Get a Grip

Was running around today trying to find a 75L ultra lightweight dry bag for the island expedition and noticed my steering wheel grip. Then realized those three fingers, as well as the middle two on the right hand are feeling stronger. Finally, the body is changing.

Did the first pass this morning packing for the atoll, and I'm easily 15 pounds over. I'm a spoiled travel slob with my 3x75 lbs limit from the formerly friendly skies. The little putt-putt that'll take us some 450 miles south of the main island doesn't negotiate. Meet the weight limit, or stay on the main island and work on your tan. Time to get serious about baggage weight.

Found this fabric called Cuben that'll do the trick. Now to find a dry sack made of the stuff large enough for the kit.

Ah, the grip seems to be taking the right form, thanks to secrets from the dirt.
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8.7 Pounds

Gonna take the drone to the Seychelles. Got a bit carried away with embroidery mania.

Carry on limit is 13 lbs. After case and drone, 4.3 lbs left for laptop and misc stuff I don't want to check. Got a pocket digital scale to be my attorney en route.

Checked luggage on the teeny plane is 33 lbs. Batteries go in there. Four of them. Plus cameras and flyfishing gear. They require flats boots, which sucks, because they're huge and heavy. One DSLR and small 18-135mm lens. Light tripod. Dive mask. Necessary battery chargers. 9 and 12 wt rods, tarpon reel, another reel with 10wt line, and a light one with 9 for fun. Gonna be bit of a trick. 30.1 lbs is verboten. Run the simulation next week to take stress off the situation.

Think I'll do layers and wear all my clothes en route. And cargo pants with lots of deep pockets.

And 3DR should take that gratuitous black logo off their backpacks. Leave room for your fans.
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IOT Failure

Trying this IOT thing. Got the mountain cabin all wired up and on the net. It's pretty awesome. Temps spike when furnace runs, and drops when folks go inside and cold air rushes in. SMS text delivers alerts if things go out of range. Gives you peace of mind. It's cold up there.

First one went belly up today. All good til they break. So it's not about price. It's about they just keep working... Luckily my mate Bish (he's remote too right now, in Florida) had one of his guys go check it out. So it's just the sensor that went bad.

Made in USA has a chance if they do it right and not do the Walmart thing. Else the Germans and Japanese and Swiss will take it.
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Goop du Jour

Get it over with. Squeeze. Smear. Clean excess. Savor the vinegary scent.

That super slick plastic really bugs me. From hotel room tables to cheezy car dashboards, slick is showing up everywhere.. Touch it, and it slides off. Turn, then it slides off. Aaaargh.

The signature of cheap, and yet another way to cut costs and pass the consequences onto you. In thirty minutes, it'll be touchy feely again.
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Chill Session

First day back on the range after a break. Ball flights good and fun. So probably hit a few more than I should. Good ol' sweatshirt when warm out is also a good pore purge.

Now to ice down the wrists and hands. Wash it down with crisp Oi Ocha green tea, cold.
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Oompa Loompa

Hit about four thousand balls now. Was feeling a bit plateau'd, so took a few days off. Went back to Jackie Burke to grok the light grip and tossing the club feel. In parallel, surrendered the internal control freak that makes me want to tighten up and control the clubhead to hit the ball (that is, afraid to miss). Faith makes the grips stickier :-).

Went back today and the strike had a new feel and flight. T'was super awesome. Got another 8-10 yards on the sand and pitching wedge with what seems easier swing. Flies high (maybe too high). Still casting the first few swings, so need to work on getting the fatties out from the get go.

I'm lasering targets about a third of way into the sesh. Use it up front, then the ego starts hitting for distance. By waiting, then I can see how things are naturally flying without knowing or trying. Better that way for me.

Nice hits on the face. Dirt's a little crooked, but probably closing the face a bit on strike. Divots are a bit toe heavy as well. Won't worry about making more lie adjustments til later. Amazing what I've learned on the net (that dirt line & divot thing from Phil Rogers, thanks to Elk).

Finally, today had the first itch to try a round...
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Sub-Nanosecond

Other than maybe Palm Springs, bet there's more golf shops here than anywhere else. Picked up this laser range finder. Assumed they're more or less the same, and since I'm far from needing sub-yard accuracy, just got the bottom end Nikon. Usually the guts are all the same in the range.

