Just Plain Chips

I finally got my first few holes of gold in today. Chris and I went to Hyland Greens in Bloomington on a beautiful sunny day that only got into the upper 80s while we still played. Hyland is a par 3 course with 18 holes, a short 9 and a long 9 and is only $10 for 9 holes. For some reason the course was empty today, we couldn’t believe it. We played the long 9 and I must say I shot about the best golf of my life.

I know people that are worse golfers than me, but I have always been very erratic and I have no strong parts of my game. Today everything was a little more consistant than normal and every part of my game was a little stronger than normal. I started off the first two holes with great tee shots and had chances for par but missed them and ended up with bogeys. I am always happy with bogeys. I ended up bogeying the first 5 holes in a row! It was unprecedented. Almost every hole was the same, a close approach from the tee, a chip shot way too good for who was shooting it, and then a two putt for the bogey. I was very excited.

But then, something happened on the 6th and 7th holes. The old Brenden came back. I shanked my tee shot on the 6th, then shanked my second shot. And then everything went as the rest of the day had gone: nice approach, nice chip, two putts for a 6. Nearly the same thing happened on the 7th hole. I hit my tee shot out of bounds. Way out of bounds. Over the fence and into the street! If I had shot it two seconds later it would have hit a very new looking SUV. Luckily it didn’t but only bounced off of the road about 30 feet in the air and into the yard across the street. Yikes. I took my drop and the rest of the hole went okay and I ended up with a respectable (for me) 5.

The last two holes were back to my great day. On the 8th both Chris and I hit tee shots just to the left of the green into a bunker. His was a little short of mine. He chipped out very nicely to within about 6 feet of the pin. Seeing this must have inspired me as I stepped up and chipped out to about 8 inches! I’m pretty sure it was the best sand shot of my life. I had a short, but nerve racking putt for par. Which I made, which made me very happy. The last hole went something like the first 5 holes. Approach, chip, two putts for a 4.

Chris of course did better than me. I think he’s better at me at pretty much any athletic activity that we both participate in. It’s quite uncanny. But I was very happy with my round. It was a beautiful day, I got some sun, I got to see Chris. What a day!

Here’s how the score card looked:

Hyland Greens Long 9

Par was 3 for each hole for a total par of 27.

How was your Friday night?

Mine wasn’t too bad. The neice and nephew were over and they’re always fun to see, even if Elaina was in a very fussy mood. My friends Chris and Julie stopped by to say hi. I hadn’t seen them in probably a couple of months. Lauren, their daughter, was with. She liked looking at Elaina and playing with some of Luke’s toys. Probably 10 minutes after they left another friend from college, Erin, called. She had finally gotten back into town from Lake Tahoe so we caught up a little bit on what was going on in our lives.

So I didn’t go out or do anything exciting, which is what most people think of for a Friday night. But I had a good time nonetheless.

I got nothing. Nothing at all.

Well, there was a huge spider in my bathroom this morning. That was pretty exciting.

So my dad and I went to the Air Expo on Sunday, didn’t we?

It was pretty fun. I didn’t enjoy it as much as my dad did I think, but that would have been hard to do. He loves airplanes and he loves WWII history.

A few of the highlights, let’s see.

The coolest person, to me, that we saw one of my uncle’s father, Ed Dunn. He was a B-26 pilot in WWII. He was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, which is the second highest military decoration in the US Army (behind the Medal of Honor) and is awarded for “extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force”. He was piloting his B-26 (over Europe I think) when his plane was hit with major flak and took serious damage. His crew of four was immediately decimated. Two crewmembers were killed and the remaining two were injured. He considered bailing out of the crippled plane but decided the only way he and his crew were going to get back with any chance was to fly home. He took the plane back to base with his tail being held on basically by the skin of the plane and performed a crash belly landing at the base because the landing gear was jammed and he couldn’t get them down. I’ve known Ed since I was a kid and I had never heard this story, it was so amazing.

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A pretty slow day here in the world of just plain chips. Work has been a little busy, lots of cabinets being delivered to the finisher. I just ordered some speaker grill cloth, that was exciting.

