Remember that Time When

I was hopeful about the 2021-2022 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team a year ago, on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. By now, the season has been over for about 2 months and attention is being directed to the 2022-2023 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team. However, before moving forward, here's a look back at what I thought a year ago: Way Too Early Optimistic Thoughts about the 2021-2022 Iowa Men's Basketball Team.

Also, question for Future Me - did I arrive at HSSB at 5 AM today and walk my up/around³ routine before beginning my Disaster Recovery and/or Knowledge Management work? Provide an answer below, please:
Yes, I did

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1. Was the 2021-2022 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team season a success or frustration? It was a season of highs and lows. The team was riding a wave. First, there was the frustrating loss at IL to end the season (a game that was within their grasp at the end of the game), followed by a series of successes. The team found a way to win 4 games in 4 days on the road to the Big 10 Championship!! Then, the team went into their first round game in the NCAA Tournament against Richmond. Iowa had a chance to win that game but, in they end, they lost and the team that I had picked to win the NCAA Championship was knocked out of the tournament - a true bracket burster! After the game, there was such compelling sadness & disappointment on the faces of Connor McCaffery & Jordan Bohannon at the post-game press conference - truly, their faces are burned in my mind and I don't think it is likely to be an image I will ever forget. Connor declared that it was the worst game they had played that season and barely could get his words out. Because of C-19 and being granted an extra year of eligibility, Connor has the option to return for the 2022-2023 season, despite going through Senior Night festivities on February 28, 2022. Doing so is why JoBo was sitting next to him. However, when he was asked about returning, it didn't sound like he would return.
   
2. Did I attend Carver-Hawkeye Arena games with either Fred (of Fred and Julie) or Brian Rock or Alex? Did I find a way to attend multiple games with all 3 of them? Did I attend any games with Jason Lest? I attended two games at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, one with "just" Brunch and one with  Brunch and Wubs.
   
3. Did I begin 6/2/2022 with my up/around³ routine before beginning my Disaster Recovery and/or Knowledge Management work? Yes, I did.
   
4. It is now 23 days (3 weeks, 2 days) until Alex and Hannah's June 25, 2022, wedding - who's ready to PARTY!! I am ready. I want to say, for the record, I believe the day will be totally awesome and exceed every expectation I could conceive in my head about their wedding day.
   

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Drumming

I must do something.

All of the following words in this post are based upon the requirement that I need to prepare for the future event of not having my son's Yamaha DTX500 set in the den. I need to do something. As with most purchases, there is a typically a choice: buy new or buy used. I will go through each of these options below. It is unacceptable to not be able to practice drums.

Currently, I am considering the Yamaha DTX950K ("Used Drums") that are for sale on the Craigslist > Iowa City > Musical Instruments for Sale page. This same ad is also available through Facebook Marketplace but it has a $2200 price on Facebook Marketplace. I have also looked at the most current model of Yamaha electronic drums - the Yamaha DTX10K-X ("New Drums") - and have that on my mind as well. When my son takes his Yamaha DTX500 to where he lives (currently, in West Des Moines), I will no longer have any drums easily available for practicing. As a result, I would set up my acoustic Ludwig Vistalite set that I have stacked under the basement steps and not be able to practice when someone else is home, which reminds me of when I lived in my parents' house, prior to marrying Karen.

Here is my brain in words as I process this decision. There is no final decision as of right now so this is just a list without a conclusion.

1. Without a doubt, if I were to buy the Used Drums, I will have solved the future event upon which all of this post is addressing. It is the simplest & cheapest solution.
   
2. The Used Drums are an upgrade to my son's Yamaha DTX500 set. There is a scenario where he would decide to attempt to "sell" the drums "Santa" brought to him for Christmas, but I will not agree to buying my son's Yamaha DTX500 set. Santa doesn't pay for things twice.
   
3. The Used Drums have a cool feature that I really like, which are knobs on the drums. These knobs would allow me to change the tone of the drum sound on the fly, a feature not available on my son's Yamaha DTX500 set.
4. The Used Drums include a double bass drum pedal. I have flirted with playing double bass since playing with Assume in the summer of 1989. With two acoustic bass drums, I don't like playing double bass, but with a double bass drum pedal, I think I would like to play more double bass.
   
5. The Used Drums ad referenced the following video, which I have watched multiple times:
6. The idea of buying the most recent electronic drums from Yamaha is a possibility. This would mean purchasing a Yamaha DTX-10K-X ("New Drums") model. I found these drums online for the price of $5169.00, which is definitely more than $2200. More on the financial aspect of what I am pondering is coming up in this list.
   
   
   
7. I authentically do not care for neither the appearance of the New Drums.
8. Financially, it makes sense to purchase the Used Drums.
   
