Beantown Express 2.0

Just got back from Maui and played the Plantation Course in Kapalua. Crazy hard especially with the 30MPH winds the day I played. I got a greens in regulation on a par 4 and triple bogeyed the hole by putting the lag off the green and down a hill and then chipping up and the ball landing on the green but still rolling back where I was standing at the bottom of the hill. The putting greens were ridiculous with everything towards the ocean being ungodly fast and everything the other way like putting on Velcro. Still had a blast and the views were spectacular.

After the 91 yesterday I shot a 81 again today. 3 putted about 5 holes but did sink a few 10 footers so it kind of balanced out but still think I left at least 2-3 shots on the course which would have put me in the 70s for the first time if I had rolled in a few 4 footers that I missed.. Heading to Maui in a few weeks to play the Kapalua Plantation Course so hopefully I play well enough to enjoy it.

I shot a 81 last weekend which is my best score ever and felt I finally turned the corner with this sport. Yesterday at the same course I shot a 91 because golf sucks and and the game should be banned from this planet.

Forgot to add, this table new goes for $4600. I will take $1800 if they can move it in the next few weeks.

I know its a long shot but anybody in the DFW metroplex looking for or no someone looking for a shuffleboard table? I just moved and my old table doesn’t fit in the new house since we downsized. I have to get it out of my old house before June 1 when the new people move in. It’s a Legacy Billiards Elite 12 ft table in great shape. Will probably cost $600 to have it professionally moved and set up in a new home.

I totally understand that but that’s the price you pay for getting to have your toys on you. I know the real answer is to ban these type of weapons along with some other changes in gun laws like back ground check and gun sale rules along with mental health issues. It probably won’t stop every single last mass shooting but if you enact those things and it doesn’t cut the mass shootings way down I would be shocked. Also, fuck the second amendment folks out there that hide behind that amendment and let this shit happen over and over again. Every day my son goes to high school I am terrified of a mass shooting happening at his school and him being a victim. We as a people shouldn’t have to live like this. All my parents had to worry about when I was in high school was me ditching class and going to the beach to smoke weed and get a tan. I wish I had the same worries about my son.

This Allen shooting is close to where I live and while I haven’t gone there in years it’s somewhere my wife and used to go to wander around at an outdoor mall. So where were all the “good guns” when this happened. I mean all these good guys have their second amendment rights and own dozens of guns each. They have to have the right to open carry so they can protect themselves yet they never seem to be where these mass shooters are like Allen or that Walmart in El Paso. Texas should pass a law that any person that is at the scene of one of these horrific mass shootings and had a gun but did nothing should get 10 years in prison no questions asked. Yeah I know the logical solution is to take these type of guns away from everyone but since the 2nd amendment crowd won’t let that happen then they should start being on the hook for these shootings also. When they occurs the police should detain every person at the location, search them for a gun and if they have one throw them in prison for not doing their 2nd amendment duty of defending innocent people.

Got back last night. I still love San Fran but there is definitely a lot of homeless people wandering around or on the sidewalk. I did see shit on the ground in areas near Union Square (guessing it was human and not dog shit) which was kind of disgusting but didn't see needles and people doing drugs everywhere. First night one of the people I was with picked a restaurant in the Tenderloin area, but I can't remember the name of the place. The food was mediocre and it was definitely a sketchy area to say the least. Once I got to North Beach area and the Wharf area it seemed like the same old San Fran I have been going to for 30 years. China town is the same as it's always been. Went to Napa to have lunch at Bouchon and then to a private wine tasting at Keever Winery which was great. Had dinner at Bix supper club which I thought was pretty good also.

I mean in all honesty, take being a Republican or Democrat out of it, but who watches that cunt speak and says to themselves, “yeah, she should be running my local, state, county, whatever, government because she seems smart?”. She shouldn’t be in charge of your local McDonalds let alone voting on laws for a state. The people of TX that elect idiots like her (yeah I know there are hundreds of idiots like her in our state legislature) are the cause for this country’s decline.

Heading to San Fran tomorrow through Sunday with a bunch of clients. Staying at the Westin St Francis in Union Square so looking for the best places to eat for breakfast lunch and dinner around Union Square I guess. Looking for best food plus some iconic type of places to take the people I am supposed to be entertaining.

