Monday & Tagged...

Another week begins...

The weekend was pretty good.

I played golf on Saturday at my favorite public course, The Links at Spring Church. The photo above is the fairway & green of number 18. It is a great hole. It is a par 5 with that pond guarding the green, you really have to decide if you wanna "go for it" in 3... I was in the little round green-side bunker on the right, just over the water with my 3rd, but at least it was dry!!! You can see the clubhouse in the pic too, which is very nice.

I played with My Friend M & her friends T & C. Now, unlike most guys, I do not mind playing golf with girls. Actually, I'd rather watch them bending over teeing up a ball!!! Generally, the knock on female golfers is slow play. M plays like a guy, very good & very fast... (she beat me by 5 strokes, but I did play about 1400 yards longer). BUT... her friend C, is the slow playing female personified. It was getting a little frustrating for me. First, there is a concept called "ready golf" which means, even if is not your turn to hit, if you are ready, you should hit anyway... speeds up play. Beyond that, you should be thinking about your next shot before you even arrive at your ball. Only 1 or 2 practice swings, please. Here is another little tip for C, keep the "clucking" to minimum. There are times to make conversation, but you should not be standing around talking rather than playing. But, the absolute worst offense she committed, (which I could not believe) was standing in the fairway, over her ball, with a clear fairway ahead, with a group behind us waiting, and TALKING ON HER CELL PHONE!!! I swear I was about to have a stroke!!!

As for T, I will play with her anytime. She was not very good, but moved along at a nice pace. Also, she looked pretty good. Her body was in great shape. I have met her a couple times before, but must admit, I never really noticed the "rack" before.

Anyway... my game is starting to get back into mid-season form, but still had some disasters. Here is an example... on number 11, I come in steep on my tee shot & pop the ball up in the air. My 2d shot is a "chunk" that goes nowhere. Now my blood pressure is soaring!!! I step up with a fairway wood... from about 225 yards out... nail the ball... on the green, 3 feet from the pin, one putt. Par the hole!!!

We ate & drank after. Had a pretty good time.

Sunday, I went fishing with BB. We had breakfast at the American Legion, then went to Deer Creek park. I flipped my minnow out there with a bobber and waited... and waited... and... I did have my walkman, with a book on tape to listen to. Never caught a thing, but I was relaxing. The we stopped for a few beers on the way home.

Tagged by MX.

Ok... I have to list some weird facts about myself. Don't know if I will do as many as MX (the evil one who tagged me) but, I will give it a shot:

1. I read novels obsessively;

2. I listen to books on tape in the car rather than the radio most times;

3. I play golf a lot, but am not very good (usually, shoot from the low 90s to the low 100s);

4. I play Strata golf balls, which are not made any more. I must buy them used on the internet;

5. I am obsessed with cleaning my bathroom;

6. The other rooms are a mess;

7. I like drinking in local dive bars & "old man" clubs;

8. I know I will never meet women in these bars... but do not go there to meet women anyway;

9. I like to mix baked beans & mac-n-cheese together;

10. I sometimes wish I still got high;

11. I may becoming obsessed with a girl in a foreign country with whom I have been emailing;

12. I lost my first trial, one month after passing the Bar Exam;


OK... I think that is enough.

Who to tag???? I do not know how to do the "link" thing like the good bloggers out there, so I must name 4 people who sometimes stop bye... Blue, Green Eyes, Strumpt, Ell.

(how's that???)

The Usual Pre-Weekend Post

OK... the weather looks like it will be pretty good this weekend. They are calling for about 69 and sunny both Saturday & Sunday.

So, here is the plan... Golf on Saturday. Can't typically plan much after that because the 4 hour round is followed by drinking & bragging (lying) about the golf. Which is then followed by eating. Which is then closely followed by passing out... (call it a day!!!)

Sunday, as of now, the plan is fishing.

Not sure of any of the details yet... gonna have to work on it here shortly. My 10 AM depo just canceled, so I have some time on my hands.

Everyone have a great weekend!!!!

