Monday, October 21, 2013

Life in the Adjoining Room?

Went I got home from work Friday Anna came out and drove off, and she was come pretty much from then until 8 pm Sunday night. Spent the night at two different friend’s houses. She did get some studying done. Saturday night she spent the night at the Hargreaves, who hosted a swing dance party. Even Matthew went to that.

Friday afternoon Ceil drove down to look at fabric at IKEA and other places. We took Matthew to eat at El Porton in the stinky Kroger shopping center. We used to go there a lot, but eventually started eating at healthier places. El Porton was super crowded, perhaps because it was a Friday with warm weather. Back home Ceil sewed herself a new purse. She didn’t finish until almost 2 am. I was checking on the Central Florida/Louisville game, but also watched the movie Money ball. Ceil watched it as she sewed.

Saturday morning we watched ESPN College GameDay. Bill Murray was hilarious, wrestling with Lee Corso, throwing the FSU spear, hitting golf balls. I did laundry and watched football, particularly Georgia Tech. Ceil shopped for groceries, and I made two trips up to the Hargreaves, taking M to the dance. We had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

Sunday I met Ceil at the 12:30 Passion service. Louie told a good story about his first plane trip/hotel stay. He was speaking at a youth conference that wanted to treat him well. All they could talk about was the great hotel room he was getting. He checked in and saw it was nice, but still couldn’t understand why everyone was talking about it. After he spoke he went back to the room and ordered a room service cheeseburger. When the burger was late Louie heard a knock down the hallway, but not at his room. Thinking they had the wrong room, Louie opened the door to tell the waiter where he was. The waiter left the burger at the other door, came down to into his room and opened an inside door – that led to the rest of Louie’s suite. Kitchenette, dining room, a door to another bedroom. Big gift basket and event T-shirt. The guy at the desk at cut a key not to the suite’s main door, but to the adjoining bedroom door on the side. Louie almost missed out on the tremendous blessing. This was Louie’s analogy to Ephesians 3:20, that God wants to do “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” – to not live life in the adjoining room.

Saw Dan Gastley at Passion, and his wife Jennifer. Should’ve asked him if he always goes to that 12:30 service. After the service we gave Ceil’s friend a ride home, then went back to IKEA. Then Ceil wanted to see if any Switchfoot tickets were available that that evening’s sold out concert. I let her off and parked on a shady spot. I noticed the tour bus, and Ceil got to see two members of the band. She got tickets, and we went home. By then (4:30) I was hungry and had a headache. I ate leftover spaghetti and took a quick nap. Later I watched the Bruce Willis movie RED – very good. Also watched some football highlights and Peyton’s return to Indianapolis. Also Modern Family. Worked on the computer and went to bed.

M and C stayed for Switchfoot lead singer Jon Foreman’s after concert. Then they took David Norman and Rob Kelly back to their car at the Lindbergh MARTA station. They didn’t get home until after 1:30 am.

Back walking today. Friday I got in both my miles.

Shoes by Month & Year

Another list of shoes, this time by month of purchase. It seems like I buy lots of shoes, and I do. Some wore out. Will took some of the shoes. Others didn’t work out, or I gave them away. Some are rarely worn, but are nice to look at. I’ve been able to sell a couple pair on eBay. For the most part this list only encompasses the shoes on my thrift store list, plus others I remember.  

2013
October: navy Jordan RCVR shoes
September: black New Balance 310 running shoes
July: red Puma Liga indoor soccer shoes
June: grey Crocs flip flops
April: navy New Balance 993 running shoes
February: navy New Balance tennis shoes
January: black ECCO chukka boots

2012
December: black Cole Haan Santa Barbara Nike Air loafers
November: black Cole Haan Nike Air loafers (gone)
October: black Reebok Fury Insta-Pump running shoes
August: black Converse all stars (gone)
July: brown Cole Haan Santa Barbara Nike Air loafers
May: brown Merrell loafers
February: navy Puma canvas sneakers (Joel)

2011
September: blue Nike Blazer court shoes
August: black dress shoes  
July: white Air Jordan basketball shoes
January: white Puma Pele Brasil indoor soccer shoes

