Jack Chandler's Diary, August 2010

Last modified at 07:18 PM on Wednesday, October 27, 2010.

Saturday, August 21

I am miserable. My life consists of spending my days at work, staring into a computer screen. When the workday is over, I come home and sit in front of the television set until I can't keep my eyes open any longer. I haven't been fishing or sailing since 2005, when my current bout with depression began. I have begun to work up a little enthusiasm for golf, but finding enough of my swing to get back out onto the course is turning out to be a real challenge. Recognizing the problem is a good first step, I guess.

Indulging my new interest in golf may have some promise. This week, I ordered a new driver online, a Tour Edge Bazooka GeoMax 2 draw driver. Before it could arrive, Kris and I went shopping for new head covers for her clubs, and I found a new/old (new because it had never been sold and old because it was a 2007 model) Callaway FT-i driver marked down from its original $500 price to a little under $100. As the poster child for impulse buying, I bought it, knowing all the time that I had a new Bazooka on the way. The Bazooka arrived yesterday, and now I have two new drivers. The new Callaway hits bombs off the tee, and I expect no less from the Bazooka. Now I have to decide which one to keep.

Monday, August 16

Starting about noon on Saturday, we played 18 holes of golf in what was supposed to have been a "fun" get-together but which turned out to be a highly competitive tournament. Since it might as well have been my second time ever, (it really was my second time in ten years, and the one time in 2000 hardly counts) we did poorly. I was mortified when they awarded us the booby prize for worst golfers at the reunion dinner that night. I might have expected as much if I had known that the program also included an award for the best golfer in the class that was completely independent of the tournament. I suspect we'll know better next time.

The reunion dinner on Saturday night was an excellent buffet put on by the local Elks lodge followed by a dance with live music provided by a band that specialized in sixties music. (I can remember music in the sixties before the Beatles came ashore, but I didn't hear them play any Frankie Avalon or Rick Nelson or Elvis.) The music was good and the dance was fun, but the low lights and loud music effectively ended any chat between old friends that might not have been finished. After the brutal round of golf earlier in the day, we had enough energy for a couple of dances and little else.