Bag-O-Salad

Does anyone else out there like the pre-made bag salad the stores carry now?

I must admit, I love it. It has improved my eating habits immensely. Living by my self, if I attempted to buy the necessary items for a salad, most would go bad before I would ever use them all. With those bags, I can have a decent salad anytime I want.

Adventures in Apartment Cleaning

On Saturday I tried to be domestic a little. This may sound stupid, but I wanted to clean my oven. Here is an example of how dumb I can be. I bought a can of this oven cleaning product that you spray. Of course, I don't read the directions. I spray the whole can... never opening a window. The fumes are over powering. So... I read the can. It says you should open a window. So, then, I open the window. Also, I read that you should use rubber gloves. I then have to drive back to the store to get the gloves. The whole thing took WAY longer than it should have, but at least I have a nice clean oven now.

At the same time as I am doing this, I am cleaning the bathroom. I also spray a bottle of some stuff with massive fumes in the bathtub/shower. The duel fumes were great, I felt stoned until it turned into a massive headache. Anyway, I was quite proud of myself for one thing. I bought on of those squeegee things like they have at the gas station for cleaning your windows, to use for scrubbing and "squeegeeing" the bathroom tile. It worked great!!!

On another note, the time over at the parents' place was pretty good. We celebrated my father's 68th birthday. My cousin Lori and I split a new gas grill as a present. I was pretty bored while waiting for Lori's husband to arrive, and the rain had stopped, so I decided to take the 4 boys over to the park. I just happen to have a wiffle ball & bat in the trunk of my car & a frisbee. I ran the boys around pretty good and they ran me around too. After dinner, we cleared out the coffee table and, as a group, decided to assemble the gas grill. One thing everyone should remember... when assembling something like this, make sure it will fit out of the door before putting it together inside (ya know what I mean?). Now, I am not admitting to anything, but just let me say, it is a good thing those side trays come off easy.

I never did make it out to play golf. It rained most of Sunday. There was a window of time I was able to go to the driving range and "hit some", but I was not able to get out for a round of golf. I did make it to the bar after for a few beers.

So, there it is... another weekend.

I got nuthin...

I have nothing interesting to post today.

At least, it's Friday!!!

The week has been pretty busy. One would think I took 2 weeks off instead of 2 actual work days. I barely got caught up on my 2 biggest files (An explosion in the Eastern District of Michigan & 1300 grouped cases in Cuyahoga County OH)

I have been spending my morning getting my timesheets caught up so I do not get slammed the end of nest week. (by the way... has anyone else noticed how fast this month went, or is it me?) I know Jenn will appreciate that!!! It is a good thing that I am the highest billing associate in the firm, it gives me some breathing room, hours in the bank. I was 56 hours over the associate average through the first 2 months of the year & billed 200+ in March, so I should be fine. (Goose can relate)

Anyway, no real weekend plans... again (Knight=loser) Tomorrow, I am going over to Mom & Dad's, time to celebrate his birthday, eventhough it is actually next Tuesday. I should have time to try to be domestic a bit in the morning, if I can find the motivation.

I am hoping to play some golf on Sunday, but the weather is not looking too good. There are supposed to be scattered showers, but you never know. My friend D may not have his fatherly duties of driving the kids to their various activities, so he might try to get out & hit the links.

I hope all the bloggers have a nice weekend.

GOLF - A GENTLEMAN'S GAME AND A CIVILIZED SPECTATOR SPORT

The following is not intended to offend fans of tennis, basketball,
football or baseball. It is, rather, an attempt to put everything in its proper
perspective... However, if you are offended because of your favorite
sport, please tell someone else.

Ever wonder why golf is growing in popularity and why people who don't
even play go to tournaments or watch it on TV?