2010
November: Puma Voltaic running shoes (Will)
August: brown Nike Air Moc low camp shoes (sold)
July: brown Nike Air Moc high camp shoes (sold)
June: black driving shoe loafers (still have)
May: grey Timberland Adventure Front Country shoes (still have)
April: red Puma California tennis shoes (tore up)
March: grey Puma California tennis shoes (tore up)
February: grey New Balance 992 running shoes (still have)
January: grey New Balance 993 running shoes (still have)

2009
December: black New Balance 993 running shoes (still have)
October: black wing tip dress shoes (still have/wore out)
August: brown Dockers topsider boat shoes (tore up)
July: burgundy Puma running shoes (Joel)
March: silver Nike Air Zoon Moire running shoes (Will)
February: navy Crocs water shoes (still have)

2008
December: grey Nike Free training shoes (Will)
November: grey New Balance 991 running shoes
June: black Nike Free running shoes (Will)
May: white low cut Converse Chuck Taylors (still have)
April: black adidas coaching shoes (Will)
February: black Bass loafers (long gone)
January: white adidas Tour Traxion golf shoes (still have)

2007
October: brown loafers
September: blue Puma track shoes (sold)
July: brown Timberland sandals (still have)
February: navy New Balance 991 running shoes (Will)
January: black high-top Converse Chuck Taylors (Joel)

2006
December: black Timberland loafers (tore up)
September: blue adidas coaching shoes (still have)
February: white Puma Roma shoes (still have)
January: black loafers

2005
June: white Footjoy golf shoes
March: grey new Balance 991 running shoes (Will)
January: brown Timberland loafer (still have)

2004
December: white Puma Roma shoes (still have)
October: black Oakley flip flops (still have)
August: cordovan Rockport loafers
March: black dress loafers
February: brown J Crew dress shoes
January: white adidas Illie Nastase Millennium tennis shoes

2003
October: navy Nike Presto running shoes
September: brown Merrell Winter Moc camp shoes (still have)
July: brown outdoor shoes
June: red Puma Suede court shoes (still have)

2002
December: brown New Balance trail shoes (?)
August: yellow Reebok Fury Insta-Pump running shoes (still have)
March: white Nike huarache running shoes
February: black Kenneth Cole loafers

2001
October: black Sketchers shoes
September: blue Nike Swingman basketball shoes (Will)
August: white Nike golf shoes
July: black Nike Presto running shoes
June: blue Converse One Star 2000 basketball shoes (tore up)
January: grey Nike cross-training shoes (Will)

2000
December: brown Merrell hiking shoes (sold)
November: black shoes
September: brown Sketchers shoes
August: white Nike basketball shoes
June: brown Polo loafers
February: blue New Balance running shoes

Pre-2000
Brown Nike Air Moc camp shoes (still have)
Black adidas Samba soccer shoes
Outdoor boots
White Reebok basketball shoes
Black Reebok basketball shoes
White Nike Air Flight Lite basketball shoes
White Converse basketball shoes
Black Converse One Star basketball shoes
White Air Jordan basketball shoes
White Nike cross training shoes
White Fila court shoes
Black Nike all-court shoes
White Nike all-court shoes
White Tretorn tennis shoes
Lands End chukka boots
Nike Huarache running shoes
Grey Nike Air Pegasus running shoes
White Nike running shoes
Gold Pro-Keds basketball shoes

Top Food by State

Deadspin.com ranked each state’s most delectable menu item in order of greatness. No surprise that half the top ten are from the South. http://deadspin.com/the-great-american-menu-foods-of-the-states-ranked-an-1349137024  