Pretty cool gadget. Point and press and it flashes a laser beam and measures the time for it to return. Takes about 3 nanoseconds for light to travel a meter, so at 6 yard minimum distance resolution, the gadget's measuring system runs fast, as in speed of light. It records the reflection from the nearest object, so the first pulses that come back to the range finder are measured. That makes it pretty easy to use provided you've a reasonably steady hand.

Playing around with it on the range, it's harder to control distance (as in how far front or back) of a wedge shot, rather than the spread (deviation from target left or right). So, bet that the pros are really good front to back, and that's where tournaments are won. Accurate left or right is a given.

Downside is the gadget's made of super slick survive nuclear winter plastic. Slides right off the top of club stands at the range if not extra careful. Time to fix that with a coating of silicone, and add a loop or velcro to hang off the bag when I eventually get onto the course.

It's really a neat gadget. Can't imagine playing without one now that I can measure how far to the sand traps to carry.
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Three Bags Full

Working through all the joints and muscles. Done working through the body being sore. Now at three bags, it's now the hands and wrists taking a bit of beating. Icing after sport is something I've not done, but now it does wonders for inflammation and getting the soreness down after the day's work. Read it promotes more circulation which is the healing factor. Advil's not the best thing for you so stay away from those except on bad days. Stretching prior is a must. And what helps heaps is warming up prior, then start by hitting a few short punches to things flowing.

Distance and accuracy is improving, though it still takes a bit to get into the groove. Currently working on not "flipping". Flipping is easy to do if you've fast hands, good coordination and short clubs. Figured out on the Tube that over time and under pressure, it becomes a barrier to getting to the next level. So, weeding this out of the swing early. Undo on the Mac is easy. Undo from body memory is hard.

I'm getting curious about distances the short irons are flying. Of course my brain wants to compare... what's average? what do the pros hit? etc. So read up on that a bit to get a sense for distances with modern lofts.

Back when, blue sticks were 200, whites 150 and reds 100. Now time to get a laser.
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Wonton Soup

Slowly the wonton bits floating around in my field of vision become less noticeable. Not sure if they're settling down, being absorbed, or my brain is starting to ignore them. The detour on Cataract Road was this thing called PVD, or posterior vitreous detachment, where the jello inside the eyeball kinda peels off from the retina, pulling adhesive tissue off in the process that basically looks like bits of wonton floating around in there. If you thought there's goo inside your eye, try again. It's more like a round gummy bear.

Web says nothing serious 90% of the time as it happens to quite a few people in their later years. As I prod around for data on the 10%, my surgeon says take it easy for a few months and test field of view every day and watch out for dark spots (dark spots danger, while white flashes are normal as it's peeling off, exciting the retina). Dig deeper and find out that when aging ophthalmic retina specialists get PVD, they stop work, stay at home, and be very chill and still til it's over. Like three months, usually. They've treated the 10%, so that tells you something.

Taking the chill route. Got a local retina expert for frequent inspections. No stress. No head butting. No active sports. Zen golf OK :-)

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Equatorial Kit

Time to kit up for the Indian Ocean expedition. For stress management, better today rather than last minute rush. The Desert Sportsman did a great job getting my fly rod repaired and getting the reels and lines all sorted. Custom gaiters to keep the sand out of my flats booties are being sewn up by the tailor next door to Bill Hyland. That'll be done next week just in time.

All that's left is the the pile of flies they say I'll need (and will lose)...
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Stitches In Time

Hat sample kit is done. I marvel at the embroidery tech every time there. Amazing machines. Still runs on floppy disks, but nobody has invented a better way. They just work.

Hats turned out sweet. No approvals needed by marketing department.

The little pleasures of being a non-famous nobody.
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Cheese Lab

Saw on the Tube that in golf, cheese means backspin. Here at the hovel, it means parmesan, and the current craze is figuring out how to make these parmesan crisps. My saffer friend visting recently (and into the parmesan crisps) suggested heating the cheese in the pan as the manufacturing process. Kinda works, but it cooks from the bottom and so the top doesn't crisp up. Maybe it works differently on the other (won't say bottom) half of the planet.

Now we're in the oven. 15 minutes at 375 degrees (american F units) makes them the right color and crisp on both sides:

Problem is it's a powdery crisp, and not a crunch. And bitter. Burnt bits on this test wafer are herbs that also blackened in the process.

