Typical day off - golf, chores, and monumental decisions.

I am trying to figure out a nickname to refer to myself on this blog. I like my father in law's reference to himself as "the Old Man" on his blog and thought that I would like to do the same for me. Hmmmm. I wonder where I could go with this? I am going to give that some thought. If you have any suggestions, feel free to throw them out.

So today I took a much needed day off from work. There has been plenty of stress around there lately. We have been working like crazy due to a shortage of instructors in our branch and no shortage of students. This has at times created a somewhat less than hospitable environment because people are exhausted and need some "down" time. I have also been waiting to hear about a possible new job opportunity that I had put in for over three years ago.

So my boss told me to take a day off of work and go golfing. I did. At least the weather was nice. I actually hit the ball off of the tee like a PGA professional. From that point on, however, my golfing game resembled that of a drugged out porn star. I couldn't get it up and I couldn't get it in, any hole period. Was that what they call TMI??? I had to chuckle a few times also because I kept telling my playing partner about my father in law's shot descriptions like the dreaded sand bunker to sand bunker shot (Saddam Hussein). We both hit a lot of Barbara Streisand's also (something like ugly but still working). We got a lot of laughs at those. It was so much fun we started thinking of a few names for some of our own shots hit throughout the day.

The John Deere - a shot where large portions of dirt and grass move further than the ball.

The "Oh Shit" - one of my favorites - a shot that when hit goes directly toward a glass window on a nearby house. (P.S. Just missed the window but I am sure left a dent in the siding)

The Chinese National Anthem - a shot that sounds so good but looks so ugly. That's my personal favorite. If you remember the scandal during the Opening Ceremonies at the Olympics this past summer. They had a beautiful little girl with a great voice singing a song (not the anthem but it's all I could remember). Then we found out that she actually lip synched the song and that the girl who actually sang the song wasn't allowed to be on television because she was too ugly. That's where that came from. Plenty of those today. (Feel free to rename)

Well, I got home and decided to help out Jules by mowing the grass for her. That way she didn't have to worry about doing that tomorrow while I am playing golf again. I had to give myself a pat on the back for that one!! I felt so good that I mowed my neighbors yard too. Then I took my trimmer and shredded everything I could until I ran out of string. Am I crazy? No, you see, my neighbors have moved out. Victims of foreclosure. Unfortunately, they left a mess of a yard and it's driving me crazy. So it took awhile but it looks better. Not great, but at least mowed.

Okay, so finally the big news. I finally received my call from the job I have been waiting to hear from for the past 3 years. I politely declined their offer to take a $40,000 dollar pay cut and move to Norfolk, VA on my own dime. Ummm, that didn't seem fiscally responsible. I blogged before about getting older and the pain that comes with it. Well today, I realized that perhaps I had started to inherit another trait of getting older....getting wiser.

My doctor said the "M" word

I can't remember when it all began and never really gave it much thought. It seems like it just happened and there was nothing I could do about it. Oh sure, there were signs that it was coming but I paid no attention to it. After all, I am invincible. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you what I am talking about. I am officially getting older.

Yeah, it's true. I know you are probably thinking that I seemed to always look 21. Oil of Olay folks that's the secret. I wish they made that for bones and muscles. I got home from work the other day and felt like a Mack truck ran me over, backed up and apologized for running me over and then ran me over again before driving off. I have been nursing a twinge in my lower back which has shot pain down through my psiatic nerve (literally a pain in the ass- HaHa). I also have an old football injury (left knee) from my sophomore year in H.S. The doctor at the time -1985- said "don't worry, you're young and it will heal". Twenty three years later, I am happy to report that at times, I can't squat and stand without seeing stars or keep my knee stationary for long periods without the feeling of someone pounding a nail into it. (I would like to have a discussion with that "sports" doctor about now) I also now have a shooting pain through my left shoulder which prevents me from laying on my left side for any amount of time. And just recently, I have noticed a pain beginning in my right knee when I go on runs. Nice. Isn't exercise supposed to keep you in shape not break you down? Oh, I almost forgot about waking up in the morning and having to walk gingerly to the bathroom to avoid my ankles from giving out. One night, we forgot to turn on the fan for that white noise effect. In the morning, after getting out of bed, I turned around and Jackson was standing two feet away. I asked why he was up and he said that he heard the Rice Krispies popping. I soon figured what he had heard wasn't Rice Krispies. He had heard my bones popping!!!!