Last night was one full of accomplishments and encounters. I headed out from work towards Burnsville to go buy some speaker cloth, but the guy had closed up shop. Luckily the address (which was still given on the message when you called his phone number) was occupied by someone who knew the guy and he was able to tell me I was out of luck.

I then headed to Apple Valley, to Matt and Jenny’s house, to do some computer maintanance. They had a corrupted registry file that didn’t allow the computer to boot. The solution to this problem is documented here. Unfortunately there was one little snag, whenever I tried to start the recovery console, the computer would reboot again. This was a problem I had never seen before and it wasn’t a good sign. Luckily the solution was not much more difficult, it just took a bit more time. I installed a separate copy of Windows on the box and booted into that, then I was able to copy and delete the files that I needed in the original copy of Windows. Anyway, as payment I was given a delicious dinner of steak, cous cous with green peppers and onions, broccoli, and salad. Jenn’s dad stopped by as well, so it was nice to see him. The kids were hilarious and playful. Elaina was smiling and cooing and Luke had all sorts of stuff he wanted to show me and do with me.

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I didn’t mention that for dinner last night I had Sir Winston’s Toasty Cheese or some such thing. Basically it was a grilled cheese sandwich and cream of tomato soup–one of my favorite meals ever. It was very good and I was glad I ordered it.

Anyway, I came across a tip today on how to make sure the cheese melts completely when making grilled cheese. I’m going to have to try it next time.

Well, overall I had a good night last night. I wasn’t as comfortable as I was at last month’s get together, but I still had a pretty good time. There were way more people there, some of which I didn’t even get to meet. For a few reasons I just wasn’t as talkative and outgoing as last time and that’s just not the mood you need for events like this. But I did pretty good with meeting and talking to new people, including four people from Eritrea, which I had never heard of before a week or so ago.

I still got home too late, so that’s a sign of a good night, right?

About one month ago I went out to a singles networking/happy hour “event”. I was very nervous about it, but ended up having a great time. The group is going out again tonight and even though I’ll know a few people (you know, having met them once a month ago) I still can’t help but be a little nervous. We’re heading to Brit’s Pub (warning: stupid flash intro) which is one of my favorite bars in downtown Minneapolis. Though I don’t think I’ve been there in 5 years, since my 5 year high school reunion.

I’m quite confident that I’ll have a great time tonight. It’s just in my nature to be a little nervous about getting together with people I don’t know all that well. Though I guess I sometimes even get nervous about seeing people I know, if it’s been a long while or something. Though that could just be excitement butterflies as opposed to trepidation butterflies, depending on who I’m meeting.

If you look at this google map of Brit’s you can see the bowling green that they have on the roof. It’s a pretty cool place.

I know at least one person from “Hicksville, USA” as she puts it. And I know there are a lot of small town people out there who say they’re from the same place.

But aren’t you glad you’re not actually from Hicksville? Hicksville, NY, that is. (If you’re from Hicksville, NY, I’m sorry)

I went along with Chey to a movie she wanted to see at the Lagoon Cinema. The movie was Yes. It is an independent, artsy type film. It is the story of a woman in a cold marriage having an affair with an exiled Lebanese man in England. Chey was thinking that the movie would be a little steamier than your normal fare and interesting. She was way, way, way off on both accounts.

First, it was pouring out. Luckily I had changed my head light since the last time we had seen a movie on a rainy night and I could see alright. We pulled into the parking lot at pretty much the exact same time, I parked right next to her, and we ran over to the theater. Being the gentleman that I am I had no umbrella for her to use. The partially transparent, white top she was wearing was not what one would normally consider “ideal” for the situation. There was a huge line outside the theater, which we got into. After only a couple of minutes of standing around we figured out that it was a line for another movie. We skipped by it, got our tickets, and headed to the theater. Phew!

And then we sat down to watch. Yikes. Chey will readily admit that she missed the ball on this one. She said that she usually picks out good ones, but not this time. It was pretty painful at times. At the beginning we were trying to figure out what was strange about the way everyone was speaking. It just all seemed so high-brow and unnatural. I started to notice a few rhymes every once in a while and a certain rhythm to the way they were speaking. After a while, it had become clear; they were all speaking in rhyming iambic pentameter.