1. Illinois: Chicago-style deep dish pizza
2. South Carolina: shrimp and grits
3. California: mission-style burritos
4. Maryland: crab cake
5. Georgia: peach pie / cobbler
6. Louisiana: gumbo
7. Florida: key lime pie
8. Alabama: fried green tomatoes
9. New Mexico: stacked enchilada with green chili
10. Oregon: marionberry pie
11. Rhode Island: hot wieners
12. Kentucky: burgoo stew
13. North Carolina: pulled pork barbecue
14. Massachusetts: New England clam chowder
15. (tie) Missouri: Kansas City-style ribs
15. (tie) Tennessee: Memphis-style ribs
17. West Virginia: slaw dog
18. Arizona: chimichanga
19. Delaware: frozen custard
20. Texas: barbecue brisket
21. Oklahoma: fried okra
22. New York-style pizza
23. Hawaii: hot breakfast (spam, eggs, & rice)
24. Maine: lobster roll
25. Montana: bull testicles
26. Arkansas: fried catfish
27. Vermont: maple syrup
28. Pennsylvania: scrapple
29. Iowa: corndog
30. Washington: cedar-plank salmon
31. Colorado: cowboy cookies
32. Mississippi: mud pie
33. Wisconsin: bratwurst
34. Virginia: ham
35. Indiana: fried pork tenderloin sandwich
36. District of Columbia: half-smoke hot dog
37. Wyoming: chicken-fried steak
38. Idaho: deep fried finger steaks
39. Kansas: hamburger casserole
40. Minnesota: hotdish (hamburger casserole)
41. Michigan: pasty (meat & bread in a bread purse
42. South Dakota: chislic (beef cubes on toothpicks)
43. Utah: green jell-o with carrots
44. North Dakota: lutefish
45. New Jersey: salt-water taffy
46. Nebraska: handheld meat pies
47. Alaska: akutaq dessert
48. New Hampshire: boiled dinner
49. Nevada: casino steak
50. Connecticut: steamed cheeseburger
51. Ohio: Cincinnati chili

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Jordan RCVR


Friday I made a decent purchase: this pair of navy Air Jordan RCVR shoes, a navy Nike dri-fit golf shirt, a pair of Levis jeans, and a white Masters visor - for $15.00.

More about the Jordan RCVR here: 

God is Good

God is good. Long before I met her, Ceil had a friend who wanted to go on a mission trip. Ceil had also wanted to go, but instead of going Ceil gave money to her friend so her friend could go on the mission trip. Not long after we got married we drove up to Richmond for her friend’s wedding. As far as I know, that is the last time Ceil ever heard from the friend. This week Ceil received a thick envelope in the mail from her parents. She often receives thick envelopes from them, sometimes filled with paperwork, smaller envelopes, newspaper articles, or goodies for the kids. This time there was a smaller envelope. Ceil opened it up, and it was stuffed with cash. Her friend was paying Ceil back – many times over. The friend didn’t have Ceil’s address, so she sent it to Jefferson.

Thursday night A went off to her Grace Church gathering down near Atlantic Station. C cooked pork chops, special rice, spinach, and English peas. Ceil was meeting with her two friends, leaving me and MatthewM wanted to go look for CD’s, so I dropped off C at 7:10 pm and we were off. He didn’t find any CD’s, but I found a Pittsburgh Penguins mascot bobblehead and a grey Nike dri-fit T-shirt. Also bought a cheap pair of North Face corduroys that I can sell at a profit. M bought a Halloween costume: a stack of pancakes.

We almost stopped at the Chickfila Dwarf House Thursday night breakfast buffet, but M wanted to go to more stores before they closed. Instead I got him some Taco Bell.

Talked to our friends for a while when I picked up Ceil, so we didn’t get home until after 10 pm. I was tired, but wanted to bid on an eBay auction that was ending at 11:30. Made a couple of bids, but lost by a penny. Watched the end of the Boston/Detroit game.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

NL MVP?

In the American League the MVP debate centers around Miquel Cabrera’s tremendous numbers at the plate (and his winning team) versus Mike Trout’s all-around game (and his losing team). A similar debate could be waged in the senior circuit, where northeastern media darling Andrew McCutchen offensive stats compare favorably to Freddie Freeman’s. Both played on playoff teams, though the Pirates’ rags to riches story trumps that of the always-competitive Braves. Like Trout, Paul Goldschmidt actually had a better overall season for the lowly Diamondbacks. While deserving MVP consideration, good-guy Goldschmidt and young Freeman appear destined to be out-balloted by McCutchen.    