Played two rounds over the weekend. Shot a 90 and a 85. What is strange is a hit the ball much better when I shot the 90 but the golf luck on mis hits helped me with the 85 round. The greens at my club were punched a few weeks ago so I am losing a few strokes easily to putting on greens where the ball just bounces around. Hoping to drop my 13 handicap to that 10 level.

Exactly. If you really feel the need to shoot some high powered guns and don’t want to go to a shooting range you can always join the army or marines and then you can shoot guns to your hearts content. Otherwise, go shoot a rocket launcher at a gun range for all I care, as long as it’s owned by a licensed gun range, can’t be taken home and can’t harm anybody.

So you just want rich people to have the ability to be a mass murderer and poor lunatics don’t get to shoot up schools just because they are poor? That sounds like class warfare at it’s finest. Before responding check your sarcasm meters as I am for banning all high capacity guns that are privately owned. My solution would be those type of weapons are only available to shoot at shooting ranges and are owned by the shooting range and aren’t allowed off the premises. That way you can go and get your rocks off shooting those weapons but they stay locked up from the masses. Everyone still gets to keep their hunting rifles, shotguns and hand guns so of course there will still be tons of gun violence in this country but maybe we save a few lives by taking the assault style weapons and high capacity magazines out of the public’s hands.

Not sure if this was posted elsewhere yesterday but what are the Surly lawyers' thoughts on this lawsuit? Manhattan DA sues Jim Jordan over Trump indictment inquiry | AP News

I was actually watching Fox News for about 5 minutes during lunch yesterday before I had to change the channel. The next rant has to do with the actual name of the channel. I don't see how it is legal for a major network to call themselves a news channel when they really aren't. Follow me on this and tell me why I am wrong because it is really bugging me for some reason. What I found interesting was that the topic of Fox News was something like "People and businesses are leaving Democrat run cities in mass because of crime" and it got me thinking, is something like this really what would be on a national news channel and "phrased" that way? It could be "people leaving large cities or large urban areas but they have to put that Democrat title on it. I get that they are just playing to their viewership, but I don't see why Mabel Johnson in rural Texas/Alabama/Iowa, etc... should really care if people are leaving cities like San Francisco, New York, Chicago or anywhere else. I was trying to figure out the psychology involved with this type of narrative. Is it simply to make the viewer vote Republican because the Dems screw up everything and they will soon screw up your slice of heaven in rural America? If this is the case, then how is that really news but just a propaganda network for one side of the aisle and should that be legal. I mean, if you turned on CBS nightly news and all you saw were titles like "Russia attacks Ukraine because the Republicans are crooks" or "Child abducted in Tennessee because the Republicans are pedophiles" I would think there would be a way to stop that. Rant over but it just kind of pissed me off and made me feel sad that there are so many people watching that shit and being brainwashed not just on the Tucker/Hannity type shows but just the regular messaging all day long from basic non-partisan stories.

Got professionally fitted at Sellingers Golf in Dallas. Really good guys in a little shop that do the clubs for a lot of pros (Scheffler, Spieth, Fowler, Ryan Palmer, Romo, etc…). When I got fitted Scheffler was there working out while the guy that fitted me and was watching me was also bending Scheffler’s new irons. I got a Rogue Driver, Titleist TSR3 3 wood, Titleist T300 irons, Cleveland CBX wedges. I really wanted the new Ping irons and driver from last year but I hit these other clubs better so he said you got to go with what you hit well. I did hit the Mizuno Hot Metal irons slightly better than the Titleist irons as far as dispersion goes but I did not like the look of them when I was at address so the fitter said go with the Titleist. The shafts ended up being stock for the most part as he said I didn’t need to spend more money for higher end shafts. He did make sure I was stiff flex on the driver but regular flex on the 3 wood for example plus the right length and lie angles for my swing. The irons are steel shaft. Not sure what kind but they say,” NS Pro Modus, Tour 105 Nippon Shaft, Stiff flex. I already got fitted for my LAB putter 6 months ago which is fantastic and I can’t speak highly enough about how that has helped my putting because I was a shitty putter. Like I could shoot mid 90’s with 50 putts in a round.

