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Dec. 20th: The length of the previous page was getting out
of hand (many more weeks to go before the season begins) so I'm going to add
more as needed. If
you haven't checked out Part I it's worth a
peek. Plenty of picks.
- My current abode has an Ethernet connection but it's not situated in the
most convenient location so, I've been mulling over purchasing a
travel router. It's basically the same as a home version but much
smaller and lacks the range of the big boys. Unfortunately, the $79 or
there about price tag just didn't seem worth it. But I found the most
unbeatable deal last Sunday. I Googled "travel router" and
one for $9.99 from CompUSA popped up! I figured it was just a hook to get me to
visit the site but I gave it a go anyway. Glory bee! It was for real.
A Netgear 54Mbps Wireless Travel Router
priced at $79.99 was offered with a mail in $50 rebate from Netgear
and another $20 from CompUSA (for that day only). Didn't take me long
to think about this deal. Throw in 2 day shipping and tax, and I picked it
up for around 23 bucks. The $50 off is available till the 24th but the
extra twenty is long gone. You
can find it hear.
- Just when you think you saved a few bucks, WHAM! The other day, I
noticed a small coolant leak from my car originating from the top
hose. Replaced the hose for $10 but an easy fix was not in the cards.
Today the leak was much worse and I spotted the actual problem. It was
right where the radiator is crimped at the corner. All the newer radiators
are aluminum and can't be soldered like the old ones. A replacement is
being installed as I write this.
- Heard an interesting morsel on the radio about the out of control
growth in Arizona. The Post Office has added over 100,000 more deliveries
the past year and pockets of the Phoenix area are having trouble. Some
areas don't receive mail for days and others have postman not
finishing their routes till midnight. The
Arizona
Republic reports of the dilemma here.
- Breaking news, at least for me. Pressel
given full status on LPGA.
Dec. 22nd: I take my Walkman along when I walk and tune
in to talk radio most of the time. Yesterday, a familiar name popped up
during a commercial. It was Beth Stone owner of The Golf
Stop. She played
on tour many moons ago and co-owns the shop with Joanne Prentiss (at least
she did). It's just a stone's throw, no pun intended, from Randolph Park our former tour
venue. Good to see their shop is still viable with all the golf mega-stores
around.
- I don't know if it's caddie magnetism but I'm finding quite a few
golf balls on my treks. Today, no less than nine were in a very small
area along one of the dry washes. Mostly Top-Flights but worth taking.
I'll pass them along to someone during the season. I found a few
stripers awhile back just laying on the road but let them be.
- My travel router arrived yesterday and works like a peach. Very easy
set-up and excellent signal strength.
- Many of my reservations are taken care of but Ko Olina is still finding to be difficult. No matter where we stay, it won't be close.
Dec. 23rd: Well it happened again. Back in Florida I was almost
run down by a guy who ran a red light while on his cell phone. This time
it occurred at the corner of McGee and and Cortaro Farms Road. If you must
use your cell, please pull off the road. No call is worth someone's life.
- What seemed to be around five miles on my daily walk turns out to
seven or more (drove it just for kicks) depending on which route I
pursue. When your mind is on something else, listening to the radio
for me, time and distance is hard to track. Good thing.
- Found two more pellets today in the same area as before. Someone
must be emptying their shag bag.
Dec. 25th Christmas Day: My morning walk was one of
the more serene as of yet. Of course, Christmas decorations abound but one
of the more unusual was Santa's reindeer replaced with a John Deere.
HO, HO, HORSEPOWER!
-
As in most cities, everything is pretty much shut down
except for the convenient stores and Walgreens which by far was the
most popular. As I drove by this afternoon, no less than thirty-five
cars were in the lot. I had to stop in to see if there was some big
give-a-way but no deal. Just a bunch of folks picking up a few
forgotten items.
- Hope everyone had a great day and didn't fight with the relatives
too much. For everyone out in cyberspace I'd like to end wishing a Merry Christmas
to all, and to all a good night.
Jan. 1st 2006: Just wanted to wish each and everyone a
glorious HAPPY NEW YEAR!
- Over 100 seats were saved on a AeroMexico flight Sunday night
form Mexico City but the cost seemed prohibitive. Around $300 one way.
Add in the other half and it's pushing $600. I couldn't find any flights
later than 5:30 till Tex said he booked one on Continental scheduled
for 6:55. All the search engines I used never showed that flight, even
Continental itself, so I dug some more and pulled it up on Yahoo
Travel. Booked the whole thing for under $400. Just goes to show it's worth
doing a little digging when booking your own travel. The fact sheet
still isn't out so the hotel is still up in the air. The Holiday Inn,
home of the Flipper fiasco, will probably be the hotel du jour once
more.
- Everyone seems to be concerned about the influx
of Korean players over the years but it seems their national dish is
coming into favor here in the US. A recent study indicates kimchi may ward
off the dreaded avian flu and as a result, its flying off the shelves in
some locals. Check
it out here.
