Hey ... Remember Me?

 Well ... it's been more than a year since I've posted here. Why? 

1. I've been busy living my life.

2. When I've done any public writing, I've done so professionally (in other words, for $$$$).

3. I'm retired and lazy.

I think that about covers it.

Anyhoo, I'm not gonna make any New Year's resolution about posting daily or weekly or monthly (or even annually) to The Baldest Truth. All I'll say is, "We'll see."

But I'm here now, so here goes ...

The Bald Truth

A lot has gone on with my family since I last posted the day before Thanksgiving 2023.

The main happening of note: Robbie and I sold our home in Matthews, NC, and moved to Seattle to be near Katie and her family, who re-re-located to Seattle in August. (The grandkids had spent two years in Charlotte, reeling us in with their damn cuteness.)

Concluding a 6-week drive that included stops to visit friends and family in Wilmington, Hilton Head, Philadelphia, Easton, Detroit, Chicago, Middle Of Nowhere Wisconsin and Jackson Hole, we arrived in Seattle in mid-October. 

We've been living in a furnished rental while we look for our next home. It's been a humbling and somewhat intimidating experience, given the low inventory and the insanely high prices - basic starter homes that need work run $1 million plus. We are open to renting a nice place for a couple/few years, and we might end up doing just that.

I do miss a lot about Charlotte. I miss going to the Beer Temple every Thursday to get together with Gary, Drew, Scott, Tom and whoever else might join our group in any given week. I miss the monthly wild-card-filled poker nights that Bruce ran, and Jake's more serious Hold 'Em games. We miss our best Charlotte "couple friends," Karen and Tom. And of course I miss the weather - it's gray and rainy in Seattle just about every freakin' day. (But I do know from experience that the summers here will be spectacular, so less than 6 gloomy months to go!)

Life is filled with adventures big and small, and I've always felt that change is healthy. We didn't know a soul in Madison when we moved there as newlyweds, nor did we know anybody when we moved to Minneapolis after I got my first full-time sportswriting gig. We had some people in Chicago when we moved there, but we didn't have all that much opportunity to get together with them because we were busy raising our family. And then we knew absolutely nobody when we moved to Charlotte. At each stop, we carved out a fun, fulfilling and friend-filled experience for ourselves, and I have no doubt we'll do the same in Seattle.

It's certainly been great being around Katie, Ben, Owen and Piper. We see them all the time and enjoy the laughs, love and hugs. In just the past couple of weeks, I've gone with Ben to a Kraken game; I've watched the Sounders with Katie and her friends; and we babysat Owen and Piper so that Katie and Ben could go to dinner with Ben's family, who were visiting from out of town.

I also recently took Owen to a high school basketball game. It's obvious that my 4-year-old grandson is a huge basketball fan, based on his answer when I asked him during the drive home what his favorite part of the game was: 

"Getting a pack of Skittles."

The Balder Truth

Speaking of basketball ...

Last winter, I wrapped up the North Carolina portion of my coaching career. It was my 11th season overall, 7th as a middle-school girls head coach and 2nd at Socrates Academy, a charter school for smart kids that was just two miles from our house. 

Our top seven players from the previous season graduated, and this time we had a bunch of 6th-graders who were eager but mostly not experienced enough to compete against the many talented and older teams in our league. Although the final result was only my second sub-.500 record as a head coach (and first since my very first season), we still had a lot of fun ... and it again was wonderful having Katie as my assistant coach.

I got to Seattle too late to consider coaching here this season, and I haven't decided yet if I'll do so next year. I enjoy working with kids and I love the challenge of building a team, but it's also a solid 3-4 month commitment. And now that Robbie and I are both retired, I'm not sure I'm ready to give up that chunk of time. We'll see what's going through my head when the time to make a decision draws near.

A more successful basketball story for the 2023-24 season was written by my Marquette Golden Eagles. Coached by Shaka Smart and led by Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro, Marquette played inspired basketball all season and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in a decade. 

