The prompt asks, what could you do differently? When I first looked at it, I thought it said what would you do differently, as in if you could live your life over again. A standard question asked of many famous people in the form of would you change anything if you could. Then there is the question, should you do something differently. Here are the definitions of each word. Could: The past tense of can. Can is defined as being physically or mentally able to. Would: The past tense of will. Will is defined as used to express futurity. Should: The past tense of shall. Shall is defined as to express what is inevitable or seems likely to happen in the future. Let’s look at the question using the present tense verb. What can I do differently? Well, that list could be endless, just to name a few. Eat better, sleep better, write better, golf better, be kinder, exercise more, and be less critical. All of these things I am physically and mentally able to do. What will I do differently? Well maybe about 3 of those things but I am not too sure about that. I’m old, pretty much set in my ways, and really, who gives a shit. What shall I do differently? Not a damn thing. A shitty answer to an equally shitty prompt. With the new year starting, no question, there are a lot of things I could be doing differently. Maybe when spring comes, I will be in a better mood to make some changes. For now, I am just going to plod along in my usual inept way. I should be fine, but could be better, if I would only try harder to make some changes. I think that is a little different thinking, don’t you?
The Present
Daily writing prompt
Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why?
You would think because I am old, I would spend more time thinking about the past. If I would hazard a guess, I would say I think about both, just about the same. There is no question that as a society we think about the future, to the point that I would call it an obsession. In fact, it is all we seem to think about. So much, for staying in the present moment. As soon as any event is over with in the world of sports there are immediate articles about who will win the next championship or will be the no. 1 draft pick next year. Who or what will, is the beginning of almost every sentence, when you read about anything related to sports. People start campaigning for office now almost 2 years before an election. Polls are taken anywhere from 18 to 24 months before an election. What is even more interesting about all these future thoughts is that we have become a society of instant gratification. If a new player gets off to a hot start over let’s say a 2-week period, then he is a future hall of famer. If another player gets off to a slow start over the same period or God forbid, even longer, then that player is a bust. Even news shows are obsessed with the short-term future because they keep telling you what is going to be shown in the next 10 to 20 minutes. Stay tuned is the number one phrase on the 6 o’ clock news now. A 90-minute newscast, between commercials, weather, and telling you what they are going to be showing you, is lucky to report on about 20 minutes of news. This obsession with the future is easy to understand. The fact of the matter is that most people think the present sucks. The future has to be better because the present can’t be any worse. Personally, I only think of the future when I am planning something. That something maybe simple like the meals for the week, or more complex like a big vacation. I only think of the past when I am looking at what I could do better or reminiscing about some good times. I like staying in and thinking about the present because that is where I am at. However, if you have a moment let me tell you about the next 30 blogs I have planned to write. The next one is titled My Life Sucks At The Present Moment.
Someone
The question is, what is the greatest gift someone could give you? First of all, it would depend on who that someone is? There are many possibilities. The first someone could be a complete stranger. The obvious answer to that one is money baby and lots of it. Depending on the amount, the other requirement would be they remain a complete stranger after they give it to me. They could give it to me in person, but that would be the extant of it. Now what would the amount have to be to let them at least socially become part of my life. I would say about a half a million. If you are going to hand me less than that then just beat it after you give it to me. I would take any amount also, a few thousand or whatever, but just shake my hand, I will say thank you and then turn and walk away. The next someone could be what would be called an acquaintance. Now most of the people I know, although there are exceptions, don’t have a pot to piss in. The few that I do know that are well heeled I would take money from them as long as our relationship remains the same. For my poorer acquaintances, I guess I would want them to do some chores for me. Take the car for an oil change, shovel snow, cut the grass etc. Nothing huge but just some things so I could play more golf. The next someone would be friends and relatives that are not close. The best gift would be to just continue to stay in touch and hopefully all of us will have good times with not too many bad experiences thrown in, although I know that those cannot be totally avoided. Unfortunately, things have to change but hopefully the good things will change slowly, and the bad things will happen quickly, so we can move on to more pleasant times. The final someone is my immediate family and the greatest gift they can give me they already have. I am proud of all of them and the lives they have chosen to lead. It is easy to relax and enjoy the golden years, when the people you are closest to and love, exemplify all the things that you feel make the world a better place. Thank you for the greatest gift that money can’t buy. But hey, any wealthy strangers out there, feel free.
