
I didn't see the build-up, but I guess the crowd (ie - parents) of Team A were booing a particular kid on Team B. Team B wins. That player jumps over to the crowd and talks shit, then everybody starts brawling.
I don't think it helped that the tournament was hosted by a richie-rich school and involved schools from across the tracks. Maybe it shouldn't matter, but it does.
Mind you, this was MIDDLE SCHOOL basketball.
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That is precisely why I don't ref middle school basketball anymore. Ever since I got married I'm far more discerning about which games I take.
The referee shortage is real, but what hasn't come up is that the biggest shortage of refs in the Twin Cities are the ones who can grind out 4:00 9th grade doubleheaders. Or ones who are willing to do 8-10 games on a weekend day for $24/game (this number hasn't gone up more than $2 since I was in college). Also, basketball referee politics make the Legislature look like chicken scribble. It took moving to an area where there actually is a ref shortage, as well as some retirements, to start doing full varsity schedules.
I rather enjoy fastpitch softball. It helps that there is a 16 foot cyclone fence between you and them.
Have you combined road cycling with alcohol, food, viewing landscapes, and socialization, i.e. RAGBRAI?
RAGBRAI is something I'd like to do someday. I thought about it this year, but the timing is going to coincide with a U of M program abroad my wife is leading, and I'm going to be going along for part of.
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That is precisely why I don't ref middle school basketball anymore. Ever since I got married I'm far more discerning about which games I take.
The referee shortage is real, but what hasn't come up is that the biggest shortage of refs in the Twin Cities are the ones who can grind out 4:00 9th grade doubleheaders. Or ones who are willing to do 8-10 games on a weekend day for $24/game (this number hasn't gone up more than $2 since I was in college). Also, basketball referee politics make the Legislature look like chicken scribble. It took moving to an area where there actually is a ref shortage, as well as some retirements, to start doing full varsity schedules.
I rather enjoy fastpitch softball. It helps that there is a 16 foot cyclone fence between you and them.
RAGBRAI is something I'd like to do someday. I thought about it this year, but the timing is going to coincide with a U of M program abroad my wife is leading, and I'm going to be going along for part of.
Frist sport I quit officiating was Girls' fast pitch softball. Select Fastpitch is particularly bad as far as sportmanship. Didn't help that I moved to Arizona where it is super competitive and very hot wearing the gear.
The second sport I quit was Pee-Wee Football. I have had to throw out parents and coaches at the 5-6yo level. Pee Wee football is by far the worst sport to officiate (of the sports I have officiated) because of the fans and coaches. Most places you don't have any buffer between you and the fans. Wasn't worth Doing anymore.
The only reason I quit officiating wrestling is it just took up too much time. I got remarried 6 years ago and giving up every Friday and Saturday for wrestling tornaments all winter long wasn't worth it any more. I still love the sports.
I still do HS Football, but as of the coming year I am giving up freshman and sub-varsity game. I still enjoy doing it, but I don't do it for the money so Friday night lights is going to be it for me going forward. I am an umpire on my crew, I just love being in the middle of the action, though I have been run over a number of times.
In the early days it was a way to make extra money, Spring, summer (baseball, Softball), Fall (football), Winter (Wrestling), but I have no need for the money anymore so now I will only do it as long as I enjoy it and it doesn't interfere with the rest of my Life. BTW if you want to officiate and make good money, Wrestling is the way to go. If you want to make easy money go officiate Volleyball.
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I guess my main hobby is following my kids. My daughter is 14 and my son is 10. She is a pretty decent athlete. Plays volleyball, basketball, and softball. One season ends and another begins. So, there is always a practice to get her to or a game to attend. She also plays travel softball so a lot of our weekends are spent at softball fields.
My son isn’t much of an athlete but does enjoy soccer. He plays in the local rec league during the spring and fall seasons. He is also getting ready to start guitar lessons. In the last several years I’ve done a lot of youth league coaching in support of my kids’ activities, but I don’t now and I doubt I do again. I did it more out of necessity than anything else.
I guess the one thing I do for myself is go the gym regularly. But again, that is something I do more out of necessity than enjoyment. If I didn’t work out I’d weigh 300 pounds. I used to play a little golf before I had kids and that is something I’d like to pick back up when they are grown.
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Golf has got to be the hardest sport I ever tried. Everything else that interested me I became reasonably good at fairly quickly. Even tennis, which I didn't play until I was in my early 20's and was god-awful at, I started to see improvements pretty fast and seemed to be on a trajectory to be about as proficient at that as I was at sports I played a lot more, though I didn't keep it up.