I got to several games, including road contests against Butler and Xavier, as well as the first two NCAA Tournament games. MU was 6-0 with me in attendance - I guess I should have gone to the NCAA Regional game we lost in Dallas, dammit! As Steve Martin used to say (back when he was funny): "I blame myself."

We have a real good team again this season, with PG Kam Jones playing like an All-American and getting excellent support from several others. I'm planning to go to three games with my friends in late January. There's also a pretty active Marquette Club in Seattle, and Robbie, Katie and I went to a game-watching event to see the takedown of the always-evil Wisconsin Rodents.

Personally, the best thing about Marquette's resurgence has been the way my old MU buddies like Chodz, Jim and John have really gotten into the team. We have text chains going during every game, we've gotten together to go to numerous games, and it's just been a lot of fun. So thanks to Shaka and the guys! Sports brings people together - one of many reasons I love them.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

Unfortunately, I spent pretty much all of 2024 dealing with serious back problems. At first, it was general soreness in the mid-back to upper-back area that kept me from doing activities I enjoy. But things got worse, and in May an MRI showed that I had a compression fracture. The pain had gotten unbearable and it took a long time for me to be able to do even mundane tasks like tie my shoes or shave.

We ended up having to cancel a scheduled trip to Europe, missing our niece's wedding (Congrats, Caroline and Daniel!), as well as a Rhine River cruise. Total bummer.

While dealing with my injury, I ended up putting extra stress on my lower back and neck, and those became problem areas, too. Making matters even worse, I got the run-around from my health-insurance company and couldn't receive the physical therapy I desperately needed.

Finally, after moving to Seattle, I decided to pay out of pocket for a highly regarded physical therapist - who also happens to be my first cousin's son-in-law, Phil - and I'm doing a lot better now. I've still got a ways to go to be able to do the real fun stuff (such as golfing, or picking up a grandkid), but at least I'm mostly able to function.

I'm looking forward to getting back to full strength in 2025. And it will happen!

Bits & Pieces

• Just because we're in the Pacific Northwest now, it doesn't mean we'll be traveling less to Chicago, where Ben, Sammi, Jack, Logan and Noah live - and where we still have many friends from our 16 years in that great city. We already have a trip scheduled for early 2025 and another tentatively planned for the spring. Our hearts will always lead us to Chicago over and over and over again.
• We lived in the Charlotte area for 14+ years, and in our house on Hickory Lake Lane for most of that time. It was the longest I had lived in any house as an adult - easily beating our 10 years at Bell Ave. in Chicago. The only abode in which I resided longer was 59 Wheeler Avenue in my hometown of Milford, CT - the only house I knew until I went away to college.
• I'm still writing investing articles, but I'm now doing so for a subscription service on the Seeking Alpha site. After years of writing for a free site, I didn't love switching to a situation in which folks have to pay to read my stuff, but that's the most common model in this day and age. And the money I get for writing still buys my beer (and, hopefully soon, my golf) - and that ain't nothing.
• Sadly, Robbie and I lost our best friend of 13 1/2 years in August, when Simmie died. She was a loyal, loving and funny pup, and we still talk about her often.
• I just realized I didn't announce my Sports Turkey of the Year for 2024, but my choice shouldn't surprise anybody who follows the NFL (or to any of my Chicago friends). It's obviously former Bears coach Matt Eberflus, who oversaw a dysfunctional, easily distracted, fundamentally weak crew of losers. I was tempted to pick one of those losers - Tyrique Stevenson, the pathetic fool who was busy taunting the crowd while Washington was in the process of launching its winning Hail Mary play. But even that screw-up ultimately belongs on Eberflus, who built a culture of pathetic foolishness. 
• It was pretty easy becoming a Seattle Seahawks fan after my long run cheering for the Carolina Panthers. It's not as if I was born and raised a Panthers fan, and I simply want to pull for the team where I live. Unfortunately, the Seahawks have been mostly frustrating in my first season rooting for them. I've even accidentally referred to them as the Panthers a few times - and that's no compliment! 2015, when the Panthers went to the Super Bowl behind Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly and a cocky cast of characters, will forever be one of my most fun seasons as a sports fan.
• I'm rooting for a Bills-Lions Super Bowl so that one of those teams' long-suffering fan bases can enjoy the ultimate feeling.

