Desires, Energy and Efforts

I'm a new golfer by most standards. I started in 2009. Took a few lessons, bought some cheap clubs and joined a league. I was extremely embarrassing to watch. But I had the desire to learn the game, even though at 56 years of age I should have stuck to other activities.


Last year I missed a lot of golf due to work and community commitments. It bothered me a lot, but first things first. Responsibility can be a bummer sometimes. I got word that my league was informally starting a month early for those that wanted to participate and with the recent spate of nice weather I thought I’d give it a whirl. Never mind that we went from sunny and 80’s to windy and 50’s. I wanted to golf.

So I showed up, paid my fee and went out to play. Not totally miserable conditions, but 20 mph winds with 40 mph gusts are not the best conditions for a mediocre player like me. But I wanted to golf. So I did. My shots were not great and by the end of the 9-hole round I was ready for a hot shower, not happy with my effort and feeling a bit like I wasted that time.

I tell this story because sometimes we do things that maybe we shouldn’t. I really have been in a busy stretch of work and I could have caught up a bit on some of those things that we all defer with those two hours. But I wanted to golf. And by god, I golfed. Misspent energy? Perhaps. Mini-reward for working hard since last Fall? Maybe. But I didn’t really enjoy the round as much as I thought I would, even though it felt great to swing the clubs, see the familiar faces, and kidding around with the guys was fantastic.

I let my desire to golf divert my energy and efforts, even with poor playing conditions. That was the mistake. I will make a better decision next time and I believe that the golf will be sweeter and I’ll be more focused with my game. A good energy policy!

Which leads me to a whole different energy thought. How is it that there’s such a disconnect between crude oil prices (barrel) and gasoline (gallon)? I looked up crude oil prices on the Bloomberg website and gasoline prices on the U.S. Energy Information Agency website and got these figures:

August 2011	$100.46/barrel	$3.64/gallon
November 2011	$105.26	$3.37
February 2012	$112.71	$3.64
March 2012	$102.37	$3.84

Now, we’re seeing $4.00+ prices but the crude prices haven’t risen dramatically.  An acquaintance said that it’s all because of speculators.  I’m speculating, too - every time I buy a $10 worth to get me back to a place where gas prices are a nickel cheaper per gallon for a fill-up. It doesn't get me much profit, but I feel better about the effort.

Big Shaking in Michigan

Nope. Not the earthquake type, although we do occasionally feel a small temblor around here. I’m talking more about the political shakings. And right now, that’s mostly about Detroit’s financial crisis.

An ill-considered statement by a Detroit minister leads the news reports. “Before we let you take over our city, we’ll burn it down first,” said Malik Shabazz during an open meeting of the financial review team in Detroit. Hold the quips, it’s too easy. Certainly there’s a lot of emotion surrounding the Governor’s necessary intervention into the affairs of a municipality that can’t keep its street lights on, its citizens safe or even in collecting its own income taxes.

Yes, things have come to a head in the last few years under Mayor Dave Bing. They may have happened regardless of who was mayor. The groundwork for this crisis has been laid over a couple of decades at least. And there’s plenty of blame to go around.

Detroit has a Department of Human Services that was totally ineffective, even irresponsible, in its duty. It misspent monies badly needed by the residents and had to forfeit millions of dollars in federal aid. Emergency response times are deplorable and the bus system is totally, totally broken. The list could drag on, but I’ll stop there.

The real issue now is the culture of denial – ‘We can still run the city ourselves’. It’s followed closely by the culture of entitlement – ‘Just give us some money and we’ll make it all work.’ The Governor is wise to not just open the pocketbook. There has to be a third party that will be responsible for management and oversight. It doesn’t matter what you call him or her - emergency manager, court appointed receiver, or even pillager of the democratic rights of the citizens (as some activists insist).

And why, if the citizens are so concerned about their city did they show up in such embarrassingly low numbers (10%) for a ballot that decided whether there would be a new City Charter? I don’t get it. But I do get the fact that in this country you are always allowed to complain. And there’s no shortage of that commodity around this issue.

Detroit has a long and proud history. I hope we’ll once again see it as a vibrant urban center.

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On a brighter note, Michigan tourism was up 8% in 2011. It’s estimated that for every dollar spent in the ‘Pure Michigan’ advertising campaign, $4.90 came back to the State. I thought the reduction of the Pure Michigan effort was short-sighted and I’m glad to see that the increased budgeting has paid off. And that was in a colder, wetter summer than normal.