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So, out the gate, perhaps my title is misleading… I bet there are a few people from our small town of Hudson that are gonna see this blog title and think they are clicking onto some wicked small town gossip, but I’ll fess up, sorry ya’ll this is a book review. Please bear with me as…well….I don’t really do book reviews but I feel I gotta get this out there.

Paul is one of those dudes that you don’t call him Paul, nor Mr. Alexander, but…Paul Alexander, like it’s one word. Maybe it’s because he has a first name for a last name who knows, it’s just like that.He isn’t himself a hazard…well, I don’t think you’d want to be on the wrong side of em that’s for sure but he’s also the kinda guy that will easily engage with anyone and pretty sure if you asked him he’d give you the jacket off his shoulder.

The reason I called my blog post this title is because his book, I ripped through it in two sittings, ignoring my household duties, ignoring my work colleagues during breaks and downtime and to much more of their dismay I refused to put my radio on while I have been reading. (I’m that guy that controls the radio here in my shop 😉 )

I completely shut out everything else while I was reading it.

The cover is great, some golf clubs leaned up against a Caddy that has a license plate that says “Par Tee” and a case of Rolling Rock torn open from the middle.

The Hazards of Golf – Living on the Fringe with Cadillac Willie and Wino BobIf that title doesn’t catch ya…

Now I have to be careful here not to give anything away here in this post, so forgive me if this reads sloppy.I wouldn’t consider myself a huge reader…I’m no bookworm by any means, but I constantly have a book going. I can always answer when someone asks “what are you reading right now?”

I tend to stick away from Sci-Fci and stuff like that, but do love fiction. Stories… especially ones that are totally plausible. Seem completely insane and highly unlikely…but totally plausible. I dig the imagination. I love well thought out plans and of course revenge and this book delivers it with a perfect amount of humour.

You know, some books or stories, especially if they get past or near a 300 page mark kind of go up and down… high points and dull spots. This book is a straight from page one right to end. It kept me interested, it kept me involved and the character building was spot on.

In my head I can picture what each character looks like, and each of the day’s throughout the chapters I know if they’ve shaved that day and what they are wearing even though this description only happens at first meet of the character.

Not gonna lie, “Craig” looks an awful lot like Paul Alexander. And maybe it’s because I know the author, as I was reading I could totally hear Paul Alexander’s voice in some of the remarks.

The book opens up to your standard legal jargon, and…a shout out to my extremely hot Fiance Erin which I’ll totally take as a compliment.

From that point on there is no wasting time. Characters and backgrounds are introduced, the story is well under way and soon enough you realized that you haven’t eaten and had way too many coffees.

I wouldn’t say the story builds to a climax, but more of a slow motion wrecking ball throughout that suddenly goes full speed near the end.Now, I consider myself good at seeing what’s coming. I often guess correctly when a mystery is about to unfold, but I honestly didn’t know what was gonna happen here.I kept pausing, squeezing how many pages were left trying to come up with a “way out” kinda thing.Then it happened.

The thing is with this story, if you’ve ever lived in a small town, hang out at the local bars with regulars, are a member of a small town private club… this whole thing is totally possible. I feel like I can take any character from the story and match them with someone I know in real life. If a book does that, that alone makes it a success.

Erin and I are fairly new to the Private Club scene, and although we are members at a Yacht Club and not a Golf Club the idea of what happens here can easily be transferred. The tension between certain types of members, the snobbish ways and weights some carry. Makes for a great setup and you won’t be disappointed.I myself am not a golfer, I understand the lingo and terms but even if you know nothing about golf, you won’t have a hard time understanding. Although it’s based around golf, it’s not a golfing book.

So, without giving anything away and me not being a golfer, I’ll try to explain it in racing terms. That’s what I do know.Picture this:Last lap of the Daytona 500 and a Ford, Chevy and a Toyota cross the finish line at the exact same time. Just imagine that.

