Proud to announce that Cranky Man’s Lawn can now be found on the blog roll of The Reporter, an on-line community paper serving North Penn, Lansdale, Indian Valley and surrounding communities!
A nice little step further out into the world. I like the idea of having a more local outlet to potential readers.
Check it out at http://www.thereporteronline.com/blogs/life/#one.
We’re included under the LIFE tab, down the page under COMMUNITY BLOGS.
While perusing a local community blog this week I ran into an article that described Cheltenham Township’s (PA) declaration of a day in honor of Josh Fattal. Fattal – many will recall – is one of the hikers taken captive by Iranian forces along the Iraq-Iran border in 2009.
Fattal is a native of Cheltenham Township, a suburban Philadelphia community.
I can certainly see why his hometown would want to celebrate his safe return in good health and spirit. But I fail to see the logic of honoring in such an official manner one who so flagrantly dismissed common sense and made decisions that resulted in a costly, diplomatically embarrassing situation for his country and two years of anguish for his family and friends.
Despite that I readily concede their “right” to travel freely; accept the premise that they never actually crossed the border with Iran; and refute the accusations that they were spying for the U.S., my befuddlement comes down to one simple question.
Who in their right mind would think taking a stroll along the Iraq-Iran border was a good idea for three American citizens during military hostilities to the south in Iraq at a time when Iran was at diplomatic, nuclear-tinged loggerheads with the U.S.?!?
Perhaps the lack of judgement was just youthful exuberance run amok or that sense of invincibility that so often leads young people to think harmful things cannot, will not happen to them. But either way, it was an extremely poor, irresponsible decision that cost many people – mostly those closest to each of them – incredible despair; taxed the diplomatic and humanitarian efforts of several countries; and could very well have turned out much worse for them than two years spent in Iranian hell.
I understand the need to celebrate their return, but Josh Fattal Day? No, that’s too far a hike.
Post Publication Thought: (Adding this thought as an example of my point, which came to me in the shower this morning as all good ideas should. Hope the imagery doesn’t sting too badly! )
If Joe McFisherman decides to take his 22-ft pleasure boat out past the breakers despite ominous, well communicated storm warnings, the Authorities are going to be responsible for his rescue once his boat gets swamped in the heavy seas and Joe and his four friends are dumped into the dangerous waters. I don’t have a problem with that, aside from the fact that Joe’s bone-headed stubbornness could put someone else’s life (the rescuers and passengers) at risk. (And by the way, Joe should have to pay something towards the costs of his rescue, at least as a monetary inducement to making a better decision next time.)
Assuming that all goes well, and Joe and his passengers are successfully rescued, you would expect people to be happy for Joe’s safe return. But you probably aren’t going to “honor” Joe. And if you did, what exactly would you be “honoring”? You wouldn’t “honor” his good fortune or his bravery, that resulted from his dumb decision. And you certainly wouldn’t want to emphasize, publicize or encourage such poor decision-making in others.
In Josh Fattal, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd‘s case, their hike (sinking boat) took over two years to resolve (rescue) due to Iran’s (a well-documented storm) intransigence and desire to use them to embarrass their country.
When you get the chance to play golf at Pebble Beach, you play there for the incredible scenery, for the amazing golf holes, and for the historic golf moments that have occurred there. But once you have played the headline course, another great golf opportunity awaits at Spyglass Hill!
Pebble Beach’s main attraction can be “golf overload” for many a golfer the first time they play there. (Trust me on that one.) Spyglass Hill tends to be a more relaxing golf day.
Spyglass offers a limited amount of the spectacular ocean scenery found at Pebble. The visual background is nowhere near as dramatic; and once you get past the first five holes, you lose all view of the ocean. Playing Spyglass is simply a more traditional, picture-perfect, immaculately manicured day of golf.
So the day after I almost choked over Pebble Beach, my brother and I set off for Round 2 at Spyglass Hill. The weather started out very similar to the previous day at Pebble … cool, foggy, damp.
As we hit balls at the practice tee, the ocean layer fog and mist condensed on the trees overhead and dripped like rain. As the day progressed the fog eased. Though there was little sun, the day was comfortable, dry … perfect!
We met our caddy, Doug on the first tee and were paired with two friendly golfers, Pete and Tom, who maintained my perfect record of NEVER being paired with a jerk on a golf course! Pete’s wife, Joanne, was our fifth and the groups’ unofficial photographer.
Yet another first … someone who walked through 18 holes of golf simply for the scenery and photo ops!