The following may shed some light:

1. Golf is an honorable game, with the overwhelming majority of players
being honorable people who don't need referees.

2. Golfers don't have some of their players in jail every week.

3. Golfers don't kick dirt on, or throw bottles at, other people.

4. Professional golfers are paid in direct proportion to how well they
play.

5. Golfers don't get per diem and two seats on a charter flight when they
travel between tournaments.

6. Golfers don't hold out for more money, or demand new contracts, because
of another player's deal.

7. Professional golfers don't demand that the taxpayers pay for the
courses on which they play.

8. When golfers make a mistake, nobody is there to cover for them or back
them.

9. The PGA raises more money for charity in 1 year than the NFL does in 2.

10. You can watch the best golfers in the world up close, at any
tournament, including the majors, all day every day for $25 or $30. The cost for even
a nosebleed seat at the Super Bowl costs around $300 or more, unless you buy it from scalpers, in which case it's $1,000+.

11. You can bring a picnic lunch to the tournament golf course, watch the
best in the world, and not spend a small fortune on food and drink. Try
that at one of the taxpayer funded baseball or football stadiums. If you bring
a soft drink into a ballpark, they'll give you two options-get rid of it or
leave.

12. In golf, you cannot fail 70% of the time and make $9 million a season, like the best baseball hitters (300 batting average) do.

13. Golf doesn't change its rules to attract fans.

14. Golfers have to adapt to an entirely new playing area each week.
Golfers keep their clothes on while they are being interviewed.

15 Golf doesn't have free agency.

16. In their prime, Palmer, Norman, and other stars, would shake your hand and say they were happy to meet you. In his prime, Jose Canseco wore T-shirts that read "Leave Me Alone"

17 You can hear birds chirping on the golf course during a tournament.

18. At a golf tournament, (unlike at taxpayer-funded sports stadiums and
arenas) you won't hear a steady stream of four letter words and nasty
name-calling while you're hoping that no one spills beer on you.

19. Tiger hits a golf ball over twice as far as Barry Bonds hits a baseball.

20. Golf courses don't ruin the neighborhood.

21. And Finally: Here's a little slice of golf history that you might
enjoy:

Why do golf courses have 18 holes-not 20, or 10, or an even dozen? During
a discussion among the club's membership board at St. Andrews in 1858, a
senior member pointed out that it takes exactly 18 shots to polish off a
fifth of Scotch. By limiting himself to only one shot of Scotch per hole,
the Scot figured a round of golf was finished when the Scotch ran out.


(this is an email I got today... Knight)

Deep Creek

My getaway to Deep Creek was excellent.

I did laundry Thursday morning & cleaned my apartment. I hate coming home to a mess. Then, after lunch, I met M at her sister’s house. They were still loading their vehicles. I was still taking work calls. Then we caravanned to Deep Creek. It was about 2 ½ hours away. Not a bad drive at all.

The weather was noticeably cooler there, even though it is farther south.

We arrived at the house we rented. It was spectacular. Right on the lake. Everything we wanted. After we unloaded the cars, M and I went to the grocery store then the liquor store. I was under the mistaken belief that booze would be cheaper in Maryland, but I was wrong. On the way back, we stopped at JG Tavern and got the party started. We then returned to the house, continued partying and had dinner. Hot tub… camp fire… booze… the first night was fun.

Friday started slow. We were really hung over. Other people started to arrive. In between greetings, the best I could muster was reading my book. Thank god the weather was rainy so there was no real incentive to be motivated. I couldn’t even drink till later. But all the people were there, we drank and ate. Some played various games. I ended up going to bed by like 10 PM (I am such a loser), but I just couldn’t hang… I was still hurting from the night before.

Saturday, some of us went to play golf. We played Oakland Golf Course. It wasn’t bad. I played bad though. For some unknown reason, I started shanking the to the left. Not a hook mind you… but cracking it hard left… don’t know where that came from, but took me a while (and a lot of strokes) to straighten out. But we had fun. This girl D was just cracking me up. Anyway… went back.. drank and ate… (see a theme???). I actually hung in there for a while this night. Ended up sleeping in one of the lazy-boy chairs in the great room.