Golf....I don't even know what to say. In college I started playing with some guys who were pretty good and they taught me the stance and swing mechanics...basically, beating the instinct out of me to swing the club like a baseball bat. I adapted and did all the things they said, but I had a wicked right slice that just wouldn't go away. They'd tell me the adjustments to make, things to try, I'd do them, same result, and they'd eventually shrug their shoulders and tell me they didn't know what to do.
After a few months I lost interest. Wasn't getting any better, saw no hope of breaking 100 even on the easy courses we played, and would leave more frustrated than when I started.
It was a fun thing to take a swing at, so to speak. I enjoyed being out on a course on a nice day. I just sucked balls at it.
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The few times I golfed, I felt proud to be able to 2-putt from anywhere on the green (even huge ones). Was that low expectations?
Every drive sliced down the first-base line.
Had a great short game, tho. Like my golfer friend went from amazed to mad at how good I could use a wedge.
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I do boating/skiing/wakesurfing/laking. That uses up whatever discretionary budget I might have otherwise allotted to golf.
Which is just as well because the times I've tried to play golf, I was pretty terrible at it.
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I do boating/skiing/wakesurfing/laking. That uses up whatever discretionary budget I might have otherwise allotted to golf.
Which is just as well because the times I've tried to play golf, I was pretty terrible at it.
Do you own the boat? 45-50 years ago water skiing on the Mississippi River and its backwaters, was some of the greatest time of my life!
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Not to be a prick, but I would feel crushed if I ever shot a round as high as 100. I can't take myself to a place where the ball striking would be so erratic that i couldn't do better than a double bogey around the course. Don't give up i say.
Golf is hard. I don't play that much anymore but I realize all my sub 80 rounds are in that rearview mirror. You gotta play a lot and you have to make putts if you want to beat 80.
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I can still top 100 on a tough course in tough conditions.
hasn't happened in a couple seasons, but I haven't been to any tough courses
the Ocean Course at Kiawah kicked my ass a few years ago
missed a few putts that day
Pete Dye is an ass kicker
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Do you own the boat? 45-50 years ago water skiing on the Mississippi River and its backwaters, was some of the greatest time of my life!
Yup.
Actually right now, I own two boats. But I'm only using one, our 25' wakeboard boat, similar to this:
(https://i.imgur.com/zOOqbWw.jpg)
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Not to be a prick, but I would feel crushed if I ever shot a round as high as 100. I can't take myself to a place where the ball striking would be so erratic that i couldn't do better than a double bogey around the course. Don't give up i say.
Golf is hard. I don't play that much anymore but I realize all my sub 80 rounds are in that rearview mirror. You gotta play a lot and you have to make putts if you want to beat 80.
Golf is hard. As you say, you gotta play a lot, and you should probably practice a lot too. And a lot of us don't have a lot of time for either.
I'm an example of the 20-handicap golfer with a single-digit swing. Regular practice and regular rounds are the difference between my current index and my potential.
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last year I took a different job and only played 60 rounds of golf or so
the previous 6-7 seasons I played between 100-120 rounds (From april 1st to october 31st)
People hear this and suggest that I must be really good.
I tell them that Shaq attempted more free throws than anyone and still sucked
Taking some lessons might help, but since I've never had a lesson and I'm now 60 years old, there's not much to gain.
I already enjoy myself
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Yup.
Actually right now, I own two boats. But I'm only using one, our 25' wakeboard boat, similar to this:
(https://i.imgur.com/zOOqbWw.jpg)
We loved plying the Mississippi on skiis in the 1970s. This aquatic vehicle looks awsome! Congratulations!
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For someone who has retired I never seem to have time to do much of anything just for fun. I spend my days taking my sister to various doctor appointments and to the gym for her aqua arthritis class (which I also participate in) or to the library. I do a lot of reading while waiting for her at the doctor's office or after dropping her off at the local Goodwill. My one hobby (passion) is continuing with what my dad and I started with our genealogy research. Have most of the paternal side of the family traced back to Germany in the late 1500's. Still working on the maternal side, but have them back to the early 1700's. In the last few years, I have tried to add my husband's family and while his paternal side is fairly easy with a slightly uncommon name, his maternal side is a nightmare with his mom's maiden name of Smith, lol. At this point, I am mostly working on downloading and organizing photos into family groupings. I have two footlockers full of photos to scan so I figure that will keep my busy for a few years.
