Category — Hobbies

We were talking with Jeff and Lindsay last evening and they gave us a bad time about the lack of updates on our Web Blog. So, here’s what’s been happening.

Brenda – Exercise, exercise, exercise………. she is going to be “ripped” on the beach when we head off for our winter vacation. In addition she is working hard at getting the house ready for Christmas and the Kids and Grandkids coming home, plus baking up a storm.

Larry – Curling, curling and more curling. There is an old saying that goes: “be careful what you wish for it may come true”. Anyway, I was hoping to get a bit more time on the ice to practise the new sport of curling that I have taken up. So I took my broom and curling shoes down to the Kamloops Curling Club a few Mondays ago for Monday Seniors League and guess what I picked up a game as a spare. Since that time I have spared every single Monday for that team as one of the guys has a shoulder injury. That lead to another opportunity to spare on Wednesday and Friday for Mixed Seniors Curling and I have done that the past couple weeks, This is in addition to my regular Thursday Night Mens’ League at Mcarthur Island Curling Club. This week I curl at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Monday and then there is a mini-bonspiel and luncheon on Wednesday for the mixed seniors. I am really enjoying the camaraderie and I actually believe my game has improved.

Both of Us – Our volunteer work continues at Sagebrush Theatre. We have received a couple short notice calls to help out. We are so close to the theatre that it only takes us about 20 minutes to get dressed and walk over. Last Sunday we were sitting comfortably at home and got a short notice call to usher for the George Canyon Christmas Concert. George Canyon is an outstanding Canadian, a World Vision Humanitarian and he and his band put on a fantastic show. 

Well it’s getting very close to the end of the golf season and I am trying to squeeze in the last few rounds. This past week we did not golf on Monday, since it was cool and windy. That gave me chance to get the winter tires on our Subaru. On Tuesday Dave H., Bart B. Al J. and I went to Eagle Point and the weather was great, a slight wind but sunny and I shot a smooth 80. On Wednesday the four of us went to Rivershore and the sun was out but the wind was a lot stronger. Rivershore is not my favorite course and I never really play that well there, however on Wednesday I shot an 85 with a triple somewhere in the round, so that wasn’t too bad. Then on Thursday we had a fivesome at Eagle Point and I shot a 78, which could have been a 76 if not for one small pine tree that managed to deflect my ball back into the rough and I ended up taking a double on the 16th hole. I recovered nicely on hole 17 which is the number 1 stroke hole, got my best drive of the season, my approach was just right on the fringe and I 2 putted for an even par, which is really difficult to do on that hole. On Friday just Bart B. and myself went out and I shot an 84 so alright but not great. As it sits now my index is 9.1……. the lowest I have ever golfed. YAHOO!

As far as curling, I am struggling. I guess it’s only my first year and I don’t get a chance to practise, however I am having trouble with my draw weight. On Thursday the ice on the left was faster than the ice on the right and that threw us off for a little while until we got a few rocks down it. Our team has not won a game so far, but we are not expecting too much in our first year. As a team we need to find a time to just go practise throwing rocks, sweeping and getting into a groove. Oh Well, it’s still great to try out a new sport and meet some new folks.

Well the Hockey Season in Canada has begun. So without further ado, you are true Canadian if get a real laugh out of this:

TOP TEN REASONS HOCKEY IS BETTER THAN SEX
10. It’s legal to play hockey professionally.
9. The puck is always hard.
8. The protective equipment is reusable, and you don’t even have to wash it.
7. It lasts a full hour.
6. You know you’re finished when the buzzer goes off.
5. Your parents cheer when you score.
4. A two-on-one or three-on-one is not uncommon.
3. Periods last only 20 minutes.
2. You can count on it at least twice a week.
1. You can tell all of your friends about it afterward.

On a similar note, the beginning of the hockey season also means that I will be busy assisting the Kamloops Minor Hockey Officials. Check out the Web Page Kamloops Referees. This year, as in the past few years I help with the on ice development of the New and Level 1 Officials. What this involves is an on ice shdaow and then a written report/evaluation to help them improve their skills as officials. We work on the basic positions and procedures toi be an effective referee. For the most part these are very positive experiences for the new official and myself…… it’s great fun to watch the young ref’s improve after a little bit of coaching and support. I always remember my very first game and my first on ice evaluation. My first hockey game was an Inititation “D” at Brock Arena and the other referee was Nick Swaine who is now a linesman in the WHL. I expect Nick will one day be an NHL Official, he’s a very good hockey official. My first on ice shadow/evaluation was done my Steve Kozari. At that time Steve was a WHL referee and now he is a full time referee in the NHL. Actually I ran into Steve in the Vancouver Air Canada lounge and we reminisced about the on ice shadow/evaluation and our time together in the Kamloops Minor Hockey system. The really cool part is that the invited me to visit the officials room if I was ever at an NHL game where he is officiating. More about refereeing and hockey as the season goes on.

Last night was our second game of curling this season. We ended up losing by 1 point as the other team stole 2 points in the 8th end, so that kind of sucked as we had “the hammer”, but none of us threw any good shots in the final frame. We had a lot of fun, a few laughs and we feel we certainly did a lot better.

As far as golf my last two games have been very interesting. Thursday I shot an 87 which is pretty good, however it does not help to get my handicap index any lower. Still had a few laughs and a lot of fun with my regular golfing buddies. Today ( Friday) I shot a 78 which is outstanding. The most interesting part was I started with a double bogie and ended with a double bogie and still shot a 78! After entering this score my index is down to a 9.8, so I have achieved a goal I set at the start of the season and that was to get into a single index factor by year end. The fun part and challenge will be retaining this low index factor.

My last two games of Golf have been much better. Friday I shot an 84 and today I shot an 82 and my index is down to a 10.4 handicap factor. It would be really nice to end the season in single digits, however that may be tough to do and right now I am focusing on eliminating the bad shots and still enjoying myself.

Last Thursday was my first night of Mens’ League Curling. I decided to take up the sport as an activity for the winter. I have joined the McArthur Island Curling Club with Rick P., his son-in-law Randy P. and our skip David L.

Rick was unable to make the first night so my golfing buddy Al J. spared for us; Al is a great curler and was very helpful for my first real serious attempt at curling. I believe we were playing last years Men’s League Champions and they were great curlers and great guys to curl against; easy to get along with and helpful for us newbies. We lost badly and shook hands after 6 ends, but we had some laughs and learned a lot, so we will only get better. I’ll provide updates through out the season .

We went fishing on Sunday at Pinantan and basically got blown off the lake. Actually we got on the lake and drifted to the east end of the lake and as we were turning to head up wind I caught a fish; which we released. But at least I got a chance to use my new fishing rod and it’s going to be great. Then we paddled hard and worked our butts off to get back down the lake to the west end. After that we paddled back and forth across the lake which made it a lot more pleasant, plus the wind died down so it wasn’t too bad. We had a few bites but none of them were that hungry. So, we had a lunch on the water and then headed home.

On Saturday I golfed with Dave and Ley and shot a 83………. not too bad but those stupid doubles take the fun out of the round. Today (Monday) I golfed with Dave and Bart and had a career round going until the 17th and 18th hole. The foursome in front of us was “PAINFULLY SSSSLLLOOOWWW” and I got myself worked up. Anyway, I lost focus and ended us taking double bogies on both holes. I still finsihed with an 81; but it could have been a 77. My index factor is at an 11.7 which I am pretty happy with.

Well since the start of the golf season and the start of my retirement vacation, my Golf Index has been rapidly dropping. I started the year at a 16.8 Index which translates into about a 16-17 handicap depending on the course slope rating and all that other golfing technical stuff. I played quite a few games immediately after going on vacation but have backed off a bit with suite renovations, trips to Victoria, Calgary, Vancouver Island, Vancouver and Princeton. So right after I got home this week I went out on Thursday (after my dentist appointment) and without expecting too much I played Sun Rivers and shot a 79. It was a bit of an up and down round but you can’t complain about the final result. The scary part is that it could have easily been a 75-76, the greens were like putting on the hardwood kitchen floor….. super fast and it took a few holes to get used to them. Then today I golfed at my home course Eagle Point and shot an 82, another up and down round. But as Walter Gretzky would say (when people complained how Wayne would score goals from the odd angles and back of the net); “they don’t ask how they ask how many”. I just need to stop taking those 1 or 2 double bogies at some point during the round. So, after all the scores have been entered my updated handicap index is an 11.2 or a 12 Handicap. I am really happy with that and am working to get it lower over the next couple weeks. I’ll provide updates as I go.