Nope

Though I stopped my PS live account six weeks previously, did not stop my Disney Plus account until early July since that is when Hamilton came out. Though I find the concept of the musical questionable, knowing Lin Manuel Miranda created it, gave it a shot.

Two minutes into it, realized it was not for me, went nope, and then cancelled my Disney Plus account.

A couple of people questioned my FB post about it where I replied that the version of me five years ago might have been able to appreciate it.

When someone else mentioned they saw it, I stated my experience which drew an angry response.

I do admit the claim of not letting people enjoy what they enjoy is valid but was chastised for not giving it a chance and not explaining what going nope meant.

I started thinking, what things have I gone nope shortly after watching...

Any presidential news conference (of the current administration)

The first presidential debate

Bill Walton being the color man for a White Sox game.

Any live disc golf coverage especially the USDGC which did their best to get people to pay for it (while having a former multi time champ do commentary though one could tell he is bitter about not being able to hang with the best anymore after taking a 13 on a hole in 2015.)

Disc Golf Pro Tour next day coverage.

The tv show NEXT (Once the "spot the Ian" portion was done)

The Hunger Games

Young Sheldon

All 2020 NHL, NBA, and MLB playoff games (once the Chicago teams were eliminated).

Last Saturday's Illinois/Nebraska football game.

Since the Star Wars Lego Holiday Special was made available last week, renewed my Disney Plus membership and saw that as well as Incredibles 2 which I found better than then reviews made it seem. Also will watch season 2 of the Mandalorian. Will I continue Hamilton? Unlikely. 

COVID-19 state analysis

The map indicates where the top 25 states ranked in Covid-19 positive tests per population and who won the state in the 2020 presidential election as I looked up on worldometers shortly before I created the map on 11/20.

Though the Sturgis motorcycle rally in August did not produce the immediate results that were expected by many, the current situation appears to be a reflection of that. Also ND has a 50% higher rate than all states but SD and IA which shows how severe they are compared to the balance of the country.

As far as state by state, half the states had a majority for each candidate in the 2020 election. Having the top 25 split 19-6 one way is too large a difference to believe it happened by chance.

It would be fair to note that the new England states which had many cases in March/ April and are still 1-4 in deaths per population could be undercounted in total cases as full testing and diagnosis was not available at that time.

The 69 million voter question

As I start to write this, close to 69 million people have chosen to retain the president of the United States in spite of many reasons to not do so.

This leads to question why.

There are some people whom due to their wealth or job would justifiably be better off if the current situation continues. As someone who was anti smoking advertisements until having a job for a place that printed them, I can relate. 

There are people who have been fooled by the ideology presented by the GOP who has made exaggerated claims to convince people they are the ones with the voter in mind.  Catch phrases like socialism, open borders, and they're coming for your guns have been blabbed to scare voters.

There are people who have been fooled by the hard core Christian Evangelist society. They see their leaders with the president, listen to their preacher, and follow what they say. It does not matter that the man they supported used tear gas to clear out the area by a church so he can hold up a Bible upside down and backwards. It does not matter that he likely does not know the four books of the Gospel or that his opponent is a Christian and acts far more like one than him. They are just glad that he will do what he can to prevent unborn babies from getting killed without doing anything for them after they are born.

The last group is those whose preference is based on race. They are fine with refugee families being separated and caged. They are the ones who state if people don't break the law, they don't have to worry about police violence against them. They believe that Black Lives Matter is a terrorist group and that there is an ANTIFA group that does nothing but plan riots. They are the ones who still insist that Barack Obama was born in Kenya and that his wife was actually named Michael and had a sex change.

They are the ones who march in groups and then cry foul when they are outed and their employers decide they don't want them working for them. They are the ones who show up at protests and act like police and when one of them panicks and starts shooting, they are the first to donate to the defense. They are the ones who march with weapons into a state capitol and later plot to kidnap and kill the governor.

They are the ones who gathered outside places where votes are being counted and demanded the counts be either stopped or completed depending on the situation.

