Entertainment, the Internet, and Your Health

Recently, I have had a bit of a scare. My vision started going. I could see little with my left eye and the vision in my right eye became almost as bad. This is partly due to age, partly to severe allergic reactions to my new neighbor's cat (I will be moving very soon because of the tiny little creature and her toxic dander-she loves to sit outside my door to groom), and, in large part to my excessive time on the computer.

I do not game, but I am a voracious reader and have spent long hours reading. Books are very expensive, so reading on line seemed a fine solution Also, I watched a bit of sports and a few short films. All for very little cost, so it seemed a great idea                                

Well, on top of my other problems, I seemed to have nearly fried my retina. Things are improving. I can now read large type and can use my computer to write a little, so long as I take long, long breaks.

My advice to one and all is simple. Find ways to entertain yourself away from your computer Use it for needed business and needed research. Take long breaks and find a screen glare reducer. Set your letters to a very large print.
 Computers are very useful, but please minimize your usage. Not being able to see is not a lot of fun.

Take care of Your Eyes

Many og our forms of entertainment depend on our vision. I am writing today because I will not be writing lengthy blogs for a while. I am having some vision problems and the computer glare is aggravating. So, until I gat a glare redusyion device, every post will be short.

Please, take care of your eyes. Do not spend long hours at a computer. The glare is damaging. If your work requires long hours of computer use, get a glare reduction device, even if you have to buy it yourself.

If you depend on ypur computer for entertainment, find some new forms of entertainment. There are many things you can do and they are all much healthier.

Golf - The Players

This week, we have The Players tournament. This is considered a very important tournament; some call it 'the 5th Major.' That is how silly golf sometimes gets. The Major tournaments have lnog, long traditions behind them. The Players is an attempt, much like the Fed Ex Playoffs to create a tradition. That simply is not how tradition works.

The course, TPC Sawgrass is just weird. It is not overly long, but it has a lot of water, too much water and darn near everything slopes toward this hazards. The greens sit at odd, little angles and have slopes that make it difficult to access the pins. In fact, they sometimes make it hard to even keep the ball on the green. On top of all that, the greens are almost always very, very fast.

In good weather, with no wind, the course is hard, but playable. However, any one who has ever spent time in Florida, knows that good weather for 4 straight days is always a long shot. If it rains, the course gets slow and soft and becomes almost too easy. If it is hot and sunny, the course is hard, fast and almost unplayable. Then, there is the wind. If the wind gets up to 20 mph, common in Florida in May, just keeping the ball on dry land is a problem.

The Tournament used to be played in March when, in Florida, high winds were a given and the course was never more than borderline playable. That's why they moved it to May.

I will watch The Players because I am a golf addict and because I, here and there, love to see the pros have to struggle. After all, they get paid enough/ They should have a rough week here and there. However, I will never consider The Players a Major Tournament. The tradition is a made up thing, a hype to stir up interest. Traditions build organically. You just do not create something and declare it a tradition, especially when you are playing on such a bizarre course.

Badminton

Do people still play badminton? I know it shows up in the Olympics every 4 years, but do ordinary folks still by sets and play in the back yard? If not, the game should make a comeback. It is sort of like low rent tennis.

There is no need for a court, no great concern about technique, no expensive outfits to buy. Just string the net, a simple task and have at it. Heck, you really don't even have to set up the net to just have fun.

It is a fantastically silly, fun way to ass some time outdoors, just whacking away at the goofy looking shuttlecock. Keep score if you want to, but don't let that get in the way of just having fun. Badminton is a great, healthy, inexpensive way to enjoy being outdoors with friends and family.