A Golf Blog

Puzzle Solving Robot

JP Brown has built a robot that solves the Rubic's Cube puzzle. You really have to see it - it's made with LEGOs.

Ace

On Being Proud

Just before Thanksgiving last year, my wonderful wife and I returned from a two-week cruise. If you’ve never been on one, it’s a wonderful experience, very relaxing and refreshing. But beware of the food – there’s way too much of it, it’s always available in massive quantities, and it’s delicious.

My being will power challenged and the fact that you could get multiples of everything significantly contributed to an expanded girth. I was to the point where it actually felt like my skin hurt from being stretched.

So shortly after Thanksgiving, the diet commenced. I suppose it was something akin to a Weight Watcher’s hybrid. If my wife didn’t serve it, I didn’t eat it. In the last 5 months I’ve gradually lost 30 pounds and this morning I broke through the 200lb barrier and checked-in at 199.

I’m so proud of myself. Unfortunately, my golf game has gone South, due largely to the change in my body size and shape. Oh well - guess I'll just have to practice and play more and get my game back in shape.

Ace

Higher Airline Fares

Blaming it on high fuel prices, Continental Airlines announced that, effective immediately, fares worldwide were going up. $10 each way for flights up to 1,000 miles and $20 each way for flights longer than 1,000 miles. They also said more furloughs, wage and benefit concessions, and reduced pension funding was a possibility.

Baghdad Blogger

First a blog, then a book, now the movie. Thousands of readers got to know him through his daily blog during the Iraq war. According to the BBC, Salam Pax (pseudo name for the Baghdad Blogger) has signed to have his diary made into a movie by Intermedia. But, don't expect to learn to much about the 29 year old - He continues to keep his identity a secret.

Step to Fitness

There’s a lot of talk about the benefits of taking 10,000 steps a day.

So, how do you know if you’re taking enough steps daily? Studies suggest that walking about 30 minutes a day – the amount recommended by the U.S. Surgeon General and the American College of Sports Medicine – will help bring most people closer to 10,000 steps. Anything under 7,000 is considered sedentary, except for older adults.

There’s another option: Get a pedometer. They cost $10 to $35, far less than a gym membership or even a weekly exercise class.

Here’s what you need to know about pedometers.

Get a good model – Reviews here for the five best.

Wear it correctly – Ideal placement is at the waist just above one hip. Make sure it’s secure – a loose placement will likely underestimate your steps.

Don’t get stuck with a number – 10,000 is just a guide – find out what’s right for you and do it consistently.

Source: The Washington Post and Star Telegram

Don't Get Me Wrong

When I retire, I will retire from one of those major airlines that I appear to be intent on bashing. Well, the truth be told, I'd very much like that major airline to be around when I retire. At the current pace, it would seem that some consolidation is on the horizon. Labor unrest, bankruptcy, etc., are definitely factors.

Guess I'm just fed up with surly behavior from people in the industry that have been there for a very long time. That would be surly flight attendants and surly airport agents. Most of the newer employees have been laid off - not enough seniority to keep their jobs. Unfortunate, but that's the way the union works - seniority drives furlough decisions, not behavior or attitude.

Southwest Continues to Shift Share

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines continues to pressure the major airlines.

During the first quarter of 2004, bookings through their corporate travel program, SWABiz, are up 88% over the same period last year. They have begun an active marketing campaign to attract large companies – a business travel segment that was up to now almost exclusively covered by the majors.

AirTran has a similar product they call A2B and look for JetBlue to pull back the curtain on CompanyBlue next month.

PGA Tour's In Town

Took advantage of my wife's high profile job and tagged along as her guest at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Spent the better part of the day at the EDS / Sun Alliance Corporate Super Tent on the 14th green at the TPC of Las Colinas. Was wonderful - great view, great food and drinks, and an all around good time.

Also spent some time at the 10th green (it's across the cart path from the 14th). Pin was no more than 15 feet from the gallery and I had a great view of some great golf and also some not so great golf. The "Tiger Effect" is amazing - standing green side, you watch as perhaps 1500 - 2000 people approach following Tiger Woods. They get to the green (perhaps 10 - 15 deep), watch his third shot to the green (a errant drive left him with nothing but a punch shot that fell way short of the green), and two put for bogey. Then, as fast as they appeared, they dispersed and gathered at the 11th tee box never to be seen again at the 10th.

Wonder what it's like playing behind Tiger on Thursday and Friday? Got a first hand idea of what it's like being in the group in front of him. Noisy, shuffling, moving people constantly being chastised by the caddies to stand still and be quite. But, life's a real drudge when your #105 on the money list and are only bringing home $500,000 per year - tough, huh?

Fishing In Vermont

New York Times writer Pam Belluck reports on a controversial pastime in Vermont, fish shooting.

The Southwest Effect

It's called the Southwest Effect - Southwest Airlines enters a new market (in this case Philadelphia) and the incumbent carriers watch their revenues erode. And, while it's not for everyone, the New York City and Newark airports are less than 100 miles away which means some will drive to Philadelphia for the lower fare. Granted, it's not for the business traveler but, when you have a family of 4, the savings could be substantial.

From the Travel Commerce Report

Low fares on Southwest Airlines will spur travel to and from Philadelphia, according to a new online survey conducted by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC). If all survey respondents who said they would visit Philly on Southwest make their intended trip, they would add a predicted $8.4 million in new direct spending to the local economy. The questionnaire yielded 10,530 responses from people living in Philadelphia and elsewhere in the United States. GPTMC conducted the survey in order to find out if the introduction of Southwest Airlines would induce more visits to Philadelphia and would motivate Philadelphia residents to travel elsewhere.

Of all the respondents, 6,251 live outside of the area, and 67 percent said they are more likely to travel to Philadelphia. On average, the respondents said they would make an additional 1.9 trips (that's a total of 11,877 trips) to Philadelphia as a result of the new low airfares available. (According to D.K. Shifflet, a leading national travel and tourism research firm, the average travel party to Philadelphia in 2001 spent $709 per trip. The $8.4 million figure comes from multiplying 11,877 trips by $709. This figure does not include spending other than purchases, lodging and dining, nor has this figure been extrapolated to the entire flying population).

Of the 4,279 respondents who live in the five-county region, 69 percent said their friends and family are more likely to visit Philadelphia because of Southwest. As for outbound travel, 92 percent of these respondents are more likely to take a trip to another city.