vernon

Good on you for making the trip and the sacrifice to help out others and glad you were able to make a difference. Hope your family members are doing well. The country could use a lot more great Americans like yourself.

That is terrible news. I had the chance to visit with him during a chance meeting at the ramp probably ten or more years ago. Maybe the nicest guy I've ever met. Shared all kinds of tips, information and locations with us just cause that's obviously the kind of guy that he was. We were just so impressed with the man. Perhaps even more telling though is the fact that I had no idea who he was and didn't find out and connect the dots until almost a year later. Once I put two and two together I always said that I was going to make it a point to hire him some day and to tell him thanks for helping out a couple of hacks. Unfortunately, I never got it out of the thinking stage. Way too young and way to good to leave so early. Very sad.

I'd probably guess that it was. Which is even worse.......

52" shaft?

Oh sure. And I'M a sandbagger? I feel so, so..........VINDICATED!

Aw, now that's just mean.......

I can honestly say that I've never heard anyone ever complain about anything on or at a golf course. And that includes when golfers are talking about golf, how they played, golf carts, pace of play, course maintenance, golf course management, you name it. Golfers just flat out don't complain about anything. Ever!

If there's such a law LOZ must be exempt (of course they are) cause there are hundreds if not thousands of docked boats up that way that have 20 - 30 foot of bow sticking out of their dock stalls. And those are the already oversized cruiser docks! At the rate it's going, it won't be long before all the rest of you guys are playing golf from Memorial Day to Labor Day too!

This weather has been pretty incredible. Played in a golf tournament yesterday up in Seneca, Ks. and at 900 in the morning the temperature was 55! Had to be the first time in my 64 and 1/2 years that at any time on any day in August that I've ever heard a bunch of grown men grumbling about the "cold" and hoping that it warmed up! My brother and I were both wishing that we had "remembered" to take a pullover. Really? How does one forget to take warm clothing for an outing in August in Kansas? Hope Labor Day weekend doesn't get snowed out!

Oh. My. God. That's like a Jerry Springer episode on water..........

That has to be extremely frustrating but is most likely the prudent call at this point. Even in situations of a much smaller scale, logistics, planning and organization is far and away the greatest challenge and more is seldom better from that perspective. Many years ago, I heard a pretty wise commander make the analogy of sending a thousand people to your residence to "help" you clean your house. Although they may be most capable and their intentions might be honorable, in reality their assistance isn't much help at all and actually makes things much worse. Hang in there. I'm sure you'll be able to contribute plenty when the time is right.

I hope it didn't come across that I was speaking to you specifically as I'm sure you know the deal and will coordinate appropriately. Just kind of a general statement to those who might be considering going down that way. If you were in Joplin you completely understand how it can get pretty crazy when a bunch of cowboys that watch too much TV decide they're going to save the world but have absolutely no idea what they're doing or what they're getting themselves into. They literally do more harm than good and just get in the way of the professionals. I'm sure tensions are running extremely high in all of those areas and the first responders have to be running on fumes by now. They said yesterday that Houston 911 received 56,000 calls from 1000 Saturday night to noon on Sunday. Compared to an average of 5,000 for a "normal" 24 hour day that's hard to comprehend. Having been a small part of the Joplin effort myself it's hard to believe that that was actually a pimple on a flea's behind compared to what's going on in Texas. Epic, biblical level stuff....... God love you for wanting to help however you can. Be safe and the best of luck to you and your family members down there. I'm afraid they're all going to need all they can get and then some for the foreseeable future.

I would strongly encourage anyone contemplating heading to Houston or anywhere else impacted by Harvey to make every possible effort to coordinate their journey with either FEMA, the Red Cross or other local officials. The last thing they need is a bunch of yahoos showing up unannounced and complicating matters even more. Without some sort of pertinent training, well intentioned volunteers can quickly become casualties that then require rescuing themselves compounding the dilemma. I would bet anything that folks willing to pitch in behind the scenes, performing the less glamorous tasks like loading supply vehicles, serving meals, setting up shelters, etc. would be much more valuable and purposeful than guys with boats looking to "rescue" people. Even the above attached article states that the group obtained proper clearance and approval to participate. That's an extremely volatile and dangerous situation not unlike a war zone and will be for months. As a former firefighter, all that I'm trying to say is that good intentions don't always equal good results so please plan cautiously and act judiciously.

