My First Walk of the Year in the Snow!

About a week or so ago I had my first opportunity to take my little fitness walk while it was snowing.  It was just flurries really, nothing sticking on the ground.  About 9:00 AM my weather page said it was 26 degrees F but "Feels Like" 12 degrees F with the wind chill factor.  I waited an hour and went out about 10:00 AM.  My weather page said it was still 26 degrees F but the wind chill had slacked off and it only "Felt Like" 13 degrees F, so I headed out.  I can handle 13 but 12 degrees F is just too damn cold.  The temperatures have been all over the place of late.  Two days ago I did my walk and it was 34 (feels like 20) degrees F, and last night Maureen and I went out for drinks and it was in the middle 50s after dark when we took off from the house.  This morning I woke up and it was drizzling and a gorgeous 67 outside.  I opened up all the windows in the house, got my coffee and tablet, and went outside to read on the porch with Buddy it was so nice.  About an hour later I could swear it was getting colder.  I checked my faithful weather page again and it was 57.  Could I have been mistaken earlier?  So I checked the hourly feature and sure enough, the prediction indicated that it will be cooling off all day and be just above freezing at 1:00 PM, typically the warmest part of the day.  How cruel is that?  I was having visions of short sleeve shirts and a drink on the patio somewhere this evening.  The old adage; "If you don't like the weather around here wait a minute and it will change!" certainly seems to be true this year.  Even Buddy is feeling the cold this winter!

A couple of people have asked how we did with the fires.  We are north of Asheville and the fires were mostly south and the wind rarely blew smoke in our direction.  Liam had more trouble at his school.  WCU is southwest and some of the fires were in the vicinity for him.  The distance runners had to practice in-doors for most of that period.


We will be spending Christmas in Cleveland this year (any criminals reading this, the house is alarmed and our neighbors know we're gone and are watching our house).  After watching the weather predictions for Ohio I went out and bought snow chains for all four tires of my truck.  I can still hear my dad saying; "You always put chains on the front and rear wheels because you don't want your rear wheels pushing you where you don't want to go."  Truck tire chains are expensive but I operate on my "umbrella theory."  If you carry an umbrella with you all the time it never rains.  "Luck favors the prepared" and I have tire chains in the truck for all four wheels so we should have clear sailing up and back.  Just the same, we are driving west to Tennessee and then north to bypass the mountains on this trip.  It adds 50 miles and about an hour to the drive but my umbrella theory is just a theory and there's no point in taking unnecessary chances.

I still have my aversion to putting up Christmas lights outside.  I found one of those Christmas laser projection lights on sale at Big Lots and stuck that in the front yard this year.  I couldn't see going through all the trouble of stringing up lights before we left for Cleveland just so I could take them down when we got back.  And there's no one to turn them on and off while we are gone anyway.  Maureen has decorated nicely inside and it's very Christmassy.  We also have our "Charlie Brown" pencil tree up this year.   

Coming up with good Christmas gifts is getting much more challenging each year.  It used to be as easy as walking down the Lego isle at Wal-Mart.  But Liam is a young man now, almost 20 if you can believe that.  Too old for Legos but way too young for a Christmas tie.  And being an only child he tends to have anything he needs and quite a bit of what he wants.  Although Liam is keeping up his end of the bargain, working hard and keeping up his grades, keeping his scholarship, and working a part time job over his breaks when we are not traveling.  Maureen has always been impossible to surprise but I think I might have something for her this year she's not expecting.  We'll see if it's something she really wants.  And of course I'm the worst to have to buy for because if I really want it I probably have already gone out and gotten it.  Everyone else is easy to buy for, I mean that's what gift cards are for, right?  The only challenge is what cute gift or puzzle box you're going to put it in and a nice card.  

Since I'm not going to have my computer with me over the holidays I just wanted to take a moment to say how appreciative I am for my friends and family and hope you all get the "Gift Card" of your dreams!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Seasons Greetings and our best wishes for a great New Year to you all!!!

Tired of Talking About Politics? Me Too. Let's Talk About the Weather!

We (in WNC) are do for a snowy winter!

Or are we?

The Old Farmer's Almanac has predicted that we will have a higher than normal snowfall this year. The actual prediction from the almanac for my area is:

"Winter will be slightly warmer than normal, with near-normal precipitation and above-normal snowfall. The coldest periods will be in early to mid-January, from late January through early February, and in mid- to late February. The snowiest periods will be in mid-November, late January, and early to mid-February."

The original Farmer's Almanac founded in 1792, Old Farmer's Almanac is a reference book that contains weather forecasts, tide tables, planting charts, astronomical data, recipes, and articles on a number of topics, including gardening, sports, astronomy, and farming. It has been the preeminent authority used by farmers at least since 1816. The Farmer's Almanac gained prominence in 1816 by accurately predicting snow in July. The story goes:

From William A. Sherden's The Fortune Sellers: The Big Business of Buying and Selling Predictions (1997), pp. 49-50. 

[The Old Farmer's] Almanac's accurate prediction of winter weather for July 13, 1816 was due to an extraordinary coincidence. Founding editor Thomas became ill just as the 1816 Almanac was going to print. A copy boy informed him that the prediction for July 13 was missing. "Put in anything you want," Thomas told him, so the boy inserted, "Rain, hail, and snow." Upon discovering the joke, Thomas destroyed most of the copies and spent considerable time denying the extreme forecast, which inevitably got into general circulation. But in New England on July 13, 1816, it did in fact "rain, hail and snow" -- unusual weather caused by the 1815 eruption of Mount Tamora in the East Indies. The volcano generated a cooling dust cloud that caused what is called the "Little Ice Age" in New England that summer, during which ponds and lakes never thawed. When the original "forecast" came true, Thomas changed his tune and declared, "I told you so." Judson Hale, the current editor of the Almanac, has called this scenario "one of the earliest and best examples of a subtle skill my uncle always referred to as 'Almanacmanship.'" 

