Well, at least the weekend is here

Well the work week is done thankfully.  I can't say it was the greatest week of my life.  But work went well, I actually got in a little online poker at night, and the wife and kids are ok. Which is pretty big because my younger son was recently in the hospital for diverticulitis.  He spent almost a week in the hospital and of course was not feeling all that great when he got out.  But I saw him on Friday and he told me he was pretty much back to normal.  He had no problem giving his old man a hard time so I figure he is probably right.

We played in a golf tourney Saturday afternoon.  It was hot, humid and breezy, like a normal Florida summer day.  We played pretty well shooting 4 under but it wasn't enough to finish top 3.  And I didn't expect to.  We left a few shots on the course that might have gotten us there but really, to win these best ball tourneys you need someone who can kill the driver and none of us are that big a hitter.  We got one guy who hits it 260 or so but there are some young guys who can really hit it 300 yards or so.  An old guy like me is lucky to get it over 235 yards with a driver.  When I was a young man I used to be able to hit a ball 230+ yards with my 3 wood.  I never used my driver because I had no control over it but I hit the 3 wood very well.  Of course I could swing a club 100 mph back then.    I've played with guys 20 years older than me who can swing faster than that.  I imagine with my weight loss and the fact I'm playing a lot more my swing speed is  bit faster but I doubt its over 85.  So no one expects me to hit 275 yard drives.  Or even 250.  The one win I did have yesterday was in the raffle after the tourney where I scored a gift card to Golfsmith.  I see something new and possibly shiny in my golf bag. 

Watched the Preakness Horse Race last night.  Thankfully it rained like crazy and delayed the race 30 minutes which meant I didn't miss it driving home from the golf course.  And it was a successful race at that.  Saturday morning before I went to the course I dropped by Derby Lane and put down some bets for the race.  One bet I took was an exacta box with Exaggerator with 3 other horses, one of them being the 1 horse, Cherry Wine.  I did not take Exaggerator with Nyquist because the odds were too low on the 2 of them.  It was bad enough getting $30 for a $2 exacta in the Derby but at Pimlico the 2 of them would have paid like $8.  So I took Nyquist with some long shots and I did an exacta box with Exaggerator and some longer shots.  The box pays half of the regular exacta bet but when Cherry Wine slipped past Nyquist and took second, the exacta paid 88 for a 2 dollar bet.  And it paid me 44.  So far I've hit the exacta box in both big races this year.  I am usually lucky to hit one bet in all 3 races combined.  So its all good this year.  And I also cashed a place ticket on Cherry Wine for another 9 bucks.  Woo hoo, I'm rich.  NOT.

Damn my knee is sore today.  I'm afraid there is really something wrong with it as I didn't strain it yesterday but I'm feeling it today.  Tomorrow I'm calling the Dr so I can get it looked at.  One of my coworkers thinks I have a problem with my MCL which wouldn't surprise me.  As long as it isn't an ACL.  I thought losing weight and exercising was supposed to make me feel better, isn't it?  I think I'm paying for the sins of my youth now.  As Paul Newman said in one of my favorite movies, Nobody's Fool, "we wear the chains we forge in life"  (And his ex teacher asked, I don't suppose you know who said that.  Why you did Miss Beryl, all through 8th grade.)  A lot of great lines in that movie done by a terrific cast but I'm sure I've mentioned this movie before.  If you get the chance, watch it.  I'm pretty sure its available on Amazon Prime or Netflix.

Well enough for now.  Not much happening in my world.  Hey I did buy a new pair of shorts today since most of mine are falling off of me.  That's a good problem to have I suppose but it's getting expensive.  I better bet a lot more on the Belmont.  Or stop dieting. I'll know which one I'm doing in 3 weeks. Till then, I'll try to hit them long and straight, or at least straight.