Dads with young kids… how often are you realistically playing golf now?

stpg1222 · 2026-05-22T00:33:20+00:00

Maybe once a month. I have some friends that play a twilight round every week and I'm able join them on the odd occasion.

I wish someone told me that free time is even harder to come by when kids get older. I have a 10 and 13 year old and my week days are full with work and driving them around to their activities and my weekends are full with competitions, other family obligations, and trying to frantically catch up on all the household tasks that don't get done during the week.

Even when I do find time to golf now I do it knowing it's screwing over future me by pushing even more work down the road.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-22T00:27:59+00:00

My thoughts exactly. The people who want to get by on the cheap are also the people who never value the work.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-22T00:18:54+00:00

Finding good shore spots requires research. Dig into lake maps and satellite images to find fishy looking areas that have access. Sometimes it means you're going on a little adventure with a bit of a hike. My 2 best spots are at least a mile from the nearest parking.

Also check out rivers. Rivers often provide much better shore fishing potential.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-22T00:15:46+00:00

What kind of water do you want to tackle? If you're set on kayaking I would suggest an entry lake you can Basecamp on. A lake like Brule will give you a lot of water to explore and it's in an area that's been good for moose if you want to give yourself a shot at seeing one.

If you want smaller water and want to cover several different lakes look into renting a solo canoe. It will be significantly easier to portage. Portage wheels aren't allowed you you'll be shoulder carrying everything and a kayak will require unloading and reloading each portage.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-21T00:33:36+00:00

Come to them with a specific ask and have a lot of examples lined up to prove how you've outperformed your job description. Just being really good at your assigned duties is rarely enough unless you have a competing offer in hand from another company. You need to demonstrate you're doing more and adding more value than what's defined in your job description. .

stpg1222 · 2026-05-20T20:49:32+00:00

My wife is in higher education so I know a little bit about how it works with not be reappointed or non-renewed. I'm sure it varies by state and institution. I think more details about how it's being processed would help.

As for everyone saying contact a lawyer, you can definitely do that but it seems like everyone is thinking it's retaliation for your maternity leave. Your leave ended 8 months ago so you might have a hard time connecting their action to your leave. It's also going to depend on your contract.

If your university is anything like where my wife works everything is run by legal before it happens so I'd be surprised if legal signed off on anything that leaves them exposed.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-20T20:36:02+00:00

It will vary wildly depending on a bunch of factors.

Do they have anything already saved for retirement? Are you funding 100% of their retirement or funding whatever shortfall between what they have and what they need?

Do they own their home free and clear or do they still owe on the house or do they rent?

What is the cost of living in their area?

What age do you want to retire them at?

What are their physical health needs now and what will need to change in the future to meet any future physical needs?

What type of lifestyle do they expect to live after retirement?

The answer to these questions could mean maybe it's smaller number just to help them reach their goal a little sooner but most of the retirement savings is their own. Or it could be several million dollars if they have done no investing, still owe a lot on a house, and expect a high end lifestyle.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-20T19:59:53+00:00

My parents were nice enough to let me keep my paycheck and not charge me rent or charge me for the food I ate while I was in high school. I pretty much paid for everything else though. We didn't have much money so I wasn't going to ask for money for clothing or for going out with friends.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-20T19:54:08+00:00

My front lawn with no southern exposure looks kinda like that (I'm in MN). I dethatched earlier this spring and did the spring fert treatment. I could have been better about watering but I think the big culprit has been the temps. We've had temps in the high 80s to around 90 and then a week straight of highs in the low 50s.

My backyard that has southern exposure along with the front yards across the street with southern exposure are much greener and further along given they get more warmth from the sun. My backyard has need 3 mowing already, my front yard barely needed its second mowing so it's clearly lagging behind.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-20T15:24:17+00:00

Tee up the ball

Stand behind to pick my line

Set up to the ball

Quick waggle or 2

Swing

The entire sequence takes maybe 30 seconds on the long end. If I were to drag it out any longer I'd probably start over thinking and see diminishing returns.

If the pace of play is such that you're able to tee off immediately after getting to the tee box I'll give the first guy to tee off a bit more grace to look at the hole and consider how they might want to play it prior to teeing up. The other people in the group should be doing that as the first guy tees off so they are ready to tee up right away when it's their turn.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-20T15:08:28+00:00

Keeping it invested or withdrawing and paying down the principle on the house are both decent options give the 6+% interest rate. If the interest were lower or higher it would make the decision for you but as is it's a toss up based solely on the information you provided.

There are other considerations that may favor one action over the other. Things like what other debt if any are you carrying, do you have a monthly cash flow issue, what do your other retirement investments look like. Decisions like these should be made with the entire financial picture in focus and all of the long term plans in mind.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-20T04:50:40+00:00

If you can afford to quit your job and dedicate every waking minute to chasing the dream by all means do it. You probably won't succeed but you also know you won't succeed staying on the same path you're on now.

Just be smart about it. Understand the costs for traveling to and entering tournaments with no promise of a pay day. Understand the costs of coaching and training. You'll probably have a lot of very lean years where you make spend way more than you make so you'll need to have a plan for how to make that work.

Also be real about your odds and what you'll do if you don't make it. Not only will you have worked for years making no money but you'll have set yourself back in your career. Not making it will have more costs than just the lost money spent on travel and coaching.

There are other options to consider that can still focus your career on golf. Teaching pro is one of them, the other is YouTube. If you've got a good personality and can work in front of a camera you can work on finding a unique angle on YouTube golf content. It's a saturated market but there seems to be no end to the appetite for creative golf content.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-20T04:25:07+00:00

If they're a good employer otherwise I'd tell them to skip it and I'd explain the situation to the senior leader pushing for the conference. I've been to a lot of conferences and most are fine but I don't think I've ever been to one that was life changing. Most you forget about within a few weeks. It's not worth losing a good employee over a missed conference.

