Category: Hockey

Two Years and Seven Months

Two years and seven months ago today, at 5:30pm, my personal Covid-19 pandemic lock down began. 3/13/20 was our last day in the office. We are not particularly locked down at this point, but we’re pretty much still isolated. We’re going to stores, I’m visiting Mom regularly (and need to visit Dad more often), we’re just spending as much time as we can afford to away from everyone. We’re wearing masks and being good, virus-conscious humans.

I am so friggin’ sick of it. I miss my friends, I miss playing in the band, I miss my family. Granted, my step kids are both in Vermont so I would be missing them even without our personal lock down, but you get the point. I want to travel, though we can’t afford it, I want to do things.

I want to go to hockey games again. The Bruins won their opening game last night. They beat The Capitals 5-2. I listened to as much as I could on the radio. Probably not as much as I would have liked, but a nice chunk. UMass Lowell is currently 2-1, with all three games being non-conference games. They play in Michigan tonight and tomorrow, two more non-conference games. The first Hockey East games are next week. I have been able to catch at least a little of each game on the radio. I’m not sure if they cover road games on WUML Lowell 91.5 FM, but I think we’ll find out tonight. As for the kids’ school, University of Vermont… 0-4 with all games being in conference. Yeah… pretty grim. I haven’t tried to find them on the radio. It might not be worth it.

In closing, I watched She-Hulk while doing my walkies. Teeny Tiny Spoilers Ahead. It was season one episode nine, the first season finale. I did not realize that I so desperately needed to hear something like five seconds worth of Richard and Linda Thompson music in the MCU. I did need it though. I really, completely needed it. The episode was great, but at the end when they snuck in a few seconds of I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight just made my fucking week. Props to K.E.V.I.N. and the gang.

Random Out-Doing-Errands Pics

I went out to run a few errands tonight. I took a couple of pics. The grocery cart pic was taken about one minute after the Bruins scored their first goal of the season to take a 1-0 lead over Washington. We’re in the second intermission right now and we’re up 3-2. Bergeron, Pastrnak, and Hall with the Bruins goals.

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Happy Monday

Happy Monday, everyone (he said sarcastically).

Last night got strange. There was a small health issue that we all knew was nothing, but on the day after the vaccine it might have been something so we went to the ER and had them tell us it was nothing. The zaniest thing about the ER trip is that we got there at 10:00 and left at 12:00. Two hours? That’s it? Amazing!

So I was late getting to bed last night. I was probably going to be late anyway, thanks to television. I was sitting in bed watching The Walking Dead on my iPad when we decided to go. Live TV, babie! I was planning on watching the episode and then trying to sneak in House of the Dragon before I fell asleep. I am pretty sure it wasn’t going to happen. I was still seriously beat on post-vaccine day. I was going to try it though. Instead, I went to sleep a little before 1:00am and woke up a little before 7:00. My SleepWatch numbers were good. I feel so much better today. The only post-vaccine symptom left is a very sore left arm. That’ll clear soon enough.

So I watched last night’s The Walking Dead while doing my walkies (38 minutes, 3.22 miles [simulated], 609 calories). The episode was pretty good. The stuff with Daryl and Judith was excellent. Look at me getting all emotional about the parenting stuff. Who woulda thunk it? The wrestling stuff though… what the fuck, Angela. It was bad when Fear the Walking Dead had a wrestling episode, but the main show? It was just friggin’ embarrassing. It was probably about one minute long but it felt like two hours. Just stop.

House of the Dragon (aka Hot D) will have to wait until tonight. I thought I had a doctors appointment this week, on October 12, but it’s actually next week on the 18th. October 12th is Bruins opening day. Another thing that will wait until later tonight is the finalization of the Bruins opening day roster. They waived three veterans yesterday. Will they be picked up today? Will they be sent down to Providence? Will they be cut completely? Will they remain with the team? Who the hell knows.

In past years, today would have been a day off work for me. Columbus Day, aka whatever people are calling the day instead of Columbus Day because Columbus was a pretty atrocious person who really shouldn’t be celebrated, especially since his great discovery was the result of him being a bit of an idiot. At the start of 2022 our holiday structure was altered to change non-national holidays, like today, into floating holidays. So I don’t have today off, but I can take a day off later in its place. Jen is off today though. I should have put in for today so that we could spend the day together. Three day weekends kinda rule. I think I need to use two days this month again to stop my personal time off accrual from maxing out, again. We’ll see.

There you go, folks. That’s my Monday morning. Happy Monday.

NCAA Hockey and Other Random Stuff

I did something yesterday that I haven’t done since early 2003. I followed a UMass Lowell Riverhawks men’s ice hockey game. I say men’s ice hockey but I don’t know if Lowell has a women’s ice hockey team or not. They didn’t when I was there, but I am hopeful that they do now.

It was after the 2003 season that the athletics department tried to sell the school radio station out from under us and I swore they wouldn’t get a second thought from me until the athletic director was gone. Well, I found out not long ago that he is finally gone, and has been for a few years. He wasn’t fired though, he retired. He should have been fired. Hell, he should have been thrown in jain for trying to fuck us. Whatever, water under the bridge. I can follow my old school’s hockey team again.

Yesterday was opening day. They beat St Lawrence 4-0. I listened to most of the first period. I missed the first minute or two because Bellana and her roommates were visiting. It was 3-0 Lowell when the first period ended and Jen asked me if I wanted to watch a movie (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone). Of course I wanted to watch a movie with my love. Of course. Duh.