Okay, so maybe it's not always that bad. I remember at times feeling pain here and there but it always seemed to go away and hide in it's hole. For some reason, I am now conscious to the fact that I have some sort of daily ache here and there which for some reason won't go away. So I guess it's true what they say, everyone gets older at some point. I remember as a kid eating a Flinstones vitamin everyday. Then I remember taking vitamin supplements. Then on to the one a day Centrum. Now I have officially graduated to the new Vitamin....M. Have you heard of it? That's Motrin folks. My doctor didn't say Mylanta, he said 800 mg. of Motrin!!

It takes a golfer to raise a village.

The U.S.A. finally won back the Ryder Cup in golf today. This is the first time since 1999 that we have won the cup. For those of you who may not follow golf, the Ryder Cup is played between the Americans and the Europeans every other year. It is a great competition, a team competition, and every golfer wants to be a part of it. It is unique because golf is not a "team" sport. Golf is all about the individual. Whether you win or lose all depends on how YOU play. The Americans seemed to dominate this competition for a long time throughout the 60's, 70's, 80's. Lately, however, the Europeans have been getting the best of the American team.

Since 1999, the last time the Americans won the cup, there have been many excuses about why we have lost. We don't play well as a team, we are too cocky, too many egos, Americans just don't care about the Ryder Cup, just to name a few. Perhaps. You see the Ryder Cup is not about money. No team or individual wins any money for playing in the competition. This contest is about playing as a team to represent your country. The U.S.A. teams have been favored to win every Ryder Cup competition since winning in 1999 and really have had the best players in the world to do it. For whatever reason, probably all of the above listed, until this week they have fallen short.

The Americans and the Europeans each displayed excellent sportsmanship and unbelievable golf for three straight days. After the match was over, U.S. Team Captain Paul Azinger was commenting on the American spirit displayed by the team and the crowds. He was asked whether this was a great win for the country. Azinger was quick to praise not the golfers first but the men and women in our military serving our country and trying to help spread democracy throughout the world. That, he said is a bigger win for our country than golf ever will be. Wow, someone who gets it!

This past week, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents all came together to cheer on and watch a group of individual golfers work together as a team to accomplish a specific goal. They (golfers) finally put aside personal agendas and egos and pulled for the greater good. In the end....victory! Let us all hope that as this election cycle ends and new leaders are elected that they can all finally cast aside their personal agendas and egos and start working as a team to solve some real issues facing our country. Let us all hope that our leaders play golf.

Ready, set, go (a.k.a. Saturday morning)

What a beautiful Saturday in the South! I woke up this morning around 7:15 (way late for me) and went through my daily routine of making coffee and checking out the news on T.V. Jackson was up quickly after me and I wondered for about 10 seconds why he was up so early. Jackson got the new Star Wars game for his PSP yesterday and he needed to start playing it early so he could finish it in a day and a half. So he quietly settled down in his "play chair", hooked up his headphones so I could hear the television and began his quest. Soon after that, Jules arose just in time to order us up two cups of coffee. Perhaps the most underrated part of the day is the first sip of coffee in the morning. For that one moment, all is right in the world. Peace in the Middle East, gas prices at $1.50, money in the bank account, no screaming kids. That's about as far as I got until I heard the first scream from the Terminator! Well at least I had that.

Little Nathan was in pure form from the get go. He needed a snack so we gave him a small bowl of Lucky Charms. He proceeded to dump them all over the couch so we picked them up. He got a hold of them again and dumped them into his toy bus on the floor. Then came the lego box. Dumped all over the floor. Then came the vacuum cleaner hose. Pulled out, thrown around, and then the container which holds the hose was thrown on the floor. All the while, little Nathan smiled that sinister little smile that says "I am too cute for you." It was going to be one of those mornings after all. Well at least I could put on the golf and try to relax to that. Of course nothing is that simple. Our local NBC affiliate was experiencing technical difficulties and was unable to produce any sound at all. Can I get a mulligan????