Your first impression of Spyglass Hill is how lush and wooded it is in contrast to the wide open ocean landscapes of its more famous neighbor. The lush surroundings makes for better overall golf conditions.
At times Pebble Beach suffers from the effects of too much sun and not enough rain. When we played there, some Pebble Beach fairways had recently gone through hair-plug-type treatments to remedy “pattern baldness” caused by a hot, dry summer. No such issues were found at Spyglass.
Fairway on par 5 #1 (Treasure Island) (Photo: J.Jarocewicz)
The first five holes at Spyglass are the most dramatic – scenery wise – of the circuit, with panoramic views of lush forest green against sandy waste areas and the ocean beyond. After #5 the course moves inland and upwards into the Del Monte Forest. It’s easy to see how Spyglass differs from Pebble in these first 5 holes.
Looking down #2 (Billy Bones) from the green.
Number 2 is a 349-yard uphill par 4 that requires precision to avoid trouble surrounding the fairway. Once you get the green at #2, you get your first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean – Spyglass style, which is less dramatic than Pebble but just as beautiful. The tee shot for the par 3 – 3rd hole (The Black Spot) is one of two Par 3s (#3 & #5) at Spyglass that play directly towards the ocean, although the Pacific is not in play on either hole.
Spyglass Hill was designed by Robert Trent Jones in the 1960s; and the 345-yard (White tees) par-4 fourth hole (Blind Pew) is said to have been his favorite. And it’s easy to see why.
The hole is neither long or treacherous; but the green is unique and requires precision to set up and execute the best approach. The green is an estimated 20 feet wide on the back-end; but is as narrow as 8-10 feet on the front side. The putting surface stretches about 60-75 feet, and quite literally snakes between several dunes and hillocks.
Not only is it an easy green to miss; if you hit it in the wrong spot, you could be looking at a meandering, incredibly long putt, assuming you even have line-of-sight to the hole. This was easily my favorite hole as it played that day with the pin located at the green’s narrowest spot – the front.
Caddy Doug made his first “stroke saving” contribution here by coaching me through a delicate and tricky chip shot that had to land well off the green to stay on the green!
The back – or “wide” – end of 4th green at Spyglass. Note the thinner lower end trails off to left. (Photo: J.Jarocewicz)
I hit one of my more memorable shots to the green at the par-3 #5 (Bird Rock) after chunking my tee shot into the sandy waste area short and left. Caddy Doug talked me into an almost effortless recovery shot that resulted in a much appreciated bogey 4.
Spyglass Hill #5 (Bird Rock)
Part of my enjoyment for our round at Spyglass Hill was the fact that I was playing very well from the tees with driver in hand. Out of 14 holes requiring driver or 3-wood off the tee, I hit 12 fairways; and one of those was a technical near-miss. With woods all around, you need to be straight off the tees or frustration will reign!
My brother, Pat struggled a bit with his golf demon – the snap hook; but for the most part he was able to keep up with me. Caddy Doug kept our heads in the game – especially on the back nine – by constantly hustling to position himself as fore caddy.
Many approach shots (more my undoing than those off the tees) have one – if not more – challenging aspects, be they an overabundance of sand or sentry duty performed by perniciously placed ponds. That being said, I lost but a single ball to “water envelopment”, which for me was a minor accomplishment!
The greens are not full of the crazy, sea-driven breaks and bends found at Pebble Beach; but they present enough of a challenge that investing in a caddy can make a difference. With that in mind, I highly recommend the services of our caddy, Douglas Allen Miller (dmiller52@live.com) should you go to either Pebble or Spyglass. Doug is a real hustler; a great source of course information; and works hard to keep your head in the game.
His only drawback is that he’s a stinkin’ Yankees fan!
The gallery on #13 grazes on Pat’s pitch-in birdie!
Other golf highlights of the day were my stiff approach to the flag on the number one handicap hole, the par-4 #8 (Signal Hill), though I missed the par putt. And brother, Pat thrilled the gallery (left) with a pitch-in birdie on #13 (Tom Morgan).
The deer population is a cute diversion from the “pressures” of golf at Spyglass. The wildlife is neither frightened or especially put off their feeding by the presence of humans with their long shiny golf weapons. It is possible to get quite close to the deer; if you take it slow and easy. They are wary, but obviously used to humans playing stupid games in their midst! They’ll let you know when you get too close by simply moving away.
