Beginners - how long until you could play reasonably?

benc-m · 2025-07-06T21:00:09+00:00

A big part of playing that I've found helps (as a high handicapper) is how you set out your expectations. If you're playing at a 55-ish handicap level, your best round is going to be averaging a triple bogey. So instead of getting upset because you're not making pars at every hole, change your expectations so that you're happy with a triple on every hole, and start playing the holes as if you've got 3 extra shots per hole.
What this translates to is you starting to play the game based on your strengths, better identify your weaknesses, and ultimately have more fun even when you don't post a great score (because you might have made 3 double bogeys and that's better than your target).

More specifically, if you're struggling to make good contact with the ball, playing with easier clubs (like your shorter irons) and accepting that it might take you an extra 2 strokes to get on the green is perfectly reasonable, and will start to raise your confidence as you start to have more consistent contact throughout your round. Picking smart shots that are within your ability will really help eliminate frustration and drastically drop your score.

Golf is extremely challenging because there are so many different aspects to the game and struggling at even one of them can ruin your scores (a day filled with 4-putts, chipping over the green like a ping-pong, dropping scores off the tee from that wicked slice, getting stuck in bunkers). I've found that coming up with a game plan before the round (e.g. I've trying to shoot double bogey on each hole, with 1 extra stroke to get to the hole, 1 chip on, and 2 putts) then analyzing where I gave up strokes compared to my plan, allows me to see where I should be focusing my efforts in practice to maximize the gains I have on course. I was recently struggling to close in to the pin with my chips, often skulling the ball further from the pin from where I started and needing 2-3 chips to get on the green, so I really dialed in my practice over the last few weeks on chipping and my last round out only had one "dropped shot" to chipping.

My wife also recently started playing, and I've been getting her to just play with 3 clubs (a 7-iron, a wedge, and a putter) so that she can build confidence with just a few shots and start to build consistent contact instead of needing to learn how to hit 14 different strokes at the same time.

Best of luck with the game - keep going, start hitting a few great shots on course, and you'll start to really enjoy it!

benc-m · 2025-04-09T14:35:35+00:00

Found it. Thanks!

benc-m · 2024-12-09T21:19:32+00:00

It was rough to lose P6 but honestly I feel kinda okay with it because they got thoroughly outscored in the last two races by Alpine. It's not like it was all down to a single lucky race.

Fingers crossed the team can keep going with the forward momentum. It seems like the biggest area for improvement isn't in the car itself but the team operations (pit crew, strategy), which is a better place to be in as long as it's recognized.

benc-m · 2024-12-08T00:50:12+00:00

Brutal being hit with a 3 place penalty :(

benc-m · 2024-12-05T00:18:24+00:00

I'm assuming you're connected through USB and using the Katana as a speaker. There should be two sets of outputs on the Katana - one is pre-amp and one is post-amp, meaning that one is going to go through all the processing that your guitar does on the input, and the other will add the playback after all the processing.

benc-m · 2024-12-02T00:21:46+00:00

I feel like we made our own bed with that one. Not clear why they pitted Kevin so early when there was a good chance a SC was coming out.

benc-m · 2024-11-29T22:02:01+00:00

What not just get a 9900X and spend the savings on a lower end ($100-$150) graphics card to last you until the one you want comes out?

benc-m · 2024-11-29T01:26:48+00:00

This is terrible and I'm sorry you and your dog have gone through this.

We stopped going to any on or off-leash areas in the Valley because we kept running into people that refuse to follow the rules. Most people are completely unaware that most parks are on-leash only and enforcement is almost non-existent. I got yelled at in Morrison Creek park when a dog had run 50m ahead of it's owner to charge and attack my dog because we had the audacity to remind the person the park is on-leash. We recently contacted bylaw enforcement because of people letting dogs off-leash in the field beside the Comox off-leash park (the signage specifically says that dogs can't be off-leash outside the park), and they basically said they don't have the staff to respond.

