Good start, good finish

Did well on what might have been my last golf outing this year. On the first, I was to the right of the green on my approach. Last week, Ron has told me that he used his 3 iron around the green in some situations rather than a wedge. I have a couple of underused 2 irons in my bag, so I took on of them out, and hit the ball. It went pretty fast, but hit the stick and went straight down into the hole. Routine par.

On 9, Shy has won the previous 3 par 3s, and has again put his shot on. I take out my 7 wood, which I know is the right club for me for that hole, and smack the ball. It's right at the green, and lies about 15-20 feet away from the pin.

I get up there, and the line to the cup is pretty good. The 9th green has a pretty steep back to front grade, so it can be challenging. I'm a little high of the hole, but the line looks like it's only a little right to left. I figure I just want to touch it, so it doesn't go way past the hole. I lightly tap it aiming to the right of the hole and it goes right in. Birdie!

Overall, it was a 46, which is just about my best ever, and another round in the 40s, which was my goal for the day.

My golf game's improved quite a bit this year. I think I've shaved 2 to 3 strokes off my average for 9 holes.

Last tune-up

Went for what's probably my last run before next Sunday's Paris-Versailles race. Might go for a run on Friday in Paris, but if not today was it.

I'm not sure how far I went. From measuring it out on the map, I think it's 5.83 K or 3.65 miles, and I did it in 30 min, which would be pace of about 8:12 minutes per mile. I think. That pace would mean I'd run the 10 miles between the Eiffel Tower and Chateau de Versailles in about an hour and 20 minutes.

But there's a big hill to go up. You can see the elevation profile on the web. It's flat for about the distance I ran today, and then it goes almost straight up (at that scale) for about 2 K. What fun that will be! Then it levels out - more or less - for the rest of the race.

Out and about today

Man, I was out today fulfilling a musical (re)quest for a friend, and ran into a couple of people that I know. One was a former colleague from the U of Winnipeg, who was buying a futon cover and pillows. She spoke of another guy that I know from Illinois, who's now at North Dakota State, as she was at a conference there recently.

While I'm chatting with her, I realize that another fellow is in Dream On Futons with his wife. I worked with him during the Pan Am Games here in '99, and he's recently agreed to help out Racquetball Canada with an issue(s) that we've been having some difficulties with.

Then on the (roundabout) way home, I saw a guy who I don't know, but know who he is. He's a local writer. In fact, I'm going to be applying for a job with the weekly newspaper that he's editor of.

Should I have introduced myself? Maybe, I don't know. Didn't. Seemed a bit too weird to me. He was with a couple of little kids, and it's just a Sunday afternoon out.

Some say God gives you the opportunities to make your life better. Maybe this was one of those opportunities. And I didn't take it.

Again.

Katrina and the Waves

Jimmy Johnson is one of my favorite cartoonists, as the author and illustrator of Arlo and Janis. He also lives in south Mississippi, which is the area hit by Hurricane Katrina.

Johnson has put up information on the Arlo and Janis site about the devestation that has occurred on the south coast, emphasizing that is not simply New Orleans that will have great problems moving forward but many parts of the coast will also. And a great deal of the coast was severely effected by Katrina.

Looking at the images on and linked in to the A&J site gives a better understanding of the extent of the damage done along the coast. It's simply unbelieveable.

p.s. had a 52 at the Canoe Club today; a 9 and a 7 - the latter on a par 3 - did me in.

Salsa

I made salsa again tonight following a recipe from the show that's all about cooking without a recipe (I am SO ironic!): Chef At Home, which is a Food Network show I like.

This time I used about 6 smallish tomatoes, some chopped green onions, celantro, two banana peppers (any hot pepper will do; I tried a little bit the pepper by itself and it didn't seem like a big deal, although I could feel its heat; but part of mouth is still tingling from its after effects an hour later), lime juice and zest and S & P. It's the third time I've made it, but I used milder peppers before. It turned out fine this time also. The heat of the peppers is diluted by the other ingredients.

I remember in grad school Vic and I went about trying chips and salsa at different drinking establishments. The Empire in Urbana had the best of the twin towns. As I recall it was a bit sweet, which this recipe is too. I wonder what his recipe was.

Disappointing week on the links

Shot 53 at the Canoe Club this week, and didn't drive any par 3s. I was just off on the first one, as my shot was straight at the pin, but hit a few inches short and almost plugged, so the ball only bounced forward a couple of inches, which left it a couple short.

On the 8th, Gus shot first and got on and close. I was the last to shoot. I hit it straight at the pin, and it looked great. Then it landed in the bunker short of the green. I was so disappointed. It took me 3 shots to get out of the bunker, and with a three putt I made 7 on that hole. Ugh.

But in sports there's always next time. And that's what I'll have to wait for.

Breaking glass

Back from Ottawa, and my former student's wedding, where I drank a lot, met some folks and the cutest woman in the room, who I'd been watching all evening, came up and talked to me spontaneously. I was stunned.

Sadly, I found out she (a) lives in Vancouver and (b) has a husband. Quelle dommage.

I still can't quite understand why she came and talked to me. Maybe it was because I was the only man in a tuxedo, an evening tailcoat no less (i.e., "tails") with white tie.

When did this happen?

I'm in Ottawa for a friend's wedding, and staying with my aunt. Last night, my cousin Valerie was saying "Oh, don't worry about the kids. You can just send them home if you want. [she was going out shopping]. They're old enough to stay by themselves."

I'm thinking to myself: the kids are 9 years old; is it OK for 9 year olds to stay by themselves? I ask Tyler how old he is, and he says "11." And his sister Melissa is two years older than him!

When did these kids get this old?