I attended another Iowa State Fair this year. It’s only a small exaggeration to say every time I go, my dozen or so hours there are segmented into roughly 30 minutes each, during which I visit the same exhibits and venues that I do every year.
However, I do try to take in something different every year (besides new fair food). Last year, it was arm wrestling.
This year’s new thing was spending about an hour watching horseshoe pitching. Not just any horseshoe pitching, mind you, but the Iowa State Fair Women’s Horseshoe Pitching Championship.
After acquainting myself with the scoring (3 points for a ringer, 1 point for being within six inches – you’ve heard the phrase about close only counting in horseshoes, right?), I settled in to watch a few simultaneous matches. And then it hit me.
Horseshoes is the more rudimentary ancestor to today’s popular ‘bags’ game that so many can be found playing at picnics, or tailgating events. Other people probably figured that out a long time ago, but only now did I gain enough insight to make the connection.
You stand about equally as far away from the target. You throw two shoes (bags), and the other person throws two, with more points for shoes around the ringer (bags in the hole). Missing the target, but still being close, may get you points. Winner is the first to a certain number of points.
The only real difference in the two games, other than the horseshoe pit being dirtier, is that horseshoe pitchers are better athletes. I’m serious. It takes almost no effort to toss a lightweight beanbag, but it takes a measure of strength and effort to toss metal horseshoes for a while. It’s more like bowling, in that regard.
Except close doesn’t count in bowling.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
RAGBRAI - 2017 Edition
I came out of my self-imposed retirement from the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) again this year. (Last time!?) In the first two days, it went through both my hometown and my spouse's hometown in NW Iowa, so I had to ride those. Here are this year's observations:
* While the overnight towns seem to have plenty of portable toilets for the 20,000 or so visiting cyclists, the pass-through (no pun intended) towns didn't have one-tenth the amount they really needed. I mean, when you have 20,000 extra people in your little town, even if it's only for an hour or two, you should have more than 20 (one-tenth of one percent) portable toilets. What the hell RAGBRAI, didn't you warn them this year? Maybe it's a sign of me getting older, but I've never had to rely on cornfields so much before.
* I found a non-profit stand selling pineapple pie! But they were sold out -- at 8:30 in the morning! Overall, however, I felt there was more pie available this year than on any RAGBRAI in recent memory. Full disclosure: I had three slices of apple.
* For the third time in my RAGBRAI journeys, I rode the century (100 mile) loop that was optional this year on day two. Each time was an accomplishment, but each time came with the same downside: You don't have as much fun on the ride. Not only do you have an extra 30 miles or so to power through, but there aren't any good vendor or farmyard stops available during that time. You don't stop as often, and when you do, you don't stop for as long.
* Best stop this year was a dill pickle stand that also happened to have people protesting against NW Iowa congressman and WOITH, Steve King. I ended up wearing a sticker the rest of the day that said, "Dear America, Sorry About Steve King. Sincerely, Iowa." Got great comments on it throughout the day, too.
* Demographically speaking, while RAGBRAI clearly has more men on it than women, I thought there were more women than in the past. Also, there were many, many more overweight riders than I can remember -- no way some of them were riding the entire week, if the entire day. At the same time, the median age of all riders continues to climb.
* Still not enough service for cell phones! Getting a data connection was harder than ever, and impossible where cyclists were aggregated. This is 2017, people, it shouldn't be this difficult.
* Best jersey I saw this year was on the back of a t-shirt: Beer....the reason I get up every afternoon!
* While the overnight towns seem to have plenty of portable toilets for the 20,000 or so visiting cyclists, the pass-through (no pun intended) towns didn't have one-tenth the amount they really needed. I mean, when you have 20,000 extra people in your little town, even if it's only for an hour or two, you should have more than 20 (one-tenth of one percent) portable toilets. What the hell RAGBRAI, didn't you warn them this year? Maybe it's a sign of me getting older, but I've never had to rely on cornfields so much before.
