Sights Around Brighton

We're awfully used to seeing hot air balloons around here. In fact, they're quite commonplace.  We have an abundance of wildlife and because Brighton is at the crossroads of two major highways (I-96 and US-23) you never know what (or who) may happen into town.

At Monday's 4th of July Parade, we had a couple of A-10's flyover during the parade, a bi-plane streaming smoke, and a small group of private planes flying in formation, too.  Here's one of the entries into the Brighton Optimist Club's Bike Decorating Contest - a plane of a different sort.  This pedal powered airplane is almost an annual entry into the contest and is always a crowd pleaser.  I'm not sure of the manufacturer's name, but I did see a similar one on an episode of Antique Roadshow a year or two back, and it was worth a significant amount of money in it's original paint. This one has obviously been repainted.

The Chessie System tracks also run through the area.  I grew up in the Delray neighborhood in SW Detroit and you could not get in or out of that area without crossing railroad tracks-at least until I-75 was built.  I thought I'd seen every kind of locomotive and train car there was until yesterday. I was taking Fourth Street and there was a fuel oil truck with a stopped train. Not sure if they were refueling a piece of equipment on this car or if this car powered the entire train, but I had never seen one before. It's called a 'rail pick up' unit.  Very interesting.

Plenty of reasons to keep a camera with you. Don't leave home without one!

News That Makes You Go hmm . . .

Hey, hey! Stolen cars are at their lowest rate since 1987. There's good news.  Guess the high price of gasoline is deterring more than the 'Club' and lowjac.  And better yet, Detroit's not in the Top 10 City list for stolen cars, either.

Verizon is doing away with unlimited data plans.  Might as well.  My Blackberry Curve chokes when using the IE web browser so often it's almost useless. I downloaded the BOLT browser (free) from the Blackberry store and it works much faster.

And what's with the price of coffee?  Are they making *that* from oil, too? I'm cutting back to half a pot for the family in the morning (one cup each) and skipping it at restaurants, too.  Analysts blame it on the demand for green coffee (green coffee beans are those picked, processed wet, dried and then milled, but not roasted. That  is usually left to the bean purchaser) and also to poor growing conditions in South America. I'm betting the speculators are driving prices more than anything else.

The FDA approved some new graphic warning labels for cigarette packages.  Now we need financial advisors to start advertising on them, too. (That might deter people more than image of a diseased lung.)  I was in a local store recently and saw a Marlboro pack price of $6.25!  No wonder the new 'growth' industry seems to be tobacco shops.  Rolling your own is more popular now than it was in the late 60's.

NPR covered a story about a facebook post from Lab42 that says of the surveyed men, 27 percent who judge themselves to be overweight ate at fast food outlets more than seven times a week. Crap! How did that happen! I just bought a new belt.  (The study group was composed of 500 men aged 18-35.)

I'm busy unsubscribing from all the things that I signed up for that sounded like a good idea at the time, but that have proven to have absolutely no value to me.  First one? Groupon. Nice coupons if you live in Metro Detroit, but at an hour away there was never anything that made me want to jump in the car and drive for.

I'm extending that to magazines, too.  I love golf but when you get all of these great 'ideas' about how to hit longer tee shots or make better chips, it just seems to confuse my game.  I'm actually hitting straighter and playing more consistently now that I quit reading golf magazines - and watching golf improvement shows. Tournaments are different. Let me know if you want to camp out in front of a TV to watch a tournament some time.

Screech Owl

At this year's Free Fishing Derby For Kids, conducted by the Brighton Optimist Club, there was an unexpected visitor.  A fully grown Screech Owl, brought by the Howell Conference and Nature Center. With a damaged left eye, it will likely not survive in the wild, but it sure did interest and amaze the kids (and the adults!) who were at the event. This is a relatively small bird, maybe 7 or 8 inches long.

This was the first time the HCNC was at this event, the 25th anniversary edition.  They do great work and have an absolutely wonderful facility, too.

