Triple-digit diary

Spring sprung blues

2009-03-18T21:08:00.000-07:00

I am ready for spring. I have had enough of the coldness, the rainness and just all around blahness that is winter.
Unlike Cornelius of BMR fame, I even don't mind the sounds of the pigeons returning to the area, but I have to admit that after a few months of it I too will tire of the rats with wings.
The need for spring has all sorts of connotations with it, like getting outside the house and going golfing, or working on the garden, or going golfing, or yard work in general, or going golfing, or riding my bicycle, or going golfing, etc, etc ... (did I mention going golfing?)
Now that the weather is finally starting to climb above the 60s at times, it can only be a matter of time before winter is put aside for another year and we get into the good weather months of the L-C Valley.
I am ready.

Baseball been berry, berry good to me

2009-03-09T22:42:00.000-07:00

Spring training is finally here and all I can say is -- IT'S ABOUT TIME.
I know that the game has been taken over in the slot of NATIONAL PASTIME, heck some might even say it is past its time, but I remain a fan.
Because on any given day, the unthinkable can happen. I have been at the ballpark when Reggie Jackson hit an inside-the-park home run while still a young member of the As. I have seen Juan Marichal, Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays and other numerous Hall-of-Fame players while growing up in the S.F. Bay Area.
For me, baseball still holds sway as the country's best professional sport.
I been waiting for this berry moment for a long time.

Getting close to triple digits on the can't wait to golf meter

2009-02-10T22:30:00.000-08:00

Ah, the lazy days of winter as we wait for the cold chill to leave and the local golf courses to utilize the art of cheap specials to get hackers out on the links.
But there are a few duffers like myself who await the first tee time of the year by taking a few hacks at the driving range and for every good swing comes the illusion of putting together a good round of golf. Seems funny that we can't wait to play and even though our expectations are probably way, way too high, we are smitten by the golf bug.
Looking for the online specials to find the best deals to play a game that kicks our butts on a regular basis -- surely there must be some kind of diagnosis for this kind of behavior, "insanity" comes to mind.
But nonetheless, we anxiously wait for the special deal to allow us to pursue our passion -- albiet that passion comes cheaply. Meaning we shall not overpay for the opportunity to abuse ourselves.
I'm talking cheap. We buy "Big Drivers" at the local St. Vinny for as little as we can get away with. We look at garage sales for bargains like; golf balls at 4 for a buck, or nearly new bags or club covers for pennies on the quarter, or pull carts that look hardly used. We smile as we walk from the sale with a prized find that only belabors the fact we are delusional in thinking that this may be the item that helps us breakthrough the triple-digit score -- into the upper 90s.
We are a delusional lot, but pretty harmless -- unless you happen to be standing anywhere near us while we are teeing off, then we can be deadly.
Mark Twain said "golf is a nice walk in the park ruined." We say "what do you mean park, I spend most of my time in the rough."
Soon we shall golf. Soon.

The triple-digit day the music died

2009-01-29T20:35:00.000-08:00

Feb 3, 2009 will mark 50 years since a plane carrying rock 'n rollers Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and J.D. (The Big Bopper) Richardson crashed into the Earth, forever immortalizing the trio in the minds and hearts of rockers everywhere.
While I was only a young lad of 2 when the crash occurred, the effect on rock music has been long lasting -- especially since several movies have been made about the famous occupants of the single-engine plane that went down, and even one about the famous person, Waylen Jennings, who lost out to Richie Valens for the last seat on the doomed plane.
But my older sister Carol (who was 13 years older than I) and older brother Jim (who was 11 years older) were devotees of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and J.D. Richardson and I heard their music for many years while growing up.
Then while in my teen years, Don McLean paid homage to these early rockers with his "American Pie" magnum opus that continues to get me humming and singing along though I've heard it probably a million times.
Though the three most definately died too early, their music lives on, and on, and on.

Breaking through the triple-digit ceiling in Lewiston

2008-07-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

Shades of hotter than Hades, the third triple-digit day reared its ugly head in Lewiston on Thursday. The National Weather Service said the thermometer topped out at 102, but I'm sure most people thought it felt like 103, maybe 103.5.
At times outside it felt hot enough to melt you like the Wicked Witch of the West after some shameless kid threw a bucket of water on her for no reason at all.