* I found a non-profit stand selling pineapple pie! But they were sold out -- at 8:30 in the morning! Overall, however, I felt there was more pie available this year than on any RAGBRAI in recent memory. Full disclosure: I had three slices of apple.
* For the third time in my RAGBRAI journeys, I rode the century (100 mile) loop that was optional this year on day two. Each time was an accomplishment, but each time came with the same downside: You don't have as much fun on the ride. Not only do you have an extra 30 miles or so to power through, but there aren't any good vendor or farmyard stops available during that time. You don't stop as often, and when you do, you don't stop for as long.
* Best stop this year was a dill pickle stand that also happened to have people protesting against NW Iowa congressman and WOITH, Steve King. I ended up wearing a sticker the rest of the day that said, "Dear America, Sorry About Steve King. Sincerely, Iowa." Got great comments on it throughout the day, too.
* Demographically speaking, while RAGBRAI clearly has more men on it than women, I thought there were more women than in the past. Also, there were many, many more overweight riders than I can remember -- no way some of them were riding the entire week, if the entire day. At the same time, the median age of all riders continues to climb.
* Still not enough service for cell phones! Getting a data connection was harder than ever, and impossible where cyclists were aggregated. This is 2017, people, it shouldn't be this difficult.
* Best jersey I saw this year was on the back of a t-shirt: Beer....the reason I get up every afternoon!
Friday, July 21, 2017
Golf Outing Etiquette
This week I played in a 4-person scramble golf outing. I only do this 2-3 times a summer, usually for charity. Some outings are have more perks, some are more organized than others, some use nicer golf courses, some have better food – it runs the gamut, and I’m typically satisfied that my time is well spent.
Unfortunately, this week’s outing had one big downside – I had a dipshit playing in our group. He wasn’t unfriendly; he simply had no self-awareness, no clue about golf, nor any clue about golf etiquette.
There are almost too many examples of his dipshit-ness, but it ranged from running out of golf balls early in the round, to playing half of the round in bare feet. And this may go without saying, but he was a terrible, terrible golfer.
None of that would have mattered if he’d been the least bit self-deprecating. I’ve played with plenty of terrible golfers in my day, but it’s still been enjoyable. Most just try to make the best of it, chat you up, limit their embarrassment, and play quickly. Not this guy.
Even though he never hit the ball more than 100 yards all day (and most of those shots were chunks that went straight to the right or left), late in the round he was still asking about whether he should aim for that tree….the one, you know, 300 yards in the distance.
The bottom line on this is, if you only play golf once or twice a year, you should not be playing in a golf outing. But if you are absolutely obligated to play, here are the rules you must follow:
Above all remember that you can just politely decline if invited to a golf outing. Or make up an excuse for being unable to attend, whatever it takes. Do it for yourself, and every other golfer.
Unfortunately, this week’s outing had one big downside – I had a dipshit playing in our group. He wasn’t unfriendly; he simply had no self-awareness, no clue about golf, nor any clue about golf etiquette.
There are almost too many examples of his dipshit-ness, but it ranged from running out of golf balls early in the round, to playing half of the round in bare feet. And this may go without saying, but he was a terrible, terrible golfer.
None of that would have mattered if he’d been the least bit self-deprecating. I’ve played with plenty of terrible golfers in my day, but it’s still been enjoyable. Most just try to make the best of it, chat you up, limit their embarrassment, and play quickly. Not this guy.
Even though he never hit the ball more than 100 yards all day (and most of those shots were chunks that went straight to the right or left), late in the round he was still asking about whether he should aim for that tree….the one, you know, 300 yards in the distance.
The bottom line on this is, if you only play golf once or twice a year, you should not be playing in a golf outing. But if you are absolutely obligated to play, here are the rules you must follow:
- Lower the group’s expectations when introduced to them. Just acknowledge you don’t golf much. Any decent golfer can tell how good you are by just watching a few of your swings, and/or by the equipment you’re using. (In other words, we know by the second hole how painful this will be for everyone.)