The last real drama of the day occurred at another par 3, the 15th (Jim Hawkins). The shortest hole at Spyglass; it plays to just 98 yards and downhill at that. (See Pat’s picture above for a look at the shot to #15.) I was hitting fourth in recognition of my superb snowman on the previous hole. One of our partners, Tom, preceded me and promptly stuck the ball two feet from the hole; spun it back directly over the hole; ending up about 8 feet below the flag.
I followed that near ace by chosing my trusty 9-iron and stuck my tee shot just two feet past Bill’s quite visible ball mark on the green; but my ball simply trickled down the slope towards the hole, ending up; 4 feet from the hole.
Of course, I missed the birdie putt!
From there on out, and aside from pars by both Pat and I at the 17th (Ben Gunn), our Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill experiences were coming to an end.
All kidding aside, Patrick played better than me both times; posting a 97 at Spy Glass that included two pars to go along with his stunning pitch-in birdie on #13.
Overall, I loved playing both courses. Who wouldn’t?!? But the experience at each course is quite different from the other.
Pebble is a must-do for any golfer who prizes the ultra golf experiences that come only at the sport’s premiere venues. Spyglass Hill however, is simply golf at its purest, without the thrills and chills of crazy, sea-cliff golf.
Play Pebble Beach because you must. Play Spyglass Hill simply because you LOVE golf!
More pics from Spyglass Hill:
Drove my son home from Temple University again this weekend, and noticed that Cheltenham Avenue is STILL a disgrace from all the Shapiro-Richards signs that still exist – in varying forms – all along the avenue. Many are waving away on one post. Many are down flat and littering the street and sidewalks. Even the ones that are still standing just make Cheltenham Avenue look trashier than usual for a major urban roadway.
Perhaps Josh and Leslie can organize the labor forces that put those signs out to go back out and collect them all.
But I’m not holding my breath!
(I can think of no better way to erase the nasty aftertaste left by Tuesday’s election outcome – for me anyway – than to reflect on the sacrifice of those who make such an Exercise of Freedom possible!)
It is way too easy to repeat the suggestion to seek out a veteran or current military member and “Thank them” for their service. That seems like such an inadequate approach towards what is – for many of us – an incomprehensible level of commitment and devotion.
(I did hear an even better admonition this morning, one that said to the effect “Don’t just thank a veteran; Hire one!”)
In addition to all those good ideas, try to imagine yourself called – from your cozy, mundane, safe life – into a scenario like Omaha Beach, Antietam, Hue, or Baghdad and attempt to measure yourself against the danger, the death, the incredible dedication required of those who went there no doubt reluctantly but bravely, and successfully performed their duty.
Then take that a step further, and reflect on all those hundreds-of-thousands who did all that yet never returned.
Somehow just saying “Thank you!” doesn’t seem to be nearly enough.
Watching what unfolded last night for the Montgomery County (PA) GOP was akin to suffering through a replay of Monday night’s woeful performance by the Philadelphia Eagles against those Chicago Bears. Just like those inconsistent Birds, the impression I have is one of a team that was thoroughly outplayed by an opponent that simply “wanted it” much, much more.
Not that it was entirely a lost night. Rumor had it (unconfirmed) that both Hatboro and Plymouth Meeting councils were won back by Republican leadership. Our local Horsham Township Council candidates, Greg Nesbitt and Mark McCouch handily won their matchup as rightfully expected. Eileen Behr, a superb candidate for MontCo Sheriff, and Stewart Greenleaf, Jr. – for Controller – were successful in their bids. But aside from these and Nancy Becker’s victory for Recorder of Deeds, the overall contest – much like the Eagles-Bears game – was not nearly as close a performance as the final score might lead one to believe.
Many good GOP candidates went down with the ship.
Now, I have no claim to any formal political training, inside Montgomery County Republican Committee or Brown-Castor strategizing, or even a smidgen of political play-making capability. In continuing with the Eagles analogy, I’m either the center spending half the game looking upside down with his head between his legs, or I’m the rookie guard – a la Danny Watkins – too caught up just trying to get the rudimentary footwork down to fully appreciate the more complicated levels of high stakes political gamesmanship. I just know I’m laying here flat on my back with a bunch of cleat marks up the front of my jersey wondering what-the-sack happened to the game plan!