Pirates Morning Report: 2024 Off Season ZZzzzzzzz, Sorry To Wake You Up
To say that the Pirate off season so far has been disappointing would be an understatement. The off season is far from over and things could change, but the Pirates have done almost nothing to improve their team. The re-signing of Connor Joe I took to be a bad sign that the Pirates were not really serious about 2024. It is amazing to me how much of a positive spin that some of the media have put on the Pirate off season so far. My favorite article was titled, A Look into the Bucs’ Talented New Trio. The article was referring to Rowdy Tellez, Billy McKinney, and Edward Olivares. These individuals may have some talent, but I am not too sure that it is playing baseball. The Pirates did a little better in acquiring starting pitching, but not much. For a team that was talking about contending for a divisions title when the season was barely over, they have not shown much of a propensity for trying to obtain talent to accomplish that goal. Let’s look at what they have done so far, and I know this is hard, but try and stay awake. We are going to look at the 6 main players the Pirates have acquired during the off season. Ali Sanchez looked like he was obtained in case the Pirates traded a catcher, may have a bigger role, now that Endy Rodriguez is out for the year. We will do the players in alphabetical order because they are all pretty much mediocre, with none having much of a chance of contributing to a division title. That’s not to say that there is no hope but if history is any indication, then it will be very surprising if any of these players have a WAR of 2 or over, which means they are a major league starter.
Marcos Gonzales left-handed pitcher going into his age 32 season and the last two seasons have not been that great for Marcos. In 2022 he became a below average pitcher with an ERA+ of 90 for the first time in 5 seasons. In 2023 due to some forearm issues had to have for lack of a better description a rare surgery to decompress a nerve. After the Garcia experience of last year, the Pirates thought, sure why not, let’s get him. As in most cases with such a situation, all sides are optimistic that he will be able to pitch a complete and successful season. If he is not on the IL opening day I will be surprised.
Billy McKinney, outfielder AND first baseman going into his age 29 season and for all intent and purposes has played the equivalent of 2 major league seasons. He has a lifetime OBP of 284 and OPS+ of 82, which means he is about 20% worse than the league average hitter. Last year with the Yankees he did manage an OPS+ of 98 and got on base at a 320 clip. He is at least an average fielder which as you will see is good compared to some. There is nothing in this guys DNA to suggest that he is ready for some break out season in 2024.
Edward Olivares, outfielder heading into his age 28 season. In the last 2 years he has 559 plate appearances which is about one season of playing regularly. Just to compare, last year Byan Reynolds had 640 plate appearances with an OPS+ of 113. Olivares over that 2-year period had an OPS+ of 110, close to Bryan Reynolds, so what’s the catch. That’s the key word catch. Olivares is a terrible fielder. In 4 seasons his Defensive Runs Saved is -21. When the Pirates first signed him, I thought that might mean they were not going to sign McCutchen because here was their new DH. Seeing him in right field will be quite the adventure.
Martin Perez, left-handed pitcher going into his age 33 season. The good news about Perez is that he is under 40 and has bullpen experience. He has been at or an above average league pitcher the last 4 seasons. He is the best of this group of six players but that’s not saying much. He can definitely help this rotation and be an asset to the team. His signing has not been made official, so there is always that.
Ali Sanchez, catcher heading into his age 27 season. Sanchez has practically no Major League experience having only 14 plate appearances. He has spent 10 seasons in the minor leagues. He says his favorite movie is Bull Durham. In his four seasons at AAA he doesn’t have too bad of numbers with a batting average of .275 while slugging .402. He should get an opportunity to show something this year with Endy out for the season.
Last but certainly not least, we have good old Rowdy Tellez or should we say David Vogelbach, the Turtle part 2. Both he and Vogelbach are listed at 270 pounds. Tellez has 4 inches of height on Vogelbach to spread those 270 pounds around a little better. He is coming off an injury plaque 2023 and I have not seen or read where he is trying to get into better shape. He had the big year in 2022 with 35 home runs having 599 plate appearances. Of the free agent first basemen out there, he is definitely at the bottom of the barrel. His defense is below average and considering we had one of the best fielding 1st baseman last year in Carlos Santana, this certainly can’t be considered an upgrade.
Well, are you still awake? The Pirates did re-sign Andrew McCutchen and if he can stay healthy may see some time in the field. Right now, the Pirates do not have anybody to competently play right field, unless they use McCutchen. Obviously, the off season is not over. There is plenty of time for moves, trades, and signings to be made. For the present, the Pirates cannot be taken seriously as a franchise that is trying to win a division title in 2024.