- Be friendly and jovial.
- Know golf etiquette. This includes what you wear (collared shirt and shoes are a must), and what you do on the course. You can read up about this etiquette thing, you don’t even have to be a golfer.
- Don’t make excuses all day.
- Play first and play fast. If you suck at golf, get your shot out of the way and step aside. Who knows, you might actually hit a putt that others in the group can use as a read to make their own.
Above all remember that you can just politely decline if invited to a golf outing. Or make up an excuse for being unable to attend, whatever it takes. Do it for yourself, and every other golfer.
Monday, July 3, 2017
Thinking, Fast And Slow
For the past month or so, I've been concentrating on reading books and articles broadly related to behavioral science. More specifically, I'm interested in how and why people make the decisions they do, with a concentration on macro-economics and finance.
This is a field I've been interested in for some time. Over the years, I can think of several books I've read that are generally related to behavioral science. These include the Freakonomics trilogy of books: Freakonomics, Superfreakonomics, and Think Like A Freak, by economists Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. (In the past year I've also become a regular listener to the Freakonomics podcast, which has kept me interested during thousands of miles of travel.)
I'd also include the books The Tipping Point and Blink by Malcolm Gladwell in that list. Those books are more about social science, but they provide real insight about way people behave the way they do.
The most recent book I've read is called Thinking, Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman, who previously won a Nobel Prize in Economics. I thought the book would be good, but it was better than good. It was a tour-de-force about how our brain works, and the many biases that affect it.
How the brain works is basically a matter of two 'systems' that Kahneman called System 1 (instinctive and emotional) and System 2 (deliberative and logical). But after a few chapters about the science of that, the rest of the book focuses on psychological aspects of thinking -- the cognitive biases. These include terms / effects like loss aversion, framing, anchoring, overconfidence, and sunk-cost theory.
Once you read about what these biases are and how they affect thinking, it becomes clear how economic / financial decisions (or are they gambles?) are made and why. This is a good thing to know for me, both personally and professionally.
Thinking, Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Read it. Or don't, then I'll use it to my advantage.
The most recent book I've read is called Thinking, Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman, who previously won a Nobel Prize in Economics. I thought the book would be good, but it was better than good. It was a tour-de-force about how our brain works, and the many biases that affect it.
How the brain works is basically a matter of two 'systems' that Kahneman called System 1 (instinctive and emotional) and System 2 (deliberative and logical). But after a few chapters about the science of that, the rest of the book focuses on psychological aspects of thinking -- the cognitive biases. These include terms / effects like loss aversion, framing, anchoring, overconfidence, and sunk-cost theory.
Once you read about what these biases are and how they affect thinking, it becomes clear how economic / financial decisions (or are they gambles?) are made and why. This is a good thing to know for me, both personally and professionally.
Thinking, Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Read it. Or don't, then I'll use it to my advantage.
Friday, June 16, 2017
Just Name Three
Last year on election day, I wrote about my disgust for bandwagon-ing fans, and, for that matter, bandwagon-ing voters. Today I'm going to write about a larger offshoot of bandwagon-ers, which essentially includes the bandwagon-ers plus the 'fear of missing out' (FOMO) folks.
To identify, these are people who spend money, sometimes hefty amounts, to attend events for which they have little or no passion. They go solely because they know other people are going. You see this all of the time with both sporting and music events.
An example: Last week, I attended a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert. The following day at lunch, I overhead a 30-something year-old woman talking to others about it. She admitted she didn't really know any of his music, but tagged along with friends anyway. This way she could say she was there, not to mention she could party / drink beer.
Who knows, maybe she didn't have to pay between $60 - $100 to go to the concert like the rest of us. But probably she did, and regardless, she took away a ticket for a sold out show from a real fan who wanted to go.