In May of 1974 I swore that I would never eat another bite of Hamburger Helper, Ramen noodles or a 7-11 burrito! And, more importantly, I ain't!

Actually, as I remember it, the sentiments and comments were nearly identical when I went to college as they are now and that was 45 years ago. Everyone was asking, Why does college have to be so expensive, who can afford these tuition rates, education is pricing itself out of business, we'll be paying on these student loans until the day we die! Sounds similar to folks talking about buying a new boat nowadays but I digress. My first two years in college were the fall of 1971 to the spring of 1974 and I returned in the 1980's to finish up and get my degree and all anybody talked about throughout both of those decades was the soaring cost of college tuition and the ridiculous rates of student loans. Everything changes with time - some for the better some not so much. Personally, I don't agree that earlier generations had better opportunities for college educations but if we were indeed more fortunate then good for us I say. There's certainly plenty of advantages provided to todays youth that we didn't have access to when we were young so I don't think they're being all that deprived. It shouldn't be up to the government, federal OR state to solve all of our financial woes and be the provider of opportunity educational or otherwise. In fact, I would argue that the interjection of the government is EXACTLY the reason that we struggle to adjust to constantly changing economic "priorities" with every new administration be it state or federal, republican or democrat, education or health care. Everyone has an agenda but education is obviously not the agenda of everyone. I thinks it's WAY more important that we solve the ridiculously inept quality of schools at the elementary and secondary levels in the inner cities before we get too worked up over opportunities at the university level. Over 90% of students in the city of Detroit can't pass a basic reading or math test for crying out loud. And we should be focusing on Mary and Johnny (who by comparison ALREADY have been provided a huge advantage in the way of educational opportunity) being able to get into My Choice U? Sorry but I don't think so.

I don't get why everyone should have the opportunity to go to college. Why? Should everyone have the "opportunity" to go to med school? Engineering school? Law school? Or any other post graduate offering? To say "no" is to deny them an "opportunity" just because they can't afford it. What's the difference? I was able to mostly put myself through school with athletic scholarships the first two years and a little help from my grandparents. After suffering an injury, my athletic scholarships went the way of the buffalo so I quit school and went to work for ten years. After that, I had enough money saved up to go back and finish on my own dime. Nobody cared about my lack of opportunity and I don't remember ever thinking that anyone should. Many would say that's not realistic because some people are married with families by that time, Fine. But maybe they should do what I did and NOT get married and have a family because I really couldn't afford that either. You can either do it or you can't or you fall somewhere in between. Not everyone deserves everything and, most certainly, not everyone gets everything.

By a "few" I assume you mean three? Figures, cause we're coming in TWO! Even when I'm right, I'm wrong. That's OK though - absolutely cannot wait to get there no matter what the fishing's like!

I've always enjoyed watching the ones blow by where everybody has on an aircraft style headset so they can communicate. "Hey hon, it's beautiful out today. You wanna go for a boat ride?" "You bet! I'll get the hearing protection and noise canceling communication devices!" "Swell! I'll see you on the dock!" And, I'm sure they're mostly the run of the mill Bose models that retail for about a grand each. Of course, I'm sure half the people that see me in the Z521c with a hundred rods on deck think I'm every bit as big of a showoff and a moron too. Fortunately, I know better!

Boy, that'll show 'em! Makes as much sense as a couple of guys that I know that swear they'll work until the day they die so as to prevent their ex-wives from getting half of their retirement......... Strategery?