Most importantly, these are the people I worry about if the vote ends up Biden 270-268. I could imagine one person or group of people willingly sacrifice their lives to disrupt or change the electoral vote and force it to go to the house.

They are the reason I hope Biden ends up winning GA, PA, or NC as well as NV.

If only politics was the issue...

Many people with whom I associate run on polar opposites of the spectrum. There are those whose belief in a non plausible concept dominate their life including one who has been in service for over a half century and those who can identify with multiple letters used to describe people whose identity and preferences do not conform with standards that were set a long time ago and are no longer necessary to ensure the human race. 

Generally I fall in between either end as my realization of the non plausible concepts of a spiritual deity and eternal salvation puts me at odds with one end while lacking courage to explore opportunities to experience the full spectrum of life (even though I have been told that not having an uvula would provide me with the advantage of no gag reflex) and then shutting myself from them after realizing there is no physical desire to do so.

Having undergone a significant change in my ideals in the second half of my life has also put me in the middle and my learned ideals still occasionally come to the front even though the current version of me knows it is wrong.

Many of my ideas could offend bother sides of the spectrum and occasionally releasing them to public has done that.

What I publish and what I believe are significantly different. There are things that I want to slap myself for thinking. A former coworker who knows my filter is skewed has correctly guessed that there are things that I have realized would do nothing but upset people and I have learned to keep them under wraps.

Anyway, my sister made a post listing the political parties of two of my uncles and stated that in spite of their political differences that you can disagree and still love and care for one another and share a beer together.

Maybe in the 1970s when topics like inflation, unemployment, and the Soviet Union were the arguing points, yes.

After initially posting a picture explaining things then deleted to avoid an argument, my reply was "If only politics was the issue..." My sister sent angry text messages to me about that reply and I initially thought it was the picture I initially posted then deleted. It was the words. Realizing she was bowling in a league at the time and knowing how pissed I was when I got a text from her husband with two holes remaining in a tournament where I was battling for a title, I changed the wording to her satisfaction. :P

Today, no. The issue has no longer become one of politics. It has become one of respecting human rights, of ensuring that the human race will have a viable place to live in 50 or even 25 years (long after I expect to die). It has become an issue of a small group of radicals attempting to overthrow the checks and balances established on the US Constitution and turning the United States into the Christian version of the Sharia Law countries they claim the other side wants to establish even though the person running for president is more of a Christian.

I do feel proud that when my other sister who is as ignorant as my Michigan cousins posted a picture, I replied with an appropriate line Joe Biden said in a commercial aired during a Chicago Bears game immediately after it aired as a reply which she liked.

When thinking about it, since one of those running for president has not been a politician the majority of their adult life, it by definition is NOT about politics in the first place anyway.

Going aginst long time desires

There are many reasons to find Joe Biden to not be the ideal person to be the president.

Age.

Knowing that some businesses would have not donated had a progressive candidate been the nominee.

His family's dealings.

His actions around other people. (There is a reason someone created a parody titled "I Sniffed a Girl".)

He believes in the non plausible concept of Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

His VP choice and knowing what happened with Obama (and is still happening) wondering what would happen if she would need to take office. The US is currently in its longest streak without having a VP take over and especially considering Biden's age, his VP choice is important.

There are other reasons I have seen multiple people post over the past couple of months. Some are true while others are not.

However, I find one overwhelming reason to want Joe Biden to win the upcoming election:

He is NOT Donald Trump

I do not like the idea rooting for the lesser of two evils but this case is one obvious exception. Even without including the estimated 300,000 additional people who have died this year much of which can be directly attributed to the way the country has dealt with the pandemic, many actions and decisions which infringe on human rights and hurt the country and environment while boosting corporate profits (while gathered around those who have profitted from babbling about the non plausible concepts of Jesus Christ and eternal salvation) make him undesirable for four more years.

Though I was advised against joining the armed reserves, I could not imagine how any veteran could support someone who uses the word sucker to describe the choice to serve or loser to those who lost their lives in service.

Some might suggest an alternative candidate. Even if one of them would provide all the ideas that I would like to see (and from what I have seen, that is not the case), it is obvious that any vote towards one would be wasted.