So I'm relating this year's prediction and the back story to a woman at a football party at a friends house and she says; "Acorns!" 

"Acorns?" I replied. 

Yes, apparently when she was growing up an excess amount of acorns on the ground was an indicator of a hard winter with lots of snow. Last winter was reasonably mild and I did not even remember there was an acorn tree in my yard. As you can see in the picture we are inundated with acorns this year. 

So I'm telling my mother on her last visit the almanac and acorn stories and she says; "Woolly Caterpillars!" 

"Woolly Caterpillars"; I asked? 

Yes, when my mom was growing up an increase in the number of woolly caterpillars was the indicator it would be a snowy winter. Last winter I don't recall seeing any woolly caterpillars. I walk Buddy through the neighborhood a lot and this year I'm constantly dodging woolly caterpillars. I don't have any pictures to share and I can't say if they're moving south for the winter but they're out there this year in mass. 

I started researching old wives tales used to predict the coming winter weather.

Forecasting in a nutshell:

Hickory nuts and walnuts have a hard shell and a "fruit" surrounding that shell. The story goes that the thicker the outer shell, the worse the winter will be. This theory extends to acorns and the thickness of their shells, and it could be nature's way of protecting the tree species during harsh weather.

Since this is our first year of "Old Wive's Tales" weather prediction I don't really have a frame of reference for the thickness of our acorn shells. All I know is that we sure have a lot of them this year.

Caterpillar colors:

Woolly bear caterpillars are the larval stage of the Isabella moth. They are black with a red-brown band in the middle, and according to folklore, the more black you see on these caterpillars, the harsher the winter will be.

Most of the woolly caterpillars I've come across look very much like the one in the picture, some with even more red than shown which would indicate a milder winter.

According to Donald Lewis, an entomologist at Iowa State University, there is some year-to-year variation in the amount of black hair on these caterpillars, but the differences are caused by age and wetness. Older caterpillars have more black than young ones, and if the fall weather is wet, they will often have more black. 

This has been an exceptionally dry fall. We are even having some (California like) forest fires in the outlying areas due to the extreme drought. So maybe we just have a bunch of young caterpillars that haven't been rained on much.

Is color the key?

Picture from my back porch today!

Some people believe that the brighter the leaves are in the fall, the snowier and colder the coming winter will be. Leaf color is actually determined by several things, like the amount of moisture received during the growing season. However, once the days get shorter and the temperatures drop in the fall, the amount of chlorophyll in the leaves decreases, causing the changes in leaf colors we see in the fall.

Last year we had an exceptionally rainy fall and all of the leaves were washed off the trees before they could become vibrantly spectacular resulting in a horrible fall tourist season. Remember the pictures of me raking the leaves? So again I really don't have a good frame of reference for this prediction method. This year has been a much better tourist season because the leaves are staying on the trees longer, although I have had to rake my lawn once already and may have to again before it's all over.

Hornet high-rises:

If you notice hornets, bees, and wasps building their nests higher than usual, like in the tops of trees rather than closer to ground level, a harsh winter with lots of snowfall may be coming.

I get quite a few wasps nests attached to our house. The last one I knocked down was attached to an upstairs window frame which is higher than I've had to deal with so far. I'll have to keep an eye on this from now on.

Fluffy bunnies and squirrels:

If rabbits and squirrels look especially fat in the fall, they may be bulking up for a cold winter. Likewise, if you see squirrels burying nuts at a more furied pace than usual, that may be a sign. 

Buddy has been especially diligent in keeping the wild life out of our yard despite my reassurances that it's OK to share. He even chased off a couple of deer the other morning much to my dismay (if I had seen them first before I let Buddy out that morning he would have had to just cross his legs for a while). So it has been difficult to view a good representative sample but I don't think the squirrels really look all that plump this year despite the over abundance of acorns in the yard.

Note: Many of the descriptions above have been plagiarized from the following website: 

http://www.livingthecountrylife.com/country-life/weather-wise/old-wives-tales-predict-winter-weather/?page=2

So what is my prediction?

I predict that I will spend the winter comfortably holed up snuggling with my beautiful bride in front of a nice warm fireplace and reading an unlimited number of books thanks to the kindle apps on our tablets. And about the weather; who really cares?

Happy Holiday Season everyone!

Special Birthday Edition of "What I Learned From My Uncle John!"

For the most part your health is a choice!

I remember a story that Uncle John told me not too long ago about his neighbor. The neighbor had just returned from his doctor's appointment and was grousing a bit about the less than favorable news he had just received. It seems his sedentary lifestyle and undisciplined eating habits had pushed him over the brink into Type II Diabetes.  Uncle John, being Uncle John, asked; "So, are you going to get out and start walking to get some exercise, maybe get the bicycle out of the garage to take daily rides, and start watching what you eat a little more?" The neighbor, being the neighbor, responded; "No.....no, they make a pill for that!"

