fatwabbit

Better put this up before i start selling it. http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/fatwabbit/Sale%20Items/?action=view&current=DSCN5474.jpg

Funny thing at work, great to see that we all can communicate. The only lady in the office, who loves to organise office functions/outings, decides that we need to go and do something interesting. Suggestions of paint ball, bowling, golf etc are common, so when someone suggested clap pigeon shooting she jumped at it. She gets it organised and tells us of the dates of the event. She's a vegatarian, loves animals, and wouldnt harm a fly. Conversation went something like this: Guy A: Clay pigeons were a bird bred to be shot. You release them and when they fly off you shoot them. Girl: What?!?! Are you serious? Then what about animal laws? Guy B: Its alright, dont worry. Since they are specially bred to be killed its ok! Me: Yea, if they dont die when you shoot them, you have to walk out and use a bat to knock them dead. Too cruel to let them live like that. Guy A: Thats IF the dogs dont get to the first/ Me: Oh yea, forgot about the dogs. Girl: Guys, this is cruel, you cant do it! I'm cancelling the whole thing, I didnt realise there was killing involved. Me: We can do skeet shooting? They are a smaller bird and fly faster, so its more difficult to kill. Girl: I'm not talking to you guys. This is insane. We all shit ourselves laughing, then someone tells her the truth...

Shitty game number 2... just couldnt get anything going except for a few shifts. Playing for a new team, so I dont know how these guys want me to slot in.

NZ had an earthquake this morning ... a few Kiwis here in the office with family back there. Good to hear that they are safe, but houses are write-offs. Vet88 and our NZ brothers, hope you guys are safe.

came back home to visit the folks for a short holiday... i hate driving in my hometown, everyone is in such a freakin rush. Was at the traffic light, i could have turned as the arrows showed that I was able to, but I also knew that there would be a number of pedestrians at this junction. I saw a yound teenager crossing from the other side, so I decided to just wait it out, I mean, whats another 10 sec or so right? I also spotted a kid riding along the sidewalk, and not knowing whether they were going to get onto the street I just held and waited. The taxi behind me just started blaring his horn... I replied by giving him the good ol two fingers instead of my usual middle one... he kept blaring his horn, and i really got pissed at him and cursed with a few choice words. My 6 year old son was in the back seat giggling away as he knew his ol' man shouldnt have said those words. When I finally made the turn, he tried to overtake me, which i gave him the two fingers again. Obviously he stared at me big time, and even tried to jam on his brakes a little to make me swerve or something. As I drove past him at the next lights, it was another two fingers to him. Jeez man, whats another 10sec to your waiting time compared to knocking a child down and they end up in hospital... WTF ... I wish I had taken his licence plate down, and I would have made a complaint to the taxi company. I have no patience for people like this . If you are a cabbie and dont have the patience for road safety, then you shouldnt be driving! I've never driven a cab myself, but my father in law, best friend's dad, and two uncles all drove or are driving cabs and they all make sure its a safe thing. My wife tells me that I should come back to visit, but never live here again. My short fuse would light really really quick.

Floods expected in our area, so far no evacuation notices given yet. We seem to be in good stead... emergency bag with passports, spare clothing, water, first aid all packed, by the door ready to go if necessary.

Props to the sublitwill for making those MSH bags. I had all my spare gear stored in that bag, and due to rains and floods my garage roof was leaking, RIGHT onto the bag. The bag kept almost all the water out, just a little moisture seeped in, but the gear was all stored in nice clean garbage bags so everything is safe.

You got joyce? I got her sister Jennifer Smi-ith... Been raining almost nonstop for last month or so, only 2-3 days in that period without any rain. Flash floods took 8 lives, 70+ others missing in a town nearby up in the mountains... cant believe its that high up and still have probs. Everyone is clearing everything at the supermarkets, flood warnings out on lots of roads. Prayers to those who have been devastated by all the flooding, and also to those brave enough to be part of the rescue squad. Supposed to continue for next few months... this better not shit on my holiday.

Nice... size 12 boot?

Cool story. The guy does have a really good radio voice.

Circuit training. Basically do intense exercise for short bursts, with short recovery intervals. MOST HATED exercise in my time in the army, i would have rather done a 7 or 8km run than do circuit training for 30mins. However, it really helps you burn a lot.

Check out McMaster, go with the 6/32 or 8/32 tnuts. 6/32 will give you more room for error in drilling the holes, but are still rock solid. I went with 8/32 as I wanted something more solid for my fat ass. Btw, I'm in Brisbane.

Kizzash, just use some tnuts and bolts. THey work perfectly, similar to the Graf RMS screws. Just get someone in the US to buy some from McMaster and ship them to you. 100 Tnuts and bolts would cost about $25-$30 including shipping, and is enough for 5 sets of skates.

Not sure where to post this, but I believe its a sweet spot since I wasnt there when this customer turned up. With all the rain we've been having (worse in 100years some say), everything has been flooding. No doubt with all the flooding you get different types of 'customers' coming in. This was taken at one of our branches, near the break area. No doubt the guys will be finding a different place to take a break. Pic is a little big, so I've linked it. Hint: customer is to the left of the road sign in the pic. http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/fatwabbit/Sale%20Items/?action=view&current=smokoarea.jpg

Great stuff! Which brace did you get? Grinder, thats awesome! I'm sure it will be something you will never forget doing.

Actually, roller boots are supposed to be more solid than ice boots, mainly due to the abrasive nature of the ground you would be playing on. Dont think there would be a problem for you to do the inline to ice conversion, but like what some guys have said the alignment of the holders are more important than an inline chassis. I've seen some mission soldier boots on ice holders...

