78, 89 and no

Every Tuesday is a golf outing with my 89 year old father.

Normally my older brother plays but he is being a cowboy and hanging with his homies in Santa Barbara for a week. The group is called Ranchero Vistadores and apparently the organization goes back about 79 years. Members have included Ronnie Reagan and various other pillars of the community. They spend 8 days playing cowboy and rodeo games and from everything I've heard....they have the time of their lives. At least the time of their lives that don't include women. This is the 38 year that he has gone on the ride.


My father is taking a blood thinner and he gets very tired and dizzy around the 13th hole. Of course the fact that he is 89 might have something to do with it but my instincts tell me differently.

I had to take a blood thinner awhile back and it drastically reduced my energy level. Of course the doctor's have a reason....they always have a reason....for him being on Coumadin but I'm not so sure about the other eight prescriptions.

Of course asking questions about the interaction of certain drugs gets you absolutely nowhere. The side affects of many drugs is dizziness....but when you ask a Doctor they always say the same things. "All side effects are very rare."

ALL SIDE EFFECTS ARE VERY RARE

THERE'S NEVER A PROBLEM UNTIL THERE'S A PROBLEM

WE DON'T HAVE THE ABSOLUTE ANSWER ON WHY CERTAIN DRUGS DON'T WORK WELL WITH OTHER DRUGS.

ASK YOUR PHARMACISTS

Which makes my brain hurt and causes me to think about golfing with my father....after all the pharmacists didn't prescribe the medication but apparently they know more about the medications.....which means we might just need more pharmacists and less doctors.

Huh?

Did I really shoot a 78 today?

As we were walking off the course I said to one of the players..."I beat you by a stroke...you shot a 79 and I shot a 78."

He looked at me very calmly and said...."How many mulligans did you take?"

I had to think for a second and then softly said...."two."

The look he gave me was sufficient and I realized he doesn't take mulligans and therefore my 78 was really an 80 and he beat me my one stroke.

I announced then and there that I never liked taking mulligans and only did it because everybody else did it. He just grinned and started walking away knowing that in the real game of golf he had beaten me by one stroke. I also realized it and as he walked away I said..."from now on I will play the real game of golf whenever you are playing."

He stopped and turned and said "there's only one way to play the game of golf....and that's according to the rules...and all the rules are precise and there are no gray areas....except of course when dealing with unplayable lies...and then it usually takes a third party to clarify."

So from this day forward I will never take another mulligan and I will never give or take a gimme putt and I will never sleep with the starters girlfriend and I will never eat sushi for breakfast.

Rules are rules and when playing the game of golf all principles of self worth and self respect come fully into play....on numerous occasions during a round.

Now for my dad.....he can freaking do anything he wants just as long as he keeps showing up every Tuesday morning at 7:55. In fact I think I'll start giving him the twenty foot putts....but first the blood thinner issue needs to be addressed because it's screwing up his game. Today he only played 12 holes and then just kinda napped in the cart while we finished the round. He had shot a 45 on the front nine so he had a good chance of breaking 90.

He also informed me before he left that he voted no on all the May 19th ballot measures and mailed his ballot already.

Which now means I might have to vote yes on all the measures.

IT'S ALL ABOUT
BALANCE

GOLF
POLITICS
PRESCRIPTIONS
LOVE

And the difference between shooting a 78 and an 80 is a
HUGE
DIFFERENCE
as is not adding two mulligan strokes to the score

but the scorecard says 78 and we all know that anything written down is the absolute truth.

Except of course for prescription side effects and occasional golf scores.

Michael Timothy McAlevey