So take these personal impressions with that perspective in mind …
1. Although I travel regularly through limited areas of eastern Montgomery County, there were certain locales – specifically Huntingdon Valley, Rockledge, and Abington – where little evidence in the way of Brown-Castor presence could be found. Every day for the past two months commuting back and forth from work, I saw a plethora a Shapiro-Richards signage in these areas. The Brown-Castor presence didn’t just fall short; it was completely absent aside from sporadic household displays. In fact, of the several attempts of my own to populate Abington with GOP signage, some were met with REMOVAL of the signs from public grounds. So despite my belief that the powers-to-be had a handle on this important election, I had a gnawing feeling in my gut that things were amiss!
One of my posts from several weeks ago, dealt with the offensive sight of hundreds of Shapiro-Richards signs quite literally LITTERING huge stretches of Cheltenham Avenue and Rt. 422. It was obviously an organized bit of intense labor. And although I harbor no desire to see ANY campaign trashing neighborhoods and highways in this manner, one has to wonder where the GOP response was? (Caveat: I have not been on either road since making that post, so maybe there was a response.)
2. Shapiro-Richards played the negative and dirty games better. From their TV ad portraying Brown-Castor as The Bickersons (The Negative) to drawing the downright hypocritical connect-the-dots picture of Jenny Brown as a Tea Party candidate (The Dirty since Josh Shapiro also met with and could therefore be portrayed as Tea Party-sympathetic.), the Democrats had no problem wading into the muck that played to those tired of Commissioners’ bickering and to their anti-Tea Party core. (I won’t even go into the fact that Shapiro-Richards won on what was a very Tea Party-like platform of limited spending and no tax increases. Oops .. maybe I will mention it.) I saw little pushback – aside from Castor’s complaining of the Tea Party hypocrisy – from the Republican side.
So why was so little made out of Richards’ Whitemarsh stewardship of an 8-fold increase in township debt (from $1.8 to $15 million)?!? Could more have been made of the contradiction between the fiscal promises made by the Democrats as opposed to their actual records on the same subjects?? (The numbers to watch here are $435 million, the current MontCo debt hole. With Richards record of debt accumulation, I predict this hole will grow to $3.5 million by Fiscal Year 2015!)
3. Much theorizing went into the role of “Obama Democrats” in their county registration advantage. Theories suggesting that those Democrats were only motivated by President Obama’s historic run to The White House … that many of them would not return in force for a relatively lower-key local race. Low turnout – it was suggested – would be a boon for Republican hopefuls. We certainly had low turnout in my township (roughly 28-30%). Heck, my polling place didn’t even have a Democrat committee presence until dinner time! Obviously, the Democrats out-performed Republicans in getting out their voters in Democrat-heavy areas. The GOP? Not so much.
That’s enough Wednesday-morning quarterbacking for me. When you lose, it’s either a failure in strategy/leadership or one of performance. So the questions beg …
Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned … Had an adverse reaction Monday to “Stop the Tea Party. Stop Jenny Brown” lawn signs I saw that morning while driving to work. The reaction centered around the hypocrisy of a Shapiro campaign making hay from a meeting that duplicated HIS OWN inclination to drink the TEA! Amazingly the signs had disappeared by the time I had driven pass them on the way home that night.
I just really hate losing … especially when I know I’m right.
As a 14-year resident of Horsham Township (Montgomery County, PA), I cannot really make claim to the full history of Horsham’s success or affluence. However, for the years my family has lived here, I can unequivocally state that we have been very happy and extremely comfortable with our life in one of America’s Best Places to Live!
I wouldn’t change a thing about how the Township is planned, managed or operated! And that MUST include those who have served to keep Horsham Township on the best possible path, both in the past and for the future!
Greg Nesbitt and Mark McCouch are two of the Leaders responsible for the current success and publicly recognized attractiveness and livability of Horsham Township! Both men have been instrumental – as HLRA-backing Council members – in working towards a feasible, attractive, community-oriented solution for the now vacant JRB Willow Grove property. And MOST IMPORTANTLY, making sure that future DOES NOT include an airport that indubitably would prove a greater drain on Township resources and community atmosphere than it would benefit.
Even their Democrat opponents admit that there are no “particular issues or problems with the current council” that might require a change in Township Leadership. The opposition also openly AGREES with the premise and direction that both the HLRA and Township Council has taken on the future look of the JRB Willow Grove property.
So, you have to ask yourself … Why would you change what is so obviously working for the community in which you live?!? What would possess one to think we could improve on one of the Best Places to Live in America?!?
It’s obvious that you shouldn’t and wouldn’t think seriously about either!
VOTE GREG NESBITT AND MARK McCOUCH on Tuesday, November 8!