All in all I really enjoyed this book. It is good natured and fun. Characters are relatable and the story backs itself up, keeps you entertained and there is good closure. (which drives me nuts when books end abruptly). Obviously there is a hint at a sequel in which I’ll be 1st in line to buy. I do hope there is a sequel.

Thanks Paul for this gift, I appreciate your imagination and I encourage you to keep going man. You’ve made a new fan.

As for a rating? I give it 10 Cookies a Big Budweiser and of course, some Purple RainCheers!

Here’s a link to the kindle and paperback version

The Hazards of Golf on Amazon

I didn’t think my first post here was going to be a negative, or something mysterious, sad or scary but yet here we are. I guess it’s like that when you live close to a water line.

For us here in Hudson, we share the Ottawa River with Oka on the other side. We dock our boat at the Hudson Yacht Club and spend a lot of time out in Quarry Point (Parson’s Bay) in the summer/fall months.

Our river is beautiful. She’s also dangerous. She has a wicked current out in the channel aided by the Carillion Dam and the depths are quite impressive.

She was pretty mean to us last year. She gave us all a reminder that she is the boss and if we don’t treat her right she will let us know.

Last years melt, the runoff was severe and instant. Heavy rain, mild temperatures and a frozen terrain sent the water right into our bowl. Carillion and Cornwall–>Valleyfield had no choice but to let out what they needed which naturally ended up straight to us. We are pretty much in a “V” with the Ottawa to the North and the St. Lawrence seaway to the South.

The result was natural. Hundreds of homes damaged if not destroyed. Debris littered yards and shores. The volunteer effort was nothing short of incredible, but questionable of how much it actually saved.

If anything though, perhaps it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Neighborhoods and volunteers from everywhere came together to help strangers. Our military was available and spirits were strong… although the reality of the damage soon set in.

Right now as it stands, 5pm Mar.28 Carillion is outflowing 1,450 cubic meters per second.

Last year at this time it was 3028.

So far….so good….I think… only that…the water level didn’t go down in the summer months.

Put it this way, our boat is a 21ft cruiser. We we are docked in the inner harbor. We are normally harbourlocked for a couple weeks in August…meaning that the water is so low that we can’t get out of the club.

This past year… I barely even used my trim, and by the looks of the shoreline…etc, there is plenty of water and the melt is just starting.

I do have faith in those running the dams…controlling the output, making the decisions, but hey man…we are all nervous.

I still have friends that aren’t back in their homes. Government vs insurance vs bylaws vs natural disasters….nobody wins.

In light of all this, Mayors from all across the shoreline are doing their best to prepare. Sandbags, water retaining equipment and public announcements have already been seen. By-laws have been put forth, such as restrictions on building in 100 year flood plains as our Mayor has. All these things are great, our fire department is ready to go, I’m certain volunteers are ready to go but one has to wonder…what can really be done to actually stop a flood?

I’m not sure who was the hardest hit. Neighboring Rigaud (pictured above) took a beating…upstate NY declared an emergency and as far as Montreals West Island was impacted. The sheer range of this all is difficult to even imagine.

I myself am clearly not a scientist, weather expert…geographical scholar nor a disaster relief veteran so I absolutely do not have the answers. I’m just not sure that anyone at all does in fact have a solution.

One thing I’ve heard mumble about is a possible new basin in the area. Where runoff spring water can gather. From the looks of the maps and reading multiple articles, it’s as if our particular watershed hasn’t “needed” one….until now that is.

I believe along side of what are we going to do this year, we should also be talking about what we are going to do forever. Flooding is controlled all over the world, I believe we have the technology here and I have faith our political leaders and environmentalists are looking at this…I just wish I could fast forward until it’s done done.

All that being said, our Kichisìpi is tough, fast and resilient. She is breathtakingly beautiful and vicious. She provides power to our homes and businesses, let’s us leisure in the bays, allows us to fish, hunt and water ski…sun tan and swim…she is alluring, unassuming and captivating but the one thing that she isn’t…is forgiving.