Gregory A. Fournier's Blog, page 53

Schlock Golfer Wins on Nineteenth Hole

Golf is less of a sport to me than a casual hobby. Usually hitting a bucket of balls or playing putt-putt miniature golf is enough to amuse me, but occasionally I make it out to a golf course to play in educational fund raisers with my friend, Dr. Mary Lawlor. She and I were paired with a couple of ringers, Larry and Dave, and we shot four under par in the shotgun tournament - four strokes over the lead score.

Two years ago, I played at Salt Creek Links in Chula Vista, CA, in the Eastlake High School Football Booster Club Golf Tournament, and something incredible happened. I hit a hole in one, my first and probably my last, and won a trip for two to Cabo San Lucas. Talk about lucky!  My ball bounced and rolled up to the green, hit the flag, and fell into the hole. It was an embarrassing triumph, but everyone treated it like it was a great achievement.

Last Friday, I returned to the scene of the crime for another go round. Despite playing better golf this year, I didn't get another hole in one. Where I shined was at the raffle after the dinner. Each participant received twenty-five tickets, and I won two out of the first three draws.

My first prize was a set of rechargeable DeWalt 12 volt tools: a drill and an impact driver. When my second number came up, I won a huge shopping bag from Trader Joe's, stuffed full of gourmet snack items: salami, candy, nuts, BBQ sauce, granola, trail mix, and a coupon for a free hybrid golf club. When I walked out to my car afterwards, my feed bag was almost as heavy as my golf bag.

Maybe there is something to this game!

Schlock Golfer Wins on Thirteenth Hole

Golf is less of a sport to me than a casual hobby. Usually hitting a bucket of balls or playing putt-putt miniature golf is enough to amuse me, but occasionally I make it out to a golf course to play in educational fund raisers with my friend, Dr. Mary Lawlor. She and I were paired with a couple of ringers, Larry and Dave, and we shot four under par in the shotgun tournament - four strokes over the lead score.

Two years ago, I played at Salt Creek Links in Chula Vista, CA, in the Eastlake High School Football Booster Club Golf Tournament, and something incredible happened. I hit a hole in one, my first and probably my last, and won a trip for two to Cabo San Lucas. Talk about lucky!  My ball bounced and rolled up to the green, hit the flag, and fell into the hole. It was an embarrassing triumph, but everyone treated it like it was a great achievement.

Last Friday, I returned to the scene of the crime for another go round. Despite playing better golf this year, I didn't get another hole in one. Where I shined was at the raffle after the dinner. Each participant received twenty-five tickets, and I won two out of the first three draws.

My first prize was a set of rechargeable DeWalt 12 volt tools: a drill and an impact driver. When my second number came up, I won a huge shopping bag from Trader Joe's, stuffed full of gourmet snack items: salami, candy, nuts, BBQ sauce, granola, trail mix, and a coupon for a free hybrid golf club.When I walked out to my car afterwards, my feed bag was almost as heavy as my golf bag.

Maybe there is something to this game!

Santee Lakes - Best Staycation in Santee, California

Santee, California, is located eighteen miles west of La Jolla, just east of the foothills. True, we don't have the Pacific ocean, but we do have the Santee Lakes. What began as a grey water reclamation project for irrigation quickly evolved into a recreation and campground facility which was opened to the public in 1961. This spring, The Santee Patch, a local activities website, ran a poll naming Santee Lakes "The Best Staycation" in East County.

Park and Recreation supervisor, Cindy Smith, is excited about the park renovations made over the last several years. There is a sidewalk that circuits four of the lakes in the "day use" part of the park, which local walkers and moms with strollers make daily use of, as well as children learning to ride their bikes. There are three new picnic shelters under construction, and a new playground is being built on Lake 1 to supplement the modern playground between Lakes 3 and 4 built five years ago.

Ms. Smith proudly reports that the Santee Lakes staff  has an aggressive facility improvement blueprint called the 21/21 Plan that will position the park for continued success in the twenty-first century. There are twenty-one projects planned at an estimated combined cost of ten million dollars.

Admission to the park is $3 per car on weekdays and $5 on the weekends. Fishing is a popular pastime with youngsters and adults alike. Several of the lakes are stocked regularly with trout and catfish. A one day adult permit for ages 16 and over is $9/day, while a junior permit is $6/day. An annual permit is also available for avid fisherman.

A kid favorite at the park is the Sprayground. This recent addition is a great way for children under thirteen to beat the summer heat. A $2 wrist band for each child can be purchased from the entrance kiosk. Paddle boats and canoes are available for rental at the General Store and are located on Lake 5. Picnic areas are popular and can be reserved for family use or for group events. They get heavy use on the weekends. The park also has something that reminds me of my youth - horseshoe pits.

Santee Lakes also provides overnight and weekly recreational vehicle and tent sites which get steady use from out of town visitors and "snowbirds" in the winter. Three floating cabins and seven lakefront cabins, built last year on Lake 7, have become so popular that there is a six month waiting list for reservations, so plan ahead.

To contact Santee Lakes, call (619) 596-3141 or email them at www.santeelakes@padre.org. Check out their link below for more information.

http://santeelakes.com/

  

Santee Lakes - Best Staycation in Santee

Preparing for Natural Disasters - Red Cross Advisory

Everywhere on Earth, natural disasters occur. Of course, they are only disasters from the point-of-view of humans who often choose to live in disaster prone areas. Native Americans have a saying: Where nature has gone, nature will return. It is the cycle of life.

