June 9th: A National Day I Can Finally Get Into!

National Sex Day – June 9th

Grab your favorite love interest(s) this June 9th – or any other day – and celebrate the most wonderful of human pass times. Remember that there are many health benefits of sex, including lower blood pressure levels and a form of stress release. So, just in case you need an excuse…. doctor’s orders.

There truly is a day for everything and anything, everybody and anyone.

Laissez les bon temps roule.

The Quotable Juanita

My father passed away 5 years ago February 19th. He had a massive stroke back around 1996. He basically cheated death at that time, and my mother always referred to the ensuing years as “their bonus” years. And they were.

Even though he had been in poor health for many years it is still a shock when your partner of 50 plus years dies. My mother was cast adrift in her grief for a considerable period of time. Fortunately, time is frequently the best doctor in these situations, and life does go on.

At some point when she began to feel better and get out and about, she ran into a female acquaintance. Of course, they begin to chat. It would not have been my mother otherwise. This lady begin to tell my mother how good she looked, and how much younger than her years that she appeared. I think there was a comment in there about how fresh and youthful her skin appeared. She then asked my mother who was 70 something at the time, if she had thought about getting remarried.

My mother’s remark back to her was, “It is one thing to grow old with a man; it would be quite another thing to marry an old man.”

Y’all just thought Oscar Wilde had some pithy quotes.

Eating Animals – Jonathan Safran Foer

Eating Animals – Jonathan Safran Foer available at Amazon.com

eatinganimalsThis is an easy book to read. This is a hard book to read. It is easy in that it is well written, not overly dense, and well researched. It is hard in that if you have not thought about this issue or have and attempted to compartmentalize it away, some of scenes and practices depicted will not sit easy.

I love a good steak and usually like it grilled “medium moo”. Sometimes I just have to get my KFC on. And, boy howdy, do I my like bar-b-queue.

But then I think back to another life time when I was Continue reading “Eating Animals – Jonathan Safran Foer”

Ill wind blows in Information Technology

I sent the following letter to every presidential candidate at the beginning of the campaign…when there were about 100 of them.  I also sent it to each of my Senators and my Congressman.

Two of the campaigns sent me a letter solicting funds.  My Democratic Senator responded with a form letter letter.  My Republican Senator and Democratic Congressman ignored the letters. 

With the letter I attached an article from a prominent magazine.  I’m trying to find it on the Internet now.  The hardcopy I have is packed away.  The article detailed how H-1B was not in the best interest of the American worker.

In interest of full disclosure, Continue reading “Ill wind blows in Information Technology”

Are you really going to walk all 18 holes, mister?

A regular golf course is generally 6000 to 6500 yards long.  That is 3.4 to 3.7 miles.  If you are like me when you play golf, it is never a straight line.  I am guessing that in a round of golf I probably walk 4 to 4 ½ miles.  A reasonably healthy individual should be able to do that in an hour of brisk walking.

A round of golf usually takes approximately 4 hours.  Theoretically you are walking at the blistering pace of 1 mile per hour.  In reality there is a fair amount of standing around, and then brisk walking to your ball.  I carry my bag, throw in some elevation changes, and you have a reasonable amount of exercise.  The figures I have seen say about 7 calories per minute playing golf if you are walking and carrying your bag.  That means you are burning up around 1700 calories as long as you stay away from the beer concession.

This is not the first time I’ve been asked, “Are you really going to walk all 18 holes?”  This time it was by 4 young men in their late teens or very early 20s.  These young men all looked in good health, and were not carrying the excess weight of many of their peers.  We conversed a little, and they just could not imagine walking the course.

I walk because a) I enjoy the game more when I am walking.  Buzzing around in a cart brings in a rushed dimension to the game I do not like.  b) I love the exercise.  I am in reasonable shape compared to many of my peers.  Walking the golf course is one the things that helps maintain my fitness.  c)  I’m cheap and I like to play a lot of golf.  Paying for a cart adds $10 to $15 to the price of a round of golf.

I knew one young man whose reason for not walking was he did not want anyone to think he could not afford a cart!!!  What a load of baloney.

Some golf courses will not let you play during certain hours unless you rent a cart.  I do know some walkers slow things down a little.  I’m not so sure that is a bad thing.  I’ve golfed with far too many folks early in day that acted like playing 18 holes was just another chore to finish.  That strikes me a missing one of the key joys of golf.

I have frequently played with folks in carts while I walked.  Unless they are extremely good golfers with the ball in the fairway all the time I keep up with them.  Frequently I am waiting on them.

I will acknowledge that for many folks if they did not have a cart there would be no place to carry the cooler of beer.  Golf in this case just becomes an activity to do while drinking.  Oh well.

I just see so many folks that would benefit from the mild exercise golfing provides, yet they feel they must ride or they cannot play.  Given the current obesity epidemic how wonderful it would be if a few of these folks jumped off their carts and walked.

Or at least they could at least quit acting like I was nuts for doing so.