PL…AVG..OBP..SLG..OPS…SB..CS
AM…317…404…508…911…27…10
FF.…319…396…501…897.…1…..0
PG…302…401…551952…15….7

PL…..G..…AB.…R……H…2B…3B..HR..RBI…BB…K
AM…155…583…97…185385…21….84…78…101
FF….147…551…89…176…27…2…23…109…66…121
PG…160602..103…182…36…3…3612599…145

Goldschmidt edges Freeman as a fielder. Both are clearly better in the field than McCutchen. As a fielder the Pirate gets more credit than he deserves.

PL.…innings.…FP.…RF..…E
AM…1378.0…982…2.14….6
FF.…1290.2…993…9.02…10
PG…1446.099710.025

Continuing the Craze

Won an eBay auction for a 2000 Greg Maddux Las Vegas Toros bobblehead – the first time I won an auction that involved last second bidding. Sunday I lost an auction because I wasn’t familiar with the process. Today I waiting until the auction had less than a minute to go. There had been no bids, so I bid the $8.95 starting price. Bids go up fifty cents, so to be sure I got ready to bid more. I wanted to beat both 9.45 and 9.95. I thought someone might bid 10.05 or 10.10. Sure enough, someone bid $9.99. But I was ready, and hit SEND with a bid of $10.11. Wonder if anyone would pay fifty dollars for it.

Not planning on buying up many eBay bobbleheads, though I did want a Maddux. Most of the 2003 Braves Maddux dolls are priced around fifty bucks, though one current auction is starting at a dollar. Your bobblehead email back in March started me on this craze, you know. 

Last week I bought a Gwinnett Gladiators “Runaway Bride” bobblehead for $0.60. Believe it or not, a few years ago I stumbled across Jennifer Wilbanks on Facebook so I sent her a friend request. Thought about unfriending her, but never have. She leads a nice life: UGA football games, snow skiing trips, etc. I am also friends with Charlie Brown’s favorite baseball player (or a guy with the same name).  http://peanuts.wikia.com/wiki/Joe_Shlabotnik

I’ll have to check out Ballpark Chasers, but not sporcle.com. The Ogre has figured out I like to leave early to go to Braves games to get the dollar ticket (he likes to buy things on sale).

I need to read what Wren said, saying that Gattis showed he could take the pounding behind the plate. Wren may be a decent GM, but like Stan Kasten before him, you really can’t take his word on stuff, like last year’s “greatest outfield in baseball.” Speaking of Gattis, I stumbled across a blog post by the photographer who had the idea to pose Gattis with the stuffed polar bear. He then sold the idea to Sports Illustrated. The Saturday morning of the Turner Field shoot Gattis arrived in a sportcoat and tie, and excitedly checked out the bear before changing into uniform.

Almost finished with my blog page of Braves lineups and stats. I need to fill in a few gaps with photographs, though I’ve added almost every Braves Sports Illustrated cover I can remember. There may be one more of Hank Aaron in a grey road uni I need to track down. Also need to add 1966 and the 2013 stats.

Baby Steps

Monday I walked at ten and two. After work I walked/ran two laps at the nearby soccer park.

That evening M went to a girls volleyball game at JFBC, to hang out with friends. I had to pick him up. He said a teenager broke his ankle playing pickup basketball, and was screaming in pain. C fixed burritos for dinner. Lunch was 1-1/2 hamburgers, loaded with lettuce and tomato to make up for my lack of ketchup.

Tuesday I walked at ten and two. After work I played 18 holes of par three golf. I figure I walked at least two miles. No hills, but lots of undulation. I played decent, perhaps better than I had the two times I had played earlier in the month. Afterwards I was worn out. Ate cereal on the way home (not Taco Bell) and a tasty bowl of Ceil’s meaty chili. Lunch had been leftover beef stew: meat, carrots, onions, and gravy. No potatoes. Went to bed early, and didn’t wake up when everyone went to bed.