So that was the news I got from my doctor back in April, I had developed Type II Diabetes. It was a bit more dramatic than that actually. I had gone in for a liver function test because of the cholesterol medicine I take and that rascal doctor of mine just went and checked my A1C (90 day average blood sugar) without even asking. About an hour after I had left her office I received an "URGENT" phone call from her assistant instructing me to get back into the doctor's office "IMMEDIATELY." A normal A1C should be somewhere between 4.0 and 6.0. Mine as it turns out was about 12, two times the high end of the normal 90 day average. My blood sugar that day was 600. A normal reading would have been somewhere between 70 and 100, so I was six times the high end of that range. I had "Uncontrolled" Type II Diabetes. When I returned to the office my doctor informed me that if I had had any other symptoms she would have shipped me off to the hospital to get the diabetes under control.  All I can say is:

Thank goodness I lied about my symptoms! 

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. First, I hadn't done any serious exercising in years. I blame that on my previous doctor. It was the all too common physician joke: [Me] "Doctor, doctor, it hurts when I do this!"  [Doctor] "So don't do that!"  You see, I have, for lack of a better description, a dislocated rib that will not stay in place for more than a day or two after being reset. That rib rubs on my chest muscle  causing a sharp pain when I exercise, especially when I run, and initially I thought my chest pains were a possible heart attack. I also have a bad knee, two bad ankles and a rotator cuff issue in one of my shoulders. And I just took my doctor's advice at face value; it hurt so I quit doing it (exercising that is). Second, and this is the real kicker, I've been acting and eating like I've been on vacation since I moved to Western North Carolina. I hadn't put on much weight but I was heavy enough (about 195 lbs) when I got here.

So there I was. Diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension (high blood pressure) all run in my family. I was already on prescription medication for acid re-flux and cholesterol, and had previously been diagnosed "pre-hypertension." And you know what? They do have a pill for Type II Diabetes, and a daily inject-able medication to combat your insulin resistance, and a spring loaded lancing device to prick your finger three times a day so you can test your blood sugar, and I was the proud new owner of all of the above. So what do I do? Go the way of the neighbor and accept my lot in life (damn family medical history)? Or do I listen to Uncle John, get off the couch and do something positive?

Maureen and I were leaving for a vacation overseas in three weeks and I was determined not to take injections every day of that vacation, or for the rest of my life for that matter. First, I negotiated with my doctor to change my daily inject-able prescription to a once weekly inject-able. She warned me that my insurance would likely deny that request. I didn't care. The very next day I got up early and walked a 3.8 mile loop on the roads around my house. Then I started researching exercises I could do with my rickety old body. 

The first book I came upon was The Exercise Cure: A Doctor's All-Natural, No-Pill Prescription for Better Health and Longer Life by Jordan Metzl and Andrew Heffeman. A fairly comprehensive book with specific recommendations for a variety of ailments. But the main message was to just start moving even if all you can do is walk. And I was already doing that. Now my 3.8 mile walk has four significant hills to climb (think winding road up to Big Bear steep) and was initially taking me about an hour and ten minutes. I was walking as fast as I could and pushing to keep my heart rate up for the maximum cardio benefit I could get from just walking. And now I had to think about my diet. I "HATE" dieting! I'm pathetic at counting calories, I won't do point conversions, and I absolutely refuse to purchase diet plan meals in bulk. I needed a simple sustainable plan that did not require any thought or outlandish food preparation. My salvation came in the form of a book titled; Complete Calisthenics, The Ultimate Guide to Bodyweight Exercise by Ashley Kalym. Now DO NOT run out and buy this book. It is a book about how to do one armed pull-ups and plank push-ups. Completely worthless from an "I'm 55 and just want to improve my fitness and health" standpoint. However, Mr. Kalym and I are kindred spirits when it comes to dieting. His book has less than two pages on his views of the dieting process. If you want the entire text on dieting from his book you can pick it off the shelf at Barnes and Noble and have that small portion read before the barista has your coffee ready. He promotes what he describes as a "One Ingredient Diet." Basically, what that means is, if you pick it up in the grocery store and it is only one ingredient, you can eat it. Steak, ham, fish, any meat product really; any vegetable, fruit, etc... you get the drift. No counting calories, points, or anything. If you are hungry you eat, just basically no processed foods, which is actually even much easier than it sounds. That one idea was worth the price of the book for me.

So that was the plan. I had a follow up appointment in three weeks which was just a few days before we were scheduled to leave for Ireland and I was on a mission. I walked seven days a week and stuck to my one ingredient diet. Before you start thinking, "sure he has an extra hour in the day, he's retired. But there is no way I can find an extra hour in my busy schedule." I'm a huge Big Bang Theory fan. I've seen all the old episodes but I watch the reruns anyway. So if I'm willing to miss just two reruns a day, shows I've already seen and will probably see again soon, I can fit in my walk for the day. I'd bet everyone has an hour of something they could choose to miss if they made the choice to be healthier. And it is a choice, just ask Uncle John.

Back to my story.  My doctor was right, the insurance company denied my request for the once weekly injection medication but it took almost the entire three weeks between my last and next doctor's appointments. By that appointment I had lost 5 lbs and lowered my daily blood sugar to about 200, 1/3rd of my previous test result but still firmly in the Type II Diabetes range, but controlled, which was a huge difference. My doctor cancelled the inject-able medication on the spot and reduced my three times a day blood sugar test to three times a week. I told the doctor right then and there that my goal was to be off ALL of my prescription medications by my birthday this year (about 5 1/2 months away). At that point my doctor started hedging her bets. Her warning sounded something like; "well, with your family history it might be a good idea to stay on some form of cholesterol medication for the rest of your life. And, once you have demonstrated some insulin resistance it may be a good idea to stay on at least a maintenance dose of the diabetes medication. I said fine, and then I asked her assistant to write in my chart; "by my next birthday I will be off all of my prescription medication."