Jan 2nd: The call of "Larry, Larry"
interrupted the regimented cadence of this morning's promenade along
Cortaro Farms Road . It was Cindy Rarick, on her way to tee it up with Don
Pooley, and her fiancé Gary. Cindy resides in The Tucson Country Club
complex, which was right down the road, and spotted me as she was driving
by. We exchanged pleasantries and went on our way. Cindy has picked up a
sponsor for the coming season and plans to play around ten events.
- Just love the high speed connection for Internet
streaming. I would much rather listen to stimulating talk radio than watch
the tube and Bill Handel's morning program on KFI
640 out of Los Angeles is one of my favorites. Today, Bill was
touching on his recent trip to Europe and discussing the astronomical
prices especially in London. $6 for a gallon of gas, $80 for a good steak,
$8 for a pack of smokes, $11 for a typical Mickey-Dees meal and a whopping
$35 per day to connect to the Internet from his hotel room! Makes that
three buck gasoline look like a bargain.
Jan 3rd: Is this the first miracle of 2006? There have been
a vast array of religious figures depicted on various objects over the
ages. The Shroud of Turin, the recently
stolen Mother Teresa cinnamon
roll (scroll down webpage to view transformation ) and multiple Virgin
Mary sightings across the US are just a few. It goes on and on. Now,
its happened to me. While preparing lunch yesterday, I happened to look
down and espied the dish towel I was using which metamorphosed into a
familiar figure. Not exactly a religious miracle but a miracle none the
less. Hold your breath as you view the image below.
WOW!
Kind a looks like the happy face from Wal-Mart. 
Wonder if they'll pony up a few bucks for a nationwide tour? Probably not.
But I'll take offers before it goes on eBay.
Jan. 6th: 'Quite Dave' is back after
visiting relatives in Texas and his email suggested a day hike in Sabino
Canyon. Dave has hiked the canyon many times so he picked the
route. The Blacketts Ridge Trail was his choice. It's only 3.1 miles but
has an elevation rise of over 1800'. We stocked up on water an a few
snacks and headed out.
Me, on the way up.
Dave, living on the edge.
While positioning myself for the above photo I slipped
and, out of pure reflex, reached out for a peripheral object just to my
left. Turned out to be a 12' Saguaro cactus! Stopped just inches away.
That would have put a damper on our trip for sure.
What a view!
A welcomed rest at the end.
You would think the way down would be a piece of cake but
my daily walks were no training for this trek. My legs burned on the
ascent then turned to rubber on the way down. One false step and it's all
she wrote. See below.
Caught between a rock and a prickly place.
Made it back without incident. Overall, it was a great day
but I may delete Dave's emails if they mention any more hikes.
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Finally wrapped up my housing rental for Ko
Olina. For a while I thought a shut-out was in the works finding something
on the leeward side of the island. I kept procrastinating and missing out.
But I finally found a house described as 'Back in time' (must be dated)
right on the beach in Makaha. Woody, 'Motorcycle' Fred, Rick 'The Nerd'
and Jeff 'The Brick' Steffler will help defray the cost for the week. I
was hoping to get something with a view and I believe this fills the bill.
My digs for Ko Olina. Think we
might fire up the Tiki
Torches a few times? IT'S LUAU TIME BABY! (American style). Need to invite
a few players in grass skirts. Photos will follow if any show.
Jan 16th: Not a whole lot happening which
explains the lack of updates. I did find a few free
software apps that you may find useful.
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First is AM-Deadlink.
If your like me, an extensive list of bookmarks (favorites if using Internet
Explorer) have accumulated on your computer. This program will check the
whole shebang and see if there're still viable. You then have the
option to delete or try to open them to double check. I had over 1300
and managed to delete about 40 that wouldn't' connect and a bunch more
I really didn't need anymore. It's a good idea to have a high speed
connection to facilitate expedient completion.
-
If your hard drive has ever gone kaput you know the
frustration and feeling of utter stupidity if backing up your
data has not been on the top of your to-do list. Microsoft has a neat
utility that will do it in a few different ways from creating a mirror
image on each drive to just a straight copy. You can customize which
files so it is quite versatile. SyncToy
for Windows XP will do the work and supply peace of mind in your
personal computing.
-
Having trouble organizing the multitude of of
pictures amassed on your computer? Google offers Picasa
to aide in this task and includes photo editing options to boot.
-
Like to get more inventive with those photos? You may
wish to give Paint.net
a go. It was developed by Washington State University and mentored by
Microsoft. Supposedly competes nicely with its expensive rivals.
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Finally, not to overload your acute computing cognition,
Audacity is an open
source software that will help record and edit audio files.
There you have it. I can just imagine the smoke
about to emanate from your furrowed brow. Jan.
20th:
I was going through some disorganized papers and found my notes form the
week of The BMO. A few players and caddies had experienced one of the most
unusual adventures while traversing between events. I retell it in The
Amazing Race. Just when you think you heard it all. Its worth a read.
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