7-Iron

I was about 12 when Dad woke me from bed early one Saturday morning, one of the rare times he played weekends, as Dad often had Thursday and Friday off from work - tee times were much easier on weekdays.

I was to caddy for Dad, which was a rare privilege. We drove to a nearby golf course, I seem to recall Dad wore a yellow shirt, and probably some horrid plaid trousers which were a few years out of fashion in about 1976.

On the 8th, par 5 dad's approach shot bounded off the hard green and landed somewhere behind the green in rough dry shrub. "Give me that lucky 7-iron". I handed him the club, and he strode off toward the green.

I drug the hand cart along the side of the fairway,  and Dad carried his 7-iron across the green, and started searching for the ball.

As I left the cart near the west side of the green, and walked toward dad's right side, scouring the ground for the ball, I heard Dad yell "stop - watch your step!" .. I then heard the rattle of a snake, and saw the coiled rattlesnake, just 2-3 meters ahead of me, and even closer to dad, the lost ball lying a foot or two from the snake.

I think I froze in my tracks, and watched as dad slowly and carefully approached the snake, raising the 7-iron above his head to strike downward.

He stopped, lowered his favorite club, reaching it toward me. "Give me the 8-iron"....


Dad killed the snake, and used the 7-iron to pitch in.

Past and Future

When you are young, you have no past, only future.

When you are old, you have no future, and only past.

You will never successfully reach old unless you understand your past.

Someday, you will value proof that you were. That you lived, that you breathed, won, lost, fought, and loved. you will not see this until you have a past, and will welcome having items such as photos
to remind you of the past that has resulted in your success.

Intelligent Law

Excerpt from the Constitution of the state of California, 1849





Constitution of the State of California.
PROCLAMATION TO THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA.


ARTICLE II.
RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE.

SEC. 5. No idiot or insane person, or person convicted of any infamous crime, shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector.


Given at Monterey, California, this 12th day of October, A.D., 1849.





Should we adopt this into the US Constitution ?

It would disqualify at least half of the US Congress.....

Axioms

A Random collection of Axioms which I've collected, and have served me well in my years so far. The one's I've actually followed...Credit, and rights to the respective authors.

Everything you really needed to know, you learned in kindergarten.

The most important learning in life, is the ability to learn.

Trust nothing but fact.

Put away for a rainy day.

If you think the world will end tomorrow, and you have nothing to lose, it will not, and you will wait a long time for it to end, having nothing to lose.

If you build a castle, you must defend it; everything has it's price.

Honesty is the best policy.

Be true to yourself, and you can be false to no man.

Never lie, and you have nothing to remember.

The most remarkable lives are comprised of unremarkable events.

When you drink, be able to walk home. Be able to find your home, and be able to fight your way there.

Fighting is a last resort to solve a problem. The 1st man to resort to violence is the 1st to have run out of ideas. Choose your fights carefully, calulate what you will gain from fighting. choose fights you can win. And when you choose to fight, make sure you win.

When the thrill is gone, then it's time to take it back.

Management is a sign on the desk; leadership decided to build the desk, and then built it.

"When 10 men in a room are all thinking alike, at least one is not thinking". George S. Patton

Whenever you find yourself in a dark tunnel, imagine that you have arrived in the light after the tunnel. Imagine yourself looking back, and imagine that you are proud of your behavior during the dark times. Now walk through the darkness this way.

The woman you are interested in is not necessarily the ones who look at you, it is the one who does not.

"Whatever your hand finds to do under the sun, do it with all your might" . Solomon

Never stand behind a horse.

There are many things for which you will be remembered forever; money is not one of them.

If people say you're always wrong, just think of one time you were correct; if you can remember one, they are the one's who are incorrect.

Why spend your leisure bereft of pleasure, you'll take no money within the grave.

The 1st time you defend a woman's honor, you might find that some women don't have any.

Dark Tunnel

When you are in the darkness of the tunnel, and cannot see light at the end, and cannot go back, recall the theory that there is light at the other end.

Remember the last time you exited such a tunnel. If you did it once, you can do it again.

Since you are still alive, you have probably successfully exited most of the dark tunnels in your life, meaning your percentage chance of exiting this one are quite high.




Do not attempt to turn left or right in a tunnel, the mathematics dictates a low chance of success with either of these strategies.

Think about the last time you were in such a tunnel, and let the pressure get to you, and behaved badly.

Now think about when you exited a tunnel, looked back on your time in the tunnel, and were proud of your performance under pressure, in dire straits. Now remember that pride.

Now behave in the darkness of the tunnel with pride; with poise - exhibit the behavior that you were proud of during your last dark times, in full confidence you will exit the tunnel, will look back from your success with the satisfaction of how you behaved during the dark times.

It is this behavior that will carry you through any tunnel in which you find yourself.

Don't Wait...

Don't wait.
Carpe Diem

Do it now, while you're young

There are things in life, you will want to accomplish before a certain age, or condition in life.

Just when you think you'll never end up like "that old guy".

You will.

This is God's humor.

Rock now, before it's too loud.


Go to war now - prove yourself now, before you're too slow.
You may die, but then again - you will die someday, far better to go down in bravery, and potential glory than in the rocking chair.

Play football one more time before you injure yourself just running onto the field.

Fall in love with her, while you still have something to offer her.

Make a list of 10 things to do now, while you still can. There *will* come a day where you *will not* be able to do these things.

Do it now while you have hair.
Do it now while you still have straight teeth, and they're all yours.
Do it now while standing up in the  morning does not hurt.
Do it now, before most of your friends are dead.
Do it now before you realize you've become that old guy.
Do it now, before you realize you long for the "good old days"

Live hard, die young, and leave a good looking corpse.

But if you can't manage that - some of us don't live with the luxury of deciding our days on earth - God does that - Do it now, while you still can.

Absurdities

Why is it called "two" ?

The dance-hall theory - the men stand on one side, wishing the women would accept an offer to dance. The Women stand on the other side, wishing the men would ask...everyone leaves with unfulfilled dreams...

If you buy an expensive watch, it is more likely to be lost within 48 hours of purchase, than the cheap $10 model, which lasts 20 years.

Humans are never happy with what we have; we always want what we cannot obtain.

The guy who drinks and smokes too much, carouses til all hours of the morning, and eats anything and everything unhealthy, lives until 100. The guy who watches his weight, gets regular excercise, doesn't drink, or smoke, dies of heart failure at 45.

This is part of Murphy's law, and God's wisdom - like the Kiwi bird, or the size of the avocado seed.

Most unhealthy things in life kill by causing people to worry about them.

Those who have are those who get; those who have not, stay that way.

ad infinitum...