No Rest For the Fanatical

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I've been doing the adult learn to play (LTP) hockey program in the big city and it's been such a blast, though I started thinking that it would be nice to have one more day to just scrimmage. The LTP is a blast, and it's awesome to be with DD, the coach, who is not only just a great guy, but a great coach whose success on the ice speaks for itself. More importantly than anything else, however, is how much of a great guy he is. It's just a blast to be on the ice when he's running the show.

However, being the wet blanket that I am, if there was one thing that I would complain about, and there's always something for me to complain about, it's that I would love to have more time to scrimmage, or play pick-up games. We spend about 75% of our 2 hours doing drills, which are fun and very helpful, but I also really enjoy playing games. Sometimes we only get 10-15 minutes to scrimmage, and it's kind of a bummer, but nobody would complain because time with DD is time well spent.

I looked into playing in some of the lower level leagues, but the times just don't work for me. The one that I was interested in played between 9-11PM on Saturday night, which is just too late for my sorry old ass. I played in an adult league that played at a similar time and it's very difficult to come home after a long day and then leave the house that evening. I just want to take a phat nap.

One of the guys we do LTP with, MB, plays on the weekends in the early AM. While it's not always easy to wake up and get out the door at that time, I could do it, and it would leave the rest of my day open to take care of life stuff, like taking my son to his hockey games. I inquired and he said the group was pretty full and they didn't want to have too big of a crowd. I completely understood and was resigned to just playing twice a week, which is still pretty good.

Well, just the other day, MB mentioned that some of the group had stopped coming and there was space if I was interested. Boy, was I ever. It's a new crowd for me, though I know a couple of the skaters from LTP. They are good and have a good hockey sense (way more than me), so it's a challenge but I'm not too out of depth. And it's fun. I'm pretty tired by the end but I'm hoping to continue until the ice goes away, or until they kick me off the team because they're sick of me, whichever comes first.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Jason Kurylo for the pic.

Moving Over

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In yet another step of our big sports transition, N has indicated that he would be amenable to playing LAX in the big city, thus completing our exodus from the old lame program. To be fair, it makes sense to transition, and not just because of my bitterness, which of course makes perfect sense to me. In the old lame program, most of the guys he would consider to be his friends have moved on, either to high school, or just out of the game. He has one, maybe two guys on the team that he could consider his friends, but otherwise, it's a group of guys he doesn't have much connection to. Plus, they all go to the same middle school, which kind of leaves him on the periphery.

At the big city program, not only are some of these guys on his current hockey team, but they will be his classmates in HS. I'm not saying he's going to be best buddies with these guys, but he likes them, and they're actually nice, down to earth kids who seem to include him. And, you don't see the inflated egos that were so prevalent in the old lame program.

Whatever be the case, we're moving ahead with this and I'm A-Okay with it. Plus, as I've said on countless occasions, more of our lives are over in the big city, so we might as well just add to the mix. We'll see how this one goes.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to C.C. Chapman for the pic.

Hanging in the Big City

I should have seen this coming but it still sort of came out of left field. N had a game down in the southern part of the state, near the NH capital, and also near his girlfriend (okay, I said it, though I don't know what exactly the status is). I figured it would be a good opportunity for him to hang out with her but he didn't say anything, so I left it at that. It's not an easy thing for me because his game was at 9:00AM, which meant I was up by 5:00AM, woke him up at 6:00, and we were out the door by 6:30. It takes about an hour and a half to get there. While I'm totally stoked for him for having a girlfriend, after his game, all I wanted to do is go home and take a phat nap. If he wanted to hang, I'd have to kill several hours in the even bigger city. It helps that Concord is pretty big, and there are places to hang, but that still doesn't beat a comfortable couch and bowl of peanuts.

Anyway, I hadn't heard anything leading up to the weekend, and I figured I was home free to salvage the rest of my day, but then last night, right as we were getting ready for bed, he asked me if he could hang out with her. Ouch! How could I say no? We were going to be down there, and who am I to stand in the way of young love?

So here I sit, in a bookstore in the big city, working on my blog, writing letters, and hopefully working on my glorious novel, whatever that means. The key is having access to an outlet so my battery won't die. I even managed to get in a quick nap, if you can believe that. The crazy thing is that there is clearly a contingent of people who are doing the exact same thing, though the activities may differ. We've all commandeered a group of tables along the perimeter of the room and we're all faking like we're doing work. The person directly next to me is a heavyset individual of unknown origin who has spent the past several hours (4-5) playing a game on his/her phone. How is that even possible? It's pretty sad, in my opinion, and to make matters worse, he or she is chewing tobacco and spitting into a cup. Yikes! Moving down the row, a couple of people have set up their laptops or tablets and have not left their seats, and then there are the two ladies who are knitting. It's pretty hard to fathom, though I guess I should be grateful to said bookstore for allowing us to use this space and their internet, even if the WiFi is terrible and doesn't work. I'm using the WiFi of the business directly next door.

