James Gets a New Car! It's About Time

Written on 8-13-22.

        Do you have troubles slicing the golf ball?  How many times do you have people tell you that you have an “over the top” swing?  I am watching a myswingevolution commercial before I watch another Good Good Golf video on YouTube.  I will keep it going while I write.  

James and Casey came here for another wedding, this time Cari (last name's).  James brought his new car to surprise us, too.  It’s a black Kia K5, and it only has the mileage from Albuquerque so far.  It looks long and sleek.  I enjoyed the quiet cabin, too.  James has made a super choice for his first brand new car.

We also celebrated his 29th birthday.  We invited Char and Jess here for lunch today, but Char had a deadline to make, so she couldn’t come.  We enjoyed some gooey dessert!  Casey tried if for the first time.  This year’s gifts were a rolling toolbox, a ratcheting screwdriver, and the Catan game with treasures, dragons, and adventures.  We think he was happy with our choices.

We spent some time to write letters and postcards to Danielle for her birthday as well.  She will come back to Boise on the 15th, so it will be wonderful for her to find all the love in her mailbox when she arrives.  She is in Bend, OR, right now.  A firefighter on another crew died because a tree fell on him!  One of her crew went to go retrieve the body, and he had a tree fall on him earlier, too, and that accident broke his back.  I am betting it was very emotional, even though he didn’t know the guy.

Written on 8-21-22.

I am watching the conclusion of the BMW Championship.  Patrick Cantlay needs two putts to repeat.  He has done it, and he nearly holed his first putt for a birdie.  Xander needs to putt out now, and then it will be over after Patrick taps in from two inches.

B and I just did a bunch of food prep to get ready for this week.  I am going to Lakewood to visit the folks, and B goes back to work for another full week.

B Starts Full-Time Work and the 1, 2, 3 Game at Riverview

Written on 8-10-22.

        I am watching the Good Good boys playing their UK Major with Rick Shiels.  It’s fun to watch, and I like their energy.  I have watched many of their videos lately, and if they knew about that, they would say, “Subscribe!”

I don’t, though.  I can see their latest videos in my feed anyways, and I may lose interest.  I could always unsubscribe.  

It’s a Wednesday, and I have gotten most of my chores done.  Kody walked.  Check.  Dinner made.  Check.  Vet called.  Check.  Clothes put away.  Check.  New sunshade and connectors for the new deck in the cart at Amazon.  Check.

Belinda started her full-time Title 1 job yesterday, so we are working together to make it all survivable.  I am taking over on meals and cleaning the kitchen and the bathrooms.  WE can do this, and we are definitely a team.  Kody is helping by being a bit more patient for his morning walks.

I did my first workout with Matt after nearly three years yesterday, too.  I survived, but it wasn’t as hard as it could have been.  He wanted to see...

Camping at Vallecito and Swinging My Lag Shot

Written on 8-1-22.

        B, Kody, and I are camping at the Vallecito Campground for the first time.  It’s beautiful here.  We are the only ones camping in Loop D.  One couple left this morning and someone else has a spot reserved for tonight, so we get this all to ourselves.  It’s tremendous and rare.  

I just let Kody outside, because he heard a chipmunk.  I think it was eating his food out there, but Kody fixed that; he ate it himself (the food, not the chipmunk).  B is watching a movie on Netflix with the two bars on her phone as a hotspot.  We took a short walk earlier on the Weminuche Trail, and we barely made it back in time before the rain came down.  As soon as we came inside, it started.  We took a drive to the Country Market for something to do, and we bought some ice cream.  Lighting and thunder came at the same time all around us as we enjoyed our treat.  It was a spectacular nature show!  We actually felt the vibrations in the Jeep.  Amazingly, Kody doesn’t get scared with thunder.  He doesn’t like fireworks, but he hardly reacts to thunder.  Weird.

I read and did some editing on the first half of this journal this morning.  I don’t have anything to catch up on after doing that, and it all looked and sounded good to me.  I am just so grateful to be able to play, and my takeaway was I am playing a lot.  Hooray!

I could recount my last round at Hillcrest with Hart and C.J., but there isn’t much to tell.  We played from the golds again, and I did poorly…again.  Then I went to my doctor’s appointment with Dr. Lavengood for my right shoulder.  He decided to order an M.R.I.  It felt better after my appointment (figures), but something is wrong.  It hurts to sleep on my right side, and if it gets in a “bad” position, I have tremendous pain.  

After my appointment, I went back and played from the blues with some people from Albany, Texas.  I shot a 45, and I wondered why?  Why do I play better from the farther tees?  Why do I play badly with Hart and C.J.?  I texted C.J. after my second nine holes, and he agreed a 45’s a better score for me.  I putted better the second time around.  I had multiple three-putts and even one four-putt on the final hole when I played with them.  Sigh.

I swung my Lag Shot some more on this camping trip at our spot here, D12.  It’s a weird trainer, and I am still figuring it out.  I wish the Kalassy Swing Trainer allowed people to hit golf balls like this one does.  With that one, you cannot swing over the top either.  I guess you can do that with the Lag Shot, but it’s really difficult.

Next up, we play at Riverview again, but this time with Grant and Debbie.  That’s a different group, but it’s going to be a fun outing.  Eric got a tee time at 12:30 on Thursday.

I texted Matt (last name) to set up my final two workouts with him in August, so am I looking forward to those?  Yes, I am, but it will be difficult to do an hour or longer workout after being so weak, but that’s why I’m doing them.  I need to get my stamina up again.

I am thinking about going to Lakewood to visit the folks in August, too.  I won’t start work until the end of August or the beginning of September, so I thought that now would be an opportune time.  I will talk to them about it in our chat tonight.  I will bring my clubs if I do.  

My Lag Shot and Pondering a Pro Playing South 40

Written on 7-26-22.

Because of that video, I chose to buy the Lag Shot 7-iron, the longer one.  I have been seeing many advertisements about it, so I bit.  

        I know.  Another golf training aide?  I’m such a sucker.  Let me try and justify this purchase.  First, we used the money we got from the state.  Second, B bought some shoes with her portion.  Third, I got a discount from Tom Saguto, and I wouldn’t have bought it without a discount.  Fourth, I am working on a stack and tilt swing, and Saguto recommended it.  Maybe I can get my backswing to match my forward swing more often for better contact.  I have 30 days, but I read that they are not so good with giving returns.

On the range, I used the “feel the weight of the head” swing that Tom talked about in his latest video.  I pulled some, I hit some longer than I usually do, and I duffed some, too.  I thought if I could control that swing a bit better it could be really good.  I had super compression with decent divots, but it was a little too...