Doing Things For Play And Fun
What was the last thing you did for play or fun?
The latest thing I did for play and fun was a plane trip to San Diego yesterday to see the grandkids for the holidays. It was literally the last thing I did, because quite frankly I do everything for play and fun. I was lucky enough to find something I loved to do and I did that something for 44 yrs, with 29 of those years being my own boss. My other passion, golf, I have done for over 60 years and have had a blast. That doesn’t mean that I have not had sad times in my life. It means that if I am going to do something, no matter what it is related to, I am going to have fun doing it. I am a firm believer that work is play. You are going to be doing it 35 to 50 hours a week and if you’re not having fun then get a new career. I was an employee for 15 years and I found that this was a major difference, that most organizations were not having fun. I admit I have been lucky. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life and pretty much did it. I wish I had an answer on how to find your niche in life, but maybe that is a start. If you do something that you consider play and fun, try turning it into a career.
Meditation: All Or Nothing At All
All or nothing at all, they even wrote a song about it. The words to that song state that no, I would rather, rather have nothing at all. If I can’t have it all, then I want nothing at all. The song is applying this philosophy to being in love with someone. If I can’t have all of your love, then I want nothing at all. This philosophy seems to have been applied to other facets of our lives. You could say it is the I want everything syndrome. The career, the family, I want it all. In most cases I think this can be a painful and destructive way to think. This kind of thinking can keep us from many experiences and pleasures. All or nothing is not a very good philosophy.
One of the best examples of this, was when I was a young vet making house calls. I had a client that had 5 cats and would visit her apartment which was on the second floor over a business. I would see her cats for various problems and their yearly checkup and vaccinations. She also had 5 very large aquariums in various rooms of the apartment. They were all well maintained and had various types of fish and other aquatic animals. She even had a hospital tank that she took care of any sick fish. She was really into it to say the least, and seemed to really enjoy all the time and effort it took to take care of the aquariums. One day when I paid her a visit all the aquariums were gone. I was shocked and ask her what happened, and she told me, while she was a work, some kind of pump thing did not work, and one of the aquariums overflowed, with the water going down into the business below. Her landlord made her get rid of the aquariums. Sometime within the next year her brother bought a duplex and rented the 2nd floor apartment to her. When I went to the new place the aquariums were back in full force, including the hospital tank. She seemed to be quite happy when her hobby had returned. Things remained the same for about 2 years. When I came for a cat visit about 2.5 years later, low and behold the aquariums were gone, again. I asked if another accident had happened, upsetting her brother. She told me oh no, I just got tired of taking care of all the aquariums and it was becoming more of an expense, so I sold everything back to the pet store. I didn’t say anything to her, but I was thinking why not just have one aquarium and still be able to get the enjoyment without as much time or expense. I think she really did enjoy those aquariums. She used to tell me about how some nights she would just watch them. Because of this all or nothing thinking she was missing out on something that she seemed to really like.
All or nothing at all, seems to be at the center of many problems of the human condition. Even in matters of the heart the ability to see a person some of the time would seem better than never seeing them at all. This philosophy has seemed to have taken more of a foothold on society in recent years. Fans are not happy unless their teams win it all. Compromise seems to be a thing of the past in Washington D. C. We are going on fasts now. Eating nothing for an extended period seems like it might be beneficial according to some. We are being told to not drink alcohol at all. We seem to go to church all the time or not at all. If we are trying to accomplish a goal and are doing quite well for an extended period of weeks or even months but then have one bad day, we seem to abandon the entire project. Winning and losing is another all or nothing credo. There is no in between. You either win or lose. There is nothing good about the outcomes or the feelings that come about because of the above scenarios. We must think differently if we are to be happier and more fun-loving individuals. The famous line winning isn’t everything, it is the only thing, should be replaced by winning isn’t everything, it is only temporary. We need to continue to strive to be the best that we can be, but we need to do it in such a way that we are allowed to have bad days but continue to push on and enjoy the life we have for as long as we can. Our new thinking should be something, no matter how small, is always better than nothing. Enjoy and appreciate the good moments and forgive and forget the bad. If you really love or like someone or something, any amount of time spent being or doing, no matter how small is better than nothing. All, should never be the goal of the living.