And with that, folks, I'm out. No promises about when I'll post again to TBT, but I will someday! 

Happy New Year, everybody, and may 2025 be filled with love and laughter and compassion and peace.

 

 

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

The worst part about vacations is that they have to end. As I write this, Robbie is back at work and I am getting ready to go grocery shopping, pick up our held mail and handle a stack of bills that accumulated in our absence. Ugh.

Still, we had a great trip to visit Katie in Seattle and to chill out with our forever friends, Elizabeth and James DeVault, in Park City, Utah.

The trip didn't start very great, as our Southwest flight to Seattle on Aug. 4 was canceled due to mechanical problems. Every 20-30 minutes, an employee went on the intercom to say, "The mechanic has not yet arrived," or "The mechanic just arrived and is assessing the situation," or "The mechanic is now trying to determine if we have the necessary parts to remedy the situation," etc. Finally, after about 5 hours at the airport, we learned the flight was canceled and everybody lined up to receive alternate transportation. 

They wanted to put us on a flight early the next morning. We would have had to gather our luggage, call for the shuttle to take us back to the remote lot where we parked our car, drive 40 minutes home, get as much sleep as we could, wake up at 3:30 a.m. the next day, go back to the airport, park the car, check the luggage, go back through security, etc. It was not an inviting solution.

It dawned on me that I had enough American miles to book new flights and, sure enough, there was one leaving in a couple of hours. Because we were booking on short notice, they charged us $75 each for the right to use our miles. Plus, because we weren't flying on Southwest, they charged us $25 each for our two bags. So it was $200 PLUS 25k miles. But at least we wouldn't have to leave the airport.

Naturally, THAT flight was delayed by about 3 hours. By the time Katie picked us up at the Seattle airport and drove us to her apartment, it was 1:30 a.m. - Seattle time. Meaning 4:30 a.m. for our tired bodies!

Fortunately, getting started was by far the worst part of our vacation. We had a great time in the great state of Washington ... and did so without even sampling their newest legal product.

Robbie and I at the top of Rattlesnake Ledge, 

part of the Snoqualmie National Forest. 

We had amazing views of  Mount Washington, Rattlesnake Lake and 

Chester Morse Lake, making the 2-mile climb worthwhile.

While in Seattle, Robbie and I celebrated our 31st anniversary. 

Doing so with Katie made it extra special. 

She even treated us (mostly) for our great dinner at Cutter's.

We also got to meet Katie's boyfriend, Ben. 

Hmmm ... same name as her brother, same hairline as her father ... a shrink's delight!

Later in the week, we strolled through Pike Place Market, took a whitewater rafting trip - I won't say who fell out, but her name starts with an R! - ate well and drank merrily.

After five fantastic days with Katie, we said our farewells and flew to Salt Lake City. There, we met up with Elizabeth and James, our longest-tenured married friends. Elizabeth and Robbie met shortly after we got married and moved to Madison, where they both worked in a bank's student-loan department. James was going for an advanced degree in economics at Wisconsin and I was in the early stages of my AP career. We've been close ever since, and we try to get together once a year or so. For a long time, the families had mass gatherings, but now that our kids are on their own and the DeVault kids are mostly grown, it's usually just the four of us.

Why Park City? Good question. We had a timeshare week to use and that was the best place we could trade into. It was a pretty mountain area, and we could see why it's popular in the winter. Our Marriott resort had a lot of amenities, and the area was beautiful in the summer, too. We mostly chilled out but did a few more active things.

Here, Robbie and I (and James to the left) are at the Homestead Crater, 

a cavern with mineral water that is at a natural 90 to 96 degrees. 

The picture is fuzzy because we were treading water to try to stay in one place.