There was one other discussion I had with my doctor. I informed her that I was traveling to Ireland and that "I was going to drink Guinness!" She was cool with that and even told me to go out before the trip, have a Guinness, and then test my blood sugar just to see what the affect would be. I went straight home and told Maureen that we had to go out. My doctor had "prescribed a Guinness" and I intended to fill my prescription that evening. I did a little research on beer and Type II Diabetes. It turns out that beer, including Guinness, can lower your blood sugar in some individuals, including apparently me. At least that was my experience. I've been kidding that the fact that beer lowers my blood sugar is proof positive that God loves me! That is one prescription that I'm happy not to give up.

So off we go to Ireland and Scotland with my new prescriptions, my blood testing kit and my new one ingredient diet. I will qualify that I have a couple of exceptions to my one ingredient diet. I cannot eat salad without salad dressing. And just a heads up, low fat dressings tend to have more sugar than regular dressings so I generally eat the regular stuff. Beer of course. And I don't worry about spices although they tend to be one ingredient each themselves. I was not able to do my fitness walk while vacationing but we did hours of walking anyway, so I'm sure that evened out. The end result was by our return to the states I lost a few more lbs despite being on vacation for the better part of three weeks. After our return I was back on my routine; walking my 3.8 mile loop every day, keeping to my one ingredient diet, soccer practice at the high school in the evenings and our normal socializing out on the weekends with some new friends we've made.

I had decided that if I got my weight down to about 165 lbs I'd start running again.  For every pound you loose that is 4 lbs of impact pressure you take off of your knees when running.  At 165 lbs I was guessing I would be able to hit the road again.  I hit that mark not too long after our vacation.  Alas, my rickety old body betrayed me.  My chest pains returned and my knee balked every step of the way.  So I was back to walking, which if you've done the math, had already helped me loose about 30 lbs so I can't really complain.

As I post this blog entry it is Friday, October 7th, and I turned 56 today! How did I do with my goals? There is a management theory dealing with motivation and goal setting called The "Two Tragedies." The first tragedy is to set goals and not achieve them (obvious). The second tragedy is to set goals and to achieve them, the theory being that once you  have accomplished your goals motivation potentially suffers because you no longer have goals to strive for.

Back at the end of July I had a follow up visit with my doctor to check my A1C. Just to review, I had 4 prescription medications plus lancets and blood sugar test strips (also by prescription). If you recall on my first follow up visit in April, after losing the first five lbs my doctor eliminated the inject-able medication for diabetes from my list of medications. One down. I also had not had acid reflux or even indigestion since that first five lbs loss so when that medication ran out I did not refill the prescription and just quit taking it. Two down. During this time leading up to my July appointment I had lost roughly 30+lbs. My A1C test result (which is why I was there in the first place) was 5.7, at the top of the normal range and the bottom of the "pre-diabetes" range. My doctor suggested I might want to consider staying on a maintenance dose of the insulin resistance pill but at the end of the day she had to agree that with the progress I had made, as long as I continued on the same path, even a maintenance dose should not be necessary. Three down, plus no more lancets and blood testing. And since I had fasted prior to the appointment she drew blood to test my cholesterol. My doctor called me the next day with those results. On the medication my cholesterol was 99, which is half (about 200) the level where they put you on that medication initially. What could she say? My doctor has agree that I can stay off cholesterol medication for a year and we will revisit whether I need a maintenance dose based on test results after being off any medication for a while. Fourth and final prescription down!

I had accomplished my primary goal, being off all prescription medication, ten weeks early, and found myself a victim of the second "Tragedy!" I was without a goal to shoot for. I did manage to come up with a couple more goals to keep myself motivated and I have a couple others waiting in the wings for when I accomplish the second set. Overall accomplishments?

	Before	After
Weight:	192-195	150+
Pant Waist:	38	Loose 32
Shirts:	XL	M
Soccer Referee Uniform:	L	S
Time to Walk 3.8 Miles:	1 Hour 10 Min.	50+ Min.

Before

Whether you think I'm bragging or not, my main motivation for describing my experience in agonizing detail was to share with all my friends that Uncle John was right, again! Your health can be, and really is, a choice!  And any of you can accomplish a great deal if you just make up your mind and then get outside and take that first step.  I lost 40+ lbs for the most part just walking and sticking to my "one ingredient diet." But if this blog entry encourages even one of my friends to follow suit, improve their quality of life, and be around a bit longer so we can enjoy each other's company, then all of my bloviation will have been worth it.

After

The short bursts of running associated with refereeing soccer does not aggravate my knee or chest much and my 150 lbs self can actually keep up with the pace of play even with the U19 boys and D1 mens teams, something I'm a little bit proud of.  So that is how I'm spending my weekends now.  I've also started using those nice weights I purchased with my retirement gift three times a week.  I think I'll go for a flat stomach.  I haven't had one of those in a long time.  I'll let you know how I do.

In the mean time, I'll keep listening to Uncle John.  What is he always promoting?  "Put away a little money for a rainy day and if you have to buy on credit, you probably don't need it that bad!" "Take care of your stuff and it will last a long time (and you won't have to spend so much replacing things)!"  "And, get off the couch and get outside once and a while, the fresh air is good for you!"  As it turns out all that wisdom that comes with the years he's put behind him can add up to a great deal, maybe even a better life.  I'm certain that is Uncle John's wish for all of us and it is my wish for all of you as well!

By the way, remember when Liam was 145 lbs and I  was 195 lbs and we had that little kayak race and I positioned myself to have every advantage including cheating a bit but the little shit beat me anyway?  Well I think I just might be ready for a rematch.  Although, I may just keep working out with my weights for a while first.  After all, luck favors the prepared!