• The current / most recent Yamaha electronic drums can cost between the list price of $6853 and $5169. For the following calculations, assume that the cost is $6000 because the $5169 price above probably does not include shipping & tax.
• The Yamaha DTX-950K has a price of $2200.
• New drums price - Used drums price
• $6000 - 2200 =  $3800
  
• There has been some extra income in recent months:
  
• On December 25, 2020, I received $100 from Lou & Jean.
• In the month of June (or July), I received $100 from my father.
• On October 11, I received a $200 payment for Megan's saxophone that we sold to Brian Rock.
• On October 23, I received a $1300 payment for the Jayco Jay Feather camper that Karen and I sold to my nephew.
• While I won't include the actual dollar amount, one of my kids owes money to us. Let's just say it's $500.
• Doing the simple math: 
• Yamaha DTX 950K calculation:
• Extra Income is $2200
• Price of used drums is $2200
• Extra Income - Price of Drums
•    $2200
• - $2200
•   $0000 
  
• Yamaha DTX 10K calculation:
• Extra income is $2200
• Price of new drums is $6000
• Extra income - Price of Drums
•   $2200
• - $6000
•   -$3800
• The used drums have a net cost of $0; the new drums have a net cost of $3800.
• To be fair, the camper that we sold to Danny had a cost of $6000 so yes, I could use the entire extra income from the sale of the camper to cover the cost of the new drums. However, I remain convinced that would be a tough call to make. 

Way Too Early Optimistic Thoughts about the 2021-2022 Iowa Men's Basketball Team

I'm really happy that Keegan Murray is getting some attention as the summer begins in 2022. As this article points out -  Leistikow: With more NBA Draft buzz, Keegan Murray is Iowa's summer star - the 2021-2022 Iowa Hawkeyes that take the court this fall will look a lot different than the 2020-2021 team. From the article (I added the numbered list to make the article text easier to read

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None of last year’s starting five will be on the floor for the first practice:

1. national player of the year Luka Garza is off to his pro career;

2. all-Big Ten wing Joe Wieskamp is exploring the NBA Draft process;

3. shooting guard CJ Fredrick has transferred to Kentucky; and ...

4. Jordan Bohannon (head injury from a May 24 bar altercation) [is in recovery mode]

5. Connor McCaffery (two hip surgeries) [is in recovery mode]

6. top reserve Jack Nunge has transferred to Xavier.
   

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Yet, for Keegan Murray, his brother, who didn't get a lot of playing time last season, "new blood arriving in big-man transfer Filip Rebraca and recent high school graduates Riley Mulvey and Payton Sandfort", Patrick McCaffery, Joe Toussaint, and anyone else I'm forgetting, the challenge will remain the same as it is for any basketball team: chemistry. Who is going to emerge as the leader, both in the locker room and on the floor? Who is going to help Rebraca, Mulvey, and Sandfort get used to college and model outstanding citizenship as well as a work ethic to accomplish any task in front of them, both in and out of the classroom? I believe that all teams, whether it is at the junior high, high school, college, or professional level, start the off-season on a level playing field. I don't believe that any triumphs - or defeats - follow a team from season to season. Sure, TV analysts like to bring up previous games between teams and to discuss history, but on the basketball court, every game starts tied at zero. It's up to each team member to help their team win.

That is why, on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, I am optimistic about the 2021-2022 Iowa Hawkeyes. If the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, as it has been over the last few weeks, I foresee Carver-Hawkeye Arena being loud and a very tough environment for an opponent to enter and win a game. Coach Fran is a competitor and I have no reason to believe he will not instill that sense of competition, that sense of putting in the work now will yield a fruitful season in March 2022.

I am going to revisit this post on Thursday, June 2, 2022. I will be curious whether the 2021-2022 Iowa Hawkeyes had a successful season or if it was an exercise in frustration to watch them. Sincerely, I hope it is a successful season and I hope that I attend many many games with either Fred (of Fred and Julie) or Brian Rock or Jason Lest or Alex.

A Little Secret

I am tired of COVID-19.

On April 25, which was awesome weather, my friend Brian Rock* asked me if I wanted to go hit a bucket of golf balls at Quail Creek in North Liberty. Eventually, I realized that doing so would mean I would touch a lot of dirty balls.

I declined.

Does COVID-19 live on a golf ball? If one golf ball has it, do they all have it in the bucket?

When I reread this in the future, I hope I think those are silly questions. 

To timestamp this moment in my life, there is now a lot of talk about reopening businesses. The date for working Some say, "Yes, I own a business and if I don't re-open, I will lose my livelihood." Others say, "No, everyone needs to stay at home for another N months, so we can eradicate this virus."

As I've described elsewhere, I am cursed with seeing both sides to pretty much any topic. In this case, I can't imagine being the owner of a business that was forced to close and sitting and waiting for the news that I can re-open. I also don't want people to go "back to normal" (if that can even exist) and to think that "we beat this virus and I can do every thing I did before."

I don't know the right answer to the question, "When should a state re-open?" I wish a time machine because if I did, I could go to that date, remember it, and then return to the present to tell everyone when it will be safe.

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*By the way, that's not his actual last name, but I refer to him as "Brian Rock" on this blog because I had to distinguish him from "Brian Guitar" who played in Lou's Classic Ride. If you knew his last name, you would call me clever.

DJDJ

I don't write a lot about the stupidity that surrounded my drinking booze very often. This is a special treat a day after Halloween.

