LPGA at Turtle Bay, Hawaii

This past weekends LPGA SBS Turtle Bay tournament was fun to watch even if Paula Creamer won. Paula, rookie of the year in 2005, and completely winless in 2006, finally pulled off a win after an 18 month drought. Some feel she's talented, some think she's a bitch, and some a spoiled teenager; she's probably all of those things. I think players to watch this year instead of Paula Creamer would more likely be Julieta Granada , a young little fireball out of Paraguay that won the $1,000,000 ADT tournament to close out the 2007 season (and finished 2nd on the money list). Her mother caddies for her which I find rather endearing. She's also a phenomenal player with excellent putting. I think her putting is far more successful than Annika Sorenstam's or Ochoa's and would be on pair with the men. The PGA tour seems to demand and have a much lower putt ratio.

Speaking of Annika Sorenstam, where was she in the opening tournament of the LPGA? Especially considering the recent USA Today article about her disappointment in 2006 (even though she made $2,000.000) and her re-committment to winning Player of the Year in 2007.

In case you were wondering, Michelle Wie missed the SBS Open at Turtle Bay due to her falling and hurting her wrist. She was scheduled to appear in the event. All the news that is Wie can be found here. I haven't seen her compete in a LPGA event in a while. She's too busy trying to make a PGA cut than to actually get a win on the LPGA. I realize that it's great TV spotlighting for her, great for the sponsors, but if you never make the cut, what does it matter? Who is her agent/publicist/handler? She bugs me.

The Big Day

Today is an auspicious day in the life of Dawn. It's Dena and I's 16th anniversary. Since we're not really "married" it's not really our wedding anniversary, but it's a date we decided on many years ago. It's actually kind of wierd typing that, "many years ago". I feel grown up. I don't remember now why we picked the 16th, but it's been our date for so long that it doesn't really matter now. I wonder what would happen if we had a wedding? Would we move the date? Sorry, I digress....

When I think back on the 16 years with Dena, I remember only good times, many adventures, much laughter and fun. Sure there have been hard times, but nothing that could cloud the incredible journey that we've been on.

I can't tell you how fortunate I feel knowing that I will have her by my side for the rest of my life. She never walks in front of me, never behind me, always beside me. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ah it's that time of year.....

The time of year when the rains think about subsiding in Southern California, the time of year when there is a little more sunshine, a little more daylight and new buds start on my trees. Yes, folks, that's right -- It's LPGA time!!!

I just watched Karrie Webb finish off her 6th win at the ANZ open in Australia ( a European Women's Golf Event). I love sitting, having my lunch and watching women's golf during the week. I'll DVR tournaments all weekend long so that I can watch them piecemeal over lunch throughout the week. It sort of calms me......God knows I need that in my life. Interesting item to note is that the ANZ tournament in Australia, first prize was only $120,000. No wonder these players want to play on the LPGA. More $$$

I'm also looking forward to this weekends SBS Turtle Bay LPGA kick off tournament on Oahu, Hawaii. Briana Vega winner of Donald Trump's Big Break VI has an exemption to play in this one and I'm interested to see how she does. I also love all the courses in Hawaii as the Pacific Ocean makes a breathtaking backdrop.

Ramblings.....

I supposedly live in the richest country in the world and I have to be manage my health care options. How ridiculous. I only get $ 1,000 of Physical Therapy coverage a calendar year, so I have to worry and plan and think, that if I use it now, in February, will I be screwing myself later in the year if I need it? What if the $1000 doesn't cover it? What if I'm not better after ~ 10 PT visits? After all, with the rates they charge a grand will only get me about 10 visits. What will I do then?

We've been missing one of our cordless phones for about a week now. We just couldn't find it. Dena said it had to be my fault because I move them around so much. Well, they are cordless! Isn't that a given. I found it yesterday. It was outside on the patio wall. I guess I left it there while I was washing the windows a couple weekends ago. It's since rained. The phone is, well, you might say, dead......

When I looked in the mirror today I received a startling reflection - me, with small wrinkle lines on my neck. When the hell did those pop up? I just kept thinking to myself -- "is this because I don't drink enough water?" God knows it can't be because I'm getting old. hmmm, perhaps I am getting old, after all I did leave the phone outside for a week.

More on set visit

Susie from Propstar had a camera and I have pictures of my tech (Drew) and I in the senator's office, in front of the United States seal and other such memorable pix. During our positioning of the phones, lights and cords there was some guy sitting in the senator's chair. I thought to myself, he looks a lot like Tom Cruise. Well, he's Cruise's stand in. While they are setting up camera shots, lighting, rehearsing moving camera shots, etc. they use stand ins to do the scene. The stand in for Meryl Streep and Cruise were very similar in body type, basically they are supposed to be doubles, so same hair/eye color, same skin tone, same height, same body type, wear the same clothes, etc. This is for lighting, camera angle, prop placement, etc. Because we sure wouldn't want Meryl Streep standing around while they got the lights right, eh. She was lounging about in her Star trailer while all this was going on.