I've called people out on this before, and when they get all defensive about it I give them a simple test. That is, for a big-time concert, can you name three songs (just titles, not even the lyrics!) by that artist? And for a sporting event, can you name three players on the team for which you're supposedly a fan?
The vast majority of those I ask cannot successfully answer. If you can't do that, you aren't a fan, and definitely not a passionate one.
However, that isn't going to stop them from paying big bucks to take a seat that a true fan would love to have. (By and large, the artist or athlete would love for the true fan to have that seat as well.) But never mind all that. What's important is being seen as a cool person partying with others at a big event. And of course, posting their fake superfan-dom on social media.
I suppose it's really not that surprising, in the age of reality TV and social media stars. People make entire careers out of being seen at events they couldn't care less about.
The difference is, those people get paid, rather then paying for the right to do nothing more than warm a seat.
To identify, these are people who spend money, sometimes hefty amounts, to attend events for which they have little or no passion. They go solely because they know other people are going. You see this all of the time with both sporting and music events.
An example: Last week, I attended a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert. The following day at lunch, I overhead a 30-something year-old woman talking to others about it. She admitted she didn't really know any of his music, but tagged along with friends anyway. This way she could say she was there, not to mention she could party / drink beer.
Who knows, maybe she didn't have to pay between $60 - $100 to go to the concert like the rest of us. But probably she did, and regardless, she took away a ticket for a sold out show from a real fan who wanted to go.
I've called people out on this before, and when they get all defensive about it I give them a simple test. That is, for a big-time concert, can you name three songs (just titles, not even the lyrics!) by that artist? And for a sporting event, can you name three players on the team for which you're supposedly a fan?
The vast majority of those I ask cannot successfully answer. If you can't do that, you aren't a fan, and definitely not a passionate one.
However, that isn't going to stop them from paying big bucks to take a seat that a true fan would love to have. (By and large, the artist or athlete would love for the true fan to have that seat as well.) But never mind all that. What's important is being seen as a cool person partying with others at a big event. And of course, posting their fake superfan-dom on social media.
I suppose it's really not that surprising, in the age of reality TV and social media stars. People make entire careers out of being seen at events they couldn't care less about.
The difference is, those people get paid, rather then paying for the right to do nothing more than warm a seat.
Friday, June 2, 2017
Dear Graduating Class of 2017
It's time for another edition of giving my latest advice to graduating seniors. I'm sticking with college graduates again this year, for reasons which I outlined last year.
To the college graduates of 2017:
You're facing a tough situation. The good times are over, your future job prospects aren't great, and our nation's social and political environment has never been more toxic. Oh, and for some of you, you're student loan debt may be brutally high.
Start with this: As soon as possible, forget about your college degree. Once you have a job, your employer won't care about your grades, or where you attended school, or where you spent your summers volunteering for some social good. All your employer will care about is whether you can add more value than you cost, and if you can, they win again by looking good for hiring you. Everything else is pretend.
So forget being a college graduate..... but don't forget to live like a college student for as long as possible. There’s no need, nor should you have any expectation, to live in a nice place the first five or so years post-college. Instead, try to live like you did in college, by living sparsely with or without roommates. (So don't move into your parents basement! Did your parents live with you in college?)
And ignore any peers who you may soon start to see driving expensive cars, and purchasing nice homes. It should be obvious to a college-educated person such as yourself that they're doing this with the parents' money. Look at it this way -- if your parents are still changing your diapers at 25, that doesn't make you a success.
Last but not least, tackle this tough situation with toughness -- show some grit. Seriously. You can start by watching this brief TED Talk by a researcher named Angela Duckworth, who has spent a considerable portion of her life studying how 'grit' leads to success.
Oh, and congratulations.
To the college graduates of 2017:
You're facing a tough situation. The good times are over, your future job prospects aren't great, and our nation's social and political environment has never been more toxic. Oh, and for some of you, you're student loan debt may be brutally high.
