Revenge of the Blog . . . .

I said that I would post twice a month well that just isn’t true. I guess that my life is too boring to post more than once a month and less than that most of the time. Anyway, I’m back with another long update for what is happening in our lives. I take my time putting them up but it gives me time to experience fun things and make a longer entry for your enjoyment.

I last left you with my 80/20 theory. I hope that you have looked at and found it to be false but I wouldn’t believe you. I did leave out the icing of the story from last time which Andrew pointed out to me. This addition puts the 80/20 theory up there with Newton’s Law of Gravity. As you know, I would talk with Andrew every morning on the way to court as Juror Number 8. I would pull into the deck and the entrance was much different from other normal parking deck entrances. Normally there is a button; you push it, get a ticket, the gate opens and you move on. At the court house, due to the 80% showing up they had to make some adjustments. You drove up to the place where you got the ticket and there was a GIANT green button that had the words PUSH HERE on it. This is apparently not enough. As you pull up a speaker would say “PUSH GREEN BUTTON, PUSH GREEN BUTTON, PUSH GREEN BUTTON” over and over until you pushed it. A ticket would then come out. In case this was confusing the speaker then yelled “TAKE TICKET, TAKE TICKET, TAKE TICKET” until you took the ticket. The gate would then open. It was very comical and Andrew and I would laugh pretty hard before I got off the phone. I’m not sure what would then happen to the people that needed these instructions. How did they park? How did they get out of their car? How on earth did they get out of the deck without the speaker’s help? I’m really not sure but I guess that they made it somehow.

I last spoke in April so I need to catch you up to the present. We went to Myrtle Beach with my family. It was a pleasant trip. We are beach people as we find that very relaxing and we enjoy seafood. I played golf 3 times and spent the rest of the time on the beach. Andrew and Lindsey left on Wednesday which was sad but really sad for Dad. He was left with the “readers”. Liz and Mom tear through books while at the beach. I read them but not at the pace that they do. Dad is not a big reader so he found himself bored at times on the beach as we were reading. He needed Andrew to play some games with him but we golfed again on Friday so everything was good.

June was pretty much a blur. I was playing softball and golf a good bit during the month. I then had my golf trip to Pinehurst at the end of the month. There were 20 guys going and Andrew was one of them this time so it was going to be more fun than usual. I played 126 holes of golf over 4 days which is pretty amazing. You can’t go wrong with that. We played a warm-up round at Beacon Ridge which was a good warm-up because it was a tight and hard course. It was the hardest course of the weekend. That night we ate at an Italian place which had good food and the worst service of all-time. One guy refused the help of other staff in order to get a large tip which sucked for the 20 guys trying to eat. We sat down at 7 and were out at 11. It was also hot in the restaurant as I guess they were saving money by keeping the air on 80. This is insane. Anything above 75 is crazy but I prefer 70.

Anyway, the tournament began the next morning. Andrew and I were playing a match together. We were playing at MidSouth which is a course designed by Arnold Palmer. It was a very nice course and I would recommend it. However, be sure to play from the whites and not the blues as we did. The course was pretty punishing and hard going. Andrew and I fell down early in our better ball match but came back and took a lead then had the lead go away again. We are not great teammates as we both can spray the ball. It’s better to have 1 consistent person which is something that we lacked. We were told that we had to skip the 10th hole because our group was too slow. Perhaps the course was just crowded but it did open up after skipping a hole. We wound up all square coming back to the 10th hole (our last). Everyone hit poor shots but Andrew got a little lucky as one of his long misses found an opening in the tall grass next to the green. I got a bogey to tie the other team and Andrew was able to par and win the match. It was pretty exciting.

The second match was a total Stabbleford match based on your individual points. It allowed weaker players like myself to play with better players. Patrick and I dominated James and Patrick’s Dad. We were +19 and the best pairing of the afternoon round. We won rather easily.
On Saturday, we were playing 2 rounds at Tobacco Road. I have to say that this is the best course that I have ever played. I wouldn’t say it is the most manicured but the design was just awesome. I was paired with Don all day. He is a guy in his late 50s but a very solid golfer. We had a better ball match in the morning followed by captain’s choice in the afternoon. Our morning round went well. We started off down 2 and eventually came back to lead by 3 and win 3 and 2. We were great partners in that one of us would get a par on each hole. Our opponents also played poorly for themselves and that always helps.

In the afternoon, we were playing Chris my boss and Pierce who is the worst player on the trip but a nice guy. As Paula Abdul would say “He looked good.” Don and I felt that we would be able to win easily. However, we started off losing the first two holes again. On the second tee, Chris asked if we would like some Jim Beam as they had 2 fifths. We held off and this became a theme for the round. Every few holes Chris would ask and we would turn him down. I did not know this but Jim Beam was Don’s favorite drink so it was tempting for him. We then took the lead by 3 on hole 14. We were feeling pretty good having just made a birdie. Chris asked again and Don took him up on it this time. He asked me and of course I said yes as well. Don took his straight which was probably not good. I took mine with some Pepsi but both were still mostly bourbon. Keep in mind, it was 94 degrees all day so we were pretty dehydrated. These drinks hit us like a ton of bricks. Don was pretty much out of it by the 15th hole. I can’t say that I was a beacon of sobriety myself. So, we lose the 15th hole and are only up 2 with 4 to play. Chris’s plan has worked. Don is almost worthless at this point as we get to the 16th tee and I am well on my way. This is a par 3 over water. I hit mine in the drink but Don manages to land his 25 yards off of the green but in play. Chris puts his 6 feet from the hole; a certain birdie. We are both pretty scared now thinking that we’ve blown it. We keep telling each other that we can half the last two holes and win. I step up to my chip and hit it . . . it has a chance . . . it’s in the HOLE! Birdie! Don and I are dancing around as you can imagine. Chris and Pierce are pissed. They do make the putt though but we halve the next two matches and win the match. It was awesome and probably the best golf shot of my life. It was actually meaningful as well.

The next day is match play. I’m playing with Andrew again. We both win and lose one match. I end up 5-1 for the weekend which I’ll take. Andrew wins the individual and our team wins so that makes it pretty fun. I doubt that we’ll be on the same team next year as we’re a great match for each other but who knows. I guess that we’ll see. I then get in Neil’s black car with black seats and the worst AC I”ve ever seen in a car. It pretty much gave me a hangover on the ride home. I got home very tired and that was the weekend. It was a great time.

That was it for June. We went back to the beach in July; this time with Liz’s family. It was also a good time for the same reasons. We did stop by to see Jamie and Leslie on the way. Their 5 month old son Brookes was very cute. It was also a good time to visit as he could pretty much sleep through the night which he did. The Kipkes also turned Elizabeth onto Twilight. She read all 4 books at the beach. She enjoyed them. I am currently on book 4 right now. They are decent but definitely slanted towards females. There are parts that make me gag a little but I can get through it. The monster mythology portions are pretty entertaining.

I believe that brings us pretty much up to date. I have Andrew’s bachelor party starting tonight then football season begins. We have UNC season tickets again so I’m sure that we’ll be up there pretty often. Take care and stay classy Ben’s Friends . . .