Other than that, I take time once in a while to rewatch old Husker games or binge watch my favorite shows like Longmire, Bones, Buffy / Angel, Game of Thrones, Deadwood, Justified, any STAR TREK series, and lately the Mandolorian (sp?). Not a fan of outdoorsy stuff as I got my fill of camping over the years and have never like fishing or hunting and I hate winter sports (unless I am watching on TV). Of course, I have too much pain to walk for long distances, so that might have something to do with it, lol.
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Writing books
Writing here
Gardening (rather abbreviated now that we sold the house, we do have three decks)
Reading (I read a lot, just got this phone app called Libby that allows me to borrow books from the library on my phone)
Travel (We go to France 1-2x a year usually, I just saw we now have a nonstop to Nice)
Walking (Good for older folks, and we have some great options here, either the park, the garden, or just walking about midtown)
Jogging (it's getting harder with age)
Playing baseball in January (which I why I try and jog and work out in our small gym)
Watching the Dawgs play (even though of late, well, it hasn't been that great) (OK, I was seeing if anyone reads this)
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I read that
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You guys are rich.
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How is "rich" defined?
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Trips to Europe, more than 2 working vehicles, you know.....rich.
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one of my passions was savin enough money that I could retire comfortably
you know.... rich
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one of my passions was savin enough money that I could retire comfortably
you know.... rich
Exactly.
It's not been easy to get to the point we're at in our lives.
When you start from nothing, becoming "rich" is a metric ton of work.
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Exactly.
It's not been easy to get to the point we're at in our lives.
When you start from nothing, becoming "rich" is a metric ton of work.
:73:
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:sign0144:
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So, like, about 10% more work then...
:sign0104:
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Trips to Europe, more than 2 working vehicles, you know.....rich.
You forgot boats.
How could you possibly forget boats?
Here is what mine looks like (not the actual - I don't have any personal pictures yet):
(https://i.imgur.com/O9vKYaA.jpg)
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So, like, about 10% more work then...
:sign0104:
Roughly.
Bastage...
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You forgot boats.
How could you possibly forget boats?
Here is what mine looks like (not the actual - I don't have any personal pictures yet):
[img width=500 height=333.992]https://i.imgur.com/O9vKYaA.jpg[/img]
a boat is a vehicle
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so is a golf cart
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So is a 10-speed.
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Well shit. I'm up to 5 vehicles now.
Is a stroller a vehicle? Make it 6.
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Well shit. I'm up to 5 vehicles now.
Is a stroller a vehicle? Make it 6.
Confess-- the stroller is for you, when the Mrs. has to haul you away from the bar after a few too many...
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Trips to Europe, more than 2 working vehicles, you know.....rich.
Don't have 2 vehicles. One way to have money is to not spend money on things just because you can. However I have gone to Europe and planning a 21 day trip there next year when the wife and I officially retire from working.
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being rich is all relative, much like anything else
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being rich is all relative, much like anything else
I've always been on the side calling for more relative. And then some more.
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pops used to say to me all the time "having greater income is just a different level of being broke".... and then i'd get the speech about "living beneath your means" as if he'd never offered it before.
i should have listened more. :)
anyway- wedding season is approaching. i was contacted to make something like this for a couple and took the idea and ran with it. i figured i'd share here as maybe someone is going to a wedding and looking for a gift to give? this would be a really good gift...
(https://www.drewswoodcraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/1.jpg)
so it's carved into teak and arrives with two lenses... one, as this one, has the little beveled slot at the top to drop leaves in... the leaves would be signed by guests... they can fall to the right of the tree and above the limb on the left, but not into the area with the names/dates.
the family name is carved out of the teak, but future ones likely won't be.. they'll instead be inset acrylic or wood... the Mr & Mrs and dates are carved into the backside of the acrylic right at 1/8" deep and flooded with silver paint. this makes a holographic affect for lack of anything better to call it- the silver letters seem to float above the name but below the surface of the acrylic.
the back has a keyhole hanger carved into it for hanging on a wall while it's still shipped with little feet to allow it to stand on a table at the wedding/reception. the leaves (or hearts as some have requested) are made from lasered craft foam and painted whatever color fits the need... i went with green for the presentation piece because... well, just because..
the silhouette and frame is carved from the same teak panel but is intended to appear to be either iron or granite... i painted it gloss black and then dusted it with a bronze to give it some appeal... there are a bunch of silhouettes to choose from- this one was purposely made for the brides and groom's long hair.. it in not my favorite one by a far cry. they wanted him kissing her forehead...
anyway, once the thing is filled with signed leaves/hearts, the couple can remove the lens with the passage for adding leaves/hearts, and replace it with one just like it but without the passage... allowing it to be sealed. this gives them opportunity to better arrange the leaves/hearts if they want to.