I've been here for a few hours, and if I can make it for a couple more, I'm in pretty good shape. I told N that we will meet in the evening to give him maximal time with his girl, but that means I have to entertain myself during that time. I already hit Shaws and got some groceries, and I could even get a bite to eat (there are countless dining options) and use the restaurant's WiFi, but I'm not sure if that's worth it. I actually prepared for this event and brought enough food to get me through to suppertime, and then some, but that means bologna sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, and dinner... just kidding, I haven't eaten bologna in over 25 years.

So three hours down, at least three more to go, maybe more. I was going to try to watch some of the Olympics but the WiFi is so bad I don't have any illusions that I can stream any video. I tell you, it ain't easy being a father who wants his kids to be lucky in love.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Rene Schwietzke for the pic.

Fortuitous Hockey Transition

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There is plenty of bad blood between myself and our old lame hockey program, most of it (of course) on my side. Yes, I have issues. Whatever be the case, it motivated me to encourage N to change programs, and change we did. It was an unusual move on mine and N's part because he grew up in the old lame program, and I was heavily involved in it as board member, scheduler, and coach. What a fool I was.

Moving to the big city program was not a simple decision because of all that shared history, and let's face it, with the exception of a few bad apples, I like everyone else over there. Plus, in the past, I was disdainful of the big city program because my impression was that they were too intense and competitive. It's an Ivy League town, so they don't mess around. As it turns out, my impressions were incorrect, but more on this later.

N had no interest in the past moving over, and he didn't take last season's slight as such a big deal, so he wasn't bitter like his dad. However, the future didn't look so bright for the old lame program's team, the same one that N would have been on. For every year that he has played over there, there has always been a wide range of skills on the team, from guys who are good to guys who can literally barely skate. This season was shaping up to be more of the same, and the prospect of playing with one annoying (as heck) kid in particular finally nudged N to agree to play with the big city program. The reality was that nothing was going to change without his consent.

Well, in an odd, if not slightly cruel, twist of irony, this annoying kid ended up moving over the big city program, as well. Fortunately, because he is reasonably lacking in skills, he ended up on a different team. I'll leave it at that. In a way it worked out fine because we still run into said kid, but we don't have to deal with, or for that matter, interact on any serious level. I'm fine with that.

And, as I mentioned, my impressions of the big city program were incorrect. The parents are not intense like I thought they'd be, and are friendly and likeable. In fact, they are more laid back than many of the parents in our old lame program. The kids are nice, as well. While I'm not in the locker room, I'm under the impression that there's not as much of the alpha-male thing going on, along with the deification of said alpha males by their weaker followers (N has confirmed this). Definitely more of that going on in our old lame program. N's current team seems to operate, socially and athletically, on a pretty even playing field, and they seem to get along. Not so much in a best-friend sort of way, but they're decent kids with egos in check... for the most part.

It's good, too, because these are the kids he'll see in school, and maybe even play with on various teams. Who knows? Finally, as usual, a lot of these guys play lacrosse, so N could shift over to the big city lax program and see some familiar faces. We'll see how things go on this front.

One last fortuitous note about the big city program is that, for whatever reason, almost all of the teams that they play are located near the capital of NH, Concord. This means that most of the away games are only a one hour drive away, unlike going up to St. Albans, Highgate, and even Burlington, which are all closer to 2 hours. And, his girlfriend (can I call her that?) lives near Concord, so we're there pretty often and he can visit her and hang out.

How's that for serendipity? I have to say, all in all the shift to the big city program has worked out on many levels, but mostly because we don't have to spend time around our old lame program. I love when that happens.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Steve Dommer for the pic.

Designer/Photography Girl

This is one of those things that a shameless dad as myself feels is too cool for words, but A has been doing some graphic design work, and she's actually getting some paid gigs. Needless to say, I'm totally stoked for her. She has always had a thing for drawing, even as a little kid, but she also has a good eye for colors, shades, and lighting. Her interest in photography helps. She has been voluntarily designing various posters for her band and her school productions, and she designed the album covers for her jazz band. She recently started working with a friend who is a real-deal graphic designer and has done professional work throughout the area. They collaborated on a project I think for the school and she actually paid her, and it wasn't small chump change. She had A create an professional invoice (always a good skill) and then paid her... the big bucks. As I mentioned, she does a lot of work for free, and I have no doubt she would have done this on her own dime, but it's nice to get some compensation. Better yet, said friend also mentioned the possibility of future work, so things could be looking up.

