Plans Gone Awry

I used to play in a racquetball league on Tuesday nights. That is something that I have enjoyed, well mostly, for many years. 

This Spring, in a rare moment of forward thinking, I decided to use Tuesday nights for some mid-week golf--which come with reduced rates and fewer golfers on the courses, so that I could work on my game.

Florida Golf Course During March

Here is a recap of my Tuesday golfing experience thus far:

4/19: Trip to Alaska--no golf

4/26: Youth baseball game (I am a coach)-- no golf

5/3: Orioles game (part of my season plan)-- no golf

Today: Nothing else scheduled, but it looks like rain! 

The high temperature today is forecast for the middle 50's! Ugh. 

Well, the weather might clear. The forecast has been wrong before. 

As for golf, I can count the total number of times that I have graced a golf course during April and May on two fingers. And even then the combined number of holes is only 18! At this rate, I probably should go back to playing racquetball on Tuesday evenings.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - May 9, 2016

1. I hope all of the mother's had a good day yesterday and that they heard from those they love. 

2. Rain plays havoc with youth baseball games. Last week two games were rained out and the week ahead does not look too much better.

At the End of Play
May 8, 2016

3. Why did the best weather of the weekend happen on Sunday--which was Mother's Day and therefore a non-golfing day.

4. Guess which team is in sole possession of first place in the AL East? (Answer: Orioles).

5. The grass seed that I put down a week ago still has not germinated. It has been too cold!

6. Did someone turn the calendar back to March?

7. I noticed that I prefer driving down leafy tree lined roads to the bare-branched ones of winter. Green goes well with my mood.

8. Bryce Harper did something that has never before been done in the history of Major League baseball yesterday, he reached base seven times in a game without getting a hit. He was given 6 walks and was hit by a pitch once. 

9. On this date in 1887, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show opened. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

A Sliver of Summer Arrives

The Pool Opening Begins

Despite the weather forecast, pool opening day happened!

The pool is open and, while not yet ready for swimming, it completely changes the entire look of the yard. For the better, I might add.

Every Job Needs Good Help
Chris at the Pool

The decision to open the pool occurred when the GORC Pirates baseball game was canceled and there looked like a break in the weather to allow the cover to dry. 

As it turned out, the 90 percent chance of rain during the day turned into 0 percent rain and it was a beautiful, a bit cold, day to get the pool open and running. 

Not the desired Color of the Water

Pool opening day is a big event. It takes a lot of time to get everything done. I had already reconnected the motor and the filter which meant that we were ready to start up the entire system once the cover was off and the plugs were removed.

The water had not done well during the winter. It was pretty green! But odorless--which is a good sign. But the good news is that there are chemicals for that!

The Pool This Morning 

By this morning the pool is looking almost ready for action. I am sure the water temperature is only in the high 50's! A bit cold for a swim unless you are a polar bear.

As the Sun is dawning on this Mother's Day, we have drawn one step closer to Summer and the season of outdoors living. Out outdoors living space is nearly ready. I am amazed at the amount of time it takes to get everything done in preparation for the too short summer season. I am convinced that living in the land of perpetual summer, where people wear winter clothes when the temperature falls into the 60's would be much better.

For now, there are a few more minor things to do around the pool, like putting up the rails and power washing the deck to get everything shipshape. 

That is the easy stuff. The hard stuff is done.

Queue Sun and Summer! Let's Party!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The Orb in the Sky

Blue Skies and Sun
May 7, 2016

As dawn broke this morning, something unusual happened--the sun also rose!

The gray skies that have covered the region for the past week parted and I saw patches of blue and sun shining on the still new, green leaves of the trees in my backyard.

It was a refreshing break from the gloom.

Azaleas in Bloom

The forecast is indicates that the sun will be seen for only few short moments today. In fact, as I write this the clouds are already beginning to obscure the scene and herald the arrival of more overcast weather.

My azaleas are attempting to cheer up the scene, but it is an almost futile effort in the face of overwhelming odds.

It is supposed to be pool opening day--that remains to be seen. I don't mind opening the pool in the rain, but it will be cold and I may not be able to properly dry the cover before folding it for storage until September.

