Well I must say, I'm pretty pleased with myself. I have ventured into the scary worl of HTML codes and it has been, interesting...to say the least. A little tweak here or a tweak there and you've got new colors and a different font...sweet.
The font on the title of my blog is actually beautiful Celtic knot letters. The big let-down is this. Unless people have that font in their computer, they will not see it and it will appear as dopey ol' block letters. Bummer. If anyone wants the font I'd be happy to send it along. Just click the little celtic button and email me.

Last night the Lovely One and Myself watched the Devils game. Hockey has always been my favorite sport. Ever since I was old enough to watch tv I got into hockey. It is fast, physical and exciting. My parents were both hockey fans. My dad played when he was younger. No college or anything, just shinny with his friends. He was a Montreal Canadiens fan and my Mom likes the Bruins. I watched the Bruins from day one but as I got older ( and wiser) I realised sadly that the game was more about money than the love of playing or actually putting a competitive team together. If you're a Bruins fan you will understand this more than any other fan of any other team. To say the Bruins are cheap is a grotesque understatement.
When I was younger, as a treat on school nights, I'd get to stay up to see the first period, maybe second of a Bruins game. My Dad was always willing to let me stay up later than my mom was and one night it bit me in the arse. In Catholic school I had a teacher named Sister Ann. And one day the whole lot of us failed a test miserably. Well ol' Sister Ann felt the need to dish out a little Catholic School Justice. She demanded we all be in bed at 8 o'clock that night and that she would be calling to make sure we were. Yeah right.
Well at 813 the phone rings. I am cuddled up on the couch between my parents enjoying the game immensely. What follows is my Dad's half of the conversation. " Oh hi there. How are you?" "No. He's right here." now almost annoyed "He's watching the hockey game with my wife and I." and then, fake seriousness for this next part. "Ohh..I see..Well, yes I will right away. Goodnight Sister."
He looked at my mom then me laughling. "Are you supposed to be in bed?"More laughing. I explained the whole thing and my Dad laughed. "Don't worry about it. Just tell her I sent you right to bed." While my mother didn't like that, and protested to the fact I was instructed to lie to a nun and that I'd surely burn in Hell, or at the very least spend a good amount of my time in the afterlife in Purgatory... it forever cemented my dad's image of the good cop.

Back to the money thing..........
My first encounter with an NHL work stoppage occured in the early 90's. I was on a bus trip to see the Bruins play the hated Montreal Canadiens. A bus ride from Rhode Island to Montreal is about ten hours. Although there was onboard entertainment. A group of folks ( some of whom were actually policemen) were sauced by 9am. Or, roughly Worcester Massachusetts. We were even pulled over in Vermont for speeding. Our bus driver, a tiny Frenchman from Woonsocket, whom we dubbed 'Frenchy' for the trip told us, "okay you guys, I do the talking. Nobody of you say nothing." Well, Frenchy got nailed by a Vermont State Trooper for speeding. He explained we were all Bruins fans on our way to the Forum, but to no avail. Well he comes back onto the bus, stomping his feet and holds up a ticket. There is a collective groan from the group and then silence. We were about a mile down the road when one of the guys from the back said quietly "Don't worry Frnechy. I gave him the bird for you." Laughter rustled throught the bus and Frenchy raised his head and look into the rearview mirror with a slight grin on his face.
We were at a lunch stop in White River Junction when the tour leader told us the news. "Okay guys. It's official. There is alock-out." Well the boos that we gave shook the poor man to the core. HE looked abit worried and tried to appease us. "But don't worry, we can get you guys tickets to the Expos (baseball) pre-season"
"The fucking EXPOS!!?? Tell us you're kidding." Well that was as close to a riot as I ever hope to be. Thankfully the alcohol that had soaked into the brains of most of the group was clearly steering logic. "S'okay, there's some good stripclubs downtown." And the crowd rejoiced again.
I sat thinking of the unfairness of it all. No hockey and two days in a foreign country with nothing to do. Hell I wasn't even old enough to get into one of those strip clubs!

Flash foward to last year. A full season cancellation. You are shitting me right?? No hockey for a YEAR??? The news was so traumatic that one the day in question, the Lovely One came home work to find me in the corner, curled up in the fetal position, twitching & chewing on a puck.
Don't ever tell me it's NOT about the money. I'm too old and too smart for that.
This year, though, I have really started to enjoy hockey again. The league made several changes, 90% of them for the good, although I'm not crazy about the 'kinder,
gentler' NHL. The new rules regarding hitting have made it nary impossible the just clean someones clock as they pass through center ice or to put them into the first row of seats. A defenseman can no longer ride a speedy foward away from the net, even if he does it clean using the body.
I mean, nowadays if you pass gas next to someone you're going to the box for two.
The league has greatly improved a poor product and now if they could just tweak a few little things, the NHL will be the supreme package it was many years ago.

