End of Summer musings

I recently spent a weekend in DC with my family.  When the boys are asked what they did this Summer they can at least say they did something educational.  This was a fun trip and our fondest memory was going on an actual spy operation at the International Spy Museum.  As part of an intelligence team disguised as tourists, you step out of Washington and

into the fictional country of Khandar, where you join a team to uncover the plot behind a missing nuclear trigger device.  Trust me, your kids will like this…  Next on our itinerary was the Library of Congress but I inadvertently missed the stop on the tour for this site.  And when I say inadvertently, I mean completely vertently.

Inspired by looking at the fire damage set by British soldiers in the War of 1812 that is still visible in the capitol building today, I picked up a book about the war.  My first thought is why isn’t there a movie about this?  Can’t you see Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) from Full Metal Jacket attacking the Fort at Lake Erie and making the Indians flee?

During the War of 1812 with the United States, Upper Canada (now Southern Ontario) was the chief target of the Americans, since it was weakly defended and populated largely by American immigrants. However, division in the United States over the war, a lackluster American militia, the incompetence of American military commanders kept Upper Canada part of British North America.

Did you know… Detroit was captured by the British on August 6, 1812. The Michigan Territory was held under British control until it was abandoned in 1813. The Americans won the decisive Battle of Lake Erie (Sept. 10, 1813) and forced the British to retreat from the western areas. On the retreat they were intercepted at the Battle of the Thames (October 5, 1813) and destroyed in a major American victory that killed Tecumseh and broke the power of Britain’s Indian allies.  Coming soon to a theatre near you…

USTA Adult Sectionals was interesting this year.  IMHO, the Philly 4.5 men captained by Arland Hotchkiss was the team to beat and they advanced.  Congratulations guys.  The competition was fierce and almost every team was capable of winning – this is why it makes sense to practice match tiebreakers.  The Philly 4.5 women captained by Linda Mudditt advanced (again) to Nationals and in my mind they have a wonderful chance at winning it all.

Just something I saw on the Internet – Pen pics – can you believe these are two pictures drawn with a pen?

The mixed season is right around the corner.  Early start ratings will be released Monday, September 10^th.  I’m running my 8.0 & 9.0 teams out of Tennis Addiction again this year – looking forward to it.

US Open is underway.  I believe Roger Federer will bring home his 18^th Grand Slam.  It appears Djokovic has taken a step and Murray has taken a big step forward.  But, I don’t think Andy will win his first major this year in sunny New York.  Nothing beats the US Open experience when you are 10 feet from the net post watching the greatest players in the world (and it also the home of the $9.50 hot dog which tops Disney World’s $7.75 Nathan’s hot dogs.)

I’ll leave you with this inspirational tale, my sister had a baby and I took it over because she passed away and then the baby lost its

legs and its arms and now it’s nothing but a stump but I still take care of it with my wife and it’s growing and it’s fairly happy, but it’s difficult ’cause I’ve been working a second shift at the factory to put food on the table, but all the love I see in that little guy’s face makes it worth it in the end. True story.