Favorite Physical Activities or Exercises
When I was younger it was running. I would jog anywhere from 2 to 3 miles per day sometimes more. Once when I trained for a half of a marathon, I gradually upped it to around 9 to 10 miles a day. I was in my mid-forties when I ran the half marathon, and I learned one very important thing. I would never run a marathon. I would probably still be running today if it were not for an ankle injury I suffered in my early 60’s. After the injury I continued to run for about 5 years but when my significant other had her hip replaced and they told her no running, I decided that was as good as an excuse as any, and the last 5 years I have been a walker. I walk almost every day around 3 to 5 miles. My ankle is a minor inconvenience, and if I had more desire, I would probably jog on it every once in a while. My other activity of course is golf. Now people do not really think of golf as much of an activity, especially if you ride a golf cart which I do when I play 18 holes. The golf courses in Western Pennsylvania are very hilly and the terrain wreaks havoc on my ankle. When I play 9 holes, I will walk most of time but 18 is too much of a strain on the ankle. If you swing a golf club correctly, and that is the key word here, correctly, it gives the body a very nice workout. There is twisting, turning, and stretching of various muscles. The hands and wrists get a good workout. The golf swing helps you to maintain balance while performing a very refined movement. I have a very short 6 lb. weighted club that I swing every day. I also use the club to do arm exercises. The problem is, you can hit a golf ball by not using hardly any muscles, but it won’t go very far or straight. If you properly swing a club with some resistance and tension in the correct muscles, making a nice big turning swing, your body is going to get stronger. Not only that, but you are also going to be outside, not in some noisy claustrophobic gym where you can’t do anything until you wipe all the disgusting things that other people have left on the machines. Yuk! Golf is a great activity to keep the body fit and flexible. Not going to do much for your aerobic capacity but that is why you walk or run up the steps. This is a pretty easy way to keep fit.
Golf: Mystery No. 2, Good Shots, Where Do They Come From and Where Do They Go.
We have all had this experience playing golf. We are having a bad day, not hitting the ball well at all and then all of a sudden, we hit a great shot, whether it be a drive or an iron shot. As soon as I do something like that I say “Where do the good shots come from and where do they go”. The opposite can happen also. You get off to a great start hitting the ball down the middle and onto the green for anywhere from 3 to 15 holes and then you hit one of the worst shots of your golfing career. During a round, this phenomenon can happen off and on. This happened to me about 4 days ago. On number 1,3, and 5 holes I hit wonderful iron shots with two of them resulting in birdies. On 2 and 4 I hit absolutely horrible iron shots that resulted in bogeys. They were all from under 150 yards in, and basically from the middle of the fairway. A round of golf can take many different paths. You can get off to a bad start then around the 5th or 6th hole something clicks and you play well the rest of the round. That is not so mysterious to me. The next two scenarios are a big mystery to me. You get off to a great start and then it could be as early as the 7th hole, you just suddenly lose it. You play poorly for either the rest of the round, or around 3 to 5 holes, then boom you finish up strong. The last scenario is the biggest mystery, when you get off to a bad start, seemingly right the ship around the 6th or 7th hole, and then around the 14th or 15th hole your game goes south again. You can see this even at the highest level of play. The one that stands out, is Corey Pavin in the third round of a Masters, back in the late 80’s or early 90’s. After 2 rounds he was in the hunt, only 2 or 3 shots out of the lead. He had a horrible Saturday and was 10 over for the day heading to the 18th hole. There must have been a lull in the action because CBS elected to show him playing the hole. He hit a beautiful drive around the corner, hit an iron within 3 feet for a birdie to shoot 81.