Take care,

Rick

PS  Yes, I know, Buddy looks bigger in the second picture, but it's an optical illusion.  He's next to me and I'm just smaller!  

Has It Really Been a Year???

More than a year really!  We left California in June of 2015.  September 2nd, was the one year anniversary for Maureen, Liam and I in our new home here in Weaverville, NC (not that Liam has spent any time here).  So how are we doing?  

Liam is back in school and back on the cross country course.  Maureen has set herself up as a substitute teacher in our local school district.  And me; despite my best efforts to stay unemployed, I managed to make some money the last couple of weekends refereeing a local club soccer tournament.  It doesn't pay great but I'm just doing it for beer money, and I don't drink that much beer!  

I'm also back at the high school helping with the varsity men's soccer team again this season.  I feel I'm a pretty good youth soccer coach and my primary motivation for volunteering with the high school team in the first place was to see up close the "next level" of competition and evaluate if I wanted to actually coach (head varsity or jv coach) at that level.  What I've learned is "I feel I'm a pretty good youth soccer coach" but I'm not really interested in getting involved where the competition is taken so seriously.  Especially in a sport that is not supported by the Athletic Director even though it's the only winning sports team on campus for the last three years.  I've always been of the opinion; "if you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong."  And I can't take myself seriously enough to be as intense and driven as most of the high school soccer coaches I've been exposed to.  And, I almost got fired the other night from my volunteer gig.  You'd think I'd have learned to keep my mouth shut by now.  I guess it's all those years I got paid to voice my opinion.  I've never been accused of being a yes man but sometimes my feedback is just not required.  Go figure!  Besides, aside from the fact that you take a little more abuse, as a high school referee I can choose my assignments and work only as much as I want; and, I've also learned that high school soccer referees get paid better (than referees at the club level).  The head coach I'm working with has announced he will not be returning next season.  I think that might be a good opportunity for me to move on as well and shift over to the referee ranks.  I'm certainly in better shape than most of the referees that have been assigned to our matches and I'm certain I can do just as well (or better) calling the matches. 

 I've also had the (dis)pleasure of having to deal with the California DMV this past year.  You think it's bad having to go to a CA DMV office to do business.  Try getting anything done from 2,400 miles away.  In a nutshell, I needed a duplicate title for my truck.  The request form states clearly that if the address on the title is different from your current mailing address you must come into a CA DMV office in person to request a duplicate title.  I attempted to preempt any objections with a detailed letter describing my situation and all of the documentation I could muster verifying my previous address as matching the title address with all of the forwarding documentation for my new address.  The CA DMV and I (snail) mailed back and forth numerous times.  I sent several checks, some were cashed and some returned with requests for additional documentation.  I even ended up with a partial refund check from the state at the end of the process.  But each time the CA DMV corresponded, no mention was made about my being out of state or that there was any problem with my address being different from the address on the title.  Finally after about nine months of back and forth I received a letter and form from a different division than I'd been dealing with.  It turns out that with the proper form you can change the address on a title by mail (no need to show up in person), for a fee of course which I happily paid, tremendously simplifying the whole duplicate title request process.  After completing that change of address form, three weeks later (+ eight and a half months) I had my duplicate title.  I'm not a big proponent of privatizing government functions but in North Carolina the "License Plate" offices are private businesses and you can choose which office to give your business.  The customer service in these offices is night and day compared to the CA DMV.  I had already registered my truck in NC last December and so I took my duplicate title, a completed form (which the Marshall License Plate office had prepared for me at that time), and my check book back to that office today to request the title be converted to the NC title.  The whole process took about three minutes and there was no fee.  The empirical evidence suggests that some government regulatory functions can be better handled through privatization, especially simple registration functions that can be more efficient and still lend themselves to a positive customer experience.  Oh, and the reason I drive out to the License Plate office in Marshall instead of mailing in the forms is because the drive is just as beautiful and relaxing as my drive to the landfill, maybe even more so!

Having been in Weaverville for more than a year now we are discovering all of the little surrounding towns in the area.  We are just about twelve miles north of Asheville which is the real tourist attraction around here but the small towns all have their charm and appeal as well.  Downtown Weaverville itself is just  Main Street with one stop light and small local businesses down both sides of the main drag.  Marshall, where the license plate office I give my business, is about eight miles away in Madison County and is about half the size of Weaverville.  Maureen and I attended a rodeo in Marshall this summer.  The Marshall rodeo is to the Norco rodeo what the Norco rodeo is to the Rodeo Championships in Las Vegas.  At the rodeo I sat next to (I'd guess) a nineteen year old young man who looked me in the eye and said; "yea, I'm a bull rider!"  Considering that the bull riding event was in progress when he said that to me and he was in the bleachers beside me at the time, I'm guessing he was not a top contender.  I can't really say he looked like much of a bull rider.  If you were to compare his and my physical characteristics I would say the main difference between him and me (besides age) would be that I'm smart enough not to get on the back of a live bull!  There is also a small town on the way to the Cherokee reservation named Maggie Valley.  As I'm driving through Maggie Valley I'm looking around and thinking to myself; "this could be Mayberry RFD."  Pretty as you please, just as I had that thought I passed a small business with a big sign; "Aunt Bee's."  Weaverville, Marshall, Maggie Valley, Brevard, Mars Hill, Burnsville, Waynesville, Sylva, Cullowhee, etc...  All small towns with their own histories that are all just variations of a theme, and I'd recommend a visit to any of them.

