The Open, 2022

I finally figured out how to see The Open on my streaming-only TV here in Louisville. Today is/was the final day, and I got real focused on finding a way. There’s always a a way, and in this case it didn’t even involve a fee.

Once found, the final 4-5 holes were great to watch. I was rooting for Rory, and Cam Smith isn’t my favorite player, but Smith was superb today – he deserved the win. Poor Rory couldn’t make a putt. Smith was assassin-cold, made all the putts. That’s golf in a nutshell – drive for show, putt for dough.

I was there seven years ago, 2015, at the previous Open championship at St. Andrews. It is a magical experience for anyone who loves golf. Watching today brought back great memories. On that day I played Carnoustie in the morning and then took a cab over to St. Andrews to watch The Open’s final round. Epic day. Best golf day ever, even better than my 2001 hole-in-one.

Two water tales

It’s gonna rain today, and I can’t wait. It’ll cool things off, and I’m simply ready for some rain. I’m voting for a big thunderstorm.

I did something yesterday I haven’t done in 22+ years – used a lawn mower and cut the lawn. The CA property has zero grass, so it just hasn’t been a thing all these years. But I’ve been paying too much for lawn maintenance here in Louisville, so I bought a high-tech battery powered mower and used it. I wish I could say it was great, but nope, lawn cutting is still a pretty boring job. It looks good when you’re finished, but…the back and forth gets old fast.

BMW has miscalculated with their latest innovation, IMHO. They want car owners to pay a subscription fee for heated seats. What a terrible idea – when I pay for a luxury car, I expect all the features to be included in the price. I understand BMW’s desire for a recurring revenue stream, but….no. Just no. It feels petty and disrespectful for a loyal customer base.

We got some bad news about our well water system in CA yesterday. Our underground pump needs to be replaced, and as long as we were getting that replaced we decided to upgrade the iron, hardness, and particulate treatment filters. The bad news is that it’s all going to be *expensive*, in a year when we have a lot of travel planned. First world problem, I know. But our poor water quality has made irrigation problematic – over time the salty, iron-rich water has killed a lot of previously healthy plants and trees. So it’s a necessity.