Pro Angler Michelle Dalton Is A Star, Pedro Martinez Is Proud Of His Chickens & Tony Romo Fan Throws Fists In A Parking Lot
There I was Sunday evening trying to challenge my brain a little bit after watching a bunch of basketball & look what the New York Times drops on Put-In-Bay
Oh look, the New York Times wrote a "Tell us about where you live" feature on the holiest land in Ohio -- Put-In-Bay island where I hold the prestigious PIB 2-Club Invitational (I'll have an exact date locked down this week).
Of course I'm going to take 15 minutes to see what the Times has to say about PIB in the winter. It took me approximately 10 seconds to know we were actually getting a lecture on global warming. How was I so sure? The headline is "This Ohio Island Has a Problem: There’s No Ice."
The story followed the exact framework that you'd expect out of the Times, but I don't want to get too worked up over that this week because Friday is Screencaps on Spring Break in Savannah and I want to go into that trip with a great perspective on life.
I want to focus on what I found 3/4 of the way into the report: The Times seems to be reading Screencaps.
"We're exploring the U.S. one place at a time," the Times says to its readers. "What's a distinct place, activity or tradition that defines your corner of the world?"
Hey hacks, that's my bit because I actually write and tell the stories of real humans out here without turning them into global warming propaganda when you're actually masking what you're up to by telling these people you were sent to Put-In-Bay to report on what life is like in the winter.
"What happens when the lake refuses to freeze?," the Times wrote in its sub-hed.
Trust me, the Times doesn't care as long as it fits the newspaper's agenda. You can be sure there were woke city officials in the northeast reading this report who will use this to ban more gas-powered mowers.
Quick hitters heading into a new week:
Speaking of golf
• Dave M. writes:
Keep doing what you’re doing, love ya!!
I swear this is my buddy’s bet. he said his dad played with Kurt’s cousin/uncle last week and the guy said Kurt is peaking lol. Of course only had $2.89 in his draftkings account. Wild.
This week it could happen...I might get to see Stilts get called in from the bullpen
Can't wait to get to Savannah. I need to see this with my very own eyes.
Baseball ain't dying in Atlanta
• Duncan N. read Saturday Screencaps and has to chime in on the question of whether baseball is dying:
If anyone thinks baseball is dying, send them down to Atlanta. The travel tournaments my son plays in are packed. His age group will have 10-12 teams playing at a park, so that’s 100+ players. Probably 5 age groups at that park, so let’s say 500 kids. And there are probably 10-15 parks around Atlanta with tournaments every weekend.
And the rec parks are just as busy. I know the local pee wee league (7-8 year olds) had over 120 kids sign up. So 12 teams, 2 games per weeknight, so not every team will get to play Monday-Friday. Doubleheaders on Saturday! And that’s just one age group. Baseball is alive and well down here!
• Patrick C. in Perrysburg writes:
As a lifelong baseball fan, I’m realizing this sport isn’t necessarily dying, but it’s beginning to take on water. When the average age of the fan is 57 years old you know you’re in trouble.
Baseball is doing its damnedest to attract younger fans, but when the kids of this country couldn’t be bothered to pick up a ball & bat and head down to the playground or find a curb to throw a rubber ball against, where’s the next generation of fans going to come from!?
In all reality I may be in love with the idea baseball when it was innocent, at least for me. Seeing your name in the paper after a nicely played game, or when your dad told you he had tickets to Bat Day at Tiger Stadium. I know I’m a dying breed, but baseball is still a great game. I just hope it never loses its charm, especially for kids.
Texas A&M fans fire back
• Michael R. from Layton would like a word with his baseball coach:
Hey Joe, been a while but definitely felt like I had to offer my 2 cents on the matter of the A&M baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle calling out the A&M fans for turning on the baseball team.
For perspective, I attended A&M for my undergraduate degree. One of the things that drove me nuts was not being allowed to boo at anything, not even the opponents.
"At A&M, we give a horse's laugh, cause we don't boo. We act with class" - some uppity Fish Camp guy.
What kinda privileged nonsense is this? Mind you, I learned this stupid lesson back in '08 when the Aggies lost to Arkansas State for the football season opener (hated the Mike Sherman era).
Fast forward to Coach Schlossnagle calling out the Aggies for being fed up with the Aggies performance against Portland. This is some entitled BS by the coach and the school. You know how much a sports pass is for broke college students? That, on top of off-the-rails tuition costs! The same coach who get a salary paid by Texans' tax dollars and rich oil folks, gets a company car, probably some house allowance, meals by the athletic department. Yet he has the balls to call out the fan base that they "turned on them". This softness veiled by "be polite people" is what shields anyone at A&M from true criticism. I'm all for letting a team know they suck by booing. I pay enough in damn taxes (Let's go Brandon), that I can boo if I damn well want to. I don't need some entitled coach telling me what or what not to do (only my wife can do that).
It's one of the reasons why I don't give a cent to A&M and instead give it to my hometown school of UTEP, cause A&M was soft, silenced all criticism and wanted students to be brainwashed in group think.
My words to Jim Schlossnagle: Sit down bus driver!
