Blogger can cause problems. I just lost everything I had worked on for an hour because it automatically saved when I tried to do something fancy with HTML and accidentally removed a section of text. I don't see an Undo, so there was no way to renovate the deathless prose I had lost. And now it doesn't appear online. Who knows why?
At any rate, since last November I have:
- Folded my 6'4" lankiness into a train coach seat for three days and nights to Calif.;
- Been waitperson ("Hello, my name is Dale and I'll be your server. We have a special on alfalfa flakes and various mixed grains.") to a herd of assorted horned and cloven-hooved critters, plus some angry geese (talk about honkys), a turkey that put some moves on my lady friend, and other fine feathered fiends;
- Driven 100 miles to give a sample so my new employer could feel satisfied I wasn't a drug-crazed luny; (luny is OK, it's the drug-crazed part they had a problem with)
- Visited beautiful Silicon Valley and passed through the James Lick Observatory on our way out of town;
- Slept in the Garlic Capital of the world (Gilroy, Calif.);
- Driven down Highway 1, 200 feet above sea level, as the sea came crashing onto the rocks below us;
- Driven through Death Valley in 40 degree temperatures, and walked 134 feet below sea level;
- Strolled across London Bridge in the foggy evening;
- Toured the Casa Grande prehistoric Indian ruin near Florence, AZ;
- Bought a hot chili ristra in Tuscon;
- Skirted the flying saucers near Roswell, NM;
- Fled from Arizona to Minnesota in two days, ducking through a gap in the December march of blizzards that put the Midwest in traction.
During the entire trip it was warmer in Minnesota than in either Calif. or Ariz.
And all of that happened in December!
In this new year of '07, I'm working as a tech writer for the USPS (after receiving the interview request about five minutes after I'd decided I might retire).
I've been out practicing my golf twice already, using a pitching wedge to see whether I could replicate my swing on a regular basis.
I practiced putting, pointing my left elbow at the flag and letting my body do the work. (I seem to guage the distance pretty well that way.)
Chipping, I tried keeping my hands absolutely still, while I swiveled only my wrists. It's as if I had my hands touching my leg, and not moving from that spot while my wrists did the work. As a result, the club chopped up and down and picked the ball out cleanly. The technique seems to work well up to about 50 feet, so I'll have to keep trying to perfect it.
Now I'm getting excited because I've been invited to play the TPC (Tournament Player's Course) in Blaine, north of the Twin Cities, June 4, and the Quarry in Biwabik June 10. I'll keep you posted.