Triple-digit diary
The Lewiston-Clarkston Valley’s first 100-degree day of 2008 last week tied the latest date in a seven-year comparison period.
In 2007, the first 100-degee day was on Sunday, June 3, with 101, a record for the day. It was on June 26 in 2006, June 21 in 2005, June 23 in 2004, June 29 in 2003 and June 26 in 2002.
The year 2007 had 13 100-degree days in Lewiston, second-highest since 2003. The record was 2003 with 16 triple-digit days. The fewest was 2002, with seven.
In 2007, there were one two-day string of 100-degree days (in July), one three-day span (over the Fourth of July and the two following days) and one five-day span, July 10 through 14. One of the 13 100-degree days was in June, 10 in July and one in August. The latest 100-degree day was Aug. 2.
Since 2002, the record is a seven-day streak of 100-degree days. That was in 2006 from July 21 through July 27.
The hottest summer temperature each year? In 2007 it was 108 on July 5; in 2006, 109 on July 23; in 2005, 104 on July 31 and Aug. 21; in 2004, 105 on July 14 and Aug. 14; in 2003, 106 on July 29 and 30; and in 2002, 110 on July 13.

It's the end of the world as we know it

2007-03-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

Mid-March, and yet it seems like the year is already flying by.
Already out of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament pool when Wisconsin got beat yesterday, what's there to look forward to now?
Getting ready to send the kids to Disneyland where they will be with 100 or so other students from Clarkston, Wash., all members of the Clarkston High School marching band and they are supposed to march at Disneyland.
They will be gone for a week, I'm not sure how my wife and I will handle the boredom that will be our house without them.
But I don't envy their trip, they will crowd everyone onto three buses and drive to Disneyland from Clarkston. It is supposed to take them about 18 hours to drive straight through.
Man, who wants to sit on a bus with 40 high school students for about 18 hours straight?

Oh well,
Good luck to them all and it will be a spring break they won't forget.

RT

Baseball been barry, barry good to me

2007-03-09T22:37:00.000-08:00

Well, spring training is here, just a prelude to the regular season. We can't wait for the season to start, expecting a great race out of the National League West. I don't think the Padres will be able to repeat. It may be down to the Dodgers and Giants top win the division, some say Dodger pitching will carry them, but I think their lack of power and shoddy defense is going to hurt them more than their pitching will carry them. But we shall see.

Again with the rabbit

2007-03-07T22:53:00.000-08:00

Well, my kids are off playing at the TacomaDome as part of the pep band while the Clarkston High School boy's and girl's play in the state's championship series. Both teams have little chance of winning, but the kids are digging being away from home with a bunch of other like-minded teens and away from their parents.
Odd, being in an empty house and missing the heck out of them. We may joke about them, but they are good kids and my wife and I miss them when they are gone somewhere.
Another oddity I am noticing, is the sharing my thoughts in a medium that can be seen by as many people as want to.
Oh well, join the movement, or be left behind.

RT

On the blog trail

2007-03-02T21:28:00.000-08:00

Day 2 of blogging for an old geez,

Wondering how many of my generation actually blog?
It seems to be the rage, but do people actually socialize anymore? or is life all about the fantasy of visualizing an unknown person?
I don't know, but I can see some real uses for this to communicate with family far away. Almost anyone has, or can get access to the Web and thus be able to blog. With a little practice, we can all blog the rabbit.

Blogging the rabbit

2007-03-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

First time for everything I guess.
At 50 years of age, I find myself blogging for the first time.
I wonder if this is how my great-grandmother felt the first time she listened to the radio.
According to stories told through the family, my great-grandmother immigrated to the U.S. from Scotland and had never before heard of the radio. She couldn't understand how they could make someone fit inside that box.
Now my two high school-aged children are as comfortable blogging as I was playing stick ball in the summertime in the S.F. Bay Area when I was growing up.
Life moves on and we either must adapt, or get left behind.