Back in 1992, during my senior year of college at Mount Mercy College, there was a night when I drank a lot of beer and, after I had drank a lot of beer, a guy I knew named DJ almost caused a fight with the car behind us in the Taco John's drive-thru on First Avenue in Cedar Rapids by Lindale Mall. Because I had drank a lot of beer, and because I was not interested in being beaten up and because I had lost my inhibitions, I cursed DJ. When I was back in my apartment, my roommate Brian tells me that as I was falling asleep, I'd be quiet and then start muttering "DJ JD DJ, get me beat up because he's so f---ing stupid" and other phrases, after which Brian would tell me to shut up and go to sleep, which I would do, until all of a sudden, I start muttering "DJ JD DJ, get me beat up because he's so f---ing stupid" and other phrases, after which Brian would tell me to shut up and go to sleep, which I would do, until all of a sudden, I start muttering "DJ JD DJ, get me beat up because he's so f---ing stupid" and other phrases, after which Brian would tell me to shut up and go to sleep, until I finally fell asleep.

For years, Brian has teased me about that night and how annoying I was to him because of the way I acted. Keep in mind, I didn't really know Brian Rock prior to moving into that apartment we lived in as I had only talked to him one other time before we were roommates, which was on the night we signed up for housing, and when I asked him if he cared if I roomed with him, he said, "Shit, I don't care." What started out as a kind of unplanned situation has transformed over the years into one of my closest friendships on the planet. Brian was an usher in our wedding and when Brian married Jane, I was honored to be his best man.

Throughout our friendship, I've wanted to make a joke about that night and, at the expense of the former Maryland University head football coach, whose name is D.J. Durkin, I was able to do so. Last night, I sent Brian Rock a text message last night that reads "DJ JD DJ" with a link to this story: Maryland changes course, fires head coach D.J. Durkin, to which Brian wrote back, "Happy Halloween." Then I texted him, "Waited 20+ years to use that joke."

Victory

Yesterday was a day about victory.

1. Athletics
• Brian Rock, his son, Alex, and I watched the Iowa Hawkeyes take care of Nebraska for their 20th win of the year. It was Eric May's last game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. I think the crowd appreciated his effort. There was a second senior, Christopher Rickerts who was a deep reserve that got put into the game when the game was out of Nebraska's reach. It was nice that he got in the game.
• Also, in the world of athletics, the Iowa City West boy's basketball team defeated Bettendorf in the Iowa state basketball finals. It was a victory by 15 points. It was a nice victory for the boys who were able to win without senior Dondre Alexander, who quit the team.
2. Personal
• Tied in with going to the Iowa game was spending time with Brian Rock. 
• We met at Gus' at 11 and had a great conversation during lunch, then left together in my van.
• During the ride in, it became apparent that even though we are in different cities with different life, professional, and hobbies, we can still have a good time together. 
• Of course, we talked about the past. 
• I told him about it being the 20 year anniversary of seeing Metallica in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. He seemed to think that our seats were close to where we sat for the concert 20 years ago. 
• We talked about how we were really lucky that we shared a room together the year we lived together at Mount Mercy College and that it would have really sucked if that choice wouldn't have been made.
• We also talked about the future. 
• I talked about my job and about the good things happening in my professional life. 
• He talked about his job situation and the challenges he faces.
• After the game, the line of cars out of the parking lot was long so we had even more time to talk. The surface-level frustration with the long line easily gave way to the deeper satisfaction of talking to my friend. 
• We returned to Gus' so he could get his car and said "see you later". I hope to always have Brian Rock as a close friend.
• After the game, Alex and I drove home so Karen, Megan, Alex, and I could go to 5:15 Mass. 
• We had about 7 singers, (including Len, Rhonda, and Karen), a flute, a violin, Jim played guitar, Judy played piano, and me on drums. Tentatively, I am playing drums for Easter Sunday Mass at 11 with the high school group.
• After Mass, we went to the party I mentioned after Mass. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when it became apparent that two of the couples we thought were coming didn't show. I would guess they went to the aforementioned Iowa City West state championship game. It took a little bit for me to remember the other two couples that did come but once I did, I had fun. Among the highlights:
• Good discussion about the Iowa basketball team
• Good discussion about the following television shows (alpha order, not discussion order):
• Breaking Bad
• Duck Dynasty
• Everybody Loves Raymond
• Last Man Standing
• Some show about 10 people living together in a single house in Boston
• I played with one of the couple's 5 year-old daughter and nearly 3 year-old son.
• I tuned the hosts' daughter's drum set in the basement. It's a decent kit but it also has its toms at a really high and awkward angle. The hi-hats are a nice thick Zildjian ZBT series and there was a also a 18" Zildjian ZBT crash/ride. The bass drum pedal was a Ludwig (though not a Speed King, which is what I use) and I don't remember the brand of the other hardware. It wasn't a top-of-the-line kit, but it was decent.

 We got home fairly early. There were two movies to watch on TV that are on my "I have to watch them when they are on TV even though I own the DVD:

•  the end of "Lethal Weapon 2" 
• the middle of "The Karate Kid"

I think I fell asleep almost immediately. Even though it is time to "spring ahead", I was up early. It is a crappy weather day. Now the forecast is for a snow storm later today, which is when we are having a Scary Robots rehearsal.