By the way, I forgot to tell you that I saw all 3 of the stars, Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Tom Cruise. I only saw Cruise for a couple seconds. He's quite a short little fellow. Meryl Streep is beautful and she laughed a ton on the set during rehearsals. Robert Redford sat about 3 feet from me while he was discussing scene changes with the script guy. Him and Cruise apparently co-direct and co-star in the movie. While we were on set Cruise was acting, so we didn't really see him behind the camera. BTW, directors aren't really behind the camera, the camera guy is. The director just reviews the clip, makes corrections as he sees fit, etc. The one long (if you could call 30 seconds long) scene that I was there for too 3 hours of rehersals and about 14 takes. Some of the takes were ad libs by Meryl Streep (it was her scene), some were exactly on script and some were just flubs. Not flubs on Meryl's part of course, she was always perfect, except of course when she dropped her lipstick across the floor. hehe

Hobnobbing with soon to be screen legends....

Today was spent babysitting the set of Lions for Lambs. As you read in a previous post Mitel's phones are used as props in the movie. They are to be fully functioning props so there was concern that Tom Cruise would pick the phone up and either it wouldn't work, or more likely, he wouldn't know how to use it.

This morning started at 6:30 on the set. We set up some "receptionist" style phones which was a big deal with flashing and solid lights to make it look busy. I'm sure these lights will never be seen as the shot was filmed from the other direction this afternoon. Oh well. Then we hung around and waited, and waited and waited. I wondered why people had magazines, papers and laptops at their little stations. It was to entertain themselves throughoutthe day. We were told of the rules:

1. Do not look Tom Cruise in the eye. (hehe get real)
2. When they say quiet on the set, it's a dead stop, no coughing, no whispering, no moving, stand still.
3. Never enter the sound stage (or exit) when the red light is flashing.
4. No personal cameras. That was ok because I forgot the memory card for mine. DUH!

Around 10:30 we heard a call "The senator's coming!" That meant that Tom Cruise (Senator Irving from Illinois) was coming into the sound stage. People scurried around and got real quiet. They spent about an hour filming about 1 second of footage of Tom Cruise holding some critical piece of paper at the Senator's desk. How time consuming.

More tomorrow....

A Quote for your day -

Be motivated - it's Tuesday, there are still 3 more days left in your week to get something big accomplished!

"Complacency is the single biggest roadblock to continuous improvement."

Busy Week

It's been a busy week - I was in an ITIL certification course - I won't bore you with the details but suffice it to say it's a management level course and has no technical knowledge in it. Very different and quite interesting, however, quite dry as well. So, that's my excuse why I haven't been blogging.....

But, this blog isn't about that course, it's about some of the things that happened in the course. Personal space - I've always needed a little more of a personal space buffer than your average person. I'm not sure how those people in Japan exist. I would be freaking all the time. I'm not even sure I could travel there. So there was this jewish fellow in the class. I'm not sure why his religion matters, perhaps as a stereotype to his behavior, you be the judge..... So in the class there are 6' tables with 2 people per table. A little cramped, one must respect the other's space. The guys name was Kudmar or something, anyway, he was always inching over into my space. I hate that shit. I hate it in scrapbooking, I hate it in the movie theater and I sure as hell hate it when I'm in a training class that costs $1,500. So we come back from lunch the first day, and surprise, surprise, I have to go to the bathroom, I come in a little late and his laptop power cord is hanging over my side, his empty tea bag is like 8" on my side, yes, I mentally measured. His knee keeps whacking my leg, too. So I'm not crazy. I know what you're thinking...

So, his blatant infringement into my personal space is almost consuming my thought processes and I'm having trouble concentrating on the lecturer. Later in the afternoon we're having a lively discussion in the class and I've forgotten about his transgressions for the moment, then all of a sudden I feel my chair pull back a little and feel a presence. In a split second I glance back and see his hand and arm on my chair. I have an instant reaction, and say to him, "Please do not do that." He looks at his hand and then at me in disbelief. I repeat, "please remove your hand from my chair." He apologizes and we had no more infringement's for the next 3 days. Problem solved :-)

Lions for Lambs

My company's publicity department is providing the phones for this 2007 Robert Redford directed film. We have a department that specifically provides phones for "product placements" in movies, series, etc.

Lions for Lambs stars Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise. He's a senator in the film and according to the prop people a real monster if things aren't perfect on the set. Based on that whole Oprah incident I suspect he's a monster all the time.....so dramatic...... So we have to install the phones 3 days before to make sure they are correct.