Sunday, about half the people left. M & I played another nine holes of golf, as the weather was the best of the weekend. Once again drank & ate. It was much more calm this night. We actually watched some tv and relaxed. I read my book a while.

Yesterday, we had to be out by 10 AM. I packed up & was on the road by 9:30 AM. The work calls started coming in and had had to deal with a few things. After I got home, I actually went to the public library in order to jump on the internet (I do not have a connection at home). Did a little work. Called it a day early.

I must say, the long weekend was great. Beautiful house… beautiful landscape & lake… beautiful people to hang out with… beautiful golf course… The only thing that was missing for me was a beautiful woman to share some intimate time with, as it could have been very romantic at times. (I have to work on that)

I’d like to say it is nice to be back, but I will just say, it is nice to read the messages from my blog friends.

PS: I will have some pics.

I Am Back

Hello, I am back from my trip.

I will give a full report after I get caught up at work.

Weekend Report

My weekend was, again, pretty good… but not nearly as good as some other bloggers, who will remain nameless (but happen to be from Kentucky).

Friday, was pretty low key. I had to go to the home of these to little old (rich) ladies. I do their taxes every year, and it was getting late. They are sweet and fuss over me soooo much. I have been doing it for years, so it is pretty easy at this point. I never take any money from them, but one time they did give me a car. It was an old one. The deceased husband of the younger one, 78, had an old 78 Buick with about 25K miles on it. The thing is about 2 blocks long. I keep it & let my dad drive it. Anyway… did their paper work and stopped at the Creek I did received I drunk call while I was at the office & a drunk text…

Saturday, was still pretty kicked back. Read, cooked… went to the American Legion and watched the Masters. M and her friend D met me there. We ended up going to PF Chang’s at the Waterfront for dinner.

Sunday, I went to my parent’s place. Helped out around there for a bit. Then went to Sam’s Club (… a warehouse club, where you can buy in bulk) to buy supplies for the long weekend at Deep Creek. Then grilled a leg of lamb when more family came over. All in all, it was pretty good. My family still drives me a little crazy, but doesn’t everyones??? Came home to watch the end of the Masters. Phill won. I enjoyed the play till near the end, it was close as the last groups were making the turn…

Well, this week is shaping up pretty good. Have a few small projects to work on. Tommorrw, I have to fly to Philadelphia for the day. I will likely leave early Wednesday, then be off for the holiday.

I wish everyone a very nice and happy Easter, as I may not have the chance to blog much this week, after today.

6 Days to Deep Creek!!!

Yes, as I know there are a whole bunch of people getting ready for the big party in Keeneland, I am looking forward to my trip to Deep Creek.

6 days from now… that would be Thursday; I will be headed to Deep Creek for 5 days. Not a bad deal, because the office is closed Good Friday, I am getting 5 days off for the price of 2. The house is all paid for. Everyone is bringing various food & drink. The place sleeps 16, but basically people will be coming and going, based on their schedules. I only know of 2 others that are planning in staying the entire 5 days. I am really hoping for golf weather, but it doesn’t look too promising. I mean, the backyard is a 9 hole, par 3 golf course, and it is about 5 min from Wisp Resort. Oh, well, if the weather is not good we will have a pool table, other games, an indoor pool, a hot tub & plenty of booze. I am sure we’ll survive!!!

So, this weekend should be low key… warming up for next. The weather here is shaping up to be pretty dreary (imagine that!!!). I may actually come in the office Saturday, just to clean up my office a bit. It looks like a bomb went off. I was working on a big project, which forced me to tear apart a large file. Usually, I would use a conference room for this, but we are remodeling the office & there was no room. It will take me probably 3 hours just to put it back together. (Please… remember, wood dust is highly explosive… don’t ask, just be careful, especially if you work in a particleboard plant!!!)

Anyway, Sunday will be a day at the parents place. Need to do a bunch of stuff for them & I am cooking lamb, since I will not be there for Easter. There are a few other family members coming for dinner as well.

That is how the weekend is shaping up. I hope everyone has a great weekend, I know those Kentucky bloggers will!!!