So I just started getting busy with the Saturday chores. Vacuum all of the floors, then grab the mop and get to mopping the wood floors. That was hard work but wow did they need it. I felt pretty good about it and really didn't miss watching the golf after all.

So the house is clean (mostly) and Nathan is now napping. Jackson has finished his quest, and the sound is restored for the golf match. There must be peace in the Middle East now! Ha! So now I can relax for the rest of the afternoon and surf the net, blog, watch golf, football or whatever. Damn, I'm bored.

Recently de-classified 9/11 photos...

I just received a power point presentation at work from recently de-classified 9/11 photos. The first few photos are from the ground level at Ground Zero. After a few slides, the photos are ones taken from the air on 9/11. Compelling to say the least. I am not sure when these photos first appeared as de-classified but I am certain they are. Don't worry, Uncle Sam won't be hunting you down. I know that 9/11 has passed us yet again but these photos are worth looking at. The photos left me speechless as I tried to imagine what it would have been like to live through that. The destruction and devastation is unimaginable. Needless to say, it is why we can never let that happen again.

Unfortunately, I have tried every way to get them here on the blog page but can't seem to find a way to do it. For those of you I know I will pass it along as an email. For those of you who don't receive it and would like to please email me at bafeeney@yahoo.com and I would be happy to forward it to you. You may need PowerPoint on your computer to view it.

One and done...

Well, I have managed to last a whole week or so with this blogging thing. What I have come to realize is that it's not so easy to just get on the computer and start striking keys. It's kind of like when I tell my boss that work keeps getting in the way of my personal time. Life (including work, yard work, kids, mutts, fixing gourmet meals) seems to always find a way of reducing my blog time to a minimum. Now I know why some people have a weekly post rather than a daily post. I have decided that my posts will be more of a "surprise" post. Whenever I get the time to put something down will probably be a surprise to me.

And so it is that today, Sunday, September 14 I finally have some free time. Nater is asleep, Jackson is at a birthday party, Jules is busy typing away as she usually is and I have finished my chore for the day. That would be cleaning the grout from the kitchen floor on my hands and knees (ouch) and then mopping the floor. So how about an update on my french sliding door.

When last we left, Scott and I had ripped apart all of the molding around the door. Scott remarked how great a job the builders had done putting the three piece molding around the door. I felt good knowing that we were tearing it all apart and that it may never look the same again. Nathan just smiled and poured water all over the floor again as he usually does. At one point, I could swear that Nater looked at me and said in a sarcastic "French" accent "you stupid American...you're mother was a hamster and you're father smelled of elderberries!!" This was a bad Monty Python skit and Nathan was about ready to slap me with a fish!! That boy (Nathan) has some funny faces. Well, we managed to get the door fixed and started to put the molding back together. We are actually rebuilding it a little different so that if the "termi"Nater tears the door down again we can hopefully do this a little easier. We had to stop for a day to let a couple of pieces "set" in place before finishing up. With any luck as Scott said we may not even have to repaint. Amen. That was Tuesday.

Fast forward 24 hours to Wednesday. I was at work when Julie called and informed me that Scott had been rushed to the hospital and had suffered a heart attack. The doctors had to put in a splint after discovering an 82% blockage in one of his arteries. Hopefully, he will be okay. He is now back at home and resting. He has sworn never to eat my lasagna again. I don't know why? There was nothing in there that could have caused that to happen (Cheese, Cheese, Cheese, Sausage, Ground Beef, Eggs). Damn, I could be next!!! I had to have another word with Nathan not to break anything for awhile so we could let him recuperate. Nathan said "no" and then proceeded to break the cap off of my cologne bottle. Thankfully Julie has gotten used to my smell and said as long as we have soap and I use it I would be okay.

So for now the door remains fixed but unfinished. Our project was put off by a more pressing one Scott's health. The door is a reminder that some things are less important than others. Knowing that Scott will be okay and that my neighbor and her kids still have a husband and father is good enough for me.

I'd rather "belated" than forgotten...

Alright folks, I was planning on some kind of remembrance for 9/11 which actually came ON 9/11 however, I was unable to find the time nor the energy to get it done. Thanks to all for your various blogs, emails and posts about that event. I enjoyed reading them and take all of them to heart.