I've often wondered how much the fact that MU's journalism school has such a rich and highly respected history might have influenced the liberal trend in attitude on campus that enabled such behavior to become not only acceptable but, to a degree, encouraged. Now I completely understand that MOST universities and college campuses lean liberal but not all went off the cliff to the degree that MU did during their recent moments of infamy. Not that it's relevant (but then again it may very well be) but I saw last night that only 4% of sports journalists voted for or support President Trump. Now I'm a big Trump guy but I'm not sure how anybody can logically justify a number that disproportionate unless journalism in general is way out of whack. In fact, it's SO out of whack that ESPN just pulled one of their sportscasters from an upcoming broadcast of a University of Virginia football game. Why? Because his name is Robert Lee and they're afraid his name might spark controversy or violence. And, oh by the way, Mr. Lee is Asian so there's that......... Maybe he needs to start referring to himself as "Bobby" Lee before he's banned from sports journalism and broadcasting altogether.

Well, our trip to Horton, Ks. was a lot of fun and a great day with a couple of great friends but the eclipse was a bit of a bust for us. Caught a view glimpses of the first and last halves but the totality occurred during a thunderstorm! Nonetheless, it was still pretty sensational if you ask me. We were standing in the garage door of the cart barn to get out of the rain and it was pretty incredible how dark it became and how fast it happened. Car headlights in the distance and street lights were the only illumination in the immediate area and the view of the horizon was surreal. A little disappointing that we couldn't see the actual sun but the overall experience is still something that I'm sure we'll never forget. Additionally, I am thrilled to report that my golf game apparently functions on a parallel cycle to that of a total eclipse (and most other similar celestial abnormalities) as, despite several rain delays and the aforementioned suspension of play due to darkness, I shot a four under 68 for my low round in quite a few years! Not sure if the last time I shot four under was during a total eclipse but my fading memory certainly considers it a distinct possibility! To commemorate both rare and supernatural occurrences, the heavens absolutely opened up about ten minutes after we finished and the drive home was equally memorable due to some of the most torrential rainfall and lightning I've ever seen. And it lasted the entire way home - transforming what is normally a leisurely one hour drive into a nearly two hour, white knuckle, amphibian event of olympic proportions! What a day! Man, if I just could have caught a fish somehow..............

I always thought that "buy low, sell high" was just a basic axiom of business? Now it's taking advantage of someone? Now, what Wrench is talking about is a completely different deal - and one of the reasons I now own a G2.

Man, I guess it's good to be a "southie"! I saw where Smithville Lake is supposed to be like Woodstock and St. Joe obviously WILL be Woodstock. They're expecting a million plus which is pretty unbelievable. The KC paper said last week that some astronomer group had "reserved" Sailboat Cove at Smithville and were charging $20 per boat to join them to share the "experience." Not sure how one goes about reserving a cove on a public lake but that might just be the answer to the big boat wake problem! Other guys are "captaining" their pontoon boats and charging $75 per head to take a lake cruise. Probably more like a three hour tour........ Of course the $75 includes a box lunch!

What's going on up your way? Everything seems pretty normal ten minutes or so south. Just got home from golf in Lenexa and nothing unusual along the way. Just curious as to what to expect. I think little brother and I are gonna try and go up to Horton early Monday and play golf and see what happens. If it does all go stupid I'm fine seeing what I can see from the backyard!

But they/we never have and never will do that so what's the point? I spent my life working to earn money. The reason was so that I would have money to spend to buy things. And I have. If you're not going to spend it to acquire the things that make you happy then what good is it? I paid $3000 for my first new bass boat in 1975 and everybody then said the same thing. They're pricing themselves out of the market, nobody's going to spend that kind of money on a boat. Well, I paid $70000 for the one that I bought last year and I'm glad that I could and did. I also bought eleven other new one's in between and I've never been in bankruptcy court. And the most I've ever made in a year is 75K and that was six years ago. The free market is just that and we'd best enjoy it and appreciate it while we still have it. If you don't want to pay what new stuff costs then don't. But by the same token, don't begrudge those that do just because some of us think that it's worth it.