Robbie climbs aboard Buttercup for our horseback ride at Antelope Island State Park.

Poor Joe drew the short straw and had to carry me.

I ate so well on the trip that I think I gained 5 pounds. 

I don't know for sure; I'm too chicken to step on the scale! 

Here we are... the Four Horsepeople of the Apocalypse!

Antelope Island State Park is home to hundreds of free-roaming bison, and we saw dozens of them. We also saw a few antelope ... unless they were mule deer. We're still not really sure which. 

The park also borders the southeast part of the Great Salt Lake. I had been to Utah three times - for the 1993 NBA All-Star Game (where my assignment was to cover Shaq's appearance as a rookie) as well as the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals. Despite all that time there, I had never even gotten a peek at the Great Salt Lake. So this time, I made sure I not only saw it but experienced it.

This photo of Robbie and I provides an accurate account of how massive the lake is. 

We only waded up to our knees because, frankly, the water was filthy!

The other major activity we did in Utah was a tour of the Mormon temple grounds in Salt Lake City. We weren't allowed in the temple, but we viewed it from the outside and got to go into a few associated buildings. It's a massive complex, and we learned that more than 60% of the state's population belong to the church. The tour was interesting but I was less fond of the prosthelytizing. 

The rest of our vacation was spent sunning at the pool, relaxing in the hot tub and eating well.

Oh, and playing games. When we get together, Elizabeth, James, Robbie and I play a lot of games - board games, card games, trivia games, etc. OK, so we're not the most happening couples on the planet ... we still have fun. 

On this trip, the ladies discovered a new passion - table shuffleboard. Did I say passion? Maybe addiction is more like it. Elizabeth actually went online to price a table for their house. I think she concluded that it would be too big for any room other than their bedroom, and James wasn't thrilled about that idea!

One day, the table was covered and had a note saying it was out of commission because somebody had broken it. We took a look and saw it only had a minor flaw, one we could fix temporarily with the folded-up cover of a pizza box. 

As we gathered near the elevator to go play, pizza box in hand, I said, "Yep, we're four rule-breaking bad-asses." 

Four 50-somethings setting their own rules so they could play table shuffleboard ... it doesn't get much more bad-ass than that! We laughed about that remark for days, with Elizabeth saying she could just see a Saturday Night Live skit based on the idea. I think it could work, with Will Ferrell returning to play me, of course.

"Don't mess with us ... we're bad-asses ... we're heading for the shuffleboard room ... we've got a pizza box and we know how to use it!"

Our trip wrapped up Saturday and we went our separate ways - Elizabeth and James back to Easton, Pa., where he is an economics professor, and us back to Charlotte. As always, it was sad saying goodbye but we'll have bad-ass memories to last us decades.

For some reason, flights from Salt Lake City to Charlotte were outrageously expensive, so a few months back I decided to use American miles to book the flight. Regular reward seats weren't available, so I said, "What the hell," doubled the miles and treated us to first class. It had been a long time since I had gotten an actual meal on an airplane, and this time, because of our plane change in Dallas, we got breakfast AND lunch! Not bad, either.

An egg "scrambler" with cheese, veggies and potatoes, 

fresh(-ish) fruit and a warm banana-nut muffin. 

I've had worse breakfasts, I can tell you that.

Our flight was on time, there were no problems at all, and boy was Simmie happy to see us!

I tried to upload a video of Simmie going crazy as soon as she saw us, but Blogger wasn't accepting it. So this photo of her on her favorite resting spot - the landing where the stairs take a turn - will have to do. Even though she looks like a puppy here, this was just taken a few weeks ago. Like Robbie, Simmie looks much younger than her years!

Upon our return, we also got to meet our new next-door neighbors, David and Jean. The Burleys, the fun family who lived next door for our first 3 1/2 years in the neighborhood, have moved to be closer to the school their three sons attend. We'll miss them but are happy they sold their house to such nice people!

Though no longer on vacation, we plan to enjoy the rest of our summer. Here's hoping your summer has been great, too.

^