Keep trying. Crack the process, and can add nuts and other seasonings into the mix somehow. Mmmm.
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In The Bag 2

First in-the-bag family portrait, just to do one. The driver's still the same ol' E-Bay 907 D2. Haven't figured out how to hit it properly to know whether it stays or not. It feels so long at the moment. The irons are the VarioFitted G30s. Not even gonna bother comparing these to other irons (that is, was I fitted with the right clubs, etc.) til I can get close to greens in quasi-regulation (within 20 yards of green). Did add a couple of Mizuno JPX hybrids (19 and 22 degs) to the mix. Saw reviews of them by Rick Shiels on YouTube. He liked 'em and the strike had a nice crack to it. Hate the sound of the 907 D2. Wonder if golf club companies don't design for the acoustic aesthetic?

The odd club is the hit-it-from anywhere Perfect Club. It was started by a someone from my village so it's in the kit as momento for now. Maybe it's awesome.

Daily routine for now is just hitting any one of the 5 clubs in the 9-LW range. Of these, the lob wedge looks and feels bit awkward for some unknown reason, so maybe some lob experiments in the future. We'll see. Probably just me. Comfortably hit two bags. Now shifting up to three.

Meanwhile the longer irons just sit shiny new. Kinda intimidated to hit them.
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Pre-Range Brekkie

On the topic of good low carb feed, this is my newly discovered morning routine before heading to the range. One of these shakes with unsweetened almond milk, fresh brew in a go cup, a few bottles of Oi Ocha green tea in the cooler, and I'm good for all the balls I care to hit in the Arizona sunshine til afternoon. The best shake I've found to date, loaded with goodies. Kudos to Michael for the beta.

They had a few incidents of salmonella, so stocked up at discounted prices til the public fear reaction dissipates and they're back on the shelves.

When others are selling, buy.
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Crunch Addict

KIck the sugar addiction, and you're still left with the munchies for crunch. WIthout carbs, it's a boring crunchless world. Folks have made flax seed crackers to try and fill the gap, but they're kinda slimy on the chew.

Best are these crackers made from just parmesan cheese. They are completely awesome and have that umami yumminess to boot.

Found these in a small stack at Whole Foods. Now the stack is growing. The no carb bunch has crunch again. Now I'm the local parmesan crip pusher :-)
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What's in the Bag

Seen mentions of "what's in the bag" on the net and the Tube. Didn't quite get it.

At today's range session, a fella came up and told me he liked how I was hitting 'em high and "soft". Not exactly sure what that means yet, but that moved onto the topic of wedges, and then to my odd same-length short iron kit. He was very inquisitive about the concept. So the experiment has some stickiness :-) Nice, curious guy, or he's entertained by the nut.

On the fashion front, Bill Hyland at Carefree Embroidery was kind enough to fit me into their schedule with a one off stitch of my new bag. I've no cred to deserve my name on it, so alter ego will do. Hats to match get finished this week. Might as well sponsor myself while I'm a bargain. Ha ha.

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Find the Strike

New grip in hand, time start on the wedges. McDowell Mountain Golf Club just down the street has a nice range with good balls and good meat chili. There's a couple close targets, one good for the lob and the other for the PW, so might as well start with those. Just half and 3/4 swings. Alignment stick to fix where I'm aiming first, rather than futzing with the swing to correct aim. New grip. Can't reach 'em yet, but doesn't matter. No hurry. Just get the body moving, and first find the feel of the ground and that elusive strike.

While waiting for the club mods to be completed, had a bit of time to refine the plan. If i can't properly get close to the green, no sense worrying about putting or chipping for now. Not gonna actually play a round on a course until I can reasonably get from tee to 20 yards near the green in regulation (learning brain marketing tricks, so just made my greens bigger for now, just like at the Doc's), so no worries about the driver just yet. On the course, one of the biggest parts of the game (sibling to driving and putting) is 125 yards and in, so getting good with the wedges seems like a good idea. I've four to learn, and since they're all the same length and swing weight, doesn't matter which one I practice with, for now. Have the new grip, so work toward a good strike, get a feel for the distance with each wedge, and harvest the insights about swing along the way. Lastly, get the body and hands physically in shape for the swing. The target greens here at the range are tiny, so first hit them with consistency, then re-evaluate what step to take next.