Start with this: As soon as possible, forget about your college degree. Once you have a job, your employer won't care about your grades, or where you attended school, or where you spent your summers volunteering for some social good. All your employer will care about is whether you can add more value than you cost, and if you can, they win again by looking good for hiring you. Everything else is pretend.
So forget being a college graduate..... but don't forget to live like a college student for as long as possible. There’s no need, nor should you have any expectation, to live in a nice place the first five or so years post-college. Instead, try to live like you did in college, by living sparsely with or without roommates. (So don't move into your parents basement! Did your parents live with you in college?)
And ignore any peers who you may soon start to see driving expensive cars, and purchasing nice homes. It should be obvious to a college-educated person such as yourself that they're doing this with the parents' money. Look at it this way -- if your parents are still changing your diapers at 25, that doesn't make you a success.
Last but not least, tackle this tough situation with toughness -- show some grit. Seriously. You can start by watching this brief TED Talk by a researcher named Angela Duckworth, who has spent a considerable portion of her life studying how 'grit' leads to success.
Oh, and congratulations.
Sunday, May 21, 2017
I-80 East
I made a one-way road trip from Des Moines to Philadelphia last week. Among other things, this provided me with 1100 miles worth of observations while driving east, with all but the last 100 miles or so on Interstate 80:
* Iowa gets stereotyped for flat terrain, but across the fruited plain east of the Mississippi River, it's actually much flatter through the northern parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. I suppose this is due to the proximity of the Great Lakes, but I never hear anyone refer to Ohio being flat.
* Once you cross the state line from Ohio into Pennsylvania, it suddenly gets hilly, and you spend most of the road time crossing the Allegheny Mountains, then the Pocono Mountains. A much more scenic drive, but a much more difficult drive.
* Although I missed the toll roads in Illinois the lead to Chicago, it was all tollways through Indiana and Ohio. Why? The roads weren't any better in those states. I was particularly discouraged about this in Indiana, a not-so-populous state that can't possibly need toll/road money any more than Iowa, which has no tolls on I-80.
* Did you know that there's an RV / Motor Home Hall of Fame and Museum along I-80 in Elkhart, Indiana. Again, why? This was the most memorable, cheezy site of interest along the way.
* It's no surprise that traffic was thick near Chicago, even mid-day. But the worst of it was eastern Pennsylvania. Once you get to Allentown, it's high traffic the rest of the way, because for some reason millions of people choose to live on a tiny section of America on the northeastern seaboard.
* Thank you to Google Maps, and Waze, and any other tech app that helps people with directions and traffic. It's hard to remember how people could successfully made epic drives with only paper maps at their disposal.
* Iowa gets stereotyped for flat terrain, but across the fruited plain east of the Mississippi River, it's actually much flatter through the northern parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. I suppose this is due to the proximity of the Great Lakes, but I never hear anyone refer to Ohio being flat.
* Once you cross the state line from Ohio into Pennsylvania, it suddenly gets hilly, and you spend most of the road time crossing the Allegheny Mountains, then the Pocono Mountains. A much more scenic drive, but a much more difficult drive.
* Although I missed the toll roads in Illinois the lead to Chicago, it was all tollways through Indiana and Ohio. Why? The roads weren't any better in those states. I was particularly discouraged about this in Indiana, a not-so-populous state that can't possibly need toll/road money any more than Iowa, which has no tolls on I-80.
* Did you know that there's an RV / Motor Home Hall of Fame and Museum along I-80 in Elkhart, Indiana. Again, why? This was the most memorable, cheezy site of interest along the way.
* It's no surprise that traffic was thick near Chicago, even mid-day. But the worst of it was eastern Pennsylvania. Once you get to Allentown, it's high traffic the rest of the way, because for some reason millions of people choose to live on a tiny section of America on the northeastern seaboard.
* Thank you to Google Maps, and Waze, and any other tech app that helps people with directions and traffic. It's hard to remember how people could successfully made epic drives with only paper maps at their disposal.
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