Some places are susceptible to a particular type of disaster. In the United States, the Midwest has tornado alley, the Southern and Eastern seaboards are at the mercy of hurricanes, the Mississippi Delta is prone to catastrophic flooding, and the West Coast has the triple threat: earthquakes, brush fires, and tsunamis. In every instance, the American Red Cross is there to help the stricken and needy.

The Red Cross link below offers specific advice for every type of natural disaster. Generally, families should store emergency supplies (especially water), have a household evacuation plan, and establish a meeting place for family members to gather after an emergency. Take a few minutes to view their safety and wellness tips.

http://www.preparesandiego.org/BeRedCrossReady.aspx

Spectacular Panorama - California Brush Fire

San Diego - 2007
I found a site of nothing but 360 degree panoramic shots of an incredible range of eye-popping subjects. The video linked below will connect you with the site. I chose a shot from San Diego County as an example. Our California conflagrations are legendary, and so are the firefighters who battle them.

In late October 2007, half of San Diego County was on fire. After a hot, difficult week of trying to control the blazing inferno, two fire trucks pulled up my street on Halloween night and parked in front of my house while the kids were trick-or-treating. A crowd of excited kids and wary neighbors gathered expecting to be evacuated.

The firefighters, many with children of their own, couldn't be home with their kids. Six or seven of them in firefighting gear climbed off their trucks holding their helmets upside down, each brimming with candy. Weary and worn, they worked their way through the crowd handing out candy. It was a touching scene I'll never forget. We love our firefighters!

http://www.panoramas.dk/US/california-wildfire.html

Beware! Government Spys Words on Internet

Apparently, there are some people in this country who believe they have a right to privacy, but it's not in the Bill of Rights, though many of us feel it should be.

If you are on the internet, use a cell phone, have a GPS unit, use a credit card, been arrested, been born in a hospital, or have a social security number, not only the United States government but damned near anyone else on the planet, can find more information about you than you know about yourself.

In the link below, there is a list of hundreds of words the U.S. Homeland Security monitors in internet messages and in blogs. I've used a couple dozen of these words myself and plan to use more in the future.

Maybe this is why every time I travel by plane, my suitcase gets checked either coming or going. As I suggested earlier in this post, the presumption of privacy for individuals doesn't exist in the modern world.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2150281/REVEALED-Hundreds-words-avoid-using-online-dont-want-government-spying-you.html?ICO=most_read_module

American Bandstand 30th Year Special from 1982

The passing of Dick Clark truly marked the end of an era. Not a performer, not a musician, he made an indelible impression on the boomer generation, in Rock and Roll, and on American television.

When you want to time travel to a simpler time (for boomers anyway), here is the most enjoyable fifteen minute trip down memory lane you are likely to have for quite awhile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E5xy6gjnt4&feature=related

Free Cornish Pasty Recipe - British Soul Food

One of the regional food items in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is the Cornish pasty. Miners from England who worked the copper mines here brought this traditional British meat and vegetable staple with them; once heated, they are a warming and welcome lunch during brutal winter days.

When I worked at Zug Island in Lower Michigan, the workers would heat pasties, as well as other home cooking, by placing them on the fire brick or next to steam pipes. The comfort of a hot lunch on a freezing day can not be overestimated, and pasties doubled as hand warmers too.

If you have never had an authentic pasty, don't worry, they are relatively easy to make and they store well in the freezer for later use.

Traditionally, they are served with gravy if you are eating them on a plate. If you are eating them with your hands, like the working men did, ketchup is less messy and more convenient than gravy.

The link below includes a free recipe from a Cornish woman, and attached to that is a video which shows the proper pasty preparation technique. Enjoy!

http://www.picturebritain.com/2012/03/cornish-pasties.html

In the Interest of Truth

The elusive nature of truth is a concept dependent on so many factors. Nowhere is this examined better than in the film, The Outrage (1964) with Paul Newman, based on the Japanese classic, Rashomon.

A carnal crime against a woman and the murder of her husband are examined by an Old West court in front of the smoldering jail/courthouse which the defendant has burned down trying to escape. Each eyewitness tells a surprisingly different version of the same event.

The role of motive and point-of-view are examined in trying to determine truth, and this movie dramatically illustrates why eyewitness testimony is unreliable and considered soft evidence in court. Does truth lie in the eyes of the beholder? Where else would it hide?

In addition to Paul Newman as the notorious rapist, Carrasco; the talented Claire Bloom plays the "gracious" Southern belle; the distinguished Laurence Harvey plays her husband; William Shatner plays a disillusioned young preacher, before he donned the Star Trek uniform; and Edward G. Robinson, in what may be the best performance of his career, plays a cynical card player.

In actual life, we all have our elemental certitudes that determine how we view life and react to things. In matters and issues of religion and politics, it is difficult to navigate through the dogma and posturing to know what to believe. The philosophy that "I know what I know. Don't confuse me with the facts!" seems forever emblazoned on the banner of American public discourse.

For those seekers of truth regarding political rumors, urban legends, and outrageous claims made on the internet, the two websites below offer extensive and astute research to answer the question, "Is that true or what?" Ultimately, what people decide to believe is up to them and their conscience.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/cell411.asp#80v7hJ3ViqsUS7ee.01

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/reference/a/new_uls.htm