Here is my TMI Tuesday

My Great Plan… Gone to Hell

Yes, it was not that long ago, I had this great plan.

As you can tell from the title of my blog, I live in a dreary city. If I think it is so dreary, why do I continue to live here, you ask? Well, believe me, it was not what I had planned.

My great plan was to be out of here by now. I received my law degree and passed the Pennsylvania Bar Exam almost 6 years ago. Then I began working. Now that I am licensed here in PA, for the most part, I am stuck here. I was not gonna sit for another Bar Exam, f-that. (even though I did absolutely CRUSH the one I took!!!) So what are my options? Well, there are some states with reciprocity. After you practice for 5 years, if you want to practice in another state, that has reciprocity, you can become a member of their Bar.

Hence… the great plan.

Practice for 5 years, then get the heck out of dodge. Where to go? Most places with really good weather (note: I like to golf) do not have reciprocity. They do not want lawyers coming in from the north, taking jobs from the locals. I understand that. Tennessee has reciprocity… I love Tennessee… I had the greatest weekend of my life there (another story for another day, but I’ve always said, “I love southern girls”). So, I decide to move there. I will stay here, bide my time, live cheap, pay down the crushing school loans… then… in 2005… See ya!!!

The best made plans of mice and… well… bigger mice…

The school loans were more crushing than I expected… Then, the IRS takes a big f-ing bite outta my ass…then… My father becomes very sick. He has two heart attacks in 6 months. He has that Peripheral Arterial Disease (hardening of the arteries in the legs) and diabetes. He has stints put in his heart and 3 surgeries to replace arteries in his legs and he may still lose a foot… or feet. The folks need me more that ever. I have a deadbeat brother who lives in Florida… but they now rely on me for a lot. So, moving right now, at least out of the state is not an option. They want me to move even closer, so it would be easier for me to come over.

I do not want to sound ungrateful for what my parents have done for me… that is not an issue. Despite being on my own since 18… they kept a roof over my head & fed me for 3 years while I was in law school at the age of 30. That allowed me to do what I do now… no doubt.

But, this is not really where I wanted to be right now.

So, OK… time for a new Great Plan…

Weekend Report

The weekend went pretty much as expected.

Friday, as I was sitting in rush hour traffic, I realized I left my cell phone on my desk (shit).

When I got to Monroeville, I stopped, buying Turbo Tax. The went to TGI Friday’s to meet my friend M. I didn’t see her car, so I zipped over to Border’s book store for some reading material. After, I went back to the bar. M was there now with her girlfriends. We hung out there for a bit then, stopped at the Creek for a couple closer to home.

Saturday, I was up early, as usual. Flew into downtown to get my cell phone. Got back home and started being domestic. Laundry ran the dishwasher… all that kind of stuff. Then, I went to the public library. M had said I spend too much on books & should give it a try. It is about 1 min from my apartment. I must admit, I had not been there in years, and was impressed. Lots of fiction, cds, dvds and internet access (which I do not have at home). I got a card, took out a book and jumped on the internet for a bit.

Later, I met up with M. I wanted to go to PJ Morgan’s for a shrimp poor-boy sandwich & beer for the NCAA basketball games. However, it was closed for remodeling. So we slid over to Primanti Brothers (which is famous for starting sandwiches with cole slaw & fries, on the sandwich). We sat there, ate, drank and watched the GM v. FL game. We then headed toward home & stopped ant the Creek to watch the UCLA v. LSU game. Then called it a night.

Sunday, I started out with a little more domestic activity. Then M came and picked me up & we got some breakfast. Then decided to play a round of golf. I hit some good shots, but didn’t really score well. Came out of the tee box pretty well, but the putter really let me down. Nearing the end of the round, I started coming in too steep on my drives & was popping them up in the air too much. But, hey… I’m not in mid-season form yet. After, we went to the American Legion for a few beers. Then stopped at JV’s & has a beer with BB. Called it a night…

Nothing spectacular here… you???