QCD17

It was interesting how the wind gusts never really came down to the ground in our yard. For example, one gust was enough to split the 40-50' maple tree in our front yard. But less than 50 yards away from the tree there are two patio chairs on our deck that didn't move one inch, and still had the cushions on them. And they were in the same exposed side of the yard. My wind gauge is at 5' and had a max gust of 17.2. prior to us losing power. Yet at 60-80', the tree tops were blowing around pretty good.

I poo-poo'd the storm with the wife in the morning and then of course the large maple tree in the yard split down the middle and fell on the lines, ripping the conduit clear off the house. Then a second tree fell on the carrying line down by the street and burst into flames. Both trees had been trimmed up by Asplundh within the last 6 months. Luckily we were planning to be at the cape all week anyway. Now it may be longer than a week.

So Fred set the bar at 2 TORs? Over/under for Henri?

Wow. I'm 20 minutes south and had very little wind at all. Of course my kid is at camp in the woods of Woodstock right now.

Don't go chasing club head speed or thinking you need muscle to hit it far. The biggest thing affecting distance and accuracy is how the club face hits the ball at impact. The faster you swing, the quicker every part of your swing needs to get the club face into alignment at the moment of impact, which is harder to do. HItting chip shots with all of your clubs, as was previously mentioned, will help to get a feel for what needs to happen to keep it straight. I spent a whole summer "chipping" with my driver at the range to figure out how to keep it straight and then I just added more height to the backswing and speed. Another tip...WHERE the club face is hitting the ball at impact is going to affect distance and ball flight. So you need to understand that where the ball is located in your stance and how high/low you grip the club is going to affect where the club face is at impact. I like to get a spray can of the powdered athlete's foot stuff and spray it on the club face. It will leave a white powder on the face. Then hit a ball and see where the mark is on the club face. If it's not in the center, then figure out what you need to do to get it in the center at impact. Very helpful for the driver, too. And it's always fun to get weird stares at the range from people when you start spraying your clubs.

wow, this thing is coming in hot here. holy hell. I was worried we were too south but it's coming close enough.

My brother in law invited me down to play his course on Saturday. Hadn't played 18 since early June, and only two rounds of 9 holes since that. The course had a lot of tee shots that required a 165-185yd layup, and very small greens where you had to chip to the fringe if you wanted any chance of a 1-putt. Managed a few pars and a couple 8s because my driver got the yips along the way.

Awesome picture. And yes, very good ice cream. They also have a respectable corn maze down the street in the fall that has caused a few kids in our group to start crying in panic once they realize the adults have lost track of our location on the map.

Not to pour water on the govt threats conspiracy, but I think companies are hearing from vaccinated employees that they don't want to be in buildings with unvaxxed employees. In a state like Mass, where 64% are vaccinated, the majority of a company's employees are probably vaxxed and as HR starts doing "back to work" discussions with their management and employees, this may be something that comes up. So if 10% of your workforce complains about not wanting to get jabbed, and 40% complain about having to sit next to someone that is not vaxxed, what do you do? Then you also have to figure that a lot of people are looking for reasons to continue their work from home routine as well.

Ugh. Left CT for the Cape this afternoon. Sounds like I missed some action. And then to add insult to injury, the storm just dissolved into butterfly piss as it approached the canal, per usual.

I spent about 45 minutes working on a project in the garage earlier this morning.. It was probably 75-78 degrees here and I was dripping with sweat when I came inside. We better get some wall-shaking thunder this afternoon to make up for these dews.

Yes, most flowering shrubs did well. The Kousa dogwoods have been absolutely loaded with blossoms around here this year. One large tree near us is completely white and you really can't see much green at all.

Same here. They really picked up yesterday afternoon. The past few weeks it was just one or two that would harass me in the yard, but now it's a swarm. My favorite trick is to take a blue solo cup and cover it in the clear tanglefoot fly trap goo and then put it on an old hat and walk around the yard with it on my head. Sure, I look like a complete whacko, but every time they dive bomb in for the kill they get stuck and once they see one stuck they think it's a buffet and they all end up getting stuck. It's very satisfying.