Now many golfers feel that the most common cause of bad shots made by tour professionals are caused by pressure. There is no question that at that level the circumstances are a factor. The quality of shots at any level can be affected by the situation. Everyone has gone through the experience of coming to the end of a round with a chance to shoot your best score and fouling up the last 2 or 3 holes to miss it by one shot. This cannot explain the pattern of shots that I am writing about. That is not to say that some good and bad shots cannot be explained. The average golfer has a number of courses that he plays on a regular basis. Some holes just seem to fit a golfer’s eye so to speak and, on these holes, he has a tendency to hit better shots. On the other side of the coin there are holes that the average golfer does not like and therefore has more of a tendency to hit bad shots. In other cases, these great and terrible shots, to me, remain a mystery. Unlike the swings of the pros that look so bad but produce shots that put them on the PGA tour, I think this is a mystery worth solving. I am not too sure what is the biggest mystery, the good shot that comes out of nowhere or the bad shot that unexpectedly rears up its ugly head. Solving this mystery, I believe is tied into solving the mystery of the horrible condition known as the yips. I have battled the yips off and on for years. I will go along for 10 holes or more and not have one yip. Then bam I will yip a putt or chip. One of the so-called cures for the yips is to forget about them. I know this does not work because I am always shocked when I have the first yip of the day, so I am not thinking about them. Naturally when I have the first yip, I do think of ways to avoid future ones, sometimes succeeding and sometimes not. I went through how some rounds progress, but another problem of these good and bad shots is you can have days where it affects just one part of your game. Everyone has had the experience of having a day when you are driving the ball well and your iron game is terrible. You can have the opposite ball striking day or have the most frustrating day of all where your ball striking is great and the short game and putting are horrible.
Naturally, I have not solved this mystery, or I would not be writing this blog. Have I thought that I came up with a solution to this problem? I would say about 2,345 times. This mystery has been around forever. Most people say that it’s just golf. Some golf instructors like to call this the vagaries of golf, which means the unexpected or the inexplicable change in a situation. As a descriptive term, that explains the situation as well as any one word can, but this does not give us any answers. There are some clues to the mystery, but they are not 100%. There is no question, I get a certain feeling, just before I am going to hit a good shot. In other words, I know that I am going to hit a good shot. There are other times when the good shot is a total surprise. The same thing for a bad shot. I know the shot will not turn out, but I go ahead anyway, and I am not wrong. Again, some bad shots come right out the blue. I feel really really good but then I swing, and the result is horrendous. One thing that is obvious, good shots bring more good shots and bad shots do seem to perpetuate themselves. Like everything, both things eventually come to an end. The key to playing better golf is to keep the good shots going longer and the bad shots ending quickly. The quest will go on.
Wild Animals
Even though Western Pennsylvania is mostly a Democratic area, every once in a while, I do see a Trump supporter. They usually have that stupid ballcap on and I am always appalled because it is red and Ohio State colors are scarlet and gray. You usually see them in the outlying rural areas. They usually walk hunch over with their head down. When you are driving down these rural roads you have to be careful because they will have a tendency to run out onto the road, especially if they see any aluminum cans. They rarely have clothes on that fit, always a couple of sizes too small. Other than that, we will have a deer or two come into the yard. They do a very good job of trimming our shrubs. On the golf course I will see more deer and once in a while a fox. I don’t know our birds consider wild animals. We do have a lot of intelligent birds. They fly around and crap on Trump supporters only. Another reason I love living in Western Pennsylvania.
Two Favorite Things To Wear
My two favorite things to wear (Not 1 or 3 but 2) are underwear and a toboggan. Underwear because it keeps my testicles in place and therefore, I do not sit on them. There is no question as you age your testicles have a tendency to hang down just a little farther than they did in your younger days. The difference is just enough that if you are not careful you can sit on them, and it can really hurt. I wear jockey underwear. I just do not trust boxers to do the job. Before I write about why I like a toboggan, it does go by different names such as ski cap, beanie, watch cap, and snookie, just so everyone knows what I am talking about. When I googled this, it claimed that toboggan was more of a southern term for this kind of cap. I don’t know. I grew up in Martins Ferry, Ohio and that was only name I ever heard it called until I was an adult in Western Pennsylvania. Anyway, the reason it is one of my favorite things to wear is that it allows me to play golf in some pretty cold temperatures, around 36 degrees and above. When I was a younger golfer and played golf in these cold conditions, I use to secretly make fun of other golfers that wore toboggans. I actually considered this non golf wear. I don’t even remember what started me doing it, but as soon as I covered my ears, I could not believe how much warmer I felt. Just like your hanging testicles, as you age, one becomes more sensitive to cold weather, and I really thought my cold weather days of playing golf were coming to an end. My usual threshold for playing golf was 38 degrees Fahrenheit and no wind. As I was getting older, I was moving this up to about 42 degrees. Then when I started wearing a toboggan, I was able to go back to my original conditions of play, because of how much warmer I felt with my ears covered. In fact, I would have to say that the toboggan is my favorite piece of clothing even over the underwear. However, I would always get in the golf cart very carefully.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 