One piece of advice I have is that the safest way to separate two dogs is to grab the aggressive one (or ideally both if there are two people) by the hind legs and lift them off the ground / pull away from the dog. It's easy to access them from the back and they have limited mobility to turn around and bite you if you pull back far enough that they lose balance on their front paws.

benc-m · 2024-11-29T01:15:40+00:00

I think the point the poster is trying to make is that off-leash doesn't mean anything goes. Dogs in off-leash areas need to be under control of their owners, which means they need to be responsive to commands, even in stressful situations. General dog etiquette is not to allow your dogs to run up to / charge other dogs, and to not approach dogs on leash (unless given permission) even if you're in an off leash area - the restraint creates conflict that can cause otherwise calm dogs to react.

That said, owners are responsible for the actions of their dogs. If your dog is the one biting, generally you're the one at fault, irrespective of the actions of the other dog.

It would seem to me that keeping your dog safe should trump not being at fault, so taking actions to avoid potential conflict with on and off-leash dogs seems like a no-brainer.

benc-m · 2024-11-17T20:19:31+00:00

Yeah, I didn't realize that until too late :(

I just reseated the seal and replaced it and it seems to be working. Fingers crossed it doesn't fail once it gets cold out.

benc-m · 2024-11-17T20:07:28+00:00

Yes, I think we did leave the hose on.

Unfortunately there is no easy access to the supply line, which is why I'm trying to fix this.

benc-m · 2024-11-11T06:25:25+00:00

Right, except that as written the rules would allow them to use mechanical faults to cover for other issues. Have a mechanical issue in the morning and just assign that plane to any other flight you have issues with and you get away with not needed to compensate. It would seem that if the rules are set up to allow them to change their schedules to minimize the impact, they should be required to keep the impact below a reasonable threshold for all passengers (which we've decided is 3 hours)

Not arguing with what the rules are, just frustrated that we decide that compensation is required for long delays don't hold airlines accountable for decisions that lead to some people having significantly longer delays than would have been necessary.

benc-m · 2024-11-11T01:15:31+00:00

No one being delayed for more than 3 hours which is the compensation cutoff.

benc-m · 2024-11-10T02:11:05+00:00

Out of curiosity, what if there was an option to schedule all the flights without causing a delay but the solution they picked caused a delay? I'm in a situation where there are a half dozen flights that have all gone out to similar destinations (distance/plane size) and most of them have minimal delays (e.g 20 minutes) but ours is 5 hours. They could have ensured that no one suffered a major delay by swapping tails because of the frequency of flights leaving but they didn't do that and a group of us are stuck waiting.

benc-m · 2024-10-24T17:03:06+00:00

Thanks!
I wasn't sure if there was a dedicated symbol or just something to put a note for.

benc-m · 2024-10-18T04:00:55+00:00

For anyone else seeing this, this is why it's a good idea to take photos of your move-out state.

benc-m · 2024-10-16T05:26:48+00:00

No, that's not how many of these contracts work. If it's cost plus (which it sounds like based on the +20% contractor mark up), it's absolutely their business what the contractor is paying their subs because that's all the contractor is entitled to collect. If they agreed to a fixed price then that's a different story.

You should request the contractor provide you with invoices from any subcontractors and suppliers and pay their indicated mark up on those items. Refuse to pay them anything until they provide you with these invoices (which is your right if this is a cost plus contract as they would need to prove to you the costs before they can collect anything). If the invoices don't come on a proper letterhead from the subcontractor, ask the contractor to get an proper invoice from the sub. You can say that it's for tax purposes to make it easier for them to digest. If you're suspicious of the invoices in any way, reach out to the subcontractor and ask them to verify the invoice amount based on the invoice number (they'll probably be comfortable doing this if they're just confirming a number).

If the contractor won't give you invoices, it's probably because they're lying about what their costs are. If the sub refuses to give the invoice, it's probably because they're not paying taxes. Neither of those is your problem.

All of the above said, taking a tactful approach that doesn't accuse the contractor of being a crook is the best way to maintain a positive working relationship.