(https://www.drewswoodcraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2-wedding.jpg)
(https://www.drewswoodcraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/3-wedding.jpg)
(https://www.drewswoodcraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/4-wedding.jpg)
(https://www.drewswoodcraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/3.jpg)
please pass it along for folks who may have interest!!! thanks...
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Do you have a link to that? I know some who may be interested in something like this.
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Do you have a link to that? I know some who may be interested in something like this.
https://www.drewswoodcraft.com/shop/wedding-guest-book-deposit-to-commission/
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That is fantastic.
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I only have one vehicle. It’s small too.
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might as well cruise to Europe
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It's super fun when the people with all the money pretend like they don't have it. What's the point?
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"Having a lot of money" is relative and subjectively defined, of course.
Poor folks in America "have a lot of money" compared to poor folks in Africa or Asia.
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hating people for having a certain about of money is not much different than hating people for the color of their skin or their religious belief
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hating people for having a certain about of money is not much different than hating people for the color of their skin or their religious belief
Oh yeah, bigots come in all shapes and sizes, and the worst ones are the ones that think bigotry is limited to skin color, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, and lifestyle preferences.
But you can all rest assured that I'm no bigot and I don't discriminate in my hatred-- I hate all people equally. :)
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(https://i.imgur.com/Brxt956.jpg)
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hating people for having a certain about of money is not much different than hating people for the color of their skin or their religious belief
Who said anything about hating people with a certain amount of money?
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I did
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I’m completely obsessed with golf. Not good but getting better. Should break 90 for the first time this summer.
I’m also pretty big on fitness. I run in the morning five days a week. Lift and do walking cardio six days a week. Oh, I’m also working on my doctorate in educational leadership.
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I’m completely obsessed with golf. Not good but getting better. Should break 90 for the first time this summer.
I’m also pretty big on fitness. I run in the morning five days a week. Lift and do walking cardio six days a week. Oh, I’m also working on my doctorate in educational leadership.
Nice! I actually broke 90 on a regulation course for the first time last summer. Was "even bogey" i.e. 13 over through 13, and railed off 5 straight pars to finish with an 85.
I played my local course (3600 yd par 60 "long executive" course) yesterday, and shot a 73. Was pretty happy with that.
I've mentioned in other threads that I've fully bought in on the Peloton thing. I don't run because I hate it, but also that at my size it's just a TON of impact on my lower body. Cycling gets around that. I've been doing stretching again ever since starting the Peloton, which has been a HUGE benefit. A little over 2 months ago I added in strength training, and I just started their "Beginning Yoga" program to see if yoga might be my thing.
I actually passed 5K minutes of tracked exercise for the year a few days ago. Shooting for 15K this year.
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I did
Inventing fictional boogeymen again?
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(https://i.imgur.com/Brxt956.jpg)
I use to get a lot of laughs using that because well I resemble a Yeti after a bad night
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Nice! I actually broke 90 on a regulation course for the first time last summer. Was "even bogey" i.e. 13 over through 13, and railed off 5 straight pars to finish with an 85.
I played my local course (3600 yd par 60 "long executive" course) yesterday, and shot a 73. Was pretty happy with that.
I've mentioned in other threads that I've fully bought in on the Peloton thing. I don't run because I hate it, but also that at my size it's just a TON of impact on my lower body. Cycling gets around that. I've been doing stretching again ever since starting the Peloton, which has been a HUGE benefit. A little over 2 months ago I added in strength training, and I just started their "Beginning Yoga" program to see if yoga might be my thing.
I actually passed 5K minutes of tracked exercise for the year a few days ago. Shooting for 15K this year.
Peloton is a fantastic workout. I’ve only been on one a handful of times but every time I have I’m pouring the sweat when I’m done and my legs are jelly.
On a different note, I’m playing my first round of golf in about 5 years next week at one of the 10 best courses in the state. I may shoot my weight.
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going out this afternoon for my 10th round of the season
not a top 10 course
my local muni
but, it'll be in the low 70s and I'll be wearing shorts
hoping for a low 80's round but the wind is up
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I'm a dependable driver away from being a solid golfer. That and eliminating the three putts. Most days it's just a matter of time before I give up on my driver and go with the driving iron I carry. The driving iron is more dependable but I lose 20-30 yards of distance off the tee.