On the photography front, A also entered a pic the she took of her brother and she won. I'm not sure how the contest was structured, and she didn't actually “win” anything, but her pic ended up on the cover of the style section of the local paper. We're really proud of her, not necessarily for winning, but for just doing it and going for it. As Woody Allen said, 87% of life is just showing up.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to hasem2 for the pic.

Feeding Again

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This summer I stashed the bird feeder away in the barn because not only were the squirrels driving me crazy, but there is the ever present concern about bears. In fact, I've been told that it's against the law in some states to put feeders out during certain times of the year just for that reason. I'm not sure I completely believe that, but I do know that bears go for seeds like it's crack, and we're no strangers to bear problems over here. Rather than just risk it, I put them away.

Once winter was in full swing, I figured the bears were tucked away in their caves and weren't going to pounce on our bird feeders, so I put them back out. Not only that, but my OCD kicked in and I got totally into it. We have multiple feeders, and put different seed mixtures into them, as well as spreading them on the ground in certain areas. Not only that, but I've started to pay attention to what sort of seeds I'm using. How ridiculous is that? I used to just buy the cheap stuff in bulk at HD, but I started noticing that a large proportion of the seeds were not very appealing to the birds that we get. I did some research and learned that the cheaper bulk seeds were sorghum, and that they were not an ideal seed. They sort of look like small orange corn kernels.

Now this begs the question, should I really care? Should I put any time, thought, and energy into feeding wild birds in our backyard, when in fact they're just lucky that I put anything out there? Probably not, but that hasn't stopped me. In fact, I started thinking about what sorts of mixtures would optimize the bird's happiness. I know, this is stupid and crazy, and I've backed off a bit, but I'm still keen on getting a good variety of seeds out there, and this mean avoiding sorghum.

So, I've taken to two types of seed mixes - one back of black sunflower seeds, and one bag of songbird mix, which I supplement with nyjer seeds, which for the record are not cheap. I'm no bird expert (I just play one on TV), but we get a decent mix of birds showing up, and it's really cool when flocks of small juncos (listen to me, the bird expert) descend upon our driveway or deck. I can sit and watch them for hours. We've even had crows come and eat.

Of course, there is the ever present problem of squirrels, which still get on my nerves, but I'm trying to make peace with them. I realize that it's just a losing battle. Short of getting a gun and picking them off the trees, you just can't stop them. I figure as long as they don't pull down or dismantle the feeders (which they've done), we can coexist. To help ensure this, I put an ample amount of sunflower seeds on the ground. which they seem to go for. The yard is a mess, but it definitely resembles a harmonious nature scene. Like me, our cats can sit at the window for hours and just watch it all unfold. For them, it's probably like binge-watching on Netflix, though they'd much rather be out there eviscerating the wildlife.

I figure that at some point near the end of February, I'll stop putting the food out and hope that the critters will eat up any last remnants of seeds, at least enough to not attract bears. I'm guessing that some of the seeds will start to grow in the spring, so I'll have to be extra diligent with the mowing. One final interesting note - I went out there early one morning and I could have sworn I saw an owl perched nearby. I hope they don't eat the small birds, but it wouldn't be so bad if they grabbed a squirrel or two. At some point the mice will come out of hibernation and I'm sure there'll be plenty of leftover seeds on the ground. This, too, could prove to be fruitful for the owls.

In the meantime, I'll continue my impersonation of Marlin Perkins. Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to optictopic for the pic.

Ready to Serve

After all this talk about bailing out on the Inn, I did actually do a job for a private caterer out of the big city. I'd like to clarify that for much of the time that the Inn was putting me on the schedule, I couldn't because mom was away. Now that she's back, there wasn't much going on so the Inn wasn't calling. However, the big city caterers dropped me a line and asked if I could do a gig down in the southern part of the state. The beauty of it was that it started around 5:00 and ended around 10:00. Five hours and done. Sure, it's less money than the Inn, but more of a life for me. I'll take more of a life.

Plus, when you work in catering, or for that matter, any gig-economy type job, they are understanding of the fact that you have other opportunities and should exercise them. Or at least that's the way it should be.

I think I may have mentioned in the past that this year I'd like to work more with the private caterers, if possible, mainly for the shorter shifts and less strenuous workload. We basically prep, serve, and bus. That's it.

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We'll see how this goes. Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Ojvind Dahl for the pic.