The Washington, DC scenes will be filmed on the lot at Universal in the next 2 weeks. Apparently this movie has 3 different story lines that parallel one another, similar to Babel. How we are all connected whether we know each other or not. Unfortunately, due to a move in the shooting schedule I will be unable to put the phones in as I have a prior committment so I have to delegate it.

Daylight Savings time Change

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub.L. 109-58) is a statute that was passed by the United States Congress on July 29, 2005 and signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 8, 2005 at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Act, described by proponents as an attempt to combat growing energy problems, provides tax incentives and loan guarantees for energy production of various types. The reason for writing this today has to do with Daylight savings time and preparing your computers for the change.

The bill amends the Uniform Time Act of 1966 by changing the start and end dates of daylight saving time starting in 2007. Clocks will be set ahead one hour on the second Sunday of March instead of the current first Sunday of April. Clocks will be set back one hour on the first Sunday in November, rather than the last Sunday of October. This will make electronic clocks that had pre-programmed dates for adjusting to daylight saving time obsolete and will require updates to computer operating systems. The date for the end of daylight saving time has the effect of increasing evening light on Halloween (October 31).

See the Microsoft web site for an explanation of what to do to your Windows machine according to which operating system you are running. For those of you with Mac's, you're on your own.

My bad

Some people use this slang term as a round about way of saying they are sorry, or "my mistake". I find it a very aggravating term in that if you screwed up, just say you are sorry. I have also found that over the last year or two, the teens, twenty somthings, etc are no longer really using this term but the 40 & 50 somethings are. Another source of aggravation for me. An apology goes a long way, "my bad" gets no where with me! Below please find some interesting history on the term.

This slang term originated in about 1970. At that time, i.e. pre widespread Internet use, slang terms often circulated at street level for many years before being adopted by anyone who felt inclined to write them down. That's clearly not the case any longer and any word or phrase that is widely known is dateable quite precisely via website blogs.

The first citation in print is C. Wielgus and A. Wolff's, 'Back-in-your-face Guide to Pick-up Basketball', 1986: "My bad, an expression of contrition uttered after making a bad pass or missing an opponent."

Shakespeare used the term with something like the current meaning, in his Sonnet 112:
Your love and pity doth the impression fill
Which vulgar scandal stamp'd upon my brow;
For what care I who calls me well or ill,
So you o'er-green my bad, my good allow?
That's clearly just coincidence. It's also a world away from pick-up basketball. 'My bad' came into widespread popular use in the mid to late-1990s in the USA via the 1995 movie “Clueless”. This starred Alicia Silverstone and contains what seems to have been the first use of the phrase in the mainstream media. The 1994 'Green revision pages' for the movie script has a scene with the Alicia Sliverstone character learning to drive:
"Cher swerves - to avoid killing a person on a bicycle. Cher: Whoops, my bad."

Although a street term, it is virtually synonymous with the earlier Latin phrase, 'mea culpa'. It doubtless has as little of a direct descent from this as it does from Shakespeare's Sonnet 112. Regardless of its beginnings, it still bugs me......

An icy day of golfing

I knew we were in trouble when we walked up to the starter desk at the Encino Golf Course and they had started late due to frost on the course. I thought, ok, not good, they may be a little behind but it'll be ok. It seems to be warming up... Well the practice putting greens were closed due to frozen puddles on them. Ice, yes folks, I'm not kidding, patches of ice on the practice greens. As we drove from hole to hole yesterday our carts cruised over patches of ice all over the course. Some of the greens were closed and temporary greens were used. This was disappointing and a pain in the ass. Speaking of asses, Arlene has a chapped ass from the entire affair due to the cold and dryness.

We finally quite on the 15th hole at 4:30p as the temperature was plummeting. We just couldn't take the cold anymore. Morning temperature at Encino golf course: 29 degrees. BBBRRRRRR!

Memories

It's hard to believe I'm old enough to have memories from 20 years ago. I never really think of myself as that old. I guess I walk around all day in my mind thinking I'm 19.

So the other day, I was remembering about when my friend Marcy and I used to work at this law firm, Irell & Manella in Century City, CA. This was probably about 1987. This was a large law firm that occupied 5 or 6 floors in one of the large highrises in Century City. They were big babies. We did everything for them from a voicemail perspective. We recorded every greeting and name for every attorney in the joint and when the summer associates came, we did all their names and greetings, then deleted them in the fall. This was great $$ of course for the company we worked for.

They had many demands as far as message waiting lights and this is what occupied much of our time there. I remember Marcy and I strutting around with our tool belts hanging from our hips. I think we must have been quite the site. Marcy even got in trouble one day for wearing jeans that had rips in the knees and ass. This was before it was the "style". She was styling before it was stylish. I remember marvelling at the rich looking (and heavy!) desks with the piles and piles of paper surrounding them. Sometimes there was only a little path to the desk in the office, the rest was stacks of papers. It was so unlike the law shows on TV. We'd sometimes work late and steal candy and beer from the personal "executive" fridges on the floors. Those were the days....

