Tuesday

Today was the "practice round" for our golf outing. Roy and I played 15 holes before he had to leave for a meeting. Which was fine since I had already played more than my back preferred. I need to score a lot better tomorrow to avoid embarrassment.

Another enjoyable entry from 4.

The news on the wires from the Left Turning Nation is that Junior will announce tomorrow that he will be joining Hendrick Motor Sports next year. Which is huge news, and a bit of a surprise. It will put him on the same team as Jeff Gordon who is the one other driver whom Junior's rabid fans love to hate. In some respects, it's like the Yankees or the Lakers. The rich get richer. And Jimmy Johnson, last year's champ, is also on the team. But the Lakers and the Yankees have shown that having the most talent doesn't guarantee a championship.

I ended up on the deck at Gov's last night with some friends. One of those perfect evenings for the deck. Little wind. Warm but not hot. No precipitation. Good fellowship.

Margret is showing some age. Her right front tire is worn down to the steel belts on the outside of the tire. This uneven wear is the result of an out-of-balance wheel. I had to get the wheel worked on shortly after I bought the car when loose lug-nuts had bored the holes too big. The stud holes were welded and then fitted, but I could tell that the tire was wearing irregularly.

I'm going to look at replacing all the rims with original equipment (which is slightly less-flashy than the chrome wheels now on the car). It will be a little more expensive, but the current wheels and tires are actually bigger than what should be on the car, and I have a tire-rub on the right front when I turn hard to the left because of lack of wheel-well clearance.

A collector/classic car is a little like boats, airplanes and/or horses: it's usually financially best if you have a friend as the owner.

Lots of stories out there on the passport application processing problems. Who's to blame? Individuals for waiting too long to apply? Or the government for not staffing properly? A little of both is my guess. The Feds are now saying that they will refund fees paid to "expedite" an application. Then again, how much safer are we to have passport ID's rather than birth certificates for passage through our Canadian and Mexican borders? Does anyone seriously believe that a committed terrorist is going to be stopped by the lack of a passport? Preparers of fake documents are probably having a great year.

The lead story in USA Today today was Alzheimer's in "younger" adults. Roy and I think we could both be test cases.

So I'm off to rest and prepare for the big tournament. Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.