Another year, another great Wegmans LPGA pro-am. This year I had the pleasure of playing with Australian Katherine Hull. Our group shot a scramble format 10-under on a very warm summer day. Katherine and the rest of the gang were fun to play with, and I'm sure that even though we didn't shoot as well as in past pro-ams, we still had a good time. The putts just weren't dropping for us to contend for the prizes.

On a personal level, I felt like I hit the ball pretty well. I had some moments of crap, but I also had some nice shots. As Matt will attest, he didn't have to go off into the woods looking for my errant golf balls much at all this year. I put a few nice drives out there, but every time I did Katherine would hit just a slightly better drive. I'm pleased with how I hit em overall though.

Check out the pics from the day here.

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Where can you go that they'll give you a knife and let you cut things? Why a cooking class of course. This past weekend we went with the Snydermans to the NY Wine & Culinary Center for a cooking class. And while we were there we took a few pictures. Check those out here.

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In the past few days I've managed to accomplish some minor personal victories. On Thursday, I ran my first ever Chase Corporate Challenge. It's a 3 and a half mile run around the R.I.T. campus. And I picked a great </sarcasm> year to make it my first run - it down poured the entire race.

I had trained a bit in the 2-3 months leading up to the event. Mostly running on the treadmill. And I quickly discovered that running outdoors, in the elements, and on pavement is a bit tougher than running on a treadmill in a nice, wind-free, climate-controlled gym. I mostly ran my standard 2 miles on the treadmill as a warm-up for lifting weights. Though a week or so ago I decided to run a full 3.5 miles on it just to see how I'd do. I couldn't even hold a 10-minute/mile pace, finishing it in about 36 minutes.

So when I showed up for the real event, I figured I'd be happy enough just to come in under 40 minutes. I was actually kind've shocked when I saw that my final time in the event was 33:18! I had managed to run 3.5 miles and maintain a 9 and a half minute pace. It's not real-runner numbers, but I was pretty happy with it. It was an experience running in a down pour, and to beat my goal by almost 2 full minutes was a great feeling.

Following on the heels of that mini victory, I played some weekend golf yesterday and ended up shooting a personal-best 82 (+11). I was still pretty sore from the run on Thursday, so I went into the round thinking I would probably not play well. However, I quickly discovered that the sore muscles actually improved my game for the most part. It forced me to swing easier, which kept most of my drives in the fairways.

I ended up with four 3-putts on the day, so I'm figuring if I could have putted a little better (maybe convert two or three of those 3-putts into two-putts) that I could have broken 80 for the first time in my life. I'd love to do it someday, but instead of setting that as a lofty goal, I think I'm going to instead set the goal of shooting in the low 80's more often.

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The combination of this article and recent conversations with my buddy Shawn about buying new clubs got me thinking about this topic. How many golfers out there are using clubs that they shouldn't be? The first paragraph of the article I think sums it up:

Last week I was playing at my home course and noticed one of the guys using a set of muscleback blade irons. Lovely as the clubs were to look at, he is a 12-handicapper who has no business swinging such sticks. When I asked why he didn't opt for more forgiving club, he said, "They feel great. Besides, I like using what the big boys use."

Sorry, but I have to throw the B.S. flag on both of those statements.

I can't agree more. I guess some guys feel it's necessary to play what the tour players play, even if it not only doesn't improve their game, but actually makes it worse. It's likely due to a macho bullshit attitude. The same attitude I think prevails when guys insist they have to play from the tips on every course, even though they're a 20 handicapper. You're only unnecessarily lengthening the course, lengthening the time spent looking for lost balls, and increasing your overall score. Who are you trying to impress?

I made a conscious decision a couple years ago that I am going to play the whites whenever possible, and will continue to do so until my handicap drops into the single digits (if that day ever comes). Seems like many others could benefit from this mantra too.

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I found this online and I thought it was pretty cool. I already knew a small handful of the names for these various pocket hands, but this is a complete list. Now I just have to hope I can remember some of the more obscure ones so I can sound all impressive at my next poker game.

A-A – Pocket Rockets
A-K – Big Slick
A-J — Ajax
K-K – Cowboys
K-Q – Marriage
K-J – Kojak
K-9 - Canine
Q-Q –Siegfried & Roy
Q-J – Maverick
Q-7 - Computer Hand
Q-3 – A San Francisco Busboy
J-J – Hooks
J-9 – T.J. Cloutier.
J-5 – Jackson Five
10-5 – Five and dime
10-2 – Doyle Brunson. (He won two World Series of Poker titles with this hand.)
9-5 – Dolly Parton
9-9 – Meat hooks
8-8 – Snowmen
7-7 – Hockey Sticks
7-2 – The Hammer
5-5 – Nickels
5-4 – Jesse James, for his Colt .45
4-4 — Sailboats
2-2 — Ducks

"Siegfried & Roy", or QQ is a hand that I seem to lose on a majority of the time I play it.

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I think it's safe to say that my favorite game of 2009 is Left 4 Dead. Jodi got it for me for Christmas, and I've been playing it ever since. It's got zombies, it's a first-person shooter, and it runs on Valve's Source Engine, which is the best engine I have seen to-date. All are wins in my department. I'm a huge fan of most of Valve's big games, and this was surely no exception.

Right now Left 4 Dead only has four campaign maps and a versus mode that you can play. I was excited to hear recently that they were planning on releasing new maps and game modes in the coming months. Rumor has it they're coming out with a "Survival Mode" where your group gets a few minutes to hunker down before being assailed with a massive onslaught of zombies. If it's anything like what we're doing now with the mob level hacks set to insane, it should be a blast.