The Cherokee reservation is one of those places that you can't get there from here.  The drive is off the beaten path and through mountainous winding roads.  The main attraction is Harrah's Cherokee Casino.  I'm not a big casino guy but two or three times a year the World Poker Tour (WPT) holds satellite events at our Cherokee Casino.  Poker in North Carolina is strictly prohibited.  Charities may not have poker or casino fundraisers and even home games are specifically illegal.  Welcome to the bible belt.  The one exception is Harrah's Cherokee Casino.  And the nice thing about tournaments is that your maximum loss is your entry fee.  I managed to sneak away one Sunday during the WPT event to enter the Senior Tournament.  Yes, I know it's hard to believe but I can enter the senior events.  Now in the "Big fish in a small pond" environment I've proven I can hold my own.  In our Corona Host Lions Texas Holdem' Tournament (100-120 entrants) I've been to the final table multiple times, cashed a couple of times and won it outright once.  I also won a home game in the back room of a cigar shop for a nice chunk of change.  But in my first live casino tournament, including re-buys, there were 877 entrants.  That's a lot of players to have to get by and requires more than just a little bit of luck.  I think I fared reasonably well my first time out.  Out of the 877 entrants I finished somewhere around 130-140 (the tournament started paying out at 90th place).  We started at 9:30 AM and I was done at 4:30 PM.  I really only believe I made one mistake (got to clever and overplayed my hand) and that mistake did not put me out of the tournament but it did cripple my chip stack which made it tough to hang with the ever increasing blinds.  The WPT will be back in November and if I drink a little less beer maybe I can take some of that referee money and give it another go!

I'm driving to Virginia this weekend to bring my mother back to Western North Carolina so she can attend the Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle Festival.  You just can't make this stuff up.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Don't forget the special edition of "What I learned from my Uncle John" in early October.

Until then!

Rick

             

Next; “What I learned from my Uncle John,” Installment

(With a bonus passage on "What Liam learned from his Uncle Keith!")

How many times have we heard our Uncle John advise; "If you are going on a trip, take half the luggage and twice the money and you'll have a good vacation!"  And then he always adds: "there is the added benefit that as you spend the money you have less of that to carry which will lighten your load even more as you go."  

A couple of months ago Maureen and I returned from a whirl-wind tour of Ireland, Edinburgh (Scotland), and an overnight stay in Canada and true to Uncle John's theory, at least the second part, we returned carrying much less (money) than what we left with.  However I have to acknowledge Maureen's efforts on economy.  Our flights were purchased using the points on our credit card from all the purchases necessary to travel across county and move into a new home.  And between a couple of home swap sites and Maureen's family, we had much less lodging expense than we might have otherwise.

This was my fourth trip to Ireland and there is no telling how many times Maureen has been.  So we spent a good share of the time visiting family and revisiting a couple of our favorite places.  Have you ever gone over to someone's house just after they returned from a vacation and been completely bored to tears having to sit through a couple of hours of slides from their trip?  I'll spare you all the minutia of our day-to-day treks but there are a couple tidbits worth mentioning.

First, anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that I love to go to the horse races.  I love the process of handicapping the races and just being at the track and watching the horses run.  In Ireland I have to settle for the greyhound races but they can be just as much fun.  So armed with my little greyhound handicapping book I bought before my trip in 2000 we headed for the Limerick Greyhound Track.  We had arranged to meet a couple of Maureen's cousins at the track who are in the greyhound business.  Mort, the dad, breeds, trains and races greyhounds.  His son Liam works at the Limerick track.  Not only is there an advantage to being with locals in the know, I just love hanging out with Mort (the why of which is an entire blog entry in and of itself).  So we arrive at the track and we're looking around and there is no Mort and no Liam.  As it turns out Liam's wife had gone into labor and they both chose to attend the birth of their granddaughter/daughter over hanging out with Maureen and I at the dog track.  Go figure!  I would love to tell you that I won a ton of money that night and it paid for our vacation.  But alas, the greyhound track was just another one of those places where I unburdened myself of some of my cash along the way.  Maureen and I did meet up with Mort later and he couldn't resist showing off his new granddaughter.  We also got a tour of his kennel and training operation and went out for our obligatory "one pint"; no seriously, "I just have time for one!"  

Of course with Mort, "just one pint" takes a few hours, consists of several rounds and a good number of his siblings, and requires a designated driver.  I love hanging out with Mort!

On the way to Abbeyfeale to visit Mort we decided to stay at the local hotel, the Devon Inn, which is a very nice place.  I called ahead and reserved a room for one night.  We arrived in the early evening to check in and this is the room we were given.

The Devon Inn is not cheap but for the price we were paying this had to be a mistake.  Turns out, the new receptionist at the front desk that evening was not as familiar with the Inn as she should have been and we were assigned the Bridal Suite.  And we were still only charged the regular room rate which was less even than I was quoted on the phone when I made the reservations.  We stayed a second night!  Anyway, we had a great trip and I always look forward to having the next opportunity to visit Ireland and Maureen's family.

When Maureen and I decided to move east we wanted to make sure we were close enough to drive to see our families.  It's a clear case of "be careful what you wish for." Since we've been back from Ireland, I've been to Virginia three times, twice with Maureen, and we both went to Ohio once.  Also, my mom came back with me on one of those trips and stayed for a week and Maureen's parents and sisters descended on us for a long weekend.  That's my excuse for not providing an update before now.  I just haven't been home much or we've been busy since May.