Country loyalty

Dena and I were at a Los Angeles Kings game the other night. It was the Los Angeles Kings vs. the Edmonton Oilers. A US - Canadian matchup of 2 rival teams since the Gretzky days. As we nestled into our seats trying to stay warm in the cold arena the people around us started making comments. They made comments that Canada should be the 51st state and other disparaging remarks about my country. They whined about having to listen to the Canadian Anthem but as I proudly sang it I could hear the other Canadians in the arena singing just as loud. The female singer then sang the US anthem, no one sang, the players fidgeted and people chatted and snickered. Perhaps the players were fidgeting because 50% of them were Canadian on the Kings team. You see, when I went into the game that night I couldn't decide who to root for. It didn't take long to recognize where my loyalty lay.

We had incredible seats and I had phoned my family in Canada to see if they could see us on TV. All Canadian team away games are televised in Canada. Its not extra, its part of the package. Perhaps the cable companies in Canada are loyal too? My brother-in-law remarked that it sounded like the place was quiet as a library. I realized that it was. It was very quiet. Way too quiet for a hockey game. People in Canada scream, shout and cheer. The guy behind me yelled at some guy for standing up.

Are Americans as patriotic and loyal as the republicans make them out to be? Is patriotism only a badge worn when convenient? I never really understood why Americans don't sing their National Anthem at sporting events. It's a beautiful piece of music with a great story to tell. I've seen more than one Canadian moved to tears upon hearing it sung at a game. Perhaps Americans are just tired of it all.

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More Dodge Transmission issues

What a hunk of junk Dodge makes. In the beginning of November I took my 2006 Dodge Magnum into the shop for warranty repair on a significant transmission fluid leak. It took 2 days to repair and it was a known problem. For the last month my transmission has been leaking again, although not so bad, so I was sort of stalling. You know, with the whole Christmas/New years thing going on, I just didn't have time. Now I'd like to get it repaired before our trip to Palm Springs.

I called CarMax by LAX, you cannot schedule ANY car repair appointments until January 23rd. The first available appointment is the 23rd. That's insane. So I thought I'd be smart and call another dealership, Glendale Dodge. I got an appointment on January 17th, the earliest you can see the transmission guy. You see, there are so many transmission problems with new Dodge vehicles that they are terribly backed up. Her words, not mine. Do American car manufacturer's actually wonder why people buy Japanese brands?

Christmas Jammies

Rolling with the Denver Blizzard

Of course we had a flight on United Airlines today, through the Denver airport on our way to Edmonton. As you all know the Denver Airport closed on Wednesday the 20th due to severe blizzard conditions and snow. They've since gotten about 2' of snow and if any of you are familiar with the airport you know its in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by miles and miles of rolling prairies. They plow the runway and 30 minutes later there are huge drifts on it again. Read the latest on Denver here. My company apparently has several people stuck in the Denver airport. What a sad place to spend 2 nights sleeping on the ground.

After trying for over 3 hours on Thursday to get thru to United (and being disconnected repeatedly by their systems) I gave up and called my trusty Mitel travel agent. Evelynne was wonderful as always, found us a flight on WestJet for $550 round trip and its direct! No where near Denver. We fly into Calgary and my family will come pick us up. You have to roll with the punches.

How am I going to get back the 80,000 miles that I spent getting our award tickets to Canada in the first place on United? Since I couldn't get thru for love nor money yesterday, I waited until midnight last night and called the 800#. Got right through. Talked to a lovely black woman who sounded like she was either drunk or stoned and she told me all the horror stories from the day. I asked her if she'd been drinking and she said just water. But she said that water and vodka are the same color. She was very colorful herself and we had a fun go of it. I'm just hoping my miles are back in my account.....

Cappuccino for Cops?

Or has the United States left every child behind?
This sign was in the mini mall near my house.

My Calculator

It's weird how we hang on to the strangest things. I have this Sharp scientific calculator that I know I had in Winnipeg, MB when I was in University or before. I must have bought it for the abstract calculus classes in the Computer Science program. I hated that class..... The calculator was state of the art at the time. Now they make calculators that graph for you right on the screen, but I digress. So if I bought this calculator around 1981-1983 its about 25 years old. I'm just ripping the batteries out of it now because it's dead. I have to buy new ones and I'm going to. Why throw it away? It's still very useful. I still use it, although not as much. I use the calculator on the computer more even though I hate that one.

This quote comes to mind: Usefulness is not impaired by imperfection. You can still drink from a chipped cup. Or in this case, an old calculator.....

Sienna Rose - Born December 1st