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keep swinging the driver
you'll figure it out eventually
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I go to the range and hammer it; consistent and long. Get on the course and anyone within a 90 degree diagonal arc to the left or right of me is in trouble.
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ed zachery why I don't go to the range
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I find the issue is the "hit impulse".
With my irons on approach shots, I know that I want to hit the ball a specific distance and that's *not* as far as I can hit them if I swing all out. I.e. on the range I can add a club and a half to my 8i with more effort, but why would I try? So I'm taking a nice controlled swing and the ball just happens to be in the way.
Sometimes with driver, or even with taking less club off the tee, I'm trying to "get it out there"--meaning I take my backswing, get to the top, and my brain goes into KILL KILL KILL mode. Because I'm thinking about distance rather than target. I'm trying to hit the ball rather than trying to swing well and have the ball just happen to be in the way.
When I get into the proper mentality with driver, and take a nice swing with the ball happening to get into the way, everything works SO much more nicely, and I find the ball goes a long way as it should.
Let the club do the work.
Also--be aware of shaft weight... There's a huge trend to go to lighter shafts in drivers, which is fine unless it throws off your tempo. I use 115g shafts in my irons at a bit of a heavy swing weight as they're over-length. I use 70g in driver even though I could go buy a driver with a 50g or even 40g shaft. But if I don't feel the weight, it feels like I'm swinging air and just feels "wrong". Back in the early days of graphite (late 90s) I didn't think I *could* make a graphite driver work because I was used to a steel-shafted driver and everything graphite was ultra-lightweight. But now they have better options. So you may be fighting against your equipment.
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Sounds to me like we need a CFB B1G board golf outing.
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Sounds to me like we need a CFB B1G board golf outing.
Well, if any of you decided to come out to LA for road games at USC or UCLA, let me know and I can probably set something up... It'd likely be down here in Orange County, but I'm sure a mid-November game followed by Sunday morning at a golf course in beautiful SoCal weather would sound just fine to many of you Midwesterners...
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I'm in or "N"
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https://www.instagram.com/p/CsJXeOdLak4/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
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very nice
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I'm not normally one for inspirational quotes, but one of the Peloton instructors had one that struck me...
Today we do what others won't, so tomorrow we'll do what others can't.
Really liked that one.
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pussies won't & can't
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I've been sitting on this for a while, but I can finally say this. A couple of pages ago, I mentioned that I umpire fast pitch softball. Yesterday, I worked my first ever state championship game in any sport. On top of that, our crew chief and plate umpire worked his last game after a 45 year career.
I'm the tall, ugly schmuck on the right.
https://twitter.com/MSHSL_Officials/status/1667286300540518401?t=KnccMacnMmoDt5Gqy5DUqA&s=19
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Pulling weeds in my garden and shoveling snow.
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I've been sitting on this for a while, but I can finally say this. A couple of pages ago, I mentioned that I umpire fast pitch softball. Yesterday, I worked my first ever state championship game in any sport. On top of that, our crew chief and plate umpire worked his last game after a 45 year career.
I'm the tall, ugly schmuck on the right.
https://twitter.com/MSHSL_Officials/status/1667286300540518401?t=KnccMacnMmoDt5Gqy5DUqA&s=19
COngrats, great Honor. Been officiating a variety of sports for a long time. recently gave up officiating wrestling and Fast-pitch softball. I have done a lot of playoff games, but never a State Championship. Still have a very slight hope of doing a State football championship game.
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Just passed one year with the Peloton.
In my first year, I've done 503 total workouts. 222 on the bike, 155 stretching, 102 strength, and some "other". Didn't start strength in earnest until Feb of this year, so that'll catch up.
In 2022, from late June to the end of the year, I did about 4500 minutes of tracked exercise. I crossed over 8000 for 2023 today. Goal is 15K for the year and I'm confident I'll make that.
I feel like my body is in the best place it's been since I was 18.
It's been a life changer IMHO.
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I just had my third pitching session with Pete Smith. I'm amazed at both how much I was doing wrong and how much I've changed and improved.
I've also taken up painting. My wife is complimentary of course, but I think I'm better at writing than painting, which is not saying much about either. However, it's fun. Acrylics.