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When I went to the U, we always called it “the U“, knowing full well that it wasn’t the only U in the world or the US. It’s not even the only U of M. The guys on ESPN’s NFL Tonight always refer to the University of Miami as “the U”. I think mainly because Michael Irvin went there and the insignia on their football helmets is a big “U”. But I’ve seen stories in newspapers (even other than the Strib or Pioneer Press) and on sports websites calling the University of Minnesota “the U“.

But just because I was curious I searched for “the U” (in quotes) on google today and what should come up as the first hit? Why, the U’s website. Just like the proof that I’m a doctor google’s high ranking proves that my U is the U

If you like Star Wars, and like funny, and have a few spare minutes, you should read this. Someone “re-wrote” the script to Episode III. He puts all of the thoughts that fans have about the plot holes and bad acting into the characters mouths. I enjoyed it.

Yesterday my dad and I went to the Air Expo out at Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie. After that we hit Culver’s. And then that evening we started a game of Axis and Allies.

I’ll try and go into more detail later.

Before last night I hadn’t babysat Luke and Elaina. I watched Luke once a while ago, but that was before Elaina was born. I’ve wanted to get a chance to babysit for Matt and Jenny so they can go out every once in a while as kind of a thanks for letting me live with them for a while, and also just to give them a break.

So I was chilling out yesterday and Matt gave me a call saying they wanted to go out for a birthday party and wondered if I could watch the kids. After only a little delay I said I would. I headed over after a tasty dinner of mac and cheese. The whole family was outside when I got there and Luke was running through the sprinklers. When I parked he ran right over to my car and after I rolled the window down he asked “What are you doing in there?”. I told him I was coming out and he said okay.

The night was pretty easy. Luke told me a few things about the day and showed me some of his new toys. But he went up to bed before too long. He was pretty upset about it but was finally convinced to sleep. Elaina was still awake and smiling and cooing. She is becoming quite a talker. Matt fed her a little bit and before too long he and Jenny left for the party.

The rest of the night was pretty easy. I played with Elaina for a bit before she started fussing again (but not too much) and I fed her. By the end of the bottle she could hardly keep her eyes open, it was so funny. Of course, when she was done she was too tired to fall asleep. I just rocked her and sang a little bit and she finally started nodding off again. After putting her in her crib and putting a blanket over her she was asleep in only a little bit of time. I checked on her a number of times and she didn’t move all night. I had to tickle her hand just to make sure she would move it.

I spent my night laying on the couch watching a Good Times marathon on TV Land. I had only seen a few episodes of it in the past and remembered it being pretty funny. There were lots of funny moments, a number of cheesy moments, but what surprised me were the number of serious moments. Obviously the situation the family was in was different than shows I used to watch, like say, Family Ties. There were just different issues that the Evans family had to deal with compared to the Keaton family.

Anyway, Matt and Jenny came back about midnight after my easy evening. They had a good time at the party, but they smelled like smoke. We chatted for a while and I left for my short 40 minute drive back home. Not a bad Saturday night, spent with my neice and nephew.

This is a message to all of my friends of leaden feet. To my friends who love the exhilaration of high speed. To my friends who don’t know the meaning of the words “Speed Limit”.

Have you seen the cops out there this week? I don’t know about your towns but in Eden Prairie they are out in force. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been seeing EP police on Valley View Road on my way home. But this last week there have been lots and lots out on 212 and Hwy 5. My dad saw a speed trap on Shady Oak and 212 and I saw about 3 squad cars on short drives this morning.

Oh, and on our way home from Apple Valley last night there were 5 squad cars on Cedar/77 just south of the Mall of America. The funny thing was that there were Minnapolis and Airport squad cars. I’m not sure how the whole “jurisdiction” thing works, but it didn’t seem quite right.

I’m not saying they’re everywhere. I’m just saying be on the lookout.

So the family went to Luke’s program last night. Before hand we had a dinner off of the grill at Matt’s house. A burger and hotdog for dinner is never a bad thing.