At least I know the sun is still there. Maybe it will make more and longer appearances, soon!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

It is a Fowl Situation

It appears that the District of Columbia Department of Health picked on the wrong brood (does four really constitute a brood) of chickens when it issued an order on April 27th for them to be removed from a backyard. According to an article in the Washington Post titled, D.C. lawyers are suing the city to keep their four backyard chickens the Health Department received an anonymous complaint. 

The Post article appears pro-chicken because it lays out the logic and the laws which apparently are on the side of the chicken keepers. Apparently, the couple did "due diligence" before introducing the egg producing fowl into their yard by securing the agreement of immediate neighbors. And I noted, there was no mention of a rooster--which would definitely be an annoyance.

This is not the first time that backyard hens have made the news in the region. During July 2013, the Washington Post ran an article about people in some Northern Virginia counties working to allow backyard broods. That article, Backyard hens have residents clucking, describes the work being done to change laws to allow hens but not roosters to be kept in residential areas.

From my experience, children are a lot louder and more destructive than hens! The kids living in the townhouses next to me have knocked down one of my fences and regularly trespass in my yard. They are also extremely loud. I would much prefer a brood next door than the ear piercing screams of one of the children who cannot play quietly. The ice cream truck is another regular evening annoyance as well. 

Limits on the numbers of hens allowed in a residential brood do need to be established because some people just cannot be content not to have too much of a good thing. Additionally, town homes do not seem compatible with chickens either, things are just too close. But, stories abound of hundreds of cats or dogs being found for in homes--which is also against Health Code regulations. And so, with proper care and in limited quantities, I fully would fully support having hens next door!

Especially if they share the eggs!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Scrambled Week

The week is careening by and there are a lot of "on-the-fly" changes occurring on a moment-by-moment basis.

There is still an empty hole in the kitchen where a few days ago there was a sink! We are closer to a new sink, but still scrambling to actually procure one. There is an slim chance that a new sink will be installed this weekend. Using a kitchen without a sink is an experience! I did get the dishwasher hooked up so that it will do its job. One of the excess sinks was returned, I still need to contact the shipping company about the other.

The cold rainy week, while it may be good for the grass, is not doing either my mood or my golf game any good. I am still a newbie at golf and so I was excited the other day when I was practicing and actually was happy to see my club head speed increasing to a reasonable level! Of course I have absolutely no idea what direction the ball would have traveled since I was hitting into a net. 


Tonight's baseball practice for the GORC Pirates has been changed to a game! That is good and bad. The weather doesn't look like baseball weather, the high today is slated to be 59 degrees, but it does mean that we have something interesting to do this evening.

Crazy busy week!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

A Sink Crisis

I hate it when simple projects turn ugly.

The task: Replace the kitchen sink with something more modern while at the same time replacing the dysfunctional garbage disposer.

The timing: Get it done before the Mother's Day weekend arrives.

The problem: No good deed goes unpunished.

The Hole in the Counter

So there are now three kitchen sinks in the house. The one that used to be installed in the kitchen, the one that I bought and the one that Chris bought because she liked it more.

Just a note--the one that I bought fits nicely into the hole. The one that Chris bought should fit into the hole in the counter, however, it has mounting rails underneath that are 1/4 inch too big for the existing space in the Silestone (fused quartz) countertop from which the preexisting sink was removed.

I do not feel equipped to cut fused quartz!

The kitchen is a mess with pieces of faucet everywhere!

I had hoped to finish the project yesterday afternoon before going to the Orioles game. That did not happen.

Who knew that there are mounting raise under stainless steel sinks? Why are they 1/4 inch too big for the existing hole when the sinks are the same size??

This has turned into another project gone wild!

I wish I knew how this was going to shake out, however, I fear that I will be on a frantic search for a sink during the next few days.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Flying Gets Worse, If That is Possible

The forecast for summertime travel is not good. 

American Airlines Security
Chicago, IL
March 18, 2016
New York Times/Twitter

I read a New York Times article that suggests that summertime air travelers should budget hours and not minutes to clear security. The article titled Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security. 

