A Christmas Eve Tradition

I had never touched a golf club until we moved to Florida a little over 3 years ago.  Once fully settled in with the palm trees, Lincoln Continentals, and two-for-one drink specials, I decided that I would become a golfer.  It wasn't hard.  Hit the white ball, say a string of poetic profanity, rinse and repeat for 4 hours.  Then follow that by rewarding myself with cold beer.  My kind of sport!  Couple that with the fact that I have some limitations due to a couple of fused ankle joints, and this sport allows you to drive around to get to the next  point, well, it's a win-win!

Today marks my first golf outing post sub-talar ankle fusion, and I am so excited!  I could barely get through my last round of golf, 5 days pre-op almost 9 months go.  The love of my life have golfed every Christmas and New Year's Eve for the last three years, and I didn't want to break that tradition.  I feel strong enough to get through the round, and believe that my ankle will hold up nicely.

We'll be golfing at the world renowned World Woods Golf Club that's just a few short miles down the road from us.  They have beautiful grounds and friendly staff.  There are three courses to choose from, and even as a beginner there is something there for me.  

The weather is beautiful here in Florida today, and that will make my Christmas Eve round of golf that much better!!!


Edit:  The round wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible.  I survived without any major pain while hitting the ball.  I did have some pain/discomfort while walking around and general fatigue, but what do you expect when you have had a 9 month lay-off due to major ankle surgery?  I'm happy with the day.  And it was  beautiful!  The sun broke through the fog and turned my skin pink.  

The 5th Hole - one of my favorites.  Massive downhill with waste area to the right.

Golf Course Squirrel - a.k.a. fox squirrel or monkey squirrel.  These guys are so much fun to watch and they are totally fearless of the golf balls flying down the fairway.  

The Shed at MacRae's

This little gem on the Homosassa River is one of my favorite places to waste time.  An open air bar with friendly folks, cheap cold beer, great music, MacRae's is a destination.  On any given day you can find bikers, bankers, fishermen, and women dripping with diamonds.  The gentle mingle with the tough, and above the music all you hear is laughter. 
I spent Saturday afternoon and evening at MacRae's with the love of my life and our two best friends.  We had a few laughs, watched a cool Christmas boat parade, and enjoyed the beautiful Florida weather.
Perfect, bliss, memorable.

The Answer Machine

Oh, how far we’ve come.  Just the other day I was fondly recalling a family card game.  It was cutthroat, loud, and I recall some cheating going on by one particular person.  Conversations were ebbing and flowing, matching the game’s ups and downs.  Then, as certain as Christmas, a question would eventually come up that no one knew the correct answer to.  Well, at least two people were certain that they knew the correct answer as the challenges of the others in our family game night clutch besieged their notions. 

Then, without fail, the mad dash to the living room would divert our attentions from gaming to truth seeking.  Jostling and page shuffling would ensue as we groped the encyclopedia and ferreted out the answer.

Errrr, encyclo – what!?  Yeah, it seems that you either need to hit the correct ripple in time or step into the way-back machine to remember this...early 1990’s. Yep, a grand ol’ time when computers and their invasive technology weren’t in every home, much less at the finger tip. 

Yep, manual research was the way to find answers.  How those burning questions seared our hearts and plagued our souls during family game night. The correct answer must be found.  The repercussions for not finding the correct answers would result in casualties.  Correct answer—NOW!  The truth must be found for it seemed blackened eyes or, the much worse, bruised ego depended upon it.  Okay, that’s a little dramatic, but I do recall a particular Parcheesi game that got way out of hand one time, but I digress…

Then came the time, etched in my mind forever, the first time a friend “paid up” to find the answer to one of those burning question.  The place: Flying Saucer bar in Little Rock with the Internet on her new fangled cell phone.  Believe that?  Wow, Internet on a phone. The burning question: How old is Olivia Newton-John? Oh, the gravity answering that question.  Wagers in pints and drinking penalties were exchanged, and then silence fell as we all watched the phone “thinking” in the middle of the table. 

Another world, no, but certainly another time. Today answers are at our fingertips, literally.  I can answer burning questions, averting bodily and financial harm, on just about any subject my brain can conjure in a matter of seconds now. Easy, painless.

Recently, I discovered InfoBarrel while searching for truth concerning one of those burning questions. InfoBarrel? Why InfoBarrel?  Well, the question was an exact match, just what I was looking for.  The plain Google search is great, don’t get me wrong, but InfoBarrel was informative.  InfoBarrel employs “crowdsourcing” for information.

Crowdsourcing uses everyday people to find the answers to questions people are searching for.  People like you and me seek the information and write about it in our own way.  I find the articles on InfoBarrel to be both more informative and relevant in many ways.  There are some real gems there and sometimes the plain, efficient style of typical information sharing is thrown to the wind and an artist speaks.

The other reason I like InfoBarrel so much, is that I have a special place in my heart for aspiring and struggling artists.  I feel that someone who is working diligently at creating their art, and sure, trying to make a penny or two while doing it, really deserves the clicks and the link love. 

Now, I wonder what happened to those encyclopedias…as I recall, one game night we found a stash of Jackson’s in there….

Friendships in the Workplace

I have been working a full time job for over half of my life now, and the impact that these jobs have had on my life has varied over the years.  I've been the new person, the veteran, the middle of the pack, and the leader.  I've also made friendships along the way that have been maintained through many years in between each of these jobs.  Certainly, technology has helped those friendships with the creation of Facebook.


While I haven't had a lot of jobs in my working tenure, I've kept the ones I've had for long periods of time.  From a management perspective this is a very good track record.  When you work in the same place for an extended period of time you  tend to gravitate toward those people who are most like you, and those that you can relate to the most.  


I've been at my current employer for over 3 years.  For the first year I didn't make many "work friends".  My office was in a remote location, and it wasn't really possible.  Once I was brought into the  inner-circle of my current office, I forged two close friendships.  Both of these women are strong-willed, successful, outspoken and funny - kind of like me.


I've decided that as of this point moving forward that I will never make close friendships at work ever again.  Why that's just silly you are thinking.  Yeah, it probably is, but I like to think of myself as having a stony soul, but below the stone is a heart and feelings.  My feelings are of sadness this week.  


Those two friends are leaving.  One left on Thursday, one in three weeks.  Each friend has exciting and new opportunities that I am very happy about, but I can't help but feel sorry for myself, just a little bit.


My "girl gang" as we fondly call ourselves has become a party of 1 -- me.  These two women are rays of sunshine in a sometimes cloudy environment, they are the cool breeze in hell, and they keep me sane enjoying coming back each day.  


They both will be missed very much.