Solutions for Rory's mower issues
• Jeff M. has a solution for the problem Rory M. is having with his Toro:
Electrical gremlins can be a pain in the rear. Could be anything from a loose connection somewhere in the starter circuit to even a bad starter switch. Modern machines with their myriad safety switches complicate things also. If he can find a schematic, it's a big help. If not, first place I'd start is to be sure power is making it to the starter switch. Then, check if the switch is supplying power to the starter circuit. If the starter switch appears to be working, start jumping safety switches. Somewhere either a switch is bad or a wire is disconnected.
• Kevin S. writes:
Check the kill switch wire and sensors for when pressure is off of the seat if it has one. Had a neighbors craftsman rider that he spent a small fortune on and I checked kill switch under the seat and replaced. Ran like a champ afterwards.
• Danny K. writes:
In response to rory m and his toro I have a scag zero turn sometimes I have the same problem. A lot of times it just a safety switch such as mower deck engage switch or the seat switch ( if your not sitting in the seat it will not run also it at times has been the steering control arms!!
Most of those switches are normally closed so if you unplug them and put a small wire jumper in it will bypass that switch!! Can’t say for sure but it’s a good place to start having replaced all the stuff you said you did. Definitely sounds like a safety switch issue!! Try yourself because a shop will charge an arm and a leg!! Hope this helps cause in GA the grass is already growing!!
Joe looking so forward to my TNML sticker I’m just torn though should it go on my mower? Where it probably belongs or on my truck for all of metro Atlanta to see and show my love for the community?? Sure would like some reader’s opinions!! You know important decisions!!!!
The Ts answer pressing questions about their life and life on the run from Interpol
• Mike T. writes:
In response to Paul in Cincinnati’s question about our travel life, here goes!
I was in the corporate world for 25 years, working my way to Sr. Mgt. Then I owned a business for 10 years. Cindy T was in the medical records world until our kids were in school, then she became a teachers aide to help kids. She worked with me for 10 years when we owned our business.
We did okay financially. We were comfortable, not wealthy.
We’ve been married 43 years and we were living the Dave Ramsey lifestyle long before we knew who Dave was. Like everyone in the US, we were lucky to have one, possibly two, weeks of vacation each year. We were just too busy. We never took two weeks of vacation at the same time, way, way to hard to find time.
In 2013, we received an offer to buy our business that was too good to turn down. We accepted the offer and agreed to take a year off, reevaluate our life and get ready for the next chapter of our lives.
We took two trips to Europe that year, six weeks and then five weeks. We used Eurail for transportation and stayed at B&B’s. On the second trip we rented a car and drove several segments. Cindy does the driving, I’m the navigator.
We also traveled across the US and into Mexico looking to relocate our home. The home we were living in was way too big with the kids gone and the property taxes were stupid. We also didn’t care for the way politics was going in the state.
When we owned our business, one of our customers owned time shares in a 5 star Mexican resort. His friends also owned weeks at the resort and because of health issues they were looking to sell their weeks, $500 a week.
We had used the resort several times when we were working and now with additional time, we decided to try a two-week trip, first time for two weeks. That’s when our lives changed. We met our first snowbirds. Talking with couples at the resort, they were staying 4, 6, 8, and 12 weeks at a time. We asked, “how can you afford that”. They said, it’s simple, move to where you live.
In other words, you do the same stuff at your condo in Mexico as you do at home. You go to the store, buy groceries, cook you food, have drinks on the patio at the condo, do your laundry, clean your condo, etc. Your costs except for the condo are the same. Then they laid the big one on us, live like you’re a local.
Find the great local restaurants, the fantastic bars the locals use, become a local.
Ok, we say, and we came back to Mexico for four weeks, then the next year six, then eight weeks. It works great. Get a great condo, Vrbo, Airbnb whatever your choice, live like your at home and act like a local. During that time we made a decision on where to move, sold our old home and bought our home in Idaho. It’s a great retirement home and just the size yard we needed for gardening and fire pits. TNML of course.
In 2018, we started talking about Europe for a year, using our strategy above. We found a guy to house sit for us, and traveled to Europe and Mexico for almost 11 months. It worked great.
Cindy loves to plan trips, she uses the internet sources to guide her. That’s why she’s Tour guide Cindy. I love to cook so I’m the food and beverage director. We shop in the local grocery stores and markets, and because we lease a car when we’re in Europe we can stay in Vrbo’s and Airbnbs in outlying areas, they’re much cheaper. If you stay a week you can get a price break and sometimes negotiate fees.
It’s really simple,
Move where you stay,
Live like a local,
Be your own tour guide,
Cook your own food and enjoy the patio life. We treat ourselves just like we do at home, but keep it simple. When you really break it down, we’re just snowbirds in Europe instead of Florida or Arizona or Mexico.
PS That’s why I love the whole Screencaps community, we love the simple life, America and mowing our yards. Keep up the great work young man ! Hope this helps. We live a very simple life, it’s just in spectacular places.
Mike
That's a great place to stop this morning. The inbox is absolutely a mess right now with TNML sticker requests flying in. Readers trying to have thoughtful conversations on random topics. It's going to be a wild week heading into Screencaps Spring Break on the road.
Buckle up.
BTW, never forget how lucky we are to live in this incredible country where a baseball player can make a living wearing stilts and throwing pitches for thousands of fans. What a place to live. I love it here.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com