Has anyone converted a pair of Mission NME Nine-1 skates to inline?

Loxish, what size skate on what size chassis? As long as you are comfortable on them it should be fine.

Took a 100 flex stick outside to just shoot the puck around when I normally use a 85 flex. I know why I've never really ripped a good slapshot, mainly due to my weird windup. Focused on winding up properly, and was able to rip a couple of really good shots. Going to try that again tonight with the 85 flex... hopefully can do the same at the rink for tomorrow's game.

I guess it depends on your experience with the store. I remember buying my first pair of actual hockey skates from a LHS back in 1999 in my old home country. I paid close to double the price for a pair of mid-range missions. This was when I was still a struggling student. The store guy acted all nice, helping me size up skates etc (he wasnt very good, as he sized me 1 size too big). I waited about 4 weeks before the skates eventually arrived, and they werent even customs... Played with them for about a month and a half, before taking a shot to the chassis that dented it really badly. Got really upset as I worked my ass off just to save enough to buy the skates. Called the store, and they told me quote 'if we cant fix it, we'll replace it'. Brought it back, the same guy told me to leave it with him and he'll let me know in 2-3days. Every few days I would call back, he kept giving me the 'dont worry we'll take care of you, call back a few days from now'. After two weeks, I just sent a note to Mission directly. The very next day, I got a call from this guy who was all nasty on the phone. 'you shouldnt have sent anything to mission, i told you we would take care of you etc, what the f*ck is your problem...' I told him that he said 2-3 days, and I had patiently waited over 2 weeks. He told me to get to the store and sort it out. Went to the store, and saw that nothing had been done to the skates. When I walked in, he took one look at me, went over to the counter to see whether he had any available chassis to swap out, decided it wasnt worth his time. Went into the back room, came out with a new pair of skates and told me (and I remember this to this day) 'take these skates and f*ck off, we dont need your business'. And thats why I choose to buy from the internet or from MSH... the only good experience I have now is personally knowing the guy who runs the LHS now in Oz. Great guy, talks to you about gear all the time, supports the local hockey scene with incentives, and stands behind his products. If its broke, he'll take care of you for sure... If only it wasnt so darn expensive.

Now where have I heard of something similar before?.... seems like a trend of these things happening.

Chadd.... sorry to hear that. Prayers go out to your dad... best friends are hard to find. Played a game last night, and our captain warned us that this would be a scrappy match. UNSTATEMENT. Slashed and hacked the whole game. Was pushed to the ground (am not a very strong skater) by one guy, and I just kicked out at his feet. As I was getting up, he said to me 'you c*nt, did you just kick me?!', and I told him to 'f*ck off'. He kept mouthing off, and after the subsequent faceoff, I got the puck and used the boards to get around this guy, he tried to hit me hard and missed, only grazing me briefly. Ref called the penalty, and he kept whinging and complaining 'but he kicked me'... ref told him to get to the box "I've been watching the whole time and you are just as guilty, only thing is that you took it one step further!, get in the box!'

after many years of wanting a Nissan Skyline R34, I finally went out and bought one. Asked the wife prior to the purchase on what car I can get, to which the reply was "whatever you want since you are the only one to drive it."... so said Skyline has been fun to drive around. Less than a month later, the wife decides to stop by the local car dealer to check out the latest Honda CRV, and basically my Skyline is history... Bye bye buddy, it was good while it lasted.

This is a video of one of the games I played in last week... I was surprised that they asked me to play on the PK, 3 blocked shots (one with the glove) on that one shift. At the end of the game, I had about 8 blocked shots, 3 of them using the glove. Give me some comments on my skating... going to work on it more this year, along with trying to carry the puck up more instead of dumping it when on the PK. Btw, I'm the one with the silver helmet and red gloves.

Got called up a few weeks ago to represent state again this year at Nationals... filled with excitement to play in Masters (30-40 yrs) and Vets (over 40)... Vets I had to get special dispensation to play as a backup tender. So far in Vets, I've havent had to play yet, but being on the bench with my buds is fun enough. As for Masters... 2 wins, 1 loss, and 1 tied game in the preliminaries... The loss going to QUeensland as we screwed up our lines to self destruction. We were seeded to play them again in the Semis, and hammered 7 past them in a great win. We got knocked out today by Tasmania in a really good game. HIghlights of the tournament for me: - being able to finish a hard body check (even though it resulted in a penalty) - blocking a LOT of shots - setting up a goal with a nice one time feed into the centre - sliding to block a shot that hit me hard enough to go down to the other end, ending up with a breakaway for us that my buddy missed... obviously the crowd could hear me chirping him the rest of the game from that miss - blocking a cleared pass with my hand, setting the puck down, looking at the clock, then setting up the slapper from centre faceoff circle and on target. Goalie had it saved though. - getting to play with my buddies again... - clearing the puck that had me hit the boards hard head first, and thanking myself for buying a M11 helmet. - getting credited by the under 11's kids that I helped to coach... somehow just make me feel like a hero - buddy of mine giving me massive credit... when the kids asked me what position I played, he said I was a 'superstar defenceman, goalie, shot blocker and setup man' - getting to meet and know some of the best hockey chicks around! my offers of free back rubs and massages are still valid! thanks for the fun times... Vets Gold Medal Game tomorrow... would go nice with the Bronze for Masters (should have gotten the Gold) and the Masters Gold I got last year.