LSJohn
Verified Member
I hope I haven't told this story before, but as my grandmother used to say, "I'll tell it again because I like to hear it." :heh
Legend has it that when Arnold Palmer was about 80 years old, he sank a tough put on the 18th green and exclaimed, "I've got it!"
I don't know about Arnie, but I've thought I had just solved the mystery of executing some skill well about 1000 times, only to be soon disappointed. It happened to me in golf, snow skiing and it's still happening to me in pool. Maybe it takes 2000 before I'll stop being fooled.
I know I've convinced myself a dozen times that I was going to play my best ever in an upcoming competition, only to come closer to playing my worst ever when the rubber hit the road, or better said, didn't.
But guess what: I'm there again. I've finally decided it's where I need to be. If I didn't keep giving myself hope, I think I might just throw in the towel, and we don't want that to happen. I know some of you guys need the cash.
In other news -- since it looks like I've turned this into a confessional -- there's good and bad. The good news is I finally quit smoking after 54 years. I figured out that I had smoked 600,000 cigarettes and decided that was a good goal well accomplished. I've been 90 days now, so I guess it's gonna stick. I reserved the right for myself to restart if it was too tough, but I think I made it past the most dangerous days.
The bad news is it took two hospital adventures a month apart with two bouts of pneumonia -- different bacterial strains each time -- to push me over the edge. (Don't send flowers, I'm fine. )
Contrary to what one might be inclined to think, I'm gonna claim I didnt' quit because the pneumonia scared me. When I was in the hospital they put nicotine patches on me and that, combined with my condition, kept me from even wanting to smoke. By the time I got out I hadn't had a cigarette in about 10 days, the patches seemed to be helping, and with that kind of head start I figured then was the best chance I'd ever have to quit with the minimum of difficulty. I've been very fortunate that it hasn't been as hard as I expected. "If I'd known what I know now..."
Lemme tell you how lucky I am in another way: As soon as I got out of the hospital after the first bout (which was the worst) my most recent ex-wife got off work at 5:00 PM Friday, got in her car and drove the 7 hours to where I was living, spent the weekend cooking and cleaning (and reorganizing my kitchen :frus: ) generally saving my butt, then got in her car at 6:00 pm Sunday to drive the 7 hours back so she could be at work Monday morning. Bless her heart, she's amazing in other ways too. Sometimes she makes me wish she hadn't dumped me. (She's smart too.)
Back to subject A. The Olathe 1P tournament is coming up on the 6th of July and Topwater at Houston Bogies the following weekend, so my bio-rhythms are starting to vibrate. Fortunately, I've really got it this time. Really. Honest Injun. No kidding. These bastards better watch out. :yikes:
Legend has it that when Arnold Palmer was about 80 years old, he sank a tough put on the 18th green and exclaimed, "I've got it!"
I don't know about Arnie, but I've thought I had just solved the mystery of executing some skill well about 1000 times, only to be soon disappointed. It happened to me in golf, snow skiing and it's still happening to me in pool. Maybe it takes 2000 before I'll stop being fooled.
I know I've convinced myself a dozen times that I was going to play my best ever in an upcoming competition, only to come closer to playing my worst ever when the rubber hit the road, or better said, didn't.
But guess what: I'm there again. I've finally decided it's where I need to be. If I didn't keep giving myself hope, I think I might just throw in the towel, and we don't want that to happen. I know some of you guys need the cash.
In other news -- since it looks like I've turned this into a confessional -- there's good and bad. The good news is I finally quit smoking after 54 years. I figured out that I had smoked 600,000 cigarettes and decided that was a good goal well accomplished.
I've been 90 days now, so I guess it's gonna stick. I reserved the right for myself to restart if it was too tough, but I think I made it past the most dangerous days.The bad news is it took two hospital adventures a month apart with two bouts of pneumonia -- different bacterial strains each time -- to push me over the edge. (Don't send flowers, I'm fine.
)Contrary to what one might be inclined to think, I'm gonna claim I didnt' quit because the pneumonia scared me. When I was in the hospital they put nicotine patches on me and that, combined with my condition, kept me from even wanting to smoke. By the time I got out I hadn't had a cigarette in about 10 days, the patches seemed to be helping, and with that kind of head start I figured then was the best chance I'd ever have to quit with the minimum of difficulty. I've been very fortunate that it hasn't been as hard as I expected. "If I'd known what I know now..."
Lemme tell you how lucky I am in another way: As soon as I got out of the hospital after the first bout (which was the worst) my most recent ex-wife got off work at 5:00 PM Friday, got in her car and drove the 7 hours to where I was living, spent the weekend cooking and cleaning (and reorganizing my kitchen :frus: ) generally saving my butt, then got in her car at 6:00 pm Sunday to drive the 7 hours back so she could be at work Monday morning. Bless her heart, she's amazing in other ways too. Sometimes she makes me wish she hadn't dumped me. (She's smart too.)
Back to subject A. The Olathe 1P tournament is coming up on the 6th of July and Topwater at Houston Bogies the following weekend, so my bio-rhythms are starting to vibrate. Fortunately, I've really got it this time. Really. Honest Injun. No kidding. These bastards better watch out. :yikes: