1.5 weeks ago I had an unexpected quick trip to Singapore and back. Family emergency. It was a good thing I went and things are all good now. Mission accomplished. Thanks to all who sent best wishes.
I was only in the country for about 20 hours and only had the opportunity to spend about three of those hours checking out the sights. boy are there some amazing sights to see, like the cityscape at night. Wowsies.
Singapore at Night – Tremendous
I spent some time at the incredible Marina Bay Sands Resort. The main hotel has three 50-story buildings with a boat-like top connecting them all (photo below). Incredible. There’s a mall there that’s so high-end there were TWO Giorio Armani stores. You know, for those who didn’t want to walk all the way to the other end of the mall.
I think this resort and supporting retail and casino were built for billionaires to give them a chance to rid themselves of the low-life riff raff millionaires.
Marina Bay Sands Resort – Singapore
While walking around the bay at 9:10PM I happened across a bunch of people sitting on the boardwalk. There were whole families and many tourists with cameras and tripods setup. I found the cutest female tourists I could find (turned out to be German), and asked what was going on. There’s a water and light show every night there called Wonder Full. This show makes the one at the Bellagio in Vegas look like my 3-year-old playing in the bathtub. I sat down and captured some video with my smartphone. It’s not the best, and I was too close so you only see 1/3 of the viewable program. Here’s a portion of the show:
I’d love to get back to this incredible country, and spend more than 20 hours there. It’s a very clean and vibrant city. Cleaner than any big city I’ve been to. I swear you could eat off the ground in the subway stations.
I love golf signs, especially ones that I have to read about 300 times to figure them out and still can’t.
Analysis
I love how some grammar freak like me used a golf pencil to put in the missing comma after “the golfer.”
The sign addresses “the golfer.” So what if a person who isn’t a golfer is reading the sign? And what if a person who is not a golfer hits a ball? Or is the sign simply trying to call out the golfer in a group of non golfers? “Hey you, the golfer.”
I’m still trying to wrap myself around the “consequences of the ball you hit” part. The ball has consequences? I find that hard to believe but let’s assume it does. Why shouldn’t the ball itself be responsible for its own consequences? Why should I, assuming I’m the golfer, be responsible?
Apparel scripting is one of the most crucial and important aspects of one’s golf game, just ask any golf company or golf PR person around the major championships. It’s all about the scripts.
With that in mind I crafted a hell of a combo golf shoe and putter grip script today and it really made a huge difference in my performance and my score. Check it out:
The goal of today’s shoe and putter grip scripting was to set a color scheme and combination which allowed me to fully concentrate on the shot at hand. One which was simple, and not distracting. One would not want to be midway through one’s putting stroke only to be completely distracted by the fact that there are 73 different colors between your shoes, socks, and putter grip.
The script worked very well and I played a solid and satisfying round in high winds and cold.
For my next script I plan to start with this setup, then drop acid.
I consulted with my back doctor yesterday. We looked at my recent MRI and discussed some of the issues going on with my back stiffness and spasms. There’s good news and bad news.
What I Hoped For
I had hoped that the doctor would look at the MRI and find an obvious issue to be addressed. “See here? This bone is pushing on a nerve. We can do x procedure and your problems will go away.”
What Really Happened
The doc said I have arthritis in my lower back and in some areas the vertebrae are bone on bone. In some areas of the back there is limited room for the nerves which causes them to pinch and produce pain. Also I have a couple of discs which are slightly bulging.
Good News/Bad News
In a way, this report is both good news and bad news. The good news is that I don’t have anything super major wrong. No risky surgery required. The bad news is that there’s no simple solution and my pain and discomfort is likely to continue, and probably get worse.
Prescription
The doc said if I have more pain or can’t shake the issues, he could try doing some steroid shots. He said they could last a varied amount of time, even as short as a month. He prescribed physical therapy to strengthen my core and supporting muscle structure. I start that next Thursday. He also set me up with a prescription one-a-day anti-inflammatory.
I’m a little miffed there’s no quick/simple solution, even surgical. At the same time I don’t have to worry and endure the stress and risk of back surgery at this point.
As a drone builder and flyer I’m interested in autonomous technology. Below is a video and info about an autonomous fairway mower. It mows the course without a human piloting it. I dig the technology but I also worry about potential golf jobs lost with this sort of thing.
About TURFLYNX and the F315 machine
TURFLYNX wants to make a future of mobile robots and information-based solutions for field keeping activities a reality today. We brought to market the first fully autonomous golf course fairway mower.
TURFLYNX’s vision of a mobile-robot and information-based future has resulted in our first product: the F315 autonomous triplex fairway mower.
We currently work hard in the development and marketing of robotic solutions for golf courses and sports fields using mobile robotics technology.
TURFLYNX developed the first autonomous and driverless fairway mower available on the market. A solution tailored to be cost-effective, autonomous, silent and environmentally friendly, with a special focus in reducing the maintenance costs on Golf Courses, addressing the needs of Managers and Greenkeepers, but also guided towards the improvement of the environment and to higher quality standards of the playable area.
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
