Category: Uncategorized

I hadn’t checked the blog in a while, and when I did, I noticed there hadn’t been any new postings in quite a while either.  So I figured I would contribute a posting with some of the latest things going on in this Fall family.

I’m working in downtown Chicago now.  As you may know, United has moved their headquarters from the suburbs (Elk Grove) to the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower).  The commute isn’t as bad as I had thought it was going to be.  The worst part is that you are always at the mercy of the train schedule.  From the moment the alarm goes off in the morning at 5:25 AM, I’ve got one eye on the clock until I get to the train station at around 6:25.  The ride on the train is decent enough, as I can read or just relax if I want.  And I manage to catch an express that only makes three stops before arriving downtown.  The walk from the station to the office is only about four blocks and I’m at my desk by 7:35.

If you’re wondering what the view is like, I can see the building across the street just fine!  I’m only on the fifth floor and since I’ve been down there highest floor I’ve been on is the 28th.  It’s actually good being on the 5th floor as we avoid some of the hassles with the elevators that people on the upper floors have to deal with.

The commute home is pretty much the same in reverse.  I’m out of the office by 4:30 to catch the 4:45 that only makes one stop before I get off at Barrington at 5:28.  I’m walking in the door between 5:46 and 5:49.

In other news, Veronica is studying in Germany this semester.  She left about three weeks ago and has been really enjoying herself, although I don’t think she’s a big fan of German food.  For you facebook users, check out her facebook page for lots of photos.  She should be adding a bunch in the next few days as she’s just getting back to Reutlingen where she’s attending school from about ten days of travels to Berlin, Potssam, Dresden, and Hamburg.

Veronica is doing quite well at school.  Check this out!

Eric has completed one semester at the University of Dayton with a 3.5 GPA, so he is doing well, too.  He’s made a good group of friends and appears to be quite happy there.  We were a little surprised that he selected a school six hours away, but he’s very happy with his decision to go there.  You can also find him on facebook if you want to know what else is going on with him.

Mary Ann is still teaching math at the local high school.  We’re just adjusting to the two of us being the only ones around here.  It’s both good and bad.  It’s nice and quite, but then again it can be boring and we miss the kids.

That’s about it!

The Fall Family Championship saw one if it’s most highly competitive matches in it’s history this past Friday, Aug 27. Steve Bergquist and Steve Fall traveled north to Harvard, IL to play at Plum Tree National golf course.

Off to a strong start Bergquist goes 4 up after 9, shooting a 49 to Steve Fall’s 52. But with his back to the wall Fall comes back strong winning the next 3 holes and is in with a par on the 13th with Berquist facing a 12 footer to not have the match go all square. Bergquist steps up and makes that putt and wins the next hole to go 2 up with 4 to play.

The next hole Fall wins. Bergqusit 1 up with 3 to go.

On 16 Fall hits his best drive of the day and smokes a 5 wood to par the next hole. Bergquist has another 8 footer to tie the hole (he’s been making these all day), but it slides by. Fall has fought back to all even with 2 to play.

Seventeen (a par 3) sees them both come up short. Fall chips to with in gimme range as Bergquist blades one. Fall one up.

Now the pressure is on. Fall is giving a stroke and still needs to win the 18th hole. If they tie Bergqusit wins the hole with his handicap and retains the shirt as the match would then be all tied.

With the pressure on, Fall steps up to the 18th, par 5, 4th hadicapped hole, and nails one straight left into the trees, hits one and winds up 50 yards of the tee box.

The opening Bergquist was looking for. Steve B hits his tee shot way right into another stand of trees. (Pressure! – Not for these 2)

Steve F hits a 3 wood to about 180. Bergquist, from the trees, comes out clean but carries too far into a sand trap on the left side of the fairway.

Bergquist comes out of the trap to about 50 yards. Fall puts his 5 wood on the green. Bergquist now needs to get up and down or hope for a 3 putt from Fall. Alas, another bladed wedge and it’s all but over. Fall 2 putts and the crowd roars. Steve Fall wins 2 up. The shirt is home to it’s favorite resting place.

The final 9 Bergquist shoots 51 for a total 100. Fall shoots a sizzling 40 on the back for a 92. What a comeback.

Steve Fall is ready for the next challenger. Bring it on.

Mary and I are on our way to Puerto Rico for a week. Hope to have some pictures when we get back.

Bye

One of the many reasons why I love where I live!

Warner Brothers has a movie coming out this September called Whiteout. Some one has taken the trailer for the movie and turned it into a video hyping Penn State’s upcoming football season.

Here’s the PSU version of “Whiteout”

I’ll say one thing for the PSU football program. They really know how to turn an night football game into an experience. This year’s designated Whiteout game will be against Iowa at 8PM on September 26th. Several of my Iowa friends are coming in for the game and I’m very much looking forward to it.

Here’s a link to the original movie trailer.

Some amazing technology at work here.

Ron, Steve and I attended the Battle this past week end. I am happy to say that not only did I retain the Fall Family Championship and the shirt, but I am also co-champion of the Battle.