Yes, if all those who prefer an alternate candidate would cast their vote that way, it could make a difference but right now, that idea would do way more harm than good.

Being an Illinois resident, my vote for president won't make a difference though there are other things on the ballot that will. I am hoping those in the states that will decide the presidential election (due to the antiqued way of determining the winner) will cast their ballot for the least worst of the two who have a legitimate chance to win.

Tree Fiddy

After the PDGA stated points requirements for 2021 worlds events will be reduced to 70% due to COVID, I realized my requirement is now 350.

I generally say that number the same way Chef's father said it in an old South Park episode even though it meant $3.50.

As I dropped in a birdie on the final hole of the event on a cold, rainy October 19th at 50 Acre Park drained to the point where throws were going 20% shorter, would have declined to be in a playoff, and realized that the right arm was done, I reached that goal. This is how it happened:

Other than the Illinois State Championship where due to the luck of the draw I threw the first shot and the Illinois Open Series where I missed winning the MA50+ series title by three shots, I registered for the division based on ability as opposed to age since there were more opponents and opportunity to gain points. I also realized that playing some Sunday league rounds will be necessary as well.

I was criticized for doing both of them and for not playing in an unrated club. Due to arm fatigue/pain and the need to make money delivering food, I had to select when and where to play. That included not playing in two events I played last year both of which had novice players lumped into the division I would play.

Except for the round I played one year to the date I got divorced (and will likely make an annual event), every time since that announcement that I drove more than 15 minutes from where I was (home or on delivery) to play disc golf was either a rated club round, a tournament, or to practice for an upcoming tournament.

Had I played in the unrated club instead of a rated league and joined age specific divisions for every event, I would have likely not been able to qualify as my arm would have given out earlier.

Unless there is a significant change on my financial situation, will not be playing at the world's in Orlando focusing on points for the 2022 Masters world's in Peoria.

Though I want another shot at the world's after what happened in 2019, the main reason I wanted to qualify is to have a choice.

As I finished this post the day after physically exhausted and in pain, I realized it is best to give the body and especially the dead right arm much needed rest now since I want to earn points in league play in January.

White A player

For my second round last Sunday, this is how the 18 holes played to me:

4 mid range par 4

3 driver par 3

2 full approach par 3

9 trap par 3

What I mean by a trap hole is that a good drive will leave a player between 50 and 100 feet requiring a less than full approach to get par but to get closer will require extra which can cause an off line shot leading to bogey.

Though I knew better, twice I tried to get extra on a trap hole. Once I got away with it after needing close to the 3 minutes allowed to find a disc. The other time ended up with a double bogey and a bloody leg due to thorns.

The other players in my group had the same issue. Six times our foursome ended up with all 3s.

For disc golf that is boring as holes that can produce a 2,3, or 4 equally are the good ones. The disc golf pro tour a few years ago realized that ladies playing the men's tees create a whole lot of trap holes and will have them play different tees, baskets, or in some cases, completely different holes from the men. A couple of them per round is fine but half a course is not.

What constitutes a trap hole varies by player. A good hole for a player of my ability is not one for a pro and vice versa.

Dellwood Canyons is one of the top rated courses in the world and the staff there are consistently improving the course. They recently announced a new long tee and basket for #11 which makes that a longer and narrower hole than the initial one.

As a reply, I expressed a desire to appreciate the full course and improvements as I lack the ability to do so. Though I can play the full version, it would be a waste of my time.

Most holes there now have a blue tee that is longer than the white one along with a B pin which can add distance as well and in some cases, it makes many holes a trap for me.

For example #3 from the white to A pin: Throw a drive right of the tree in the middle and left of the pavilion. Find a path through trees and a light pole on shot two to get a putt for a birdie 3.

#3 from blue to B pin: Throw driver trying to miss trees and keep it in bounds. Throw another driver up the hill trying to miss trees. Throw a third driver towards the basket to give myself a putt for a par 4.

For one hole that is ok. Doing that for 18 turns into a grind. For a pro, the full course is a good challenge. For me white tees to A pins is one for me.