Trip to the 45th Parallel

Michigan is such a great State. It doesn't matter if you live in the west, southeast or north.  So many great things to do and so much great scenery to travel from one region to another. 

Friday morning my wife and I left early (6am) for a trip to Gaylord.  The weather was rainy and dreary when we left Brighton, but we hit some open sky and sunlight just north of Bay City.  It was an amazing transformation of mood. I had a meeting at 11am that was an excuse for a short vacation.  A 2pm tee time had already been booked.  Normally, I forego I-75 for the 27 route, but that day I decided to take I-75.  My wife doesn't really like huge bridges, but she took Zilwaukee in stride.  We stopped in Standish and had a great breakfast at Wheeler's, then proceeded on our trip.

We had enough time to look around Gaylord before my short business meeting at Treetops. I met up with the rest of our group in the lobby and half of our four couples could actually check-in even though it was around 10:30.  Of course, my room was not ready, but then again I hadn't expected it to be.

Our business concluded, we had time for a quick lunch before golfing the Traditions course. The original Treetops course, it was designed to be junior golfer friendly and I was amazed that you could pull up adjacent to each and every tee box.  I mean right next to it. Open an inviting is how I would describe this course.  Even I didn't lose a single golf ball. My score was less than illustrious, but I'm seriously behind my golf pace of 2010.  At this time last year I had played almost 30 times.  This was my third outing for this year.

Friday evening the group got together for dinner at the Big Buck Brewery.  The Red Ear Ale was smooth and tasty. My wife enjoyed her pale ale.  I was somewhat disappointed in the 10 oz prime rib dinner.  I really should have asked the waitress for her recommendation.  In the past I've been very pleased with their burger and sandwiches.

We finished off our short stay with a round of golf on the 9 hole par 3 course, ThreeTops.  A cute play on words.  The entire course is up and down - literally.  Elevated tee with sunken green, sunken tee with elevated green, or elevated tee and green with a deep valley betwixt.  I've never played anywhere with so many extreme up and down lies.  If you didn't hit the green it was a challenge.  I ended up losing one ball, too.

Our group checked out after this round and headed back home.  In contrast to the trip up, I drove straight through on the way back.  I had a serious case of the 'drowsies' going after reaching the half way point and did have to make a quick stop south of Birch Run.  The Arbie's drive through provided a shot of alertness with a Jamocha Shake and the rest of the trip was uneventful.

It was great to see that the construction projects were not active for the Holiday weekend and we literally cruised in both directions. It would have been nice to spend another night 'up north', perhaps at Mackinaw City or Traverse City, but the almost constant recent rain at home and my lack of garden maintenance required me to get back and face real-world responsibilities.

Hey, What About Me?

A lot of big news in the last couple of days.  OBL finally caught and justice administered by Navy Seals and a quick burial at sea, US Intelligence pouring over a trove of captured documents. US Army Corps of Engineers treats Illinois to a night time display while destroying a Mississippi River levee to save Cairo,IL from flooding. Canadian Conservatives win big and the BQ separatists seem to be reduced to a non-issue.

And from Detroit, the cry is raised, "Hey, What About Me?"  OK, not quite literally, but that's the sense of it. 

Mayor Dave Bing is trying to rejuvenate the city, and had offered abandoned homes for sale to policemen for $1,000 to get them to move back.  What good would that do? Well, it would help eliminate some vacant homes, hopefully start to stabilize neighborhoods, and put the properties back on the tax rolls for just a few things.  Cities don't just happen 'downtown' or in the Greektowns or at the casinos, or the sports arenas.  Their roots are in the neighborhoods.  And Detroit has some pretty bad neighborhoods.  Many look more like a war zone than anything else.

So now we have citizens saying, "Great, but what about me? What will you do for me? Lower my taxes?"  This sense of entitlement is the root of a lot of problems in big cities and in America. Yes, Detroit has a close to obscene tax rate (65 mils). Some folks in the really nice areas like Boston-Edision or Indian Village pay a lot of money ($7,000 happens a lot in those areas).  But in the other neighborhoods, that's not the case. 