Liam managed to get a job to fill his summer free time.  Well two jobs actually.  Liam worked the Brevard Runners Camp for two weeks as a Junior Counselor which also made it easier for him to stay in shape at least while he was at camp.  Liam's real job is as a bagger at Ingles grocery store.  I was surprised they hired him knowing Liam's limited availability, between his runner's camp and having to return to school early the second week of August.  But Liam seems to enjoy the job and they are giving him all the hours they can without making him full time.

Liam has also decided on a major course of study (finally) which brings me to my promised bonus passage on "What Liam learned from his Uncle Keith!"  On a couple of occasions I've heard Keith describe his recommended process for deciding on a major.  So Liam and I put it to the test.  Keith's theory begins; if you've already picked a school, the school has a finite number of majors they offer.  So the best process to decide on a major is to go by the numbers.

1. Print up a list of all of the majors offered by your school.
2. Go down the list and strike out any major that you have absolutely no interest in pursuing.  That got us from roughly 120 majors down to about 18, which is a much more manageable number and way less intimidating.
3. For the surviving majors, print up descriptions of the majors and potential jobs/careers associated with those majors.  Then further pare down the selections based on what career you can see yourself in.  That got us down to roughly 4 or 5 (two were very similar).
4. For the few remaining choices, print up the course requirements (list of classes needed to complete the major).  Now decide whether you want to spend the next four (three for Liam) years taking those classes.

For someone with a personality that is as "Expressive" as Uncle Keith, he can be downright "Analytical" at times. 

Based on this experience with Liam I would further recommend that, especially when working with a young man, don't try to do this all at one sitting.  Take some time between each step, even a day or two, to allow some time to dwell on the selections.

Liam's choice.....?  Liam will begin pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Management this fall.  Some of the potential careers include project manager, project engineer, construction administrator, scheduler, estimator, inspector, contract administrator and facilities or construction manager.  Who knows, maybe Liam will follow in his mother's footsteps as a project manager (a job she did for several years for the City of Corona's Parks Department) or even his old man's (and Uncle Keith's for that matter) footsteps and get into Code Administration!  Who knows what the future might bring?

Coming up?  Liam goes back to school the second week in August and has his first Cross Country meet of the season September 3rd.  Maureen will be substitute teaching with the local school district this fall.  My gig as assistant varsity soccer coach starts back up this week.  I was offered the JV Head Coach position but when I found out what the salary (stipend really) was, I figured for the commitment it was going to cost me money.  So I'm staying on with the varsity as a volunteer.  I found a Special Interest Group at the local UNCA campus that plays (for fun)  a Holdem' poker tournament every Monday evening.  I've played twice and already won it once.  The time I busted out I went all in with a pair of aces, an open end straight and flush draws.  I even had a chance at the best two pair.  I figured I had better than 20 outs (cards that would win me the hand).  The lady next to me had one out, she needed a queen that wasn't a spade (a spade would have made my flush) to make three-of-a-kind.  Guess what came up?  If you need a clue, that's the tournament I didn't win!  That's OK, I'm still having a blast!

Before I close I want to throw out a teaser for October.  I may have another update between now and then but my early October update will have the next, and a special addition of, "What I learned from my Uncle John!"  So stay tuned.

We hope everyone is having a great summer! 

In "Dog Beers" I've Only Had One!

In past blog entries I've attempted to entice all of you, my friends, to come out to visit us with the promise of the many touristy things that Asheville has to offer.  On one of our early visits to the Asheville area we took one of the On-Off Trolley tours of the city.  If you are not familiar with Trolley Tours, it is a guided tour that runs at regular intervals and you can get off at any scheduled stop and then get back on the next trolley whenever you are ready all day long.  It's a great way to explore any city for the first time and get familiar with the local attractions.  Anyway, one of our driver/guides was a complete character.  He described Asheville as being built on the 4 Ts:

Tobacco;

Timber;

Tourism; and,

Tuberculosis

Apparently the air quality here in the mountains is so good (unlike what I was exposed to for the last 35 years) that Asheville became a very popular place for convalescing from any number of respiratory ailments during the last two centuries.  However, with Keith Clarke's impending visit it has brought to light one of Asheville's main attractions that was overlooked in that list...BEER!!! 

It appears the Colorado Rockies have nothing on Asheville for the quality of our Mountain Spring Water.  The quality of our water for brewing beer is second to none.  As a result, Asheville is known world wide for its up and coming microbrewery industry.  Microbreweries in Asheville are relatively new on the scene compared to microbrewery behemoths like Portland, Oregon.  I was a little disappointed that Asheville didn't score higher in some of the articles I found Googling the topic.  The subjective assessments ranged from number 16 in Thrillist.com's article titled "Best Beer Cities in America"; to number 8 in CNN.com's "8 Best Beer Towns in America"; to number 2 in Smartasset.com's "The Best Cities for Beer Drinkers."  If you consider that there are over 19,000 incorporated entities in the USA, even a ranking of number 16 is pretty darn good.  However, since Keith and I are both avid "Beer Drinkers" I'm going to promote Asheville as the "2nd Best City for Beer Drinkers! (At least until they move into the number 1 spot.)"

How often have we heard "Uncle Keith" declare that in his retirement he fully intended to "Catch up on his drinking"?  His visit to Asheville will likely be his best chance for that very thing.  My TripAdvisor query using the word "breweries" resulted in 26 breweries, 2 brewery tours, and a couple of pubs, and that was just the first page of results.  The Asheville Chamber's website has a page titled "Asheville Beer Top 40: Breweries, Pubs, Events." I personally have not had the opportunity to take advantage of one of the brewery tours but it will be on the agenda for Keith's visit and I am very much looking forward to it.