I try and run 3x per week and go to the gym on other days. A 40 minute session with Pete completely wears me out. Lots of back muscles start aching so I'm working more on dead lifts in the gym now. And stretching. I throw a baseball off the tennis practice wall on odd days too.
We harvested a first crop of green beans which are very tasty and should have another today. My tomato plants just shrivel and die every year no matter what, mosaic virus I guess. We're getting blueberries and strawberries now, not many yet.So, I still garden, on the deck, in raised bed planters off concrete.
I would get back into golf but I hate the long wait times at most places.
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11:22am tee time today, tomorrow, monday and on the 4th
very little waiting
be teed off by 11:30 at the latest each day
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I'll be at the lake.
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with an expected high of 99?
yup, too hot to golf
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with an expected high of 99?
yup, too hot to golf
It was well over 100 when I finished golfing yesterday. Didn't really notice it. It is a dry heat :93:
Summer time is great around here. Alway tee times available. Low prices and the course relatively open and quick play.
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with an expected high of 99?
yup, too hot to golf
https://youtu.be/J3800PSW4vQ
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Joey's brother??
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One of my kids read my first fantasy novel and claimed to be waiting anxiously on Book 2, which I have had in abeyance. I'll try and get back to it. This retirement thing is like being tired over and over.
I went to sleep last night at 9:40, my wife claimed I'd be awake at 3 AM again, but I slept pretty well, got up at 6:30 or so. Not watching network TV is a real pleasure, you have time galore for other things.
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started a gaming pc build. or a modifying build from an old work pc. wanting to get into dcs world and il 2 type flight/mil sims. super budget.
had an old dell optiplex at office with a nice i7 processor. the rest of it was crap, but that's supposed to be a solid cpu. also had a 128 gb ssd i'll be salvaging for op system.
got a coolermaster case, thermaltake smart 500w psu, 16gb (2x8) ram, and 1tb ssd. went back and forth on using old motherboard, but dell uses a ton of ridiculous proprietary connection and i didn't want to bother figuring our workarounds. so i got a super cheap motherboard and we'll see if it works. if not, can just go back and figure out the dell until i want to upgrade.
still need a gpu, likely gonna get a rx6600, just haven't pulled trigger yet. at this point gonna probably wait until black friday for some deals and also hopefully the new releases coming soon will drop prices again.
gonna 3d print and build some hotas, likely from authentikit. hoping the finish some more of their p51 plans soon. probably gonna start with the spitfire since it's mostly complete. wish i could find a good force feedback option. probably get the vkb gladiator for other/modern flight stick and throttle.
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Played golf Sunday. It followed three straight rounds of the "why do I play this stupid effing game?" variety. Just trash all around.
No practice since the preceding round. Did nothing different. And got around the course at +13, with nothing worse than a double, and generally competent (if not spectacular--it's still me) play all around.
'tis a weird game.
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Played golf Sunday. It followed three straight rounds of the "why do I play this stupid effing game?" variety. Just trash all around.
No practice since the preceding round. Did nothing different. And got around the course at +13, with nothing worse than a double, and generally competent (if not spectacular--it's still me) play all around.
'tis a weird game.
I played some of my best golf when I reached my "dont give a shit" zone
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it's wierd
I played yesterday afternoon in the heat
front 9 of 2 over 38
birdie bogie and a double on my nemesis hole
finished the back with a 41 and broke 80
Friday will come and I won't be able to break 90
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it's wierd
I played yesterday afternoon in the heat
front 9 of 2 over 38
birdie bogie and a double on my nemesis hole
finished the back with a 41 and broke 80
Friday will come and I won't be able to break 90
I thought I told you that you have to play from the white tees not the red tees
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been playing from the whites cause my buddies are older or just don't hit it as far (6348)
yesterday played with some young flatbellied guys, so played the blues. (6731)
I score the same from either. Short game is where all the strokes are.
Reds -lady's are (5309)
I've actually played them with my daughters.
Just hit a 5-iron off the tee box instead of driver.
Score about the same.
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I played Tuesday. Shot an 87 which is my second-lowest round ever (85). Only one double bogey and four pars. Putting was solid, with only two 3 putts. My irons were funky though. Had a lot of second shots that ended up just off the green.
There was a foursome of "professionals" (read that with as much sarcasm as you can muster) ahead of me and eventually three other pairs. They would not let anyone play through and spent FOREVER on each green. I'm not sure if they were playing for money but they spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at each of their putts and then they would leisurely stroll off the green while we were standing there ready for our approach. This was on a Tuesday afternoon when the course wasn't crowded at all either. Highly frustrating.
