Frozen Golf

Looking form the Clubhouse toward the
Starters Hut

Yesterday the weather appeared to be marginally suitable for golf and so I hit the links with great expectations for my second outing of the year at my local course, Timbers at Troy. I enjoy playing at Timbers because it is close, challenging, and a nice setting.

The temperatures were above freezing and were supposed to get above 40 degrees pretty quickly and so I was expecting that dressed properly I would have a fun round and I would enjoy the holiday by being outside.

I should have known something was amiss when I arrived at the course and there were snowflakes in the air. And then there was the obligatory frost delay--which was only 12 minutes from the Tee time and seemed somewhat gratuitous once the true course conditions were known. So I need to give a shout out to Mike for suffering through the conditions with me to complete the round of golf.

Arriving at the first tee box, it became clear that the day was going to be anything but ordinary. The ground was frozen and it was impossible to place the tee into the ground any deeper than just enough to hold the ball--which is OK for me since I am still playing the ball that high anyway. It did pose a problem on the Par 3's, however, and for a couple of those holes I was driving right off the ground. 

The greatest thing about the conditions--the frozen tundra being played on, was the roll out. I hit my longest drive ever--actually it was an average drive that rolled another 80 yards. It was fun to watch. I should have taken a few pictures, but I didn't think about it. It was also fun to be alone on the course. One other golfer was paying at a faster rate and he played through on the 10th and was never seen again.

The most frustrating thing about the conditions were the greens. Most were frozen and the balls would hit them and bounce like it was hitting concrete. That created some funny situations as well as one where I hit a perfect shot and the ball bounced high over the flag and off into the forest never to be seen again. Later in the day as the greens thawed, the water slowed the balls as they rolled causing at least one four putt. It was pretty frustrating to be on the green with a putt for par and four putt the hole for a seven--ugh!

I learned a lot about winter conditions.  But I also made some really good shots--including actually hitting 12 of the fairways driving from the tees. That may never happen again.  Of course there were some really ugly shots after those great drives that still need to be dealt with.  Especially Hole 9, which is a Par 5 and I was on the green in 7 and then 3 putted for a 10! Definitely the ugliest hole of the day. The course notes indicate the the 9th Hole is the toughest on the course--I can attest to that. 

Even though the temperature never achieved the high that was expected and the wind was cold at times, I had a great time on the golf course. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - January 19, 2015

1. Well, the teams are all set for Super Bowl XLIX (49), yawn.

2. Rainy Sundays are OK only if Monday is a day off--and it is, today.

3. I received a new twist on supporting a candidate for president the other day. It was a booklet in the mail that I could sign my name in and send back, with money, and the booklet would be distributed in Iowa before the caucasus. I threw it away because there was no discussion of defense or foreign policy in the candidate's platform.

4. I am amazed at how our dysfunctional government if becoming even more dysfunctional as the lame duck years begin. It truly puts the "fun" into the word.

Danielle Meitiv, right, walks home with her daughter,
 Dvora Meitiv, 6, left, Rosie Resnick, 9,
and her son Rafi Meitiv, 10,
after school in Silver Spring, Md., Friday.
(Sammy Dallal/For the Washington Post)

5. I have recently become aware of the idea of Free Range Kids. I like some of the ideas which are to help foster independent and self-reliant children. I have also been watching the plight of the Meitiv family in the news whose 4 amendment rights have been wantonly violated by the police with respect to their parenting practices. Just because I think one way does not mean that everyone has to think the same way!


6. I think it is going to be warm and dry enough to attempt some golf today. I am glad that I do not live farther north.

7. January is half over. Seems like New Years Day was just yesterday.

8. I found gas at $2.019 the other day! I took a picture of the pump for proof.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Birthdays, Kids, and Snakes

Lucas Turns 5

Normally when I attend a birthday party for a five year old, i get excited about the event because of the event itself. Turning five is a major event in the life of a child--lot's of things are tied to turning five, like going to school and playing sports.

But yesterday--I attended a birthday party that was a lot of fun because the invited guests included alligators, crocodiles, snakes, tarantulas, and assorted lizards and snakes. The birthday party held at Eco Adventures. I enjoyed the party because the usual birthday noise was replaced by a solid hour, or more of education about the animals. 

The highlight was the snake handling session where even the most squeamish in the family had a personal experience with a python.

Nicole meets the snake of her nightmares

The educational portion of the program was very interactive and the kids, and many adults got to get up close and personal with the animals. 

Ethan and I take a turn

Even Nicole took a turn with the snake--and I can attest--she hates snakes.

Chris and the Snake

 It was a lot of fun.

I highly recommend Eco Adventures as a place for a party. it was educational and most of all--fun.







-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Cats and Tails

Riordin, my tabby cat, was reclining in my lap the other day. After a while I noticed that while he was very still--his tail, or rather the tip of his tail, was moving and apparently removing the stress from his life.

I grabbed my GoPro and filmed the tail as it lazily waved back and forth. I admit, it is not the most scintillating video ever made, but I was amazed as how Riordin just remained chilled even while I  filmed his antics.

I read an article about how to discern a cat's mood my looking at its tail titles, The tales the cat tail tells.  While it is good to "read" your cat, maybe we we try to place too much emphasis on understanding the meaning of the tail.

From my perspective, there is something just relaxing about having Riordin sleep on my lap. It makes me want to just stay in my chair and not move.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Missile Silo for Sale

I'm not sure I could live underground--but an old missile silo might be a great place to become a mushroom grower.

A New York Times article about Parcel for Sale: Plenty of Space. Very Quiet. Light? Well . . .  describes a closed missile silo for sale near Roswell, New Mexico. 

Dark--not maintained, but very inexpensive by comparison.

An abandoned intercontinental ballistic missile silo for less than $295,000. Wow!

What would I do with a missile silo? 

I'm not sure. Think of the history. A living relic of the Cold War. I would miss the sunshine, so I probably would not live in it.  I guess I don't need a missile silo in New Mexico. 

I hear there isn't much of a beach there, anyway. Lots of sand, but not a lot of seashore.

I wonder if grapes grow there?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Food with Integrity

Ever heard that phrase? I hadn't until yesterday when I read the article, Why Chipotle’s pork problem is a bad sign for its future, in the Washington Post. The article says, "Chipotle said yesterday that it has stopped serving pork at a third of its restaurants, or some 600 establishments countrywide, citing a standards violation by one of its suppliers. It marks the first time the burrito slinger has been forced to pull a topping from its menu."

I was intrigued. A fast food retailer that is committed to high standards throughout its process? It really had my attention. 

I found this article to be a refreshing approach by a popular company and which flies in the face of the prevalent "cut as many corners as you can to make a profit" mindset which seems widely employed. 

And, I like Chipotle.

The transgression? "The reason Chipotle has been forced to pull carnitas from so many of its menus is that one of its pork suppliers—likely a very large pork supplier, given how vast the impact has been—wasn't treating its pigs in a way that met the company's standards," according to the Washington Post article.

Good for them!

We need more of this type of integrity. Hopefully, standards will improve for everyone if big, important marketers subscribe to high standards and refuse to do business with those who don't.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

What is Wrong with Football?

This weekend it became apparent to be what is wrong with both the NCAA and NFL variety of football.

Money!

Love of money is the root of all evil and it is clear that the NCAA and NFL have sold their souls for the pursuit of fame and fortune.

Here are cases in point.

The NCAA Championship game played Monday night was watched by 33 million people on a cable channel according to an article published by The Hollywood Reporter. A cable channel that costs extra money for most subscribers to receive and that cannot be received by non-cable subscribers. Why wasn't it on a over-the-air channel? Money. Even though the players in NCAA games receive no pay for their efforts and risk of injury, ESPN paid the NCAA $7.3 Billion to host the championship games for 12 years. 

On to the NFL and the Dallas Cowboy catch that wasn't.

I have looked at the replay of the catch. I have read the rules. I have seen other catches during the course of many NFL seasons that were disallowed because of "failure to control the ball through contact with the ground." 

In the Dallas game--it was a catch. Everyone knows it was a catch--we could see it. The problem is that the rules were written because of the millions of dollars riding on every play and the need to take rational judgement out of the game. Hence the phrase, "by rule." That is a way for the referees to say, "even though I know it was a catch I can't call it a catch because there are too many dollars involved to let me use my best judgment."

The catch was a catch--and the rules need to be fixed. And the Dallas play was not the only bad "no catch" call of the season.

The game suffers and the fans lose interest.

Every time there is a TV timeout in the middle of a drive--the game also suffers. It ruins the flow of the game. TV timeouts should only occur during change of possession situations. 

Look on the sidelines for the person in the big orange gloves. They are not a member of the officiating crew--they are part of the broadcast team and they are the ones controlling the pace of the game. They get paid to maximize profit for the broadcast company because the company has already paid an incredible fortune to the league for the right to broadcast the game. Their motivation is purely profit oriented.

What is being broadcast in TV and digitally is no longer football, but a game designed to generate profit. The game bears little resemblance to that being played on the sandlots and by the high schools across the country.

The game needs to be fixed and the impact of the money controlled.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Garbage Becomes a Mounting Problem

An article in the New York Times about the return of garbage incinerators highlights an issue that our society needs to address. 

Garbage.

And I am not talking about the trash along the sides of the roadway, but rather the crushing load of garbage, estimated at 4.4 pounds per person per day.

I was shocked by that characterization of the amount of garbage per person per day until I took the trash out this morning. We generate a lot of garbage. I recycle aggressively and there is still a lot of garbage.

I looked into the trash and what did I find? Gratuitous packaging. There is a website devoted to over packaging called, simply, overpackaging. It is an interesting review. I feel that there is far too much packaging around products and that is needlessly contributing to the garbage crisis. 

I bought a new shirt over the weekend--it took me no less than five minutes to unpack the shirt with all of the plastic and straight pins and card board to make it look good. I still had to iron it before I wore it--so what was the purpose of all of the packaging--looks!


Likewise the apples purchased from Costco--the certainly look nice, but is all of the plastic really necessary around each apple? I think not.

One of the worst packaging offenders are razor blade makers. Huge packaging surrounding a small plastic container of razor blades--in fact I think razor blades are 95 percent packaging and 5 percent blades. 

Even new cars are over packaged. I have seen new cars covered with paper almost shrink wrapped, on their way to the dealers. 

Grappling with garbage is going to become a bigger issue soon. One way we can help is to demand minimal packaging. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - January 12, 2015

1. It has not just been cold--it has been frigid! I am definitely living too far north. 

2. Well, for me, the NFL season is over as the Ravens lost a very exciting game to the Patriots. It was a great game and it was very well played. Pitchers and catchers report in 39 days.

3. Bad weather becomes the lead news story in our area, be it ice, snow, or wind and rain.

4. Makayla loves the snow. I, however, am not a fan.

5. The NFL is hopelessly broken. The rules are subject to so much interpretation that they need on field lawyers to interpret them--and then when they get the letter of the rule right, it still seems wrong. The Washington Post has a nice article that reviews the rule, the catch, and the problem from the Dallas-Green Bay game yesterday. 

6. Ice--who needs an ice storm and freezing rain for the morning rush hour? At least I don't have to drive in it and can wait until the worst is over.

7. The temperature made it up almost to 40 degrees yesterday and it seemed so warm that I was outside grilling in just a light jacket. 

8. I saw images on Facebook of a friend playing golf in one of the southern states. I wish it was warm enough to play golf here. The sun was shining yesterday, but the course was snow covered.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The Game is Pure in the Neighborhood Gym

Basketball season is finally underway. No, not the NBA or NCAA, or even high school seasons, but the local youth leagues have finally begun playing games this season.

There is not a lot of hype and there certainly are not any big named players in the 9-12 year old league. Just a lot of kids and parents and volunteers who gather for practices during the week and weekend games to help develop an understanding and love for the game. 

The game played by the pros and college often bears no resemblance to the version on display at the neighborhood recreation center. They have taken the sport to a level where the game seems very different, and I suppose that is to be expected. 

Yesterday, I reconnected with youth basketball as Ethan, wearing Michael Jordan's number 23, played his first Upward Sports league game of the season. It was an event, as always. The teams gathered and I have to admit that this year it looked a lot more like basketball than perhaps it has appeared in year past. 

The excitement of opening day was clearly present. The was some crisp passing, tenacious defense, and long range baskets. There were no egos or million dollar coaches striding the sidelines. There we no talking head sideline reporters or announcers giving the play-by-play or providing background color on the players. It was basketball.

I do have to cheer a bit. While the video is long, there is a really nice shot made by Ethan early in the game. I especially like his reaction as the shot goes in. It was so early that I was still adjusting to my camera and missed the top of the arc of the shot--but it is still pretty.

Enjoy the game for the game.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD