Like, Love and Don't Like

This week, I like fried shrimp. Whenever I go to Golden Corral for Lions Club meeting, I knock old ladies over to get to the fried shrimp on the buffet. Julie has been serving up some golden fried goodness from her kitchen lately too. I think my appreciation stems more from the combination of fried shrimp with GOOD cocktail sauce. Emphasis on GOOD. It’s got to have a sharp tang to it. I guess we better get all the seafood we can because this oil leak situation doesn’t look like its improving. (By the way, I can’t wait to see that BP executive lose his mind and go off on Matt Lauer one of these days!)

This week, I love discussing LOST. Let me state that I’m experiencing a mix of emotions now that TV’s best show has concluded: from sadness to disappointment. Sweet Julie Corman mailed me a gift box that contained chocolate and Season 1 of LOST when we first started dating. I’m not happy with how things wrapped up but I do love discussing theories with my sister and friends. Just trying to wrap my mind around what exactly happened is fun, if I don’t let it frustrate me. I guess we have to look on the bright side: our questions that didn’t get answered create the perfect situation for movies, books, and TV spinoffs!

Speaking of unanswered questions, a special thanks goes out to my sister for passing this video along. WARNING: may contain spoilers if you are not up to date. Play it safe and don’t watch if you have not seen the series finale.



This week, I don’t like companies that offer email addresses as points of contact, but don’t respond to emails. I’ve got something wrong with my truck. I won’t go into details but I’ll say that I know what the problem is, it’s too complicated for me to tackle and my regular mechanic can’t perform the repair. Nearly every auto mechanic in my area (from national chains to local dudes) offers an email address. I know that these professionals aren’t likely to be the type to utilize email. I know that I would be better off calling them. But I can explain my problem much better in written form. Plus, it’s just dumb to offer an email address if you aren’t planning on using it.

Like, Love and Don't Like

This week, I like making lists at work. More specifically, I like crossing things off my list. Jotting down my “to do” list is a new practice for me (my wife, the eternal planner, must be rubbing off on me!). It really helps me stay on track and get stuff done. Plus, it makes the day go by much faster. So I can get to the weekend faster. I’ve yet to discover a way to make the weekends last longer though. I’ll keep you posted.

This week, I love not having a car payment. Julie and I paid off my truck a little early and it feels great! This, unfortunately, will be a fleeting sensation as we will begin looking for new cars soon. Our biggest challenge will not be financing or negotiating but battling my sweet wife’s indecisiveness. We’ve identified 3 potential candidates and we’ll start looking around this week.

This week, I don’t like the Golf Channel’s lackadaisical coverage of the Regions Charity Classic. First, a big thank-you goes to our friend Emily for going above and beyond our request for tickets. Thank you Emily! Julie and I took in the sights of this Champions Tour event on Sunday. We saw lots of the all-time greats you expect to see: Bernhard Langer, Andy Bean, Fuzzy Zoeller, Fred Funk, Hal Sutton and many more. Though Birmingham may not be a top-tier city, this event draws a lot of the top golfers on the tour and Emily and her group put on a fantastic show. However, when watching the final round replay on the Golf Channel, I was disappointed that the coverage mainly consisted of shots from only the last group of the day (the leaders)…and only their final 9 holes! I don’t know what all goes into covering a golf tournament. Tour officials didn’t do the tournament any favors when they decided to accelerate the ending of the tournament by having groups tee off on both #1 and #10 due to a concern about inclement weather. I get that. But the TV coverage was still lacking. It was almost routine: final group hits their shots, cut to commercial…final group hits their shots, cut to commercial. There were almost no other shots seen from other players at other holes. Needless to say, it was neat to see how the pros play a course that I’ve played. Congrats to the winner, Dan Forsman. My buddy Clay (Emily's husband) actually got to play in the Pro-Am with Forsman earlier in the week! One has to wonder if Dan would have pulled it off had it not been for Clay.

Here are a couple of videos from the tournament:







The highlight for me was being allowed to walk up the 18th fairway after the final group with my boy Clay. Here’s a photo from the Birmingham News. Can you spot us? Hint: we both have on white hats.

Like, Love and Don't Like

This week, I like going to the movies. No matter how nice we make our home theaters, there will always be an “experience” to be had by going to the movies. I know…paying for tickets and snacks is outrageous these days but admit it – once you sit down in that stadium seating and feel the bass vibrate your chest during the previews, you don’t regret the decision! Maybe it’s in my blood. My great grandparents owned and operated the Camden Theater back in the day. It’s just a fun thing to do.

This week, I love Farm Links Golf Club. Oh my goodness…I don’t know where to start. I’ll break it down to you in bullet-point format:

• Play unlimited golf at a reasonable price.
• Eat a southern-style lunch inside a very impressive clubhouse.
• Free bottled water and sports drinks on your cart.
• Top-notch golf carts with GPS screens.
• Friendly staff.
• Great practice range, putting green and chipping green.
• Well manicured golf course that isn't overly challenging.

That last point is very important to me. I’m not the best golfer so I tend to struggle even more on “demanding” courses (I’m looking at you, Ross Bridge). The folks at Farm Links know what they’re doing in this regard. Wiiiiiiiiiiide fairways and lightly protected greens. I loved it. I want to go back mainly because I played decently and think I could do even better next time. Take a look at these videos and see for yourself how nice things are at Farm Links Golf Club.

Look how wide the tee boxes and fairways are!

Nice challenge here at the 17th.

Check out the landscape on your approach shot at the 18th!

Fairway bunkers are no trouble as long as my fans support me.

The real treat was the famous par 3 seventh hole. It's a very fun hole!

Here's a view from the very top tees. It's difficult to see the ball but Clay stuck this shot right next to the pin.

And it wouldn't be a true golf post without a big bomb from Clay. Here he gives us directions to the GUN SHOW.

Thanks to my sweet wife for a wonderful anniversary gift! I had a blast!

This week, I don’t like wasting my moving-going experience on a bad movie. Julie and I went to a movie last Thursday. We saw “Date Night” starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell. This was not a good movie. It was definitely what my sister calls a “renter”. If I wasn’t having such a good time with my wife, I would have left mid-movie. I normally reserve the movie-going experience for films such as 300, Jurassic Park, The Dark Knight, Se7en and other movies that you just know will not be the same at home. I knew what I was getting into when Julie suggested this movie but I went along with it because I love my wife and that’s the movie she selected. Julie’s first words once we got out of the theater? “That wasn’t a good movie.” Can you believe it America??!!

Like, Love and Don't Like

This week, I like appointment television. With DRVs and the ability to stream movies and TV shows to your Blu Ray player, people no longer have to live their lives around TV programming. Growing up, I associated Thursday night with The Cosby Show. Nowadays you don’t have to stop everything you’re doing on Thursday night to watch The Office or 30 Rock. Watch it later in the week or better yet, stream the entire season and plow through it this weekend. An no commercials!

Speaking of Blu Ray players, look what this jackleg did. All that work for a toy?


And I know my sister will want to go search YouTube for a Cosby clip so I’ll just post one for her here. Oh Elvin!


This week, I love the Lord. He has shown us some big signs lately to remind us that He is indeed taking care of us.

This week, I don’t like the non-use of turn signals. Turn signals are totally optional in the greater Birmingham area. Did you know that? Well, you should. This nugget of knowledge comes in very handy when you are traveling at high rates of speed on the interstate. Other useful applications include when you see a car seemingly parked in the turn lane on a major highway. No, this driver does not need assistance. They are simply waiting for the right moment to merge into traffic or to make the turn.

Finger update!!!

I’ve been told by my co-blogger that posting grotesque photos of my finger injury may not be all that prudent. Tomorrow (May 6) marks 4 weeks since my accident. I had a major breakthrough last week but I will not go into the gory details. Nor will I post any of the cool photos that documented said breakthrough. Just think “butterfly emerging from its cocoon” and you will get the picture. Let me know if you would like to see the photos for yourself and I’ll email them to you. I won’t leaving you hanging though…here’s the latest on the finger front.

The tip is very, very tender and you can see that the “hump” is still on the scene. Nice pink color though, don’t you think? Thanks again for your prayers. I’m taking the day off on Friday and spending ALL DAY at Farm Links thanks to my sweet, sweet wife. I’ll have some photos and videos for you soon.