It really wasn’t much of a match for the shirt this year as I posted 2 scores of 83 (net 67) in the early rounds. It was decided Saturday night that the 4 top scores in the Battle would play together Sunday so match play was not an option for the shirt as I was the only one of the three of us in the top four. Ron and I decided to just go with a net score for the Fall championship.

Starting Sunday’s round I was not sure how far behind I was for the Battle championship. I was told it was around 11 or 12 strokes. As I was also giving 12 strokes per round to the leader I knew making up 23 or 24 strokes was a long shot. After 9 holes I shot a 50 and the leader had a 55. I now had 9 holes to make up 18 or 19 strokes. At that time I figured it was over and was just hoping to hold onto the shirt.

Well, after another 8 holes things looked a bit different. I didn’t really know where I stood, but I knew it was close. Unfortunatly, the pressure got to me. I pulled my tee shot into the woods, chipped out, laid up (still behind a tree in the left rough), knocked one on, and then 3 putted. So much for stepping up like a champion.

As it turned out I shot 45 on the back and the leader, Dave Milner, shot 64. We still didn’t really know who had won and had to wait for Rick to add up the totals. Obviously, I was 12 back when the day started and not 11. First time in the history of the Battle there are co-champions.

As for the shirt, Ron shot something in the 100’s so that wasn’t very close. I keep the championship until the next challenge.

So, set your plans for next year and you can all challenge me for not only the Fall Family Championship, but the Battle of Battle Creek Championship.

From Wikipedia:

Marlex was used by Wham-O for their Hula Hoops in the 1950s, which helped create a market for this plastic. It is now used surgically as a reinforcing mesh in inguinal hernia repair.

Back in the early 70’s a few of us here at PSU got a great idea.  We decided we’d celebrate Groundhog Day with a party and a trip to Punxsutawney.  Feb 2nd fell on a Friday that year (which with a little quick internet research tells me that the year was 1973).  About 30 of us signed on.  One of the guys was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and he arranged for the use of the fraternity party room.  We also chartered a bus from the local bus company. 

One keg rental and we were good to go.  The party started about midnight and went until about 3:30 AM when the bus showed up.  We all piled onto the bus, dragging the keg with us and headed to Gobbler’s Knob.

Punxsy is about 80 miles from PSU but in those days it was all back roads and probably well over a two hour trip. Lo and behold disaster hit us about 45 minutes out when our bus broke down. We had to wait almost an hour before a backup bus was located to fill in for the disabled one (rounding up a bus and driver at 4:30 in the morning evidently isn’t the easiest thing to do). With that delay we knew it was going to be a close call as to whether we would make Phil’s appearance or not.

Sure enough we got to the Knob just in time to see everyone come pouring down the hill. Amazing no one seemed to mind (probably a result of the alcohol). On to phase three of the escapade – the Punxsutawney Country Club where we had reservations for the annual Groundhog Day Breakfast and where we got to meet the Groundhog Day Queen. We were treated like royalty by all the Punxsy folk – this was well before the movie and before it became a really huge deal to head to Punxsy – they thought it was great that a group would come all the way from State College.

Despite the amount of alcohol that we all had consumed, we were all on our best behavior and there were no incidents (I honestly don’t think we could do the same in this day and age – not to sound like an old fogey but every weekend here I see kids that just don’t know how to handle their alcohol). However, by 10:00 am or so, we were all pretty much exhausted. Word came that it was time to go and we all piled back onto the bus.

The ride back to State College was pretty quiet as the whole crowd tried to grab some shut eye. We pulled into State College and exited the bus in front of the fraternity house. I was at the back of the bus and was the last one off. Waiting at the bottom of the bus steps was my friend Chuck Gambone, who was basically the driving force behind the whole trip (Chuck was in grad school but worked part time for a travel agency during football bowl season so he knew all the ins and outs of making the trip arrangements).

Chuck’s first words to me were “Where’s GW?” (GW was Chuck’s roommate). I looked at him inquisitively. He repeated “GW. Wasn’t he in the back with you?” “Nope” was my answer. A little bit of panic spread across Chuck’s face at that moment as he realized that he had left his roommie in Punxsy.

We later found out that GW had gone to the bathroom just as we all piled onto the bus. When he came out he initially thought that we had just pulled the bus away for a bit to pull a joke on him. It wasn’t until 10-15 minutes passed that he realized that we really had left him behind. There weren’t any cell phones in those days so he had no way of alerting us to the problem.

Chuck was really upset but didn’t really know what to do. He figured he’d better hurry home guessing that GW would probably be calling often. Chuck raced home, walked into the apartment and was promptly greeted in a not so friendly manner by GW who was already home.

Fortunately for GW, his new Punxsy friends had taken good care of him. As soon as they realized that he’d been left behind they took him over to a table where the local Punxsy morning radio personality was doing his show. The host relayed the story about GW being stranded and asked his listeners if anyone was headed to State College that day. Within minutes someone had called in and offered GW a ride to SC. He actually wound up beating the bus home.

Chuck still lives in State College and whenever I run into him around this time of year, we have a good left about the failed Punxsy trip.

I use my lawn tractor to mulch leaves in the fall. This year Lex did most of it. Even tho he can’t yet reach the pedals, by using cruise control he’s able to cover almost all of the yard.