Even though I was sore I still walked at ten and two on Wednesday. At least five co-workers also walk, including one lady in accounting who basically runs. Every now and then I’ll run into a co-worker who wants to say hello, so since I’m on the clock I will stop for a quick chat.  

Had the last of the leftover stuffed manicotti shells for lunch. Friday I’ll probably be lunching on the leftover chili.

Just saw where Scot and Peggy Wright are hosting an art sale in their home next week to benefit the Lighthouse Family Retreat. I know David Hurt and his family have served at Lighthouse. Paintings, jewelry, and pottery. Artists include Nancy Shippen, Leah Stephens, Libby Mims, Cantey Deeter, Jan Eubanks, Barbara Johnston, and many other names I do not recognize.

Tuesday I got busy catching back up on my calendar scrapbook, and cleaning up other old stuff sitting around on my desk.

Trivia question of the day: What was the name of Charlie Brown’s favorite baseball player? OK to cheat.

See where Puig thought he hit a home run, so he started off his slow trot, then realized he needed to run? ESPN had a poll: funny or disrespectful? Only two states answered disrespectful: Missouri (Cardinals) and Georgia (Braves).

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Dawg Nation

That's Will holding the W during the ESPN College GameDay broadcast.

Total QB Rating with Oct 12 Games

My post with last week’s college football total quarterback ratings cracked my top ten most popular blog posts. Every week ESPN.com updates the rankings, and it’s fun to compare the top QB’s in the nation, SEC, and ACC. The ratings can be found here: http://espn.go.com/college-football/qbr

This week half of the top ten QB’s play in the SEC. Georgia’s Aaron Murray has led the SEC pack all year. Eight of the 14 ACC quarterbacks are rated 40th or lower. here are the top ten in the nation, plus all the SEC and ACC quarterbacks:

1. 97.0 Mariota, Oregon: Heisman front-runner
2. 95.1 Petty, Baylor: finally played a real defense
3. 93.3 Murray, GA: can’t win every week by himself
4. 91.3 Winston, FSU: ACC player of the year?
5. 91.2 Mettenberger, LSU
6. 88.3 Manziel, Texas A&M: another great performance
7. 87.1 Murphy, Florida: will feast on UGA defense?
8. 86.5 Sams, Kansas State
9. 86.1 Prescott, Miss St
10. 86.0 Morris, Miami (2nd in ACC)
11. 80.4 Bridgewater, Louisville: not impressive Thursday
17. 81.3 Whitlow, KY: holding his own against big boys
20. 80.4 Bortles, UCF: rating falls as schedule toughens
22. 78.7 Hunt, Syracuse (3rd in ACC)  
23. 78.2 Savage, Pittsburgh (4th in ACC)
25. 77.4 Renner, North Carolina (5th in ACC)  
29. 76.0 Franklin, Missouri: out for the year
32. 75.3 C. Shaw, SC: lit up Arkansas Saturday
34. 75.0 Brown, Maryland (6th in ACC)
40. 73.9 Boyd, Clemson (7th in ACC) big game Saturday
43. 72.4 McCarron, Alabama: just win, baby
44. 72.3 Rettig, BC (8th in ACC) plays in a good system
45. 70.7 Connette, Duke (9th in ACC) 
55. 65.4 Marshall, Auburn
59. 63.2 Worley, Tennessee
61. 62.7 L. Thomas, VT (10th in ACC) great size/poor results
70. 57.7 Wallace, Ole Miss: looked bad in 4th quarter
73. 56.3 P. Thomas, NC ST (11th in ACC) lost to lowly Syracuse
76. 55.6 Vad Lee, GT (12th in ACC) redshirt soph struggling   
87. 50.2 Samuels, Vandy
88. 48.9 Allen, Arkansas
92. 45.7 Watford, Virginia (13th in ACC)
99. 41.0 T. Price, Wake Forest (14th in ACC)

GameDay

Will poses with a few of his friends during ESPN's College GameDay broadcast before the Georgia/LSU game.