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I don't see the benefit of calculating the putt for so long if you're going to miss it anyway
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Two of my hobbies I mentioned elsewhere in this thread go hand in glove, to a degree. Roses and photography. Peace taken a few weeks ago.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53129451352_cbe11c5d48_o.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oWSjTj)Peace (https://flic.kr/p/2oWSjTj) by Mark Roeder (https://www.flickr.com/photos/82428620@N00/), on Flickr
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https://twitter.com/TxWellMan72/status/1693721997832798555
365 foot well I drilled last week. Making 30-40 gallons per minute.
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Hit the little local executive course yesterday morning to get in some short game practice. Only got 6 holes as the foot bridge between 1-6 and 7-9 was impassable due to water runoff, but still a good tune up of real world golf since getting a lesson 2 weeks ago and making some changes on the range.
Hole 4 is usually a 66y par 3, a seemingly innocuous but truly diabolical hole... Tiny narrow green and everything feeds left down to a creek so you can't go long, and you can't go left. Tees back to a front pin, playing maybe 73-74 yards.
Hit a little partial wedge, right at the pin... Ball hits about 3" long right of the pin, jumps <2 feet left, and gave me this for birdie. Almost jarred the sucker.
(https://i.imgur.com/mCv6fqJ.jpg)
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nice shot Tex!
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Anybody camping out at Burning Man? :) :) :73:
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don't know what burning man is
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https://twitter.com/TxWellMan72/status/1693721997832798555
365 foot well I drilled last week. Making 30-40 gallons per minute.
https://youtu.be/t9JQkxu_ofE?si=6xtpUwepBTShsuIe
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Part of my photography hobby: We have one or two cornbelt midwesterners on this website. I thought a few of you would enjoy a landscape of corn shocks rarely seen in these parts for more than 50-years in the cornbelt. One of my Amish acquaintances created this beautiful scene:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53185515546_9cdd975967_o.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2p2PEPm)Corn Shocks (https://flic.kr/p/2p2PEPm) by Mark Roeder (https://www.flickr.com/photos/82428620@N00/), on Flickr
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I am a golfer as well, my goal for this year was to break par on a 18 hole round, have not done it yet. Made the trek to Scotland this year with 11 other lads and played all the big boys over there. It was absolutely a fantastic experience, even holed out for an eagle rom 113 yards on #16 of the old course, definitely the highlight. Even better is a buddy actually got video of my shot, so I have that video proof forever.
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that's a goal! Good luck!
I've never shot par for 18 on a real course. Par 71 or 72
76 is the best I've done. Twice
I shot a solid 80 this afternoon. Greens were punched so putting wasn't great.
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Frist sport I quit officiating was Girls' fast pitch softball. Select Fastpitch is particularly bad as far as sportmanship.
I just noticed this thread and caught this tonight.
Would you mind elaborating on this?
I have a 9 year old daughter that just started playing fastpitch softball this spring with the cities in house league (it's her first time playing any kind of softball). She ended up starting at 1st base and batting #5 in the order.
Her in house coach also coaches the city clubs travel team and invited her to try out for the fall season.
She made the travel team (10U). This is our first year doing anything like this, so I'm curious what I should expect. First tournament is this Saturday!
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expect a lot of fun and plenty of drama
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expect a lot of fun and plenty of drama
And many cases of fisticuffs amongst parents!
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I just noticed this thread and caught this tonight.
Would you mind elaborating on this?
I have a 9 year old daughter that just started playing fastpitch softball this spring with the cities in house league (it's her first time playing any kind of softball). She ended up starting at 1st base and batting #5 in the order.
Her in house coach also coaches the city clubs travel team and invited her to try out for the fall season.
She made the travel team (10U). This is our first year doing anything like this, so I'm curious what I should expect. First tournament is this Saturday!
I use to umpire Fast-Pitch Club Softball. One of the reason I quit was because of the Parents and/or coaches. Each team was its own little fiefdom and no consequences for actions and little support from the tournament directors at that time. Was worst than parents in pee wee football which is saying something.
What to expect is long days and lots of people all over the place struggle to find out what field they are playing on.
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I just noticed this thread and caught this tonight.
Would you mind elaborating on this?
I have a 9 year old daughter that just started playing fastpitch softball this spring with the cities in house league (it's her first time playing any kind of softball). She ended up starting at 1st base and batting #5 in the order.
Her in house coach also coaches the city clubs travel team and invited her to try out for the fall season.