Now you wouldn't think there was a downside to being the 2nd best city for beer drinkers, but I have not one, but two issues with the microbreweries in Asheville.  First, for some reason it's appears to be a common assumption that a higher alcohol content means a more flavorful or better tasting beer.  And you know what happens when you make assumptions; you make an "ass" out of "u" and "umption!"  Really, a 9% alcohol beer is just a nasty tasting beer for which you have to pay more for the privilege of drinking less.  I mean who wants a DUI on their record just so they can say they "had more than one 9% beer?"  Second, almost all of the breweries make beer that is seasonal.  What that means is that just when you find a beer you really like it goes out of season and you have to begin the experimentation process all over again (I guess that could be a "good news, bad news thing depending on your view).  The pub called the Thirsty Monk, right across from our favorite pub Jack of the Wood, is an Asheville attraction for no other reason than touting they have over 1000 beers on tap over the course of the year.  All that means to me is the 250 beers they have over the winter are gone in favor of the 250 different beers they stock in for spring long before you have an opportunity to try them all.  Even if you automatically ignore all beer with alcohol content over 6% it's an impossible task.  And it doesn't help that the same beer will be available next winter because I've already forgotten which beers I've sampled and liked last winter.  Most bars will give you free samples of their beers on tap in a shot glass.  If you work the system right I suppose you could have a great night, get your DUI and never spend a dime on beer by just sampling everywhere.  But don't get me wrong, for a guy like me it's a nice problem to have.  I had a doctor's appointment today and my blood pressure was as low as it's been in 10 years.  I don't know if it's Asheville, unemployment, Buddy, or the pubs; and I'm not sure I care!

There is one pub like attraction in which I'm not interested in the least.  The "PubCycle".  I'll do it if Keith and Nancy want but I have no interest in working that hard for a beer.  It kind of defeats the purpose if you know what I mean.  And it's BYOB for Pete's sake; what's that all about?

One final note.  A couple of times we've been out Maureen and I have seen this diminutive (elfin/Maureen thinks she looks like the sister of Logolas from the Lord of the Rings.) young woman hanging out around the Blues bands.  I thought she was just a band groupie.  It turns out Ms. Jesse Barry is quite the local celebrity in her own right.  Ms. Barry was a season 9 American Idol contestant (made it to Hollywood but didn't make the final cut).  We had a chance to hear her sing last night at Tressa's and as you might guess, she's quite good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkOKN0sVs8k

Have a great week!

Rick




   

I'm On A 30 Day Diet

So far I've lost 18 days!  

Spring is in the air!  I know that spring is here because I just had to cut my grass for the first time of the season.  I took my brothers advice and raised the mower a notch and didn't have near the trouble with rocks and roots this time.  As a matter of fact I went absolutely crazy after I finished the main part of the lawn and I raised the wheels all the way to their upper limit to tackle the steep rocky slope by my lower driveway.  Not only did I not have to worry about roots, the blade was high enough to clear some small trees.  The slope that I was dreading having to take the weed wacker to is manicured.  Sure the grass is a little higher but the slope is so steep it's not usable anyway and at least it doesn't look like I'm letting it grow wild.  I may have mentioned this before; Maureen is considering getting me a riding lawn mower this year.  But I think what I really need is a monster leaf blower.

A new riding lawn mower might be nice but I've gotten into a good routine with my self propelled push mower and I have enough sloped areas that I'd be using the push mower a fair amount of the time anyway.  But raking leaves...that's a chore.  I still have leaves from last fall in the lawn and our wooded area is just blanked with them.  And, if I had a ginormous leaf blower, a Tim the Tool-Man sized leaf blower, then I'd be set!  

My wish list leaf blower!  
(Click on the link)

Ok, so maybe that is a little overkill, and I'd still need the riding mower.  But how about a nice professional grade leaf blower.  Something with enough power you have to be careful not to peel up the lawn or accidentally remove the paint from the side of the house!

Stihl Leaf Blower Commercial

(Click on the link)

Maybe even a leaf blower with so much torque in the motor that it has to be mounted on a backpack frame.  Our local Lowes has a Husqvarna gas powered 4-Stroke backpack mounted monster that might even be able to push the woods back a bit deeper from the house.  "Husqvarna"; that name even sounds a little like the Tim the Tool-Man grunt!  Father's day is just around the corner.  We'll just have to wait and see.

Another tell-tale sign of spring is the cushions are back out on the patio furniture.  That's actually my doing.  It has intermittently been so nice temperature wise that I had been sitting out on the porch in the chairs without the cushions.  I got out (the wrong) cushions for one chair and then finally said "what-the-heck" and drug out all of the cushions.  We have covered porches.  It's not going to destroy the cushions if the weather turns bad for a day or two.

Another sign of Spring, Maureen and I both got sunburned at Liam's meet in Spartanburg, SC on Saturday.  Since I wrote the bit above the weatherman is predicting freezing temperatures and snow showers (whatever a "snow shower" is) coming up this Friday.  Last night got close to freezing and today it's supposed to be 73.  Yep, it's spring time in the mountains!

And last, the SoCon Indoor (and Outdoor) Performance List for the 2015-16 Season is out.  Liam has the 10th best indoor 3000 meter time and the 7th best 5000 meter indoor time in the Southern Conference and is the top freshman in the conference in each category.  At the moment, Liam also has the 15th best outdoor 1500 meter time (4:03.99, not his best distance) and the 4th best 5000 meter outdoor time in the conference at 14:48.92 (4:46.1 per mile for 3.1 miles).  So Liam appears to have picked up where he left off the indoor season and is having a successful freshman outdoor campaign.

I hope everyone is enjoying Spring as much as I am!

Have a great day!

Rick