I was looking for any information about the new maps, and thus far I haven't found much. I did find what appears to be a third-party map where this guy put together a pretty good replica of the Crossroads Mall from the Dawn of the Dead movie remake. But I can't seem to find the actual maps that are being released by Valve. I did, however come across a couple of fun L4D-related items in my travels. First, an advertisement for Left 4 Dead hosting that I thought was pretty funny (it's not as funny if you don't play the game). Click the image for a larger view:

And then there's this t-shirt from Ctr+Alt+Del  called "Cocktail Party" which I got a good laugh out of: (as before, click the image for a larger view)

Good stuff, good stuff.

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It's been a fun last couple of weeks. Not.

About a week and a half ago we had to take our cat, Bosco in for surgery to remove one of his eyes. He had severe chronic glaucoma in his left eye, which not only caused him to be blind in the eye, but was also apparently causing a lot of pressure build-up which results in pain. The vet recommended we remove the eye in order to give Bosco the best chance at a longer, happier life.

I am happy to report that I think the big guy is back to his normal, happy-go-lucky self. There was a period of a few days right after the surgery where he was pretty out of it though. And as you can see by the pictures below, he's just as handsome as he was before. Even with one less eye.

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Why is it that some Subways carry barbeque sauce on their available condiments list and some do not? And why do shops that carry it for a while all of a sudden discontinue carrying it? It's a freaking basic condiment! It's like ketchup, mustard, mayo - customers might ask for it every now and then on their sandwich!

What's it cost? Two dollars a bottle? Even if it's not one of the more popular condiments, is it really that much of a problem to have it on hand?

The reason I bring this up is because today was the straw that broke the camel's back. There are three Subways within reasonable driving distance of my place of work. So we will often stop at them for lunch. I have two general sandwiches I rotate between: the chicken teriyaki and the oven-roasted chicken breast. When I get the oven-roasted, I like to have it with BBQ sauce.

The Subway in Eastview Mall was where I first encountered the "no BBQ" problem about a year or so ago. I had gone there a few times previously, and they always had BBQ sauce for my sandwich. Then one day it magically disappeared. The girl behind the counter even got kinda snotty with me about it, like it was my fault for even asking. Needless to say I haven't gone back to that one Subway since.

The other two Subways have always had it. They usually have to go under the counter to get it, but they've always had it. Today I went to the Subway in the local BJ's Wholesale Club. As usual, this Subway is woefully under-staffed, and today was no exception with only one girl behind the counter making the sandwiches and running the cash register to boot.

So she gets my sandwich made to the point of the veggies, the meat, and the bread are good to go. Now it's time for the sauce. I say "BBQ please". She's kinda new to the joint, so she gives me a blank stare and then says "we don't have BBQ". I say "you've had it in the past, they usually have to go under the counter to get it". She looks, but insists no BBQ sauce is available. She suggests "how about some hot sauce instead?".

So now I'm standing in line holding everyone behind me up because there's only one person working the whole joint. And I'm thinking to myself "Do I make her scrap the whole thing and make me a chicken teriyaki instead?". Out of consideration to others I decide to try the southwest chipotle sauce instead. As I'm cashing out I think to myself that "I'm paying for something I'm not sure I really want - isn't that the definition of an unsatisfied customer?".

Luckily the southwest chipotle wasn't all that bad, but it wasn't nearly as good as the BBQ.

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I know it's only February, but I'm already thinking about golf this season. Not many days go by even in the freezing cold of winter where I don't have at least a few thoughts about golf. I even went out and got a trial membership to a private country club a week ago, so I must be really looking forward to this season.

On lunch today I visited golf.com and read an article about the new Titleist Pro V1 golf balls that have just been released. Titleist recently lost a patent lawsuit to Callaway regarding some technology that they used on their Pro V line of golf balls. Therefore they had to remove the infringing technology and release a new version of their flagship golf ball.

I admit, I'm a golf ball snob. I play mostly Pro V's, Callaway's, and Nike One's. I also mix in some of the golf balls I find at the course, or some that I win in tournaments, but when I buy new it seems to be those brands. But over the past couple of years I've tried a few cheaper golf balls, and I think there are a couple that stand out to me: Srixon and Titleist NXT.

I bought a box of Srixon's last year and I remember liking the feel of them. They felt like they sprung off the end of the club, and for some reason I seemed to play well with them. The same can generally be said for the Titleist NXT's. I didn't buy a box of those, but I seemed to find a bunch on the golf course. I can't say they felt anything special when hitting them, but for some reason I seem to be able to play better with them.

So what am I trying to say? I wanna make a resolution to not be a ball snob this year. I'm pledging not to buy golf balls based on the brand name only. $5 a golf ball is a bit ridiculous anyways.

However, it should also be known that I still have an unopened box of Callaway Tour IX balls, and a bunch of Pro V's still sitting in my golf bag from last season. The Callaway's I got as part of the pro-am gift package last year. And I'm likely to get more from the pro-am again this summer. But if I buy, it will not be as a ball snob.

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It was a "fabulous" evening of fun with friends and co-workers last night at Mario's Italian Steakhouse as we celebrated 13 years of Info Directions. Every year IDI does a theme for their anniversary party, and this year was a "Vintage Hollywood" theme. Jodi and I got dressed up, though I'm not so sure how "vintage" it was. I don't think it mattered so much as long as we were having a good time.

I was honored with my first award with the company last night. Myself, Johann, Jessica, and Stacey were honored with the "IDIology" award for our work on the new Info Directions corporate website this year. It was great to be recognized, and I'm proud of the work that we did. The award they gave out was very nice. Now I just have to find a place to put it.

We brought the camera and snapped some pics. Check those out here.

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