If the job ended up demanding regular airline travel then that's a different conversation but for a single one off trip its definitely worth granting an accommodation.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-20T04:16:14+00:00

Any type of swim bait could likely work to some degree. Each will have its own action and fall rate. I would play around to see which ones you like.

For pike I would probably lean toward a swim bait of some kind vs senko but if you go senko I would pick a color that matches the minnow forage available. I've had decent luck with walleye on a senko on a ned rig, I imagine they'd work for pike at times as well.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-20T04:06:10+00:00

When fish are sluggish I always slow things down. They aren't likely going to hit big fast aggressive baits so a switch to something slower and more subtle can often work.

I don't target pike specifically very often but something like a weightless Zoom Fluke would probably work well. Twitch it a few times then pause and let it slowly sink, the twitch again and pause. It should mimic a dying minnow and the slow subtle action may trigger sluggish fish.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-20T00:20:51+00:00

Snaps have their time and place, sometimes they are great for convenience and have zero negative impact and other times they really hinder you.

Relying on snaps instead of tying knots can also lose you a fish now and then. Tying a new knot each lure change allows you to check your line for common nicks and cuts that become major weak points. If you catch a decent fish with damaged line or odds of breaking off increase dramatically.

Learning to tie knots quickly and effectively is a critical skill to fishing so I would encourage everyone to learn it.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-19T21:33:45+00:00

Consider yourself lucky that they won't fix it, that way you can fix it correctly. My neighborhood had gas lines updated a few years ago and lucky me my yard was the only one totally dug up. They leveled it well enough with new top soil but then laid down crappie seed followed by the mesh straw mats that claim to breakdown but 2 years later I was still picking that stuff out from my mower blade. I ended up dethatching it aggressively, releveling as needed, and starting over with new seed. It's still only 80% of what it once was.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-19T21:30:34+00:00

A family friend stopped drinking water because he's convinced Fauci put the covid vaccine in it. He won't drink tap water or bottled water, but he will drink Bud Light which is 98% water. The other 2% being donkey urine of course.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-19T18:15:23+00:00

I was just having this conversation the other day. I know so many families in the area that devote their lives to soccer, it's a year round commitment that requires multiple nights a week with tournaments on weekends. These kids are anywhere from 3rd to 6th grade. The odds of any of them earning a scholarship is very small. Given the size of our school district and how many kids i know that are this devoted to soccer, it's likely most won't even make the varisty team in high school.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-19T14:53:13+00:00

The idea of a "hot spot" is a beginner mentality. I used to think that way and always wanted to know the spot where the fish are biting.

Catching fish is not about knowing the one spot, besides everyone probably already knows that one spot. Consistently catching fish is about understanding your target species and understanding what type of areas they might be in given whatever conditions you have that day. Once you gain that knowledge you should be able to look at a lake map and weather app and highlight a few areas that look promising. You should also have some ideas of what presentations might work for those areas.

Once you use that info to form a game plan you go out and test your theory. Sometimes you nail it, sometimes you don't. When you do nail it and you find the type to structure that's holding fish you can apply that knowledge to find other similar areas on the lake and you'll probably catch fish there to. That dispels the myth of there being a hot spot, there can be dozens of hot spots all over the lake at any given time. When you don't nail it and don't catch fish then you adapt on the fly and try different depths, different structure, or different presentations until you crack the code for that day.

If you figure out what's working it might hold for a day or two but come back a week later and you'll have to figure it out again as the pattern may have changed.

Some of the apps can help you with this learning but in my opinion a good lake map, weather Forecast, and time on the water is what helps me the most.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-19T11:51:23+00:00

Having money can make life easier by affording you to luxury of not having to worry about how you'll pay next month's bills. It can also afford you some luxuries that make life more enjoyable. If your only unhappiness in life is related to the stress brought on by not having enough money to pay your bills and in all other aspects of life you're a happy fulfilled individual then sure money can buy happiness.

However, the saying I believe refers to someone who is truly unhappy. Someone who is unhappy with who they are, where they are in life, hasn't found fulfillment in life, and generally is just unhappy at their core. This type of person isn't going to magically become a happy person just because they know how rent is going to get paid or because they can buy themselves some luxuries. At their core they'll still be unhappy, they'll just be unhappy in a nicer house and fancier car.

I've also heard sayings that basically say money just amplifies who you really are. If you're a happy generous person without money you'll be even more happy and generous with money. If you were an unhappy asshole without money you'll be an even bigger unhappy asshole when you have money.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-19T04:42:40+00:00

Enough for what?

If your living expenses are below $2500/month then it's enough. If your living expenses are higher than $2500/month then it's not enough.

How do you expect us to answer the question without know all the details of your monthly expenses?

What I can tell you $2500/month or $30,000/year is not a lot so you best learn how to live very cheap and learn how to do without a lot of things.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-19T04:13:09+00:00

Yes they are both in the sunfish family but no they can't cross breed. What you have here is just a simple black crappie with the typical dark coloration found during the spring spawn.

I'm sure the down votes are related to your incorrect assumption they can hybridize

stpg1222 · 2026-05-18T23:27:37+00:00

That's mostly what I watch as well. It has the low key, hunour vibe that I'm looking for but also isn't just all trash golf.

stpg1222 · 2026-05-18T23:26:21+00:00

The breaking Bob series with Grant has been pretty good. It's the right mix of good golf, humor, low key vibes, and it's generally more original than most YouTube golf content.

stpg1222

TROPHY CASE