The Open is Open

Happy Saturday morning. Last evening I ended up retrieving tired looking members of our family from the airport. They were returning from Tonga and had been there for the funeral of Tevita’s mother. Tired, with 10 different airplane flights in about a week and a half – the long portions were 12-hour events. Good to have them back home.

Now that the Cincinnati Open is in full swing and my volunteer shifts have kicked in, I immediately took note that the Volunteer Lounge has Keurig coffee machines – I think they hadn’t realized that I was on site. I promise I’ll keep working on my self-control.

Now, best pour a hot mug of my morning brew.

Cincinnati Open 2025 – So, this week I started being a volunteer (on the Hospitality Crew) at the Open. And it’s a blast – I’m just having a time of my life. For my regular readers, last week I described what all that Cincinnati Open hub-bub is all about. This week a few pictures and a two-minute drone overview will flesh it all in, so enjoy! I certainly am.

Town Hall Meeting – Just in case you’ve been in a cave and hadn’t caught all the negative Press that the ‘Nati received – nationally and internationally. A brutal attack occurred at the trailing end of a very busy downtown weekend (major music festival, Reds game, and more). Out of nowhere a gang descended on a small gathering of middle-aged white folks finishing up their evening.

And this event was managed by the city leadership about as poorly as possible. The highlight being that our erstwhile Mayor left town for a mayoral gathering and then immediately flew on to British Columbia for some vacation time – seriously bad optics.

Hence, on Monday evening I went to be part of a Town Hall meeting to discuss what needed to occur to get the city back on track (a few hundred expected and over a thousand showed). Present were our ‘next’ State Governor, Vivek Ramaswamy, former Bengal and football Hall of Fame member Anthony Muñoz, and former nearby neighbor, our former Vice Mayor and past President of the Cincinnati NAACP, Christopher Smitherman.

The whole event was worthwhile! But that’s not what this bit is about.

Parking at anywhere near the event was crazy. I, and about 30 others, ended up parking on a lot of a nearby medical facility a few hundred yards away. It was when leaving I got a bit of a shock once I spotted the first of 2 tow trucks. Uggggh!

Finally, I’d climbed enough of a small hill to be able to see around the building’s side and the area where my car was. What awaited was a long row of empty spaces. Empty, except for one old burgundy Corolla – Marcia’s car! I HADN’T BEEN TOWED!

But why? Why had my car been left alone? Then it crossed my mind. We were all given yard signs at the Cincinnati Open’s volunteer registration. Since no yard signs are allowed on condo property my option was, to pitch or be creative. The ‘creative’ side of my brain took over and I placed it in the car’s back window. That sign with its bold “VOLUNTEER” lettering must have looked enough like it was official and so the tow folk left it alone.

Prove me wrong!

In all fairness — There was also opposition to the Town Hall Meeting. Now, please understand my idea is that a Town Hall is to express thoughts and ideas. Therefore, to me mind you, it seems a bit strange that people protest the sharing of ‘thoughts and ideas’. Nevertheless, a bunch of protesters did show up — representing at least a half dozen differing causes. Aside from chanting, they played some good to listen to old Woody Guthry and Pete Seeger protest songs from the 1930s. Kept me entertained waiting to enter the venue.

Red Bull, Flugtag 2025 – is this afternoon at the Riverfront. I believe it’s 40 ‘aircraft’ designs and participants and I am sorry I won’t be there watching. Two reasons; A.) HEAT, 90 degrees and sunny. B) I have a 6:00 – 11:00 shift at the Open and all of that would be a little much. Having said that, these Red Bull events are always a fun show.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

As we age and eye conditions such as Cataracts, Glaucoma, and Macular Degeneration can change the way we see color – our color perception changes. But color changes are critical enough to where Pilots are required to stop taking which of the following prior to a flight:

1) “Aspirin”
2) “Tylenol”
3) “Viagra”
4) “Dry Eye drops”
5) “Sun Screen over #50”
6) “ibuprofen”
7) “Pepto-Bismol”