East of Eden

Some people consider the Cayman Islands the perfect, Idyllic setting in the Caribbean, with beautiful, unspoiled white sand beaches and near-heavenly temperature year-round. Today, Grand Cayman Island caught a lucky break, as Hurricane Paloma skirted just to the East instead of hitting them with what appear to be nearly Category 2 strength winds and tides. The Caymans are so flat, they don't do well when a storm surge comes upon them, so all the residents and tourists can breath a tentative sigh of relief for now. They're getting rain and 20 mph winds, but that can happen any time between June and December. Missing a Hurricane by less than 100 miles is something to be thankful for, particularly as hard-hit as the Caymans were back in 2004 by deadly Hurricane Ivan. That storm nearly cleared the decks.

From the "Well isn't that special?" desk comes a story that Ryan and Trista, the famous Bachelor/Bachelorette couple from TV, presided over the christening of the Ruby Princess this week. Everyone was decked out in ruby-red gowns, ruby-red bow ties, and all were surrounded by ruby-red roses. Maybe I'm a bit JADED, but as of this writing the name Jade Princess or Malachite Princess might have been a bit more appropriate, given the circumstances. The people on the Inaugural cruise will be sailing directly into the outer bands of Hurricane Paloma, and I have a feeling they'll be sporting many more shades of green than flushed-ruby-red, over the next couple of days. Still, it's at least a bit of a break seeing these younger "TV stars", as opposed to Captain Steubing, Doc and Isaac (all of whom are approaching their late 120's these days).

Our new Prez, "O" (instead of "W") is laying out a case for getting the US back on its financial feet again, and not a moment too soon. We all need a break from the piles of bad economic news that have been flying around, don't we? At least there is light at the end of the tunnel now, with a new Administration of hope, and America is gaining confidence. Rightfully so, in my opinion. We'll still see job losses and other factors for a while. I'm hoping Congress looks at the kind of unsupervised chaos that led up to this, with traders and lenders not living by the same set of rules as you and I. I hope they CRIMINALIZE those kind of actions moving forward. There are a whole bunch of incredibly wealthy pups out there, who got their gold by stepping on the backs of innocent citizens with these bogus trades and "junk finances". There is still some comfort in watching evil-doers get their come-uppance here on Earth, don't you think? Maybe that's just me. Thinking like that is a sin I'm sure, but I'll take my chances.

The Associated Press is reporting that Central Illinois amateur golfer Curt Hocker, age 22, has been on a serious roll at the El Paso Golf club. In the last week, he's had 5 holes in one (including two on Saturday), making a career total of 7. Amazingly, 5 of them have come on short Par 4's where the ball just kept going and going, eventually trickling into the hole. Sounds absurd, right? Well, there have been 15 people who have witnessed these events. People began questioning if the holes on the golf course were regulation size, but that has been confirmed, and no one has a real explanation for it. He did write a check for $50,000 to someone named "Beelzebub" recently, but it may just be a coincidence.....

Kind of reminds me of a joke. And DON'T GO GETTIN' ALL UPSET HERE, this is just your basic religious-based comedic golfing moment, so save yer stinkin' hate-mail:

God asked Moses were celebrating a beautiful, bright day in Heaven, and God asked Moses if he'd like to grab his clubs, and play a quick 18-holes. Moses agreed that would be lovely, and he was even given the "honors" (hitting first). The first hole was 468-yard Par 4, with a large lake on the left that skirted the green, and a row of thick trees on the right. Moses took his time, checked the wind, slowly took his backswing, and Ka-RACK! He pounded one right down the middle, rolling well past 350 yards, in absolutely perfect position for his second shot. Not a word was said, he just smiled and walked back behind the tee. God was up next. He didn't need to check the wind (since he created it), so he just stepped right up and Ka-RANNNG! His shot was shanked way off to the right, heading straight for the top of a very thick tree. The ball lodged in some thick greenery, about 40 feet in the air. Moses snickered just a little, but he wasn't going to rub it in. Suddenly, the thick greenery at the top of the tree started rustling, and a moment later a large bird emerged, holding the golf ball in its mouth. It flew over the lake, and dropped it right in the center, Ker-PLUNNK. Moses and God made eye contact, and God just shrugged. Not 10 seconds later a fish jumped up out of the lake, with the ball in its mouth, and spit it out onto a grassy area just left of the green. A nearby squirrel ran over, picked up the ball, scampered onto the green and proceeded to drop it into the hole for an "Ace". Moses, obviously perturbed, turned to God and said "HEY -- Are you just gonna mess around like that, or are you gonna play golf?!"