So we headed to the church and saw where Luke’s class had been and then we all filed into the sanctuary. Holy cow! There were hundreds of people there. I then remembered Jenny saying something about “a hundred kids or so” but it wasn’t until I had walked in when it hit me. We found a spot and after a couple of announcements they started calling the kids up to the front. First the 1st through 5th graders went up on the risers. There were tons of them up there. For some reason I had been expecting some little thing. I suppose it was because since this wasn’t my old church, which was gigantor, I figured it must be tiny and there would be no kids there. I was wrong. It turns out that even a “normal” sized church can be pretty big and have lots of families.

So then they called up the kindergarten and pre-kindergarten kids to stand in front. Which left all the youngest kids to stay in their seats for a while. Which is where Luke stayed.

Here is the happy Johnson family before the show.

After a couple of very happy sounding churchish songs, which is just as fun to listen to as you might expect if your kid isn’t actually up there, they finally called up the little ones. So Jenny started walking up there with Luke. I had Matt’s video camera going to capture the moment and let them watch without having to worry about it. As soon as Jenny set Luke down and told him to go stand with the other kids the entertainment began. I’m pretty sure anyone watching the video I took will get sick because the picture will be shaking from me laughing so much.

Luke was not really into being up there with the other kids. Jenny sat down in the front row and tried to encourage him to go up there and sing (which he had been doing a little at the dinner table). But he was having none of it. This was the scene:

He ran to his mom and pretty much just stood there with a pout on his face. He went to his dad for a while and sat in his lap and after that he went to his aunt Melissa and stood behind her for a bit.

So that was the performance. Pretty much what I was expecting, but still worth a number of laughs actually seeing it play out.

As soon as the songs were done and Luke was out of there, he perked right up. There was an ice cream social afterwards and as soon as Luke heard the words “ice cream” that’s pretty much all he thought about. We made our way out and all had a bowl. I had mine with butterscotch topping. Mmmm.

After some ice cream and some running around, we all had smiles on our faces.

You ever have a few of those days?

Nothing major happens, just lots of little things that grate on you just the “right” way. I don’t know what it is (well, I kind of know, but like I said, nothing big) but I’ve just been more and more frustrated and perturbed the last few days. I’m hoping this weekend will be nice and relaxing and fun. I’m just glad I don’t have to work at all this weekend like some people.

Well, a fairly busy work day is almost done. It ended up better than yesterday, but it seemed a bit hectic at times.

My parents and I are driving down to Matt and Jenny’s for dinner tonight. And then after that we are going to see Luke in a Vacation Bible School program. I am really looking forward to that. I have no clue how he’ll do. But I’m guessing it will be funny, for the good of the program or not.

I’ll have a full report later and maybe even some pictures tomorrow.

When you’re like me, you appreciate doing the little things in life.

When I went to Wedding Crashers the other night I had to drive through a big rain storm to get to the theater. What made the drive more fun was that I only had one working headlight. I could hardly see the lines in the road in front of me, it was a little nerve racking.

So finally, last night I found and went to an auto parts store near my house and bought a replacement halogen bulb. I got home, popped it in, and I once again had two working headlights. These are the kinds of accomplishments that make me happy, I am looking forward to having enough light next time I drive at night.

And then tonight. I got home from work and hit the road for a nice sweaty run in the 90+ deg heat. This time I did the whole 2 1/4 miles running with no little breaks. It was neat to feel great through the whole run and only have it feel difficult right near the end. It isn’t the longest run ever, and my just over 9 minute mile pace isn’t the fastest, but I did better than the last time I was out and that’s all I really care about.

This is a followup to my post on real probability.

My brother Brian and I, when we lived together in Bozeman, read a lot of interesting books and talked about a lot of interesting topics. A couple of books that I remember being the most interesting covered such diverse topics as chaos theory, time, and quantum mechanics.

Something I remember reading about was called quantum tunneling. What that is, in simple terms that most people (like me) still won’t understand, is basically the phenomemon of electrons showing up in energy states that they shouldn’t be in. There is a certain small probability that the electron will “break through” an energy barrier and end up in a state that it normally shouldn’t be in.

Because of my lack of understanding and reading too much into some of the analogies that were given to explain the concept I had this idea that actual atoms could tunnel through physical barriers, instead of electrons through an energy barrier. Brian and I immediately expounded on the idea.

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