Now that the weather is getting warm in N Texas I am finally starting to get used to the new sticks I got in October and my game is finally getting decent for me. Shot a 86 on Saturday (I was helped by sinking 4 putts over 10 feet) and then today I shot a 85 (40 on the front 9) without making a single putt and 3 putting 4 times. I have been shooting in the low to mid 90’s so this is an improvement for me and I feel like if I can consistently shoot in the mid 80’s I can consider myself a decent golfer and not an embarrassment out there. Will try again mid week to see if I can shoot the same type of score. Golf is much more enjoyable when you hit the ball well apparently.

I’m relying on her boss who is the most experienced in our neighborhood and really successful to be part of this and she has been part of a lot of it so far.

Not a relative but she is new. Got stuck with her because I was using the agency that does all the sales in my neighborhood and had the listing on the house I just purchased and the head of the agency put her with us. The head of the agency is supposed to be “helping” her but I guess she is not doing a good job with that.

No official offer was ever made that I am aware of. My realtor said their realtor was sending an offer and wanted the sellers disclosure which we gave them along with the pier information, warranty and structural engineer documentation. They then decided they don’t want a house that had a foundation issue. My bigger point is all of north texas housing ends up with settling because the houses are built on clay up here versus say limestone in FL which is much more sturdy. Whatever. I had two more showings today and one is apparently interested because they are asking us for weird stuff like who is the internet and cable with in your home, a copy of the original floor plans/blueprints, what were our monthly bills for electric, gas, water, etc…Maybe that’s a good sign or maybe not. I can only hope at this point. I am also a little perturbed because one of our friends in the neighborhood just let us know they are buying a house on the lake and my wife asked when their home would be going on the market and they said their neighbor who is a realtor asked if they could bring a player by from FC Dallas to look at their home. He walked in and said he will gut the place so no need to fix it up so they sold it without putting it on the market. Now I am bitter at them also!

Yeah, my agent said she tried to explain it to their agent but I am guessing their agent sucks at “educating” his clients. My realtor told their realtor that her own home (she lives in my neighborhood) has 200 piers and is only 3 years old and that my home only had 17 piers and the structural engineer fully backed the work saying the home is totally sound. She also sent their realtor a conversation from our neighborhood Facebook page that flukishly occurred on Tuesday with people asking about foundation issues and how the builders warranty it. The first comment was a guy saying, “we have 3 types of homes in this neighborhood, those with foundation issues, those that are going to have foundation issues, or those that had foundation issues and were fixed. Their realtor didn’t seem to care apparently. One interesting thing in this whole deal is another home went on the market in my neighborhood Monday and was priced super cheap. My realtor said these people are going to look at that one also. I found out that the home was not really lived in and during the big TX Freeze last year the pipes broke and flooded the home and water sat forever since nobody lived in it. Some people that know that home said its a gut job when you look closely but the pictures on line made it look really nice so I hope these fuckers buy that home and then have tons of repair issues. I know, I am bitter.

We gave them the engineer report and the lifetime warranty info but they are idiots in my opinion since apparently they really loved my house. Oh well.

This is more on the real estate side since I put my house on the market Friday. Had an offer at list by Sunday but they backed out because 6 years ago we had 17 piers put in the front of our house for some foundation repair. My neighborhood is on a peninsula in Dallas on a lake and from what I have been told settling and foundation issues in north Texas is totally common and even more so near the lake. My realtor tried to explain to their realtor that the houses in this neighborhood either had some foundation issues or are going to have foundation issues but the buyers said any home that has this is a non starter. Should I be worried that most people view it this way? Everyone I know looks at piers as a positive since the issue was fixed.

Let me just make sure I truly understand your stance. Do you feel these mass shootings that this country has all the time is a problem or not? (Simple yes or no question, right?). If you do feel it is a problem what do you feel the solution is? Is your attitude just let this happen over and over again and there is nothing we as a civilization can do or do you have ideas on how we can try and curb some of these atrocities that are occurring in this country? I get that in your mind, taking certain guns away isn’t a solution so what do you recommend?