Happy Thanksgiving

Good Morning and Happy Turkey Day.
The day started early enough, as most days do at the Leprechaun Inn. Thanks to Chainsaw. I have been awake since around 5. It was the cat who woke me up and back pain that kept me up. I finally got out of our nice warm bed at around 630 or so. I was in a sleep-deprived fog so I can only guess what time it was. The Duffster was ready to roll so I let him out so he could pee and bark at the sky.
Today is a day for giving thanks. To reflect on what we have and be happy about it. Here are some of the things I'm thankful for. First and foremost will be the LovelyOne. It's a wonderful thing to share your life with someone wonderful. She is smart, pretty, a great cook and has amongst other things, a great smile, pretty eyes and a wonderful heart. She has helped me to grow into the person that I am today. Well, I was a person when I met ehr, but I was lacking. She has made my life special and for that I am thankful.
I'm thankful to live in a country where I can say, read and do what I want. I can bad-mouth the President without fear of retribution, I can listen to any music I want and I can watch what I want. I don't have to get permission to drive out of state and I can get on a plane and leave the country. I'm thankful for the bravest men and women in the world, our US armed forces who put their lives on the line every day to keep me safe from those religious zealot, wing-nut, camel-humping terrorists.
I'm thankful for our cozy little home. It may be small in size but it's big on comfort. Alot of folks don't have the comforts I do. Some don't even have a home for the holidays. So I'm thankful for the comforts we have.
I'm thankful for my pets. Even though they make me want to pull out my hair at times they are ( mostly) a pleasure to have. Yes, Smoke, even you.
I'm thankful to have a job. My job, like my pets, makes me crazy at times, but I'm thankful I'm employed and keeping food in the fridge and the heat running.
I'm thankful for my health. Yes, my back hurts sometimes and is a nuisance most of the other times, but overall I'm in good shape.
I guess that's all...there aer other things I'm suer, but at this moment those are the biggies.
Everyone enjoy your holiday.

The Devils of New Jersey

Last night the Lovely One and I ventured north for my first Devils game. The ride wasn't too bad but we parked in the Giants stadium lot, which is about half a mile away. Yes. And it was freakin' chilly. We got in and found our seats. Which required, two llamas ( of the Dahli variety,) an oxygen tank, an two sherpas to reach. The view wasn't bad really, but I would have enjoyed the game more if it weren't for those pesky pigeons. I was also somewhat disappointed Alexander Mogilny was a scratch.
The Devils played a good hard game and Marty made some big saves and they beat the hated Montreal Canadiens 5-3. We sat in an area that held three people who knew hockey. Myself, Herself, and the young lass in front of us. She was I'd guess late teens and sporting a Brodeur home jersey. Everyone else may have been at a curling matchjudging by the looks on their mugs. I mean, some of these people had a look on their faces like an 80 year old man who orders a Tapioca and has a bowl of Jell-O slid under his nose. Complete and utter bafflement and disdain. Really people. Stay home. There was the eejit three rows over who demanded Brian Gionta be sent to the minors for not scoring. As the night wore on, he had the bus to Albany filled with everyone but Larry Robinson. Beer and stupid people do not mix well. All that aside we had a great time and hopefully we can go again. This time we'll get seats a wee bit lower.
Today will be somewhat busy. Food shopping and then I will ventuire out and pick up one of the Lovely One's Chirstmas presents. Maybe two if I can find what I'm looking for.
The animals have done it agian. There is a furry little conspiracy going on in this house. They will not let us sleep past 6 a.m. I'm thinking sedation is the key. Just a little to get them ( or us rather ) through the night.

Here it is Wednesday. The week is winding down. Thankfully. We have been fekking busy at work and I've put in lots o' overtime. Tomorrow night the Lovely One and Meself are going to see the New Jersey Devils. This will be my first Devils game. I'm pretty excited. I have been to alot of hockey games and I was fortunate enough to see a few in the old Bahhston Gahhhden, the Montreal Forum and the Colisee in Quebec.
One thing about Quebec. All the people there suck. They are rude, arrogant, ignorant and if they know you are an American, they won't even talk to you. Not to mention they want to secede from Canada. What is that all aboot? Yes they want to be a seperate...I dunno...colony?? Country??.Who knows. I guess if you spend enough time living that close to the freakin Arctic circle eating goose patee your brain will start to misfire.
But I digress.
I havent been to a game here in the swamps of Jersey yet but it should be fun. The Lovely One and I went to a AHL game when I was living in Rhode Island. The Providence Bruins. We had great seats too. Right behind the net about ten rows up. Sweeet.
The weather is getting colder and you know what that means. The Leprechaun will beome increasingly crankier and crankier as the winter months drag by. Grrrrrr..
My darts team had another rough week. We lost 10 of 14. Ouch. We're not bad players, we just have trouble getting hot all on the same night. I love to play so I'm not super concerned. The great thing about this league is the guys are all cool. Nobody freaks out and screams or stomps their feet when you play bad. We bust balls, of course. But that's what guys do. It's our job.
Tonight the Lovely One is out getting anew do' and I'm home with the boys. Who are both, mercifully, sleeping.

We have a cat and a dog. They both get along well and at times I'm certain they are conspiring to kill us. They get between our legs all the time and one time I am going to fall ass over teakettle and bust my little melon open. I can see it now, they'll look at me and then high-five each other and the start the plotting on the Lovely One. Nice huh?

The pic at the top is of our 20 pound bruiser cat. His given name is Smoke. But since I've had his teeth sunk into me on a few occasions and he has the loudest purr in the history of cats I call him Chainsaw. He's quite the kitty and can even open doors. Yes. He gets on his hind legs, wraps his front arms around the knowb and works it 'til it pops. Now if I could only treat him to get me a beer from the fridge....

My New Digs

Greetings fellow AOL Expats. I'm thinking about setting up residence here at Blogpsot. The good folks here have decided to let me have acrack at Journalville in this neck of the woods and we'll see how it goes. As you may or may not know. the folks at aol have decided to stick 'banners' at the tops of everyones journals. There is much unhappiness.
As a matter o' fact, Jennifer @ still randomly rambling... is here also. Check her out. You'll like her.
I found out about the newest aol debacle from her journal. Apparently they stuck an ad for Cialis chewing gum on the top of her blog. Right there is nice big green letters. Cialis Chewing Gum. Longer...Harder...Sweeter... or something to that effect. She wasn't thrilled. Can't says I blame the woman.
Anyways. I'm hoping this works out here. The controls seem easy enough.
So enough for now. More later.