Friday, November 26, 2021

It Wasn't Easy...

 

...but we held off the onslaught of Christmas...long enough to actually celebrate...



...first, and I'm glad we did...always a good idea to pause and give thanks to God in heaven for His manifold gifts.

living room tidied up...


...dining room table ready for the feast...


...feast prepared, courtesy of Karen...


...and time to give thanks, then enjoy


Obviously, we used our finest china for the meal...the disposable kind...made cleanup a little easier.

As mentioned previously, we had a slimmed down guest list...my oldest who's usually here with a couple of his kids flew out to San Diego this year to be with his oldest daughter:



She's in the navy and in port for a while.

And apparently I failed to release the hounds in time...


...so both of Karen's daughters and their S.O.'s made an appearance later in the day, after we'd already eaten.


Oops, wrong pic...hold on a sec...

Amy and Pete, Sarah and Alex

There we go.

One person we missed who used to join us regularly is my 2nd son, Ryan...


...he celebrated his first Thanksgiving in heaven this year, and someday, in God's time, I'll join him.

Oh...and of course, the Lions lost to the Bears, 16-14, on a last second, 28 yard field goal, moving them to 0 wins, 10 losses, and 1 tie on the year.

Unless I'm mistaken - a rare, but not unheard of event - that puts Michigan solidly in the top tier of purveyors of both incompetence and hopelessness.

Impressive, but still way behind Washington, D.C.



When it comes to being the worst, Brandon's still the best.

And in the O Boy Ain't This Fun department, today we woke up to this:



I guess it's beginning to look a lot like...well, you know.

Let the games begin.


So today is Black Friday...

pic of a local mall courtesy of Karen's son

...which makes it a dandy time to be working from home, though I have to say the mall looks busy, but not crazy.

Even so, my agenda has been given to me by the boss:



Well, maybe it just feels like that when I'm climbing up and down ladders and running extension cords.

The end result will be a little less over the top (I hope).

With any luck, we'll have The Castle Frankenstein all gussied up and ready for Christmas before you can say "why the heck do we do this every year?"


That's gonna hafta do it for this post Thanksgiving edition of the AMC.

I'll inundate you with pics and regale you with tales of decorating woe next time.

Until then, in this season of gratitude, remember...


later, mcm fans...


Friday, November 12, 2021

Wished A Happy Veteran's Day...


...to my favorite veteran...who served with honor in Afghanistan as well as stateside.

superman doesn't always wear a cape

Due to the staggering incompetence of the corrupt and cognitively impaired doofus currently squatting in the White House, an important truth has been lost re: our 20 years in Afghanistan, and it is this:

For two decades, people there - especially women - who had been oppressed by the Taliban, were able to enjoy the fruits of freedom.

Women were able to be educated, to walk freely down the streets, even run their own businesses.

Brandon and Co. definitely turned it into Situation FUBAR, but that doesn't detract from what our military accomplished for 20 years.

Thank you, Benjamin - and to all veterans everywhere - for your service to our country.


As it happens, the most beautiful great-granddaughter in the universe (no, really; I checked) turned 2 recently...

she knows "good" when she tastes it




why o why must I be chained in this car seat?

...and we got to celebrate with her.

Big fun, and looking forward to many happy returns!


A while ago I mentioned some potentially shocking news...


re: hickory golf.

Well, here it is...my new clubs:



And a closer look:



Except for Calamity Jane on the right, those ain't hickories...they're Majek Hybrid irons...a 3, 5 and 9 iron.

To make matters worse, I'll probably end up buying a Majek Hybrid sand wedge as well.

So...what gives?  After 7 years of happily swinging my hickories, what the heck just happened?

Well, first of all, I reserve the right to go back to my hickories whenever I want to...and I probably will whenever I play a suitable course.

The one I've played the last few years is perfect for my hickories; a combination of par 3's and short 4's, very little water, no sand traps, wide fairways.



Hickory clubs have a tiny little "sweet spot" - literally about the size of a nickel - so if you don't hit them just right (a common occurrence in my world), you don't get the direction / distance you need for a "good shot".

I'm a duffer, so generally not a problem.  I soldier on and the extra stroke or two per hole doesn't bother me (much).

But this new course I played at the end of the season is very different.

It's all par 3's, so distance generally isn't an issue...unless  there's water or sand traps involved, and guess what?

There's both water and sand traps on every hole, not to mention narrow fairways.



Long story short, I rapidly tired of losing 2 or 3 balls per round.

I could bag it and just go back to playing my "old" course, but  a)  it's 45 minutes away vs 10 minutes for the "new" one, and  b)  it closed in early October, while the new one stayed open into November.

After some agonizing, I finally decided to pop for 3 new hybrid irons...they're advertised as high in forgiveness quotient (i.e., they have a much larger sweet spot).

sales puffery?  we shall see...

In the real world that's supposed to translate into fewer bad shots (i.e., less golf balls in the drink).

They have many 5 star reviews, and as new clubs go, they're inexpensive.

My "new" course is closed for the season now, so haven't tried them out anywhere other than my backyard with wiffle golf balls.

After some swing adjustments - the shafts are longer than my hickories - so far, so good.

But the acid test is months away, so gonna hafta wait awhile to see how I / they actually perform.

It's going to be a looooong  winter...


It's that time again, folks...


Uh, well...no, not that  time...it's time to skedaddle out the back door before someone sees you here...



...and you have to make up some lame excuse. ("I was minding my own business when suddenly 3 large men grabbed me and forced me inside...")

On your way out you have my permission to cast a wistful glance or two at these late fall themed parting shots...


got the last 2 lamp posts installed




the view from the courtyard




finally starting to drop some leaves




the view pulling into the driveway



a brief snow shower turned my greens into whites



Mr. Otter stopped by Larry's cottage...




...for a brief visit




Are you ready?



The big day is less than 2 week away now.

later, mcm fans...