Film maker Michael is in town, so time to geek out a bit with slo-mo. Self-inflicted pressure training: skull the wedge and good bye sparkly GoPro 4 Black that came with the drone.

Sprayed balls all over the face as well as the range. But it was fun. GoPro got lucky. On this journey, media and golf (as well as the net) now seems inseparable.

Michael's filmed in Tokyo, so we found an old-school sushi spot in Scottsdale, Hero Sushi. It's pretty close to homestyle :-)
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Rock Star

My heroine at Ping rang this morning. Grinds all done. Lengths and swing weights all now at target specs. She rocks. It's not a fancy lab on wheels, but it's like having my own tour truck. Thanks Building 105.

Sunshine's now returning to Phoenix. Grip feels good. Bored to death of chipping. Time to really start hitting some balls. Wheee!
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Carb Free Kick

Ran out of sugar free chocolate stash. Time to find more.

Started this no-carb kick a while back. It's been an amazing learning experience, and for my health, a right turn for the better. Weight down. Blood pressure and heart rate normal. Blood glucose levels normal. All good. Just cut out sugar and carbs. Ate everything else I wanted. Didn't let my body go into starvation mode.

This has been a journey in itself, and an ad-hoc community had developed around my little no-carb experiment. Folks I'd otherwise not meet crossed paths with the dive into the effect of sugar on body, and the question of why there's so much carbohydrates in our diet, and an inquiry into the history of our genes and how our bodies were built to be fueled and why.

The whole process gave rise to some neat healthcare ideas for the next wave of evolution, when folks become better enabled to take control (including responsibility) of their own health into realms unreachable by the institutions for legal and economic reasons. Open Source meets demand for health solutions.

In the no carb experiment, at least for me, realized the big elephant in the room at root of a wide range of health issues is sugar (carbohydrates are the same). While medicine does well to treat the side effects of the elephant, chose to tackle what I felt was the root cause. Rationalize it how you want, but carb/sugar is an addiction. Disagree? Try going cold turkey. Like Trackman, you can put numbers to it. They're called Keto-sticks and measure ketones (by product of ketosis, or metabolically burning fat instead of sugar/carbs) in your urine. Sneak in any carbs, and your pee doesn't lie. Even if you're an organic, free range yoga mat toting raw foodie vegan. Makes me chuckle. Steve Elkington's quip about PGA drug testing floats back into my mind... Ha ha.

These days shifted to low carb to avoid a rebound effects. Means fresh juices are ok treats. Cookies, chips and crackers are verboten. Sandwiches are sans-bread, and crunch moves to the top of the craving stack.

More on this as the experiment continues...
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Sonoran Oysters

Chasing inedible carp takes my mind to fish which then drifts to seafood which takes me back to Tokyo. One of my favorites there is called Kaki Fry - fresh oysters kinda panko breaded, fried, and eaten with tartar sauce. Have fond memories of feasting on them there, especially in the fall season. So, back to the net.

Hama Hama is a chill outfit that'll deliver fresh oysters by FedEx. Unfortunately, quite a few folks have the same idea, so summoned courage and headed out onto the Phoenix 500 raceway to find some. Finally track down a fresh shipment at a place called Lee Lee, and the dude kindly hand picks a dozen just arrived big live ones for me. Perfect.

Grab an oyster knife on the way home with the brain again out in front of the present after watching a video of the Hama Hama dude shucking them each in a few secs. Get back to the hovel, grab an oyster, and find out that the oyster like any other asserts its will to live. And the bigger the oyster the bigger the hinge muscles and stronger the will. To make long story short, after an hour of bashing oysters with shell bits all over the kitchen, finally got four open intact, kept my fingers, and called it a draw while ahead. I'd free the remaining survivors back into the sea if I could, but in Scottsdale Arizona, the only hospice for oysters is the freezer. Sorry about that. Won't do that again.

From there, it got easy. Watched Francis tell me how in the video, fried 'em up and chowed down. They were awesome.

If you've been to Tokyo and dig the local grub, check out Cooking With Dog for Kaki Fry and other homestyle recipes on YouTube. Don't forget the tartar sauce. In the states, Kraft fits best.
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