This Tuesday, November 8 Montgomery County (PA) voters will face crucial decisions on the future health and welfare of the County in an election that will address the makeup of County leadership and management of 11 row offices.
In the headline contest Republican candidates Jenny Brown and Bruce Castor faceoff against Democrats Josh Shapiro and Leslie Richards for control of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. On election day, voters will cast ballots for TWO preferred commissioners. The top three vote-getters will assume seats on the Commissioners Board, thus ensuring one minority representative will serve with two from the majority party.
As background, the 2007 election for the County Commissioners Board was waylaid by the duplicitous Republican-elect Jim Matthews, when he worked a backroom, split-management deal with Democrat minority member, Joe Hoeffel. Matthews’ low-handed dealings betrayed the wishes of the County’s electorate – a vote that demanded a Republican-controlled Commissioners Board – by essentially handing de facto control to Hoeffel. Matthews’ behavior left him isolated from his own party and dependent on Hoeffel’s concurrence to get anything accomplished. Democrat Hoeffel had unprecedented control – for a minority party board member – over patronage, contracts and budget decisions.
The issue of who was really in charge of the Montgomery County Board over the past term is an important distinction, because as of February 2011, the County possessed a $435 MILLION bonded debt obligation. This is a RECORD HIGH for Montgomery County! The County budget for Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12) is already $25 million short in projected revenues! And in September the County’s Treasurer, Tom Ellis reported that the County’s Financial Health Index (the ratio between cash reserves and debt service) projects to 0.63-to-1 for FY12, where a ratio of 2-1 would be considered “unhealthy”.
The solution posed by current Democrat County Controller Diane Morgan to improve the County financial picture by pursuing fraud, waste and duplication is not a strategy that instills much confidence when looking at a $435 million hole.
As Whitemarsh Supervisor, Leslie Richards oversaw an amazing 8-fold increase in township debt – from $1.8 million to $15.0 million! So one can assume that a Shapiro-Richards-controlled Commissioners Board could very well continue a budget philosophy of spend-spend-spend, despite their pronouncements in favor of a “zero-based budgeting” approach to County finances. Josh Shapiro already has a record of raising taxes; and his solution for fixing the traffic problems on Rt 422 is to leverage funding from the State and Federal Government.
My understanding of leveraging includes the promise of putting up substantial funds (more borrowing!) to demonstrate a financial commitment which is then used to elicit funding from other sources, in this case the State and federal government. More fiscal insanity is not the response taxpayers want!
The solution favored by the Brown-Castor team is to slash expenditures while in the pursuit of gambling income from the new Valley Forge Convention Center casino development. This has the potential for being a tax-neutral solution, assuming the County can successfully reverse a state law that prevents direct Montgomery County control over its share of casino proceeds, a flawed – and unfair – state law fully supported by Shapiro in his duties as a State Representative. Instead the Pennsylvania Financing Authority controls MontCo’s funds from gambling revenue, the funds limited to use in treating sites with environmental contamination in preparation for future business redevelopment. Bucks County – on the other hand – enjoys direct and complete control over its portion of revenue from the Parx casino because somehow that casino is licensed under a different classification than the proposed Valley Forge development. (Confusing? Yes.)
It’s not difficult to recognize which debt solution makes the most sense in these troubling economic times or which team is best positioned to pursue it.
Both Jenny Brown and Bruce Castor have well-respected records as government leaders. Brown has served as Commissioner in Lower Merion Township since 2005. Castor, after a successful term as Montgomery County District Attorney, was elected to the Montgomery County Commission in 2007.
For these reasons, the right votes are for Jenny Brown and Bruce Castor for Montgomery County Commissioners!
On the subject of Row Office candidates, I have provided my impressions on several occasions.
I have been much impressed by several of the female row office and judicial candidates, particularly Eileen Behr for Sheriff, Maureen Coggins for Judge on the Court of Common Pleas, and of course Risa Vetri Ferman, who is running for re-election after a superb term as Montgomery County’s District Attorney.
Another strong Republican contender is William “Bill” Donnelly for Prothonotary (Clerk of the Court for Common Pleas), who led a modernization effort during a previous term, achieving recognition as one of the most efficient such offices in the country.
Normally, I’m one to loath suggesting that anyone pull the straight party lever when they enter the voting booth. But frankly, I cannot find a single candidate on the Montgomery County Republican ballot that I will not support with my own vote!
Whatever your voting inclinations, DO NOT forsake this opportunity to set the course for Montgomery County’s future! Get out and vote!
Cranky Man's Lawn 