I checked my childhood neighborhood (Delray in SW Detroit).  A lot of those folks are paying between $450-$900/yr of taxes.  Nicer areas in NW Detroit can pay up to around $3,000/yr.  It depends on the value of your house. My quick check is neither exhaustive nor qualitative, but I didn't se one single property that had a taxable value (TV) the same as the State Equalized Value (SEV), they were all sustantially lower on the TV.

Folks, it took DECADES for Detroit to get into its current predicament. It may take another DECADE to see momentum build in a turnaround.  Do what you can do to make it a better place. Band together with neighbors, clean up the trash, encourage police to return to the city and you'll start to see better emergency response times and things turn around.  It won't happen overnight. But if you give up except to fight the little bright spots like this program, it may never happen. And in the meantime, your neighbors that have the ability to move to the suburbs will do so.

Easter Dinner

This was a completely atypical Easter for my wife and I. She had surgery last Wednesday and we informed the family that we wouldn't be attending the Easter gathering.  I had to work for an hour or so this morning at 9am and that was a good thing, because it turned out that was my only reason to shave and get dressed.

I had decided to go non-traditional for dinner this year.  I had a corned beef brisket in the freezer (I bought a couple on sale around St. Patrick's Day) and I defrosted it yesterday, then brined it overnight.  If you haven't discovered brining, get to it.  The meat comes out so juicy and tender that it's totally insane. I discovered brining last Thanksgiving and I use that technique every chance I get now. It produced the very best turkey I've ever cooked, and I have a special talent for poultry dishes. A simple concoction is 1.5-2 gals water, 1/2 cup salt and 1 cup sugar. Add bay leaves,other fresh spices or just cracked pepper if you like. Scale down for the size of meat and amount of water that you use. 

This morning, early, I set it up in the crock pot with about 12 ounces of orange juice, sprinkled the brisket with peppercorns and let it go for about 5.5 hours on high. I was going to chop some fresh rosemary and sprinkle that in it too, but I hadn't used the orange juice marinade before so I decided to eliminate an additional variable.   If anything, I am a systematic cook.  Definitely not fine dining, but usually very tasty and reasonable healthy.  Sides included broiled asparagus sprinkled with extra virgin olive oil, cracked pepper and salt, mashed potatoes, followed by dutch apple pie and french vanilla ice cream for dessert.  Still way too much food for two, but we'll have great leftovers for a couple of days. We actually delayed dessert for about two hours.

It's kind of strange not feeling rushed to get someplace, then forcing yourself to try to stay awake in a crowd after a big meal. We couldn't really go out for a post-prandial walk because of my wife's surgery but it was nice to have a no pressure holiday for a change. She did dress for dinner, but promptly regressed into those comfy pajamas. I was never much of a PJ man until about 5 years ago, but if nature and man didn't intervene on certain days, I think could pretty much live in them when inside my home and be a happy camper.

While I certainly did miss seeing 'the fam' today, it was great to be alone with my wife. All of the kids are growing and going in their own directions, we're getting older and some are thinking about ditching Michigan to move to warmer climes.  I do wonder how long the usual holiday routine will last. No matter where you're at in life, I think you can potentially be at the best point in your life.  I'm wondering more often if this is the best part of my life.  I sincerely hope not and I'll try to make every year, month, week, and day better than the previous. I hope you do, too.  Happy Easter, and to my Jewish friends, Happy Passover.

Is The World Getting Crazier?

I don't think so. I think we're just too connected. Every little thing is instantly spread by 24 hrs news outlets, twitterbugs, and bloggers. (Hey, I'm one of them! Bloggers, I mean.)

So onto my craziness target.  We have a real, live celebrity (er, wannabee) about 45 minutes away.  Pastor Terry Jones is in a Dearborn (MI) courtroom waiting to find out if he will be allowed to hold a protest that includes buring a Quran outside a Deaborn mosque.