Weekend

With things pretty calm at work I started back walking on Friday. Several people walk around the complex every day. I’ve done it in the past and need to get back to it. I’ll try to walk the complex twice a day, at 10 am and 2 pm, when EZGo is in their twice daily meetings. Now I just need to work out in the mornings and after work as well.

On the way home Friday I found one of those things I’m always on the lookout for: a NICE golf bag. Even though I played horribly these last two times I went out, this bag was the right bag at the right price. A beautiful blue color trimmed in black, with shiny silver lettering. A huge tour Callaway bag.

Ceil made stuffed pasta shells for supper. C and I liked it, but M and A didn’t. After dinner I cleaned the kitchen. M and C were doing schoolwork, so I went to bed.

Saturday was college football. Cleaned upstairs and did some laundry. Ate leftovers. Drove M up to Sarah’s…they went to the fair in Cumming. She gave him a new wallet for his birthday, plus a bow tie. Went back to pick him up around 10 pm.

Sunday I cleaned and did more laundry. Also worked on the computer. Will took M to the REI scratch & dent sale. W bought some climbing shoes and a $500.00 jacket for fifty. M bought a $100.00 jacket for twenty. Both W and M wore their jackets the rest of the day. Drove down to PCC to get Matthew at 7:15. Stopped by Kroger. After studying all afternoon, Will cooked burgers for supper. Ceil fixed homemade baked French fries and salad. Before supper I told M he didn’t want to spill food on his nice jacket, so he immediately went and changed.

Today Will is missing his intramural football playoff game to help out at the Camp Highland golf tournament. It’s his third year helping out. He had to go back to Athens at 1 pm for a class.

Team

College Football Roundup

Another Saturday filled with college football…

ESPN College Gameday (10 am): Warren Moon should’ve taken off his cap. Hope Solo knew her stuff.

Georgia/Missouri (noon): The loss wasn’t Murray’s fault. Not his best game, but he can’t be expected to win every game by himself – with his top two running backs and top three receivers out hurt. Fans are saying how bad the defense is, when everyone knew going into the season that the defense was inexperienced and weak. No surprise there. Missouri winning really wasn’t even an upset. Let’s see how good Missouri does without their quarterback the rest of the way.

Clemson/Boston College (3:30 pm): BC is always tough. I knew Clemson would take the lead eventually. The BC coach is a screamer – after his first tantrum it wasn’t much fun to watch his theatrics. He would argue every call, unless it was an obvious mistake by his player. Then he would yell at his player. Still, a kid growing up in the Northeast has so few college football options, he isn’t going to turn down a scholarship to BC. Penn State, Syracuse, Connecticut,  Buffalo, Temple, and Rutgers are about the only major programs.

Toward the end of the game BC was totally unprepared to run the hurry up offense, and the announcers took note. This would get a coach in the South fired, but in the Boston newspapers college football takes a back seat to every other sport. Next week’s Clemson/FSU game should be interesting. FSU freshman QB Winston is ranked 4th in the nation in Total QB Rating. Clemson’s Heisman Trophy candidate Tajh Boyd ranks 40th (Mariota is first, Murray is third).   

Penn State/Michigan (3:30 pm): After the Clemson game I changed channels and saw Michigan lining up for a game-winning 52 yard field goal. The Wolverines lost this game. The kicker missed at least two game-winners, but Michigan should have won anyway. Michigan, who struggled mightily against Akron, will not provide much competition for undefeated Ohio State. But like Georgia’s weak defense, based on the experts pre-season predictions this might not be a surprise. And good for Penn State and good guy Bill O’Brien.

Georgia Tech/BYU (7 pm): I had been keeping up with game on Twitter, then listened to the fourth quarter as I drove to Roswell to pick up Matthew. More mistakes, penalties, and interceptions. Take those away, and the game would’ve been much closer. This is why Vad Lee should’ve played more last year.

Tigers/Red Sox: Then I saw where Detroit had a no-hitter in the ALCS. The starting pitcher was removed after six innings and 114 pitches. I nodded off and missed Boston’s ninth inning single, not saw the Tigers get the final out.    