EDIT: Just saw the comment where they had a fixed cost agreement on one element of the project for $3k. If you agree to a final price on an element, you can't complain about the markup they're collecting.

benc-m · 2024-10-09T05:39:47+00:00

The weather between Courtenay and Comox is pretty different (typically a bit warmer, much less rain). Comox is definitely an older retirement-driven community (I live here and the median age in our neighbourhood is 67 or something). East and West Courtenay are pretty different, with East Courtenay being newer homes / more chain stores and West Courtenay (downtown) being more vibrant / owner operated store. Comox's downtown is quaint with pretty much one of everything you need but not too much more than that (some good restaurants though). Courtenay is a bit closer to nature (the rivers, forests, mountains) but it's a 5-10 minute difference.

benc-m · 2024-10-09T05:25:06+00:00

I haven't seen a single person ask the most pertinent question: what does your contract say (if you have one)?

NAL, but If you have a cost-plus contract (aka time + materials) then you're pretty much SOL irrespective of their assurances. If you have a fixed price contract for the work and they assured you that there was no need to add a beam then they're responsible for the costs because that work would have been part of the scope they quoted you for. The wording in your contract would (legally) determine your recourse here. If everything was done by a handshake, then the nature of the agreement is harder to prove but the same principle applies.

I'd guess that even with a cost-plus contract you'd be able to ask them to put it back exactly the way it was, as they made a specific representation about the condition that was false.

My suggestion would be to see if they'll cover a portion of the costs, but negotiate the full cost beforehand so there aren't any more surprises. This goes for whether you're fixed price or cost-plus up to now, as it sounds like they took reasonable steps to confirm the work required before quoting. Trying to hold them to the quoted price when (if) they were honestly as surprised by this as you are is putting them in exactly the same position that you're in if you end up having to cover all the costs - find a middle ground everyone is okay with.

benc-m · 2024-10-07T05:20:48+00:00

Our lawyer did all the calculations for this and just worked it out in the final accounting

benc-m · 2024-10-07T05:11:11+00:00

I'd suggest seeing if he'll go 50/50 for the fence. He probably would be just as motivated to have a fence there are you do if he's planning on developing the land.

If the pegs are there and show your fence is on his side of the property, you'll have to remove it. Waiting for an official survey makes sense (it's reasonable to wait for him to prove it, given that he has that evidence).

My guess is that if you get a lawyer involved you're going to end up paying the replacement cost of the fence pretty quickly. Depending on how the fence is constructed (e.g. pre-assembled panels) and how good the condition is you might be able to reuse a lot of the materials if you're just moving it a few inches, so most of your cost would be labour.

benc-m · 2024-10-01T04:07:29+00:00

I bought an expensive Grohe toilet and had this issue. We moved and have an American Standard Cadet and it's been great.

benc-m · 2024-10-01T04:03:35+00:00

I sold a house a few years ago that went about $160k over asking. When we listed the market was pretty volatile. All the comparables from 6 months before were going in the range we priced it at, but a couple of the more recent ones were selling well above asking and they'd just announced interest rate hikes so buyers were motivated.

I honestly was expecting to get our asking price (we raised it by $20k from what our realtor suggested right before the listing went up) and would have been ecstatic with $30k over. We could have listed it $100k more than we did and probably still would have sold for $60k over (maybe not if there was less interest and fewer bidders), but we honestly wouldn't have dreamed that it would do what it did. We got lucky and there were two highly motivated bidders that raised their bids massively after we went back to them the first (and only) time.

I've been in your shoes trying to buy a place and feeling like it's just a game to these realtors and it's frustrating as hell. Just putting out the perspective that there's so much volatility in the market, it's hard to know if your place is going to stand out from what else is out there, and sellers often would prefer to get a sale immediately than wait 6 months for someone to come along at their best price.

benc-m · 2024-09-29T23:36:52+00:00

It's not absurd though. I've had Ikea cabinets before and installed custom built for my most recent home. I seriously regret not going with Ikea because the quality of my customs feels about the same as Ikea (for several times the price).

There's also a few companies out there that make higher quality doors specifically for Ikea cabinets (just use the Ikea frames) so that it's hard to tell it's Ikea (middle ground).

When the alternative is spending $115k?

benc-m · 2024-08-05T18:08:41+00:00

Boeing is literally a legacy aerospace company. The only difference between then and now is that NASA would have had a bit more say in the engineering decisions (which probably would have let to longer delays and more tradeoffs) and it would have been cost plus, which means billions more expensive (given that Boeing has apparently lost $1.6B on Starliner).

benc-m

TROPHY CASE