You know, I don't care if you're the president of the virginity league and you want to burn a racy novel.  Book burners don't sit well with me. For that matter, neither do book banners, but that's for another day.  In this country you are able to burn an American flag if you wish, under the premise of free speech.  I guess that means that books are not off limits either, even if they are considered books of faith.  And if we let a whacko lead us down the path of abridging our First Amendment right to free speech, well, then shame on us.

As distasteful as this man is, I think he has the right to assemble and protest, and yes - even burn a holy text.  But that's as far as I will go.

I think he makes a mockery of religious leadership.  How can a 'Christian' espouse such hatred? Oh, I know, it's the 15 minutes thing.  He's had a couple of 15 minutes ventures into the limelight, decided that he liked it, and is back for more - and more, and more and more.  I further believe that he is a very small human being and he is disguising his hatred for the Moslem world under the cover of 'free speech'. Hey, whatever it takes to get in the media.

I did a little background on 'Pastor' Terry Jones and discovered that he is not really a graduate of any divinity school.  He is an 'appointed' Pastor and was released from a church position in Germany in 2008 "due to his indefensible theological statements and his craving for attention." (See Wikipedia reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dove_World_Outreach_Center)

Apparently, his church does well enough to get him and some of his followers to places around the country for well publicized and emotional protests. His congregation (The Dove World Outreach Center) is reported to be around 50 strong, with 30 or so at weekly services. I guess we should be happy that it's not double, triple, or more than that. It has been classified as a hate group by the Southern poverty Law Center for its anti-gay activities. 

In Metro Detroit, a coalition of religious leaders representing many different faiths have rallied together to denounce this 'protest'.  Hopefully, this group will hold its little protest, pack up into their cars or bus and head back to Gainesville, Florida, where their Mayor has termed them an "embarassment to the community.

Will Donald Trump Run?

Does anybody really care?  While he's busy trying to prove that President Obama isn't really an American that's not all he's doing.  He recently (this week) bought a Virginia vineyard at foreclosure. Perhaps that will give him something constructive to do rather than muddy up an already cloudy political lagoon.

He would be the most inept President ever. Even worst than Warren G. Harding, who reportedly played poker while allowing his friends to plunder the US Treasury. In fact, a famous quote attributed to him was, "I am not fit for this office and should never have been here." Wow. That's a mouthful.

Perhaps Mr. Trump could keep to his apprenticing and wine making and prevent us from seeing the first President that says to himself, "you're fired".  With conviction, of course. My estimation of politicans in general is at an all-time low, but if we're looking for a non-politican 'savior', it most surely won't be Donald Trump.

I have nothing against the man personally, but he's is probably the definition of what we don't need as our commander in chief. Stick to the mindless medium of television - please.

Parking Lots and Door Dings

I hate to sound like a lousy, stinkin' whiner. Really. I do.

I've had a rash of scrapes and bumps on my car doors that is enough to test the patience and reasoning of any sane person.  How freaking hard is it to move your shopping cart into one of the little collection bays? I normally park a bit further to the back of a lot, even if there are closer spots.  I always think that there are people who have a lot more trouble getting around than myself and they need the spot - even if they're not officially 'handicapped'.

So how do I collect so many blemishes on my doors?  I've seen carts left in the parking spots even when the cart corral was right there!  I see people just sending the carts 'on their way' when done loading. It's different if you're a mom with little ones that you just strapped into their car seat and you have to walk a distance to the corral, but come on.

It only takes a few seconds and does so much for your fellow shoppers.  My award for best cart management goes to the Howell (MI) Meijer's.  A lot of corrals, and frequent collection by staff keep their lot quite orderly.

My award for worst is the Brighton (MI) Costco.  Not a lot of corrals for starters. And their carts are HUGE. It really is a chore to walk a cart to a collection point in this lot.  I always make sure to park wa-a-ay out if I visit this store. I try to keep my purchases to a minimum and use one of those great big Tractor Supply Company (TSC) re-usable shopping bags. They hold a lot more than the typical bag and are constructed to be a lot sturdier. That way I don't need to deal with a cart at this store.

And don't even get me started on drivers that don't know how to park inside the lines of the space. We'll save that for some other time.

Commercials & Infomercials

Lordy.  I thought I had seen it all with the 'Amish Fireplace' (it's free! limit two per household!).  If you watch the 40 minute version, as I did one sleepless early morning, there's a shot in the middle with an "authentic amish worker" that has an electric nail gun in his hand. Working on a fireplace mantle.  Pretty funny. He's easy to spot. He's the young guy with what looks like a stick on beard.

I just saw a short commercial on IFC for the $50 buffalo nickel-style gold piece.  Proper disclaimer about not being legal tender, it starts by saying that production was going to have to be stopped due to a lack of available coin blanks.  Near the end comes the meat of the pitch. "Clad in the purest gold - 0.9999 pecent 24K gold".  Wow, that's impressive.  Next is a quick remark about 14 mg of gold used on the gold 'clad' coin.  Hmm.

1 oz of gold = 28 grams.  14 mg is .014g of gold.  That makes 14mg = 0.000493 oz of gold.  The current gold price is $1,433/oz, so this 'limited edition collector's piece' actually has about 70 cents worth of gold in - or more accurately - on it. There could be some intrinsic value in the craftsmanship or the limited 'collectibility', but I'm pretty sure that won't equal the rest of the $49.30 in value.

Random Thoughts and Cabin Fever

It has certainly been a long winter.  I keep saying that I love all four of Michigan's seasons (and I do!), but wow, almost a record snowfall for February (31" for the month) and a prolonged period of really cold weather had me a bit - "out of whack."

At least we're getting some sunshine and the promise of Spring. I keep looking for my little crocuses (croci?) and daffodils to confirm that Spring is here, but they're under too much snow at this time.

February was also a very busy month for me business-wise, and a busy month for other interests, so I didn't play much poker. For the first time, I didn't earn a small cash award for PokerSchoolOnline (PSO). I only played about a dozen tournaments, but I did have enough points to get a freeroll ticket for March.  I had two or three really quick departures which cost me in the points department, so I guess I should be happy that I qualified for the freerolls this month.

I started March out horribly with my monthly live game.  Been playing once a month with the same group of guys since March 2003.  It's dealer's choice, no hold 'em, and we rotate bringing the food for the group.  It's really more of a male bonding night than a real poker night.  Stakes are ultra-low so nobody gets hurt badly, and it gives a chance to catch up with each other's lives and happenings.

Nobody leaves the hand and it's practically impossible to bluff at these stakes, too.  So you're left with some basic calculations of probablility and outs and the rest is pure luck.  Last night, not even switching decks helped.  I had a few really good hands but the rest were pretty poor. A lot of Omaha hi-lo and seven card hi-lo games were dealt. So even when you win you're usually splitting the pot.

We were also playing short since one of the guys had to go on a 'date' with his wife (it was her birthday - what a wimp) and the other was driving back from Cleveland.  Two others were just missing in action, but we had our reserve player make it to give us a table of five.

It's always a good time and this month I was most definitely a 'donator', but this game is really not about money. Even on a great winning night, nobody gets rich. Actually, we'd have trouble filling up an empty gas tank with our winnings at the current prices. But we always pull half of one ante out of the pot to donate to a local Children's Cancer fund.

I'm hoping that I will turn things around, but I've noticed that when I get really busy with other parts of my life I lose my poker concentration.  That leaves me with the quandry of playing losing poker when 'life is good' or not playing at all.  Hopefully I will work through that issue sometime and figure it all out.  I have some free entry tickets for the Poker Stars SCOOP series, so I will definitely give those a whirl and try to progress in that tourney.

WBCOOP 2011 On The Way!

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When I check the code, it appears that everything is present and correct. Has anybody else had this problem?