Still going

Saturday was another fantastic Native-American summer day (gotta love the political correctness). I celebrated by golfing of course. I drove on over to the North Park Golf Course again. On the front I shot a 54, but on the back I shot a 47, with a birdie and a par. It takes me a while to remember good form if I don't warm up first. Once I remembered though, it was a lot more fun. I was about three feet away from the green in two on the par-5 ninth hole. Of course, I then tried a tough chip and ended up with a six.

I've started putting drive in the fairway. It's amazing how much easier that makes the game. Go figure.

Total Spent:
Money = $122
Time = 22.5 hours
Handicap = 43

Progress is being made...

and not just in health care reform. Ooh, see what I did there? Bet you didn't see that coming. So, after scraping about an inch of ice off my windshield Friday morning, Saturday bloomed into a sunny, 65 degree day. Perfect for golfing. I decided to take my hard-earned dollars back to the Bob O'Connor course in Schenley Park. I shot a 101. I know, pretty good right? That's 4 strokes better than last time. Also encouraging is that my good shots are getting better, and my bad shots are getting better and fewer. I had 2 pars and 6 bogeys, which is pretty good. Really what I need to work on now is getting rid of the blow-up holes. I had a 5-putt 7 on a par-3 because I lost focus. I should have been wearing a red shirt.

I had a really nice recovery on 2 when I hit a flop shot over some hedges and then hit a a pitch from about 30 yards to within 8 feet, and sank the putt for a bogey. I'm so close to putting it together and watching my scores plunge. Focus. Focus. Focus.

Total Spent:
Money = $104
Time = 18.5 hours
Handicap = 43

Big Break Episode 3

I'm starting to get a better feel for Andrew Giuliani. He's definitely the spoiled smug chubby kid that is always hanging around and can't shut his mouth. The only problem is that he's actually pretty good at this golf thing. Which means he's probably going to be around for a while.

So this episode kicks off with an extended $5,000 challenge made of three parts. There's the classic glass-breaking challenge, a beat-the-pro (J.B. Holmes) challenge, and a putting challenge. The only really surprising aspect was that six out of ten guys hit the glass on their first try.

So Kevin, KMax, and Sean got sent to the elimination challenge, which was a fun risk/reward event. KMax goes for the green and ends up in the lake, which sets the tone for the rest of the challenge. During the course of the elimination, Angry-Guy-Blake and Andrew Giuliani get into a little 'discussion' about the merits of laying up. The 'discussion' is fun to watch, but even more so is watching Vince, who is sitting between them, suddenly become intent on ensuring that his shirt is perfectly tucked in. I can't wait for this week. It might be better than a hockey game. I put the odds on a physical altercation at 50-50.

Hello...

Well, unfortunately I've been nursing an abdominal strain that I picked up while moving two weeks ago, so I haven't been able to take advantage of the relatively good weather. See how old I'm getting? Who gets hurt moving? On the positive side of things, however, I just got a full-time job. I'm going to be teaching science at a charter school. This means two firsts for my marriage. First first, is that this is the first time that my wife and I both have full time jobs in the U.S. together. (There was that whole Morocco thing last year.) Second first, I am now making more money than my wife. I can wear the pants again, which is especially good with those cold winter breezes in the near future. And finally, this means more money for golf, which is pretty much the point right now.