I know a lot of people who like to arrive at the airport just minutes before their scheduled flight and think they can slip through the security lines and make the flight. That will be happening less and less it appears.

We pay extra for airport security! There is a $10 fee added to each ticket for security--and this is how TSA responds?

TSA claims the problem is more travelers, but the airports maintain that it is inadequate TSA staffing. From my experience, I think it is the latter. There is no secret how many people are going to be traveling. TSA has access to the travel information well in advance and should be able to plan for increases and busy times. 

The Times article details some of the horrors:

Denver airport telling people to arrive three hours early.

600 passengers missing flights in Charlotte on March 25th because the security line was three hours long! TSA maintains that it was never longer than 1 hour 15 minutes. 

Whoever believes that a security line should be longer than 25 minutes is living in the wrong time zone. Only Disney World can get away with lines that long. 

On my recent trip to Alaska, I must confess that I had planned for security delays, but due to the times of day I was catching flights I did not experience long lines. So maybe catching flights at 5PM and 1:45 AM are a good thing.

One other travel tip--once you clear security and board your flight, don't expect an open seat next to you. Airlines are filling the planes to maximum capacity--yes, even on my 1:45 AM flight from Anchorage to Seattle there were no empty seats!

Flyer beware! It is a jungle out there. If your driving time is 5 hours or less, you might consider driving instead of flying.  Just saying!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - May 2, 2016

1. May arrived over the weekend with the promise warmer temperatures. Despite the arrival, it was unseasonably cold and rainy here.

Geese on Patuxent Greens Golf Course
April 30, 2016

2. Saturday, being the best day weather-wise of the weekend, a round of golf was attempted. Despite the cold temperatures, the course was packed with other golfers and I played the slowest front 9 known to man, taking three hours to complete 9 holes. We decided not to play the back 9.

3. There were a lot of Canadian Geese on the golf course Saturday. 

4. It is beginning to look as if the front runners in the political races are going to secure the nominations. It could be a lot of fun at the conventions this summer.

Gustav Becker Grandfather Clock Repair

5. Our grandfather clock has not been gonging. I took time to examine and repair the problem yesterday. It was fun to be deep into a clock again.

Post Game Celebration with GORC Pirates
April 30, 2016

6. The GORC Pirates, Jax's baseball team, are very good. They won another close game on Saturday by employing some excellent defense.

7. Chris and I took Saturday afternoon, before the rain, to get grass seed down in some of the bare areas of the yard. The rain and warmer temperatures should help the seed to germinate quickly and fill in the yard.

The Green Has Returned
May 1, 2016

8. I completed a number of small projects around the house during the incessant rain yesterday. 

9. I noticed, both on the golf course and in my yard, that the "green" has returned! Yay for the green leaves of Summer!

10. Yesterday was May Day--a holiday throughout much of the northern hemisphere. I hope their weather was better.

11. Did I mention that the Penguins tied their playoff series 1-1 with the Capitals even after a late hit that has resulted in a three-game suspension for one of the Capitals players? Go Pens!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Who is on our Money?

The debate about whose face graces our money rages and I have heard some irrational and just wrong statements.

Presidents and Founding Father's have not always been and are not the only people on our money! Our money has seen generals, mythical gods and goddesses, inventors, famous people, and others. 

Here are some of the non-Presidents or founding fathers who have been on our money:

Salmon P. Chase is on the $10,000 bill right now! Who is Salmon P. Chase and why is he on our money, even if the $10,000 is not in general circulation?

Martha Washington has been on the $1 bill twice.

Susan B. Anthony is on the $1 coin.

Sacagawea is also on $1 coins.

Mercury (yes, the Roman god) has been on dimes! 

Liberty (the goddess) has been on dollar coins.

Indian likenesses have graced both pennies and nickels. 

In addition, the Wright Brothers, Ceasar Rodney, Helen Keller, and John Muir have been on quarters. 

On currency, 53 individuals have been depicted. You might be surprised about who they are. 

Who is Running Antelope? He was once on the $5 bill.

General George H Thomas on $5 bill

General George H. Thomas was on the $5 during the 1890's.



The list goes on.

It is amazing how different reality is from common perceptions!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD