Working on my WordPress Swim Team plugin

For the last few months I have been writing a WordPress plugin called wp-swimteam.  This plugin builds on top of WordPress to turn it into an application which can be used to manage a youth swim team.  The plugin is hosted on SourceForge and I am using a blog on that site to track the development progress.  It is going pretty well, I am having fun working on it as it will be a huge benefit to our swim team which has been driven by a paper process forever.

Rock Band Drums are loud

I am finding playing Hard guitar really hard and I don’t have the time to dedicate to getting better, I just want to have fun and play.  My son had some friends over the other day so the drums were out and I decided to see if I could play them.  My last attempt was when we first got Rock Band and I was a miserable drummer and couldn’t get through a song.

I was able to play the warm up songs without any problem this time albeit I am playing on Easy.  But that is ok, it is fun to try something else.  The drums are loud though.  I picked up a set of the new Rock Band Drum Silencers the other day but they don’t seem to fit the drums correctly so before I cut them up I need to call their customer support number.  Since we tend to play late at night, in order to play the drums I need them to be quieter!

Got in a late 9

After dinner last night I went out an got in a late 9.  It was going to be tight so I didn’t even hit anything before I teed off on #1.  I paid for it too – a triple bogey on #1.  Tee shot on #2 wasn’t very good either but my second shot was excellent and after two putts I had a par.  For the most part I played decent, putted well, no 3 putts at all.  I had two crappy wedge shots and made a couple poor club choices, particularly on the two par 5s which I played in a total of +5.

MDCC is rebuilding the blue tees on a couple holes so some the blue tee markers are relocated.  On #7 the hole plays about 40 yards shorter but #9 plays about 40 yards longer.  #9 was playing 575 yards from the blues yesterday!  It is already a long hole for me, when you add 40 yards to it, it makes it really long!  I had a good drive (240-250) but a terrible second shot.  A nice third shot left me with a 40 yard wedge to the green.  These are the shots I struggle with.  I really tried to accelerate through the ball and I hit is pretty well.  Too well – it landed near the flag which was on the back, and rolled over the green and down the hill into the pine straw!  Another tough wedge back to the green, a two putt for a 7.

I finished with a 48.  I need to eliminate the triple bogyes (I had two plus one double).  I’ll chalk one of them up to not warming up on #1 but there was no excuse for a +3 on #5 though.  Especially since I was on the green in 3 the day before when I played with the girls in the MDCC parent child tournament.

I am hoping to get out again tonight for another late twilight round.  Except for the tough sun on a couple holes, particularly #2, I love playing at that time of the day.  The course is quiet and you can play quickly (I played in an hour and a half last night), it is a nice end ot the day.

I really need a new phone …

I really need a new phone.  Since I squashed my Pantech I have been using my old AudioVox.  The AudioVox was a good phone three or four years ago but now it seems ancient.  I miss my 3G phone!  I don’t know what to do, if I get something now I’ll probably get another Pantech Duo or possibly the AT&T Tilt.  I know as soon as I commit to a phone, something new will come out.  It always seems to work out that way.

Missed tee time at TPC Wakefield and MDCC parent-child tournament

Because I got stuck in Dallas on my way home from Denver on Thursday, I wasn’t home in time to play on Friday with one of my co-workers who is a member at TPC Wakefield.  I haven’t played there in a while so I was looking forward to it.

Because I was out of town all week I didn’t play any golf until yesterday when I played the Parent/Child tournament at MDCC.  I played with two of my girls and we had a good time.  I hit the ball ok considering I had to keep my 6 year old and 8 year old from picking at each other too much.  There was a larger turn out than expected so play was pretty slow.  Even with a shot gun start it took us 3 hours to complete 9 holes.  We had a couple pars and a birdie and only one double-bogie for a round of 43.  The low score was something rediculous like 32.  There wasn’t any seeding based on age or handicap which they really need to do.  A good golfer playing with a good child would mop up.

Young kids (like mine) play from the “Carolina” tees which are painted blue bricks located at the beginning of the fairway much like courses that have First Tee markers.  On some holes, these tees are 150-180 yards closer so we played a couple of my kids drives when theirs had a better lie than mine.  One of my girls also knocked down some nice putts including our lone birdie.

MacBook Pro? Dell XPS1330?

I need a new laptop and need one soon.  My HP is on it last legs.  On my way home from Denver the other day (a crappy trip home, I missed my connection and had to sepnd the night in Dallas due to the tornados in the Denver area) it acted as if the delete key was stuck again and deleted about two weeks worth of e-mail.  It is a real PITA when it does this.  I end up having to go back through my deleted items to determine what shouldn’t be deleted.

Anyway, enough whining about that.  I am going to get a new laptop.  My employer has standardized on Dell machines although there are exceptions (I have had an HP for a while).  I have mentioned earlier that I like the Dell Latitude X1 I borrowed from one of our IT guys so I am thinking of going small and light instead of high end workstation replacement.

I wish the Dell XPS1330 had a good docking station solution – the lack of one is the only thing which turns me off.  I am also intrigued by the Mac – if I get one it would be the 15″ MacBook Pro.  The only thing which I don’t like about the Mac is the lack of a three button mouse because I will have to run Windows on it too.

Decisions, decisions.  Going the Dell route will be easier because I will have IT support (if I want it) but I also like the idea of the Mac – they are really elegant machines.  Either way, I want to make a decision next week – I am headed to Europe in a couple weeks and would like to have it before I go although it is unlikely.

Better, but still inconsistent

I played 18 with my buddy Ronnie this morning.  My goal was to break 95 today and I got close – shot 98 (47/51).  Other than the last hole (which I will get to), I played decent – better on the front 9 than on the back 9.  I had 5 pars along with a couple of putts which just lipped out but I also had 4 triple bogeys and 2 or 3 double bogeys.

As has been my problem the last couple of weeks, my wedge play just sucks.  I have a couple of Taylor-Made wedges (a 54 degree and a 58 degree) and I think I am going to go back to my stock Sand and Lob wedges and see if they help.  I think the heavier stock clubs would benefit me as it will be tougher to decelerate which is my real my nemsis.  Today on #17, a 500 yard par 5, I am 70 yards from the green in 2 and proceed to just miss my wedge shot leaving me 50 yards from the hole.  So I did it again, leaving it off the green by about 20 yards.  I decide to bump and run a 7 only to leave it on the fringe.  2 putt for a 7 – I effective took 5 shots from 70 yards out which is just abysmal.  I seem to do this on 2-3 holes each round and it just kills my score.  I did something similar on #7 where I was 130 out in the middle of the faiway and blocked it to the right of the green.  Then I bladed the chip shot across the green into the woods.  A punched 7 iron got me back across the green again where I 2 putted.  Triple bogey.  Bleh.

I didn’t l lose any balls today until #18 where I dumped it into the water.  #18 is a hole which just gets in my head.  It is long carry over water and if you tend to hit a fade (like me), it makes it even harder.  On the left is a picture of #18 but you can’t see the tee which is off to the left – you hit over the lake to a landing area to the right of bridge or the landing area in the middle of the picture.  From the blue tees, it is a 220+ carry to the landing area in the middle of the picture.  I have made that shot but not very many times.  Today I tried to take the conservative approach and go for the landing area near the bridge and just hooked it bad and it went in the water by the bridge.  So what do I do?  I hit my next shot from the drop area in the water too!  A nice Hybrid 3 got me to just off the green where I hit one of my better wedges of the day and two putter for another triple bogey.

Not sure when I will play next week, maybe Friday afternoon.

 

Got a few holes in Saturday evening

I like this time of the year when the days are getting longer.  Saturday evening I was able to go out and get a few holes in before it was dark.  I played #6-#9, #1, #5-#7 – 8 holes (#7 is behind my house).  I had planned on just playing #6-#8 and hitting a bunch of balls but of all the nerve, there was a late group coming up #6 when I was teeing off #7 so I just kept going.  Fortunately there is a quick bypass route from #1 to #5 which brings me back toward my house.  If there had been enough light I would have played #2-#4 but it was already questionable and by the time I got back to #7 it was for all practical purposes, already dark.

As I was the other day, I was up and down, a few good shots and some really bad ones.  On the positive side, my short game was better than it was the other day but there was no real pressure either.  I was hitting some of so-so balls I find in my yard so if I hit one in the woods, I didn’t even go look for it – just hit another one.  Lazy?  I guess so but the balls aren’t very good and they were in the woods or my yard when I found them.  I left 2 or 3 out on the course somewhere.  I finished with 3 out of 4 good holes (1, 5, and 7) with pars on all three of them.  I was really happy with #1 and #7 – on #1 I hit a wonderful hybrid 4 from about 185 out to about 20 feet from the pin.  On #7 I hit a great tee shot but it was a bit left and just clipped some branches which over hang the fairfay where it doglegs to the left knocking it down.  I was about 170 from the green and hit a beautiful drawing 5 iron to within 10 feet.  Of course I missed the birdie put but was still  happy with the approach.  It flew exactly as I hoped it would.

I am going to play 18 with my buddy Ronnie on Thursday, my goal is to break 95.  I need to hit my 3 wood off the tee more than I usually do – if I can do that I think I can keep it closer to the fairway.

Mushed my Phone

I am in a bit of a quandry because I mushed my phone, a Pantech Duo.  About a week ago I had two of my girls and one of their friends with me on a hike through the Haw River Basin.  The water was up a bit so it was a lot of stepping from rock to rock as we moved down stream and it was slicker than snot.  Keeping two 8 year olds and a 6 year old from falling in was a challenge and at one point, I lost my footing and fell in the river, landing on a large submerged rock.  Fortunately my fall was broken by my phone which was in my pocket!

It doesn’t work very well any more.  Actually, it turns on but the screen is cracked and it was full of water.  Fortunately I have an older Audiovox SMT 5600 (aka HTC Typhoon, an older Windows Mobile phone) which still works so I popped my SIMM card out and put it the old phone and was off an running.  I love the simplicity of changing GSM phones – I have some co-workers who swear by Verizon but the flexibility you get with GSM is a huge benefit plus my phone works pretty much anywhere on the planet which is nice since I have to travel internationally a couple times a  year.

So now what do I do?  I miss the keyboard from the Duo more than I thought I would and my old phone is very sloooooooow.  The phone I want (Sony-Ericsson Xperia X1) isn’t out yet and I don’t know if will be available from AT&T Wireless either.  Hmmm – I wonder if I can return my phone?  I can’t recall if we have insurance on our plans or not.

Woo-hoo! Rock Band Hall of Fame!

Yesterday afternoon my son and I got inducted to the Rock Band Hall of Fame by completing the 8 song challenge in Moscow.  Rock Band was updated a few weeks ago to allow bands who play on medium to earn more fans.  Although my son usually plays on Hard, I usually play on medium and dabble here and there with hard.  For an 8 song set, there was no way I was playing on hard!  We did well, getting 5 stars on 6 of the 8 songs and 4 starts on the other two.  We unlocked the Hall of Fame achievement which allows you to use transparent instruments, my son got a guitar and I got a bass.