Texas A&M/Ole Miss: (8 pm): After the Tigers won I flipped back to football. Ole Miss had the lead, but Johnny Football was driving the Aggies down the field. He dove into the corner of the end zone to tie the score with just over three minutes in the game. Then Ole Miss screwed up: instead of rolling out the clock to force overtime they threw three straight incompletions, not even taking twenty seconds off the clock. The play calls weren’t even good: the QB threw into traffic and was almost intercepted. So Manziel gets the ball back and drives Texas A&M down the field again, eating up seven to twelve yards at a time. They get down close and run the clock down and kick the easy field goal for the win. As the ball sailed through the uprights I turned off the TV and went to bed.
Today Will's top-ranked intramural football team won their playoff game. 

Famous Books by State

Saw an interesting article about each state’s most famous book. I’ve read a few of the books and heard of several others. Many I have no desire to read.

Here is what they came up with:

AL: To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
AK: Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer
AZ: The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver
AR: A Painted House, by John Grisham
CA: East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
CO: The Shining, by Stephen King
CT: Revolutionary Road, by Richard Yates
DE: The Saint of Lost Things, by Christopher Castellani
FL: To Have and Have Not, by Ernest Hemingway
GA: Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
HI: Hawaii, by James Michener
ID: Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson
IL: The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
IN: The Magnificent Ambersons, by Booth Tarkington
IA: A Thousand Acres, by Jane Smiley
KS: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L Frank Baum
KY: Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe
LA: Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice
ME: Carrie, by Stephen King
MD: Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, by Anne Tyler
MA: Walden, by Henry David Thoreau
MI: The Virgin Suicides, by Jeffrey Eugenides
MN: Main Street, by Sinclair Lewis
MS: The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner
MO: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
MT: A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean
NE: My Antonia, by Willa Cather
NV: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S Thompson
NH: The Hotel New Hampshire, by John Irving
NJ: Drown, by Junot Diaz
NM: Red Sky at Morning, by Richard Bradford
NY: The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald
NC: A Walk to Remember, by Nicolas Sparks
ND: The Round House, by Louise Erdrich
OH: The Broom of the System, by David Foster Wallace
OK: Paradise, by Toni Morrison
OR: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
PA: The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
RI: My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
SC: The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd
SD: A Long Way From Home, by Tom Brokaw
TN: The Firm and The Client, by John Grisham
TX: No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy
UT: The 19th Wife, by David Ebershoff
VT: Pollyanna, by Eleanor H Porter
VA: Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
WA: Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer
DC: The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown
WV: Shiloh, by Phillis Reynolds Naylor
WI: Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
WY: The Laramie Project, by Moises Kaufman

Pregame


Saturday Will and MC pose before the Georgia/Missouri game.

Golf and Me

Monday was my customer’s annual vendor golf tournament. At least four co-workers made the trip:

Outside salesman: it’s his job to be there.
His boss: customers love for bigwigs to attend.
Quality Mgr: attended last year, and was invited this year.
Pricing Mgr: may spend 75% of his time on this customer.

Most days I wear golf shirts to work: Callaway, Masters, Nike, Golden Bear, adidas, etc. I even wear golf pants to work. My online work avatar is the Masters logo. My subscription to Golf magazine delivers to my work address. I talk about golf around the water cooler. I’ve played in company golf tournaments, and after work with co-workers.
  
I like golf. Wish I could play more. On my recent golfing adventures, I have no business on a golf course with customers.

Speaking of golf, this past Friday I stumbled across a nice Callaway tour golf bag at a thrift store. A beautiful shade of blue, trimmed in black, with silver lettering. Some wear, but just great for me. I had been looking for a nice tour bag ever since I didn’t buy an even nicer bag because one zipper was broken. When I came to my senses and retraced my steps, the bag had been sold. Now I have five golf bags for two full sets of clubs. Too many.

Blue/black Callaway tour bag.
Black Callaway pencil bag, for walking par three courses
Black Callaway stand-up bag. The legs work, but not very well.
Green Nike stand-up bag, favored by Will.
Red Ping carry bag. Old, used to store spare clubs.

Dr. Denmark & Will