I had a great talk with a co-worker who was in Manhattan on that day and lived through that experience. As a Deputy U.S. Marshal, he had an opportunity to respond and work through the rescue and recovery phases. Watching it on television really gives you no perspective of living through it. I was able to see the damage at the Pentagon first hand and as bad as that was, nothing could possibly have been worse than to have been in Manhattan on that day.

I know that there were plenty of 9/11 tributes that went around yesterday but I wanted to share one more with you if you have a few minutes.

http://www.comdac.com/911/911.swf

Let's pray that we truly NEVER FORGET!!

For Sale

For Sale: Soon to be two year old boy who is full of piss and vinegar. Great for remodeling projects. Can assist with the demolition of furniture, destruction of pocket french doors, pulling down and smashing pictures, altering paint projects, and various other tasks.

Okay, obviously I am kidding. However, I don't mind saying that he's lucky he's cute. So I get home from a long, hot, dirty day at work and the first thing I am greeted with is Jules saying "hi honey, guess what Nater did today?" Then I am quickly directed to our pocket french door which slides in and out between our sunroom and living room. As I take a first glance I notice that one side is completely hanging down on the wood floor and not hanging where it is supposed to be. Incidentally, the second thing I notice is the various fingerprints and smudges and Cheetos/Doritos hand prints all over the door as well.

So after getting the 411 from Jules about how Nater was ticked off that he was in the Sunroom and Jules was not and he took it upon himself to "Hulk" out and rip the door off to the sliders I decided that I should take a look first hand. My first thought was "surely re-hanging a door can't be a difficult task". As I was soon to find out, I know why people have "second thoughts". In fact, in my vast experience as a handy man, it seems nothing is ever "easy". (But that's another story - Ha Ha)

Anyway, after carefully inspecting the situation, and attempting to rehang the door, I decided that I needed help from an man who is relatively handy at these things...my neighbor Scott. Why not Jules you ask? Because as I was messing with the door, she was yelling at Jackson about homework, fixing dinner and finding a way to shove the aforementioned almost two year old into a Doritos bag and stow him in the pantry for the night. No success. So it was down to me and Scott.

About twenty minutes later Scott was here. We both quickly figured out the "how" of the "how does this door hang in the first place?" What we were not so successful with was the "how the hell do we do it" phase. Every attempt we tried met with utter failure. After a closer inspection of the molding around the door frame it was clear that the original "hangers" of the door had done so before the molding was placed around the frame. It was the only way to do it and have the necessary room to lock in the hanging pins. Now this "simple" project has been put off until tomorrow so we can now do the following: pull apart the trim work and molding around the door frame, reset the door, re-attach the trim and molding (if no damage has been done - otherwise cut new molding) and finally re-paint the area. Nice!

In the meantime, I have placed Nathan on notice. Any more destruction and he was going to be placed in time out behind bars in the laundry room to sleep with our dog Bella. After advising Julie of my new found stance she calmly let me know that Nathan loves to sleep in the dog's room on her new bed anyway and he would love it. Great. I am running out of options.

How about "Free to a good home....."

"Fore" Starters

Okay, let's get something straight right off of the bat. I am not a gifted wordsmith. That gift has been passed down from my father in law to my wife. I was given the gift of sitting on the couch watching football...we all having our weaknesses. However, it seems that everyone I know is getting in on the "blog" thing. As I stated before, Jack (my father in law) and Jules (my wife) have started blogging as well as my sister and I have really enjoyed reading and chuckling at their posts. So Jules said that I should start a blog and of course I said "you're right".

What I didn’t know was how hard it was going to be to attempt to put words and thoughts on a stupid computer screen. This is probably my fourth or fifth time attempting this first blog. I doubt I will ever be giving Stephen King or James Patterson any writing tips. So I guess the only thing that you can do with this blog thing is to have fun and share your thoughts and memories as only you can. I am looking forward to the challenge and hopefully getting better at the “writing” thing (You are never too old to improve your skills). I only hope I can find the time to do this because it seems like a lot of fun.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you why I titled my blog “Fore”...Right. Like a bad golfer who has no idea where his shots will go (most tend to slice right), I have no idea where these blogs will go. So heads up!! Look out!! Watch it!! Or should I just say “fore”...right!!