Build It, and They Will Come

As I mentioned, N is interested in building his own computer from the ground up, and a PC, no less. I've been informed that it's not necessarily cheaper to build your own, it's just that you can customize various features, and keep the door open to upgrade in the future. There is a modular aspect to the components, as well, so the machine can be upgraded over time. It is worth noting that none of this is possible with a Mac.

The nice thing about this is that mom is on board. She has an interest in doing some multimedia stuff, and is in need of a stronger, faster computer than her laptop. Plus, as we are all learning, Macs are just limited in many ways, something N would be more than happy to agree with.

So N has been on a bit of a buying spree, getting various parts to build his machine. Some have even arrived, and he's slowly putting them together. It's pretty impressive stuff, at least for an old guy like me, who would never in his life think to actually build a computer. People from my generation just don't do that kind of stuff, do they?

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Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to William Warby for the pic.

Back to Scheduling

When N transitioned to the big city hockey program, I was willing to help out if needed, but in the end, I realized that they have their act together and my services (or lack thereof) weren't needed. In this regard, I was looking forward to just being a spectator at my son's games. The biggest plus was not having to coach, which was tough for a hockey neophyte as myself surrounded by real men on ice.

The season has had its share of ups and downs, but one thing that I've noticed is that they seem to be a little short on games. Throughout the season there have been assorted cancelations or weekends with one or no games altogether. The general feeling is that they haven't had that many games. At least that's the impression. I was looking at the girls program and they have upwards of 50% more games, though my methods are hardly scientific.

Now it's not the scheduler's fault, because he has enough to deal with doing all the other teams. Believe me, I feel his pain. He did his job by getting the required number of games for the season, and if anything, his job is aggravated by the shifting landscape of the division. Kudos to him (the scheduler) for doing a good job. The only problem is, if there was a desire to have more games, it falls on someone else. Who, I don't know, but whatever be the case, it hasn't happened.

Now there's about a month left in the season, which seems like a lot, but it actually isn't. This is hockey, which for some goes year-round. The way I see it, there are maybe around 5-6 games left to go, and then the states, so N's team will be sputtering into the playoffs with little in the way of preparation, i.e., games. In fact, there were no games planned for the weekend right before states. That's not an ideal situation. If anything, you want games against teams that will kick your butt, or at least challenge you enough to reach deep within, to get your physically and mentally prepared for the tournament. Having no games in the week before is just not a good thing.

Enter yours truly. I didn't want to be the annoying parent (too late?) who sticks his nose into other people's business, nor did I want to be one of those people who thinks he's helping but is in fact being a pain the arse, but I figured that since I'm both of those things, I'd at least offer to help and maybe get some games at the end of the season. Since I used to be a scheduler, I know the drill, so after getting the requisite blessing from the coach and manager, I went in search of games and found a few. It's definitely a bit of a pain when you have to get approval from other people before you confirm a game with the opposing team, but it's not so bad when it only involves one or two teams.

Either way, I did it and now they have a few more games on the books. Truth be told, I would have done it earlier in the season when we had so many gaps to fill, but I also didn't want to step on any toes. I guess, in the end, the season is what it is, and I shouldn't worry too much about it. Just go with the flow and let things happen as they may... yeah right, like that's going to happen. Fortunately, I don't have much, if any, choice in the matter.

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Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Paul L. Dineen for the pic.

Absent With Leave

I have to extend a bit of thanks to the Inn for understanding my current situation, which has been a bit hectic, to say the least. I took the entire month of December off, and there were events where they asked me to work. Nothing like the summer time, but big ones nonetheless. January had one or two events, but nothing too big, but with February in full swing, I think things are starting to heat up, and come March and April, love will be in the air and weddings will commence. Funny how that works.

I was recently put on the schedule for a couple of big ones and I had to ask for them off. In fact, I had to request that I not be put on the schedule for another month, at least. Not until the middle of March, and my first thought was that they were going to tell me to take a hike. On the one hand I understand because if you can't work for them, why keep you around? What have you done for me lately? For the record, the Inn is not that way.

Also, we're not exactly saving lives over there. Yes, I understand the need for diligent and reliable people, but it's also a seasonal part-time gig where there is nothing going on for months and then when springtime hits, it's showtime and then you're on. Not that I'm complaining, simply making a point.

On that note, I was expecting to get an earful when I asked for so much time off, or maybe even get sacked, but my supervisor was understanding. Perhaps she relates to the whole thing with the part-time work, or more realistically, it's not crazy time just yet, and she has enough crew to fill the gaps. Whatever be the case, she was cool about it, and for that, I'm grateful. Sure, it means I'm broke and have to scale back on our fabulous lifestyle, but sometimes you just have to be a little more practical and frugal. It's the New England way, after all.

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Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to bjg_snaps for the pic.