She made the travel team (10U). This is our first year doing anything like this, so I'm curious what I should expect. First tournament is this Saturday!
My daughter started playing travel softball at the age of 8 and is still playing at age 15. Yes, there will be obnoxious parents on your own team and on the teams you play. There will also be times you see calls so bad you will bite through your own tongue to keep from being lumped in with those parents.
We’ve played tournaments where there were snow flurries and ones where the temperature was in the triple digits. We’ve played in tournaments where the championship game ended after 1 am and tournaments where the kickoff game of the tournament started at midnight.
If she stays with it it will be expensive and a hassle. When my daughter was younger I really resented the travel and aggravation sometimes. Now that she’s older I view travel tournaments as a way to spend time with her. She’s a captive audience in the car with me and I get to talk to her, and hope she can get out of her phone long enough to listen and talk to me. She has a learner’s permit now so the next tournament we have she might actually be the one driving to it.
We actually have a lot of memories now built around travel ball. Make the best of it. Have fun with it. I didn’t always do that. View them as little weekend get aways. Find good restaurants. Get to know some of the parents (they aren’t all crazy), and try to appreciate the time you are spending with her. It’s cliche, but it really does go by fast.
But if you’re lucky she’ll hate it and you won’t have to mess with it long. ;)
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Thanks for the replies gentlemen.
So I guess I just got myself a new hobby. Not a fan of 800 AM games an hour from home, but such is life. I'm more of a night owl.
Seeding games today. We won our first game 20-0, the other team forfeited in the 2nd inning. I felt kind of bad for them.
The opposing first base coach got kicked out for commentary on an umps call, so a bit a drama already.
My daughter is a lefty and I can tell pitchers are having problems throwing to her. She got 2 at bats in 2 innings and was walked on both. She managed to steal 3 bases, so she was excited about that.
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I picked up this electric scooter at a sporting goods store. Nothing special, 1000 W, tops out around 20 mph. But man, that thing's a tank. It can go really slow and maneuver through tight corridors. Or you can tear down a bike path. It's easy to ride on sidewalks, it climbs over mountains, it drives down a gravel road just as easy as a bike path, pretty much anywhere.
Now I'm eyeing one that's designed specifically for ATV trails and dirt roads. Lots of those around here.
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I travel a lot for work and take numerous weekend trips so I collect postcards as a slight hobby. But it's more than collecting.
I send out 1 to 2 per month, depending on the frequency of my trips, totaling about 20 postcards/year to various friends who've been along for the ride with me and are due for a thank you. But it's more than just sending postcards.
Years ago I started a detailed spreadsheet tabulating 1) postcard origin, 2) recipient, and 3) my personal note. Over the years my Postcards spreadsheet has turned into an appreciation of whom I've held long term friendships with, the various places I've traveled and lived, who's unfortunately passed away (i.e. stopped getting a postcard from me), and 4) lively reminders of times gone by.
Some examples:
January 2016 - Hawaii - To the Gallagher Family:
"Just returned from work at Pearl Harbor. The Navy Lodges were booked, so I ended up 4 nights at a Waikiki Hilton resort. Wonderful to be back in Hawaii, away from the East Coast winter, and giving a few afternoons to relive my long ago enlisted days. My old barracks were torn down so I made up for it by drinking at the enlisted club, where finally I was old enough to buy for myself."
January 2019 - Tucumcari NM - To Uncle B & Aunt A:
"Good visiting you & the boys again! After Indianapolis one of my overnight stays was Tucumcari NM, still boasting the colorful motels of its Route 66 yesteryears. Beyond Tucumcari begins the true West as far as the eye can see, the horizon extending from ten or twelve miles away to thirty or forty."
March 2019 - Vail CO - To Ben:
"Great to see our friend Myles off to a great career start! Visiting him in Colorado detoured us through Vail, priding itself on the global skiing and snowboarding destination its winter slopes afford the many Euro accents and ski-bumming seasonal workers happy and high on the lifts riding over its resort villages."
June 2021 - Landers CA - To Uncle K:
"Deep in the Mojave Desert is the unpaved town of Landers, home to the Integratron, a domed Sound Bath spa. Unfortunately closed, I drove several more dusty miles to visit Giant Rock, North America’s largest freestanding boulder, where Integratron’s founder once lived beneath and hosted UFO Conventions. California's deserts are full of entertaining Alien lore; leaving is a sad farewell to the weird, backcountry America that dissolves as soon as the Interstate looms ahead."