We have about 10 acres, the majority of which is woods, and the stone walls go all the way from the road to the back of the woods and beyond. It's gotta be upwards of a mile worth of wall just on our land alone. They basically go on for thousands of acres beyond our land. It makes me stop and think when I come across a stone wall deep in the woods somewhere while hiking and I realize that there was farmland there a few hundred years ago. I still don't understand how they built all of them. There are rocks that are 6' across in some parts of our walls. The original walls are at least 6' wide at the base and 4' high.

Nice looking beds, for sure! And I agree on the rock. We had at least 100' of stone wall in front of our place that was built extremely poorly by the previous owner and it all collapsed, so I've been taking it apart and moving it by hand. This was after I spent at least 30-40 hours rebuilding a section correctly that the wife later decided she no longer wanted. But now I have a LOT of nice stones to use for mini walls and beds.

Oh man, how much poop is there on the garage floor? We have a nest 2 feet from the door that goes onto our deck and we use that door several times a day. Every time, the poor mother robin has a fit and flies off making a racket. It's getting old.

Just wait until one of the scientists at the Level 4 lab in Boston accidentally brings ebola into Fenway park.

I was working outside in the metrowest area and heard the tornado reports on the radio so I called it a day. By the time I got back to the office in Framingham the lighting was picking up. We were living in Scituate, MA at the time and that evening was the most intense lighting I've ever seen, by a mile. It was the only time I've ever been nervous about lighting while inside a house. Funny story about '53...both of my parents grew up in Holden and my poor grandmother raced down to Indian Lake in Worcester to grab my aunt and uncle at some point immediately before/after the storm. Then the transmission in her car goes and the only gear that works is reverse, so she has to drive the whole way back to Holden in reverse with all the chaos around her.

I was past the 2-week point on my 2nd dose as of Friday but I still wore a mask when I went into the store yesterday. I know I didn't need it on. But we have two small kids at home that won't be getting vaxxed any time soon. Are my kids going to be "fine" if they get Covid,? Probably. Am I likely to spread it to them now that I'm vaxxed? Most likely not. Nothing is ever certain. Personally, I don't find the masks anymore bothersome than socks when shopping. My kids wear them 6 hours a day at school every day and they don't complain and they haven't been sick since before the pandemic. My poor 5 year old hasn't been sick since her "brain dump" at age 3, and she doesn't even remember what it's like. Do you know how many times they came home with the cold or flu or stomach bug before the pandemic? Probably every other month. So it's not so much "conditioning" for me as knowing that wearing a mask works and it's hard to just rip off the bandaid and jump back in the pool all at once. I would continue to wear a mask in stores if it meant never having to deal with any virus again, but that would also mean my kids having to wear a mask at school, and never going into a restaurant or entertainment venue without a mask. At some point we'll start doing those things again, but I'm not chomping at the bit to do them, as there are plenty of outdoor options now that the weather is nicer.

As a long-time lurker in this forum, I always enjoyed James' posts and will certainly miss them. For me, weather is all about hope and experience. We hope to experience certain types of weather, be it a major storm or a perfect day. Sometimes the hoping is just as much fun as actually witnessing it, and James truly embodied hope. I"m glad he got his twister in '19 but I wish he had gotten a few more big storms under his belt before he passed. I think it's appropriate that we hope for big storms to hit the cape in his memory, although my family on the cape will certainly disagree with me. Rest in Peace James.

Same here. It's been nonstop, multiple strikes at once for the past 10 minutes, and this is after the main rain pushed through.

From what I've heard through various interviews, the videos released so far are the least intriguing ones they have. There are others where these things are like 50 feet from the cockpit of the jet. They've recorded them doing 90 degree turns at thousands of miles per hour, which is essentially impossible. Going through the ocean at the same speed as through air as if they are the same environment. It's crazy technology, whatever it is.

Very nice. I need to check out Fisher's Island sometime. I'm a fan of their lemonade.