The Bruins season opener is in a couple of weeks. October 12th, I think. UMass Lowell doesn’t play again until next weekend. I guess I am now in a hockey black hole, though the Bruins probably have pre-season games this week. I checked, they play New Jersey on Monday and Saturday, and the Rangers on Wednesday. Good.

On an unrelated scheduling note, tonight is the start of the final segment of The Walking Dead. The first of the last eight episodes. I would like to watch it “live” but if I can’t I’ll catch up on the AMC site tomorrow before work. I’m sad that the show is ending, but also ready. It’s time. It was perfect for five-six years, then it slipped for a few years, then it came roaring back. Now let’s let it end before it slips back again. There are at least three spin offs coming, so it isn’t really ending ending, you know? It’s just changing. Still, the main show is a gem and the spin offs will never quite be the same.

I still haven’t watched this week’s Rings of Power so I need to get on that. I also haven’t watched That Pedal Show and that’s unforgivable. There’s just so much good stuff to watch. Really, anything I watch during the week right now is just me biding my time for the next episode of Andor. Did you catch that the woman who played Harry Potter’s aunt in the movies played Andor’s mother? Harry Potter and Star Wars are in the same universe: Confirmed.

Okay, I need to go make Jen some dinner. Wish me luck, folks!

Flake Day

Today is the last day of my four day weekend. I’m thinking of making it a mostly flake kinda day. I have an errand or two to run, and I want to visit mom. It’s her 82nd birthday today. Join me in wishing my mother a happy birthday.

I’m going to bring my camera with me when I go out, but I am not going to go out of my way any where. If I am out of the house and in the neighborhood I might pull over and snap a pic or two, but no exploring for a while. It’s time to start focusing all of our financial efforts on the Disney trip in January. No more wasting gas for a while.

Other than that, it’s music again. Guitars, guitars, guitars, and writing crappy riff songs. That’s my thing for a while. When I start burning out, then I might go camera nuts again. Until that day, it’s shitty rock and roll time again.

My exercise is done for the day and my calorie goal is about 70% complete. It’s time to start exercising like a madman again. I had three days where I took it easy. Now we’re back on the wagon. Let’s go!

Also, with October starting this coming weekend, it’s just about hockey season. I am going to make an attempt to be a UMass Lowell hockey fan again, for the first time since 2003. I’m going to try and catch games on the radio when I can. I don’t think they are on my old station anymore (good, the athletics department is unworthy), but I think they are on Lowell’s AM commercial station, WCAP. The Lock Monsters and the Devils games used to be broadcast on that station. I wonder if it’s the same team? We’ll see.

Here’s the schedule. Unfortunately both games against Vermont are in Lowell, so no hockey road trip to see the kids this year. Bummer, though a part of me is thinking about going to one of the games and sitting in our old Lock Monsters/Devils seats. Section G, Row 19, seats 3-6. Maybe we’ll see if Boston University is playing at Vermont and use them as an excuse. Or maybe Merrimack College? Hell, I drive through their campus when I visit mom. That could be a good enough reason.

No Hockey Trip This Year

Bellana and Harry both go to the University of Vermont. Jen and I both graduated from UMass Lowell. Both schools’ men’s ice hockey team play in Hockey East. They play each other a couple of times a year.

Pre-pandemic I came up with the genius idea of using hockey as an excuse to visit Bellana at school (Harry was still in high school back then). Lowell was playing at Vermont so I bought a few tickets and up we went. We didn’t end up at the game, but we did have a nice visit with Bellana. I couldn’t do this last year when Harry joined her at school because of Covid. I was thinking that this year would be a good year to try again.

I just checked the schedule. They play each other twice this year and both games are in Lowell. Crap. I might get tickets anyway. My UMass Lowell athletics boycott is over now that the ass munch athletics director who tried to sell my campus radio station to the local shitty newspaper is no longer employed by the university so I am free to pay attention again. I am kinda considering becoming a full fledge Lowell hockey fan again. If I do, I might get tickets anyway.

Back when I was a student and went to a few games a year (prior to the ass munch trying to sell the radio station) the place was almost completely empty during home games, apart from the student section. Social distance is easy in a case like that.

I miss hockey in person. Not as much as I miss live music, or playing with the band, but I do miss it. I wish they were playing in Burlington though. I was hoping for a fun excuse to go up and visit. Oh well.

Cellar Window

The plant in the cellar window is definitely growing a new leaf. I watered all of the plants down here this morning and water leaked out of the bottom of every pot. Insert frustrated grumbles here.

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I think there might be new leaves on the other two cellar plants too, but there is also a lot more signs of distress. This pic shows one leaf turning brown at the tip. The other two are showing a lot of that, and it’s all much worse. I am hoping I won’t need to redesign the window arrangement to fit the other two plants.

I don’t want to move my desk swag. I just brought the Devil Dawg here from my parents house where it sat forgotten on a shelf…

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Also, Mabel Pines may be the greatest character in television history. I can’t displace her.

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What to do, what to do.

Games Recap

The Red Sox won tonight, which is good, but so did the Blue Jays so we failed to move up in the standings. Oh well, we will get ‘em next time.

The Lightning won so the Stanley Cup final moves on to game six, which is mostly what I wanted. That’s good too.

The supreme court still over turned Roe vs Wade thus removing critical healthcare from millions of American citizens and thus enacting a literal death sentence upon countless women, so that’s about as evil as you can get.

Games

I’ve been bouncing back and forth between the Red Sox and game five of the Stanley Cup finals.

The Sox are up in the eighth and the Lightning are up in the second intermission.

The Sox are amazingly only half a game out of second place in the AL East. The Lightning are down three games to one and are facing elimination.

Also, the supreme court fucked over all american females today.