EJB

After my local Pure Hockey told me they were ending their sharping deal with the platinum membership & extras with skate purchases etc(I don’t remember the last time I actually paid for a sharpening) & are going to a flat $10 a sharpen, let alone depending on who was working, sometimes a sketchy cut, I decided it was time to pull the trigger on this. We have 3 skaters and though my son and I tend to go too long between sharpens, seems my daughter wants a fresh sharpen about every 4-5 skates. Ordered tonight, meh...what do I have to lose.

So sorry. It’s such a difficult road and unfortunate that our pups don’t share our life span. Sending you positive JuJu.

I’m and idiot(happens more than I’d like). Getting ramped up for the season. Though the pup didn’t “need” a stick, she’s put a beatin on her primary(been using it for a solid 7 months?), so just added another to an order of other junk, random purchase. Got it home, cut it and said no outside work( shooting gallery with a pad, she’ll take clappers until the sun sets), just ice. Mom takes her to a stick and puck & she tells me “Too stiff dad, no flex.” Ordered the 67, not the 60.... GREAT!!!

JWHL schedule change to put us in Boston in early October vs late November.....I’ll take that all day long.

When trying on new skates, said the new JetSpeeds didn’t feel great. I’m not sure that there was a change from the original JS’s and the current model, but she felt there was and jumped to Supremes. One bake & two powerskate sessions and she says they are perfect. I wasn’t there at the fitting, just her and mom.

Last Summer Middle School League game of the year.

That is terrible news. Worst thing about our furry kids is that we are almost guaranteed to outlive them. Sending positive JuJu to you and your pup.

Does Sparx do the discounts fairly regularly? That SUMMER100 & ACCESSORY20 could save a person a chunk of change.

Before that we had 2... I guess I didn’t count the Maverick Center, that we skate on as well...so 10/12. Really 10/13, when the Olympic Oval opens up the other side for hockey.

Thank God for getting an Olympic bid in 2002. Because of that I have I have 9 rinks(11 sheets of ice) within an hours drive. Not too bad with a population under 1.75M(that’s generous I think). Ice time isn’t bad either, we do a private drop in for $185(think that’s what we pay, not more) for 1.25 hours every Sunday from April to September, when the ice dries up due to youth league play.

^^^That’s a tough situation. I know that happens, it’s terrible/unfortunate. I have empathy for you and a bit of anger at the situation. I think it’s ridiculous to force a kid to become a single sport athlete. The soccer club we play for, is somewhat due to their willingness to allow her to forgo the Indoor season, there are other clubs that will not make that concession. I know that puts them in a tough position(she’s a keeper), but appreciate their willingness to work with us. This is a bigger issue for kids, even with us saying we’ll split, we can only commit to two sports. So many sports are becoming year round. My daughter wants to start playing lacrosse, she’d play basketball if she could, she loves to golf. It is surely not my youth, when you played the sport in season.

Delta change fees!! Even them cutting them in half cost me $405. Tournament schedule & team wanting to practice the day before(us changing leaving a day earlier/coming back a day earlier). Not to mention the $53 a ticket in air change....

BINGO^^^ If it’s not the kids dream, you’re behind the 8 ball and better rethink. You can’t buy drive. Funny story, we were out in Boston and my pup was crushing. We were sitting around the hotel bar after, having drinks, keep getting “Where is she going to prep school.” “What’s he plan.” It was odd the looks I’d get when I said, there is no plan, just having fun and honestly, probably just going to the U. Wants to be a teacher. Will end up playing beer league somewhere. Looks boarded on disgust. She he has an amazing amount of drive.(funny, my son didn’t get any drive until he was a freshman in HS, didn’t play anything but rec hockey until he was a Jr. in HS). Shoots pucks for hours in the drive. Works hands with a golf ball watching TV. Is becoming crazy on diet and fitness. Comes down and asks to go to S&P or drop ins that I didn’t even know were happening. That said, doesn’t want to billet where offered(no tryout, just camps or word of mouth) and is content & happy. One of the teams she’ll play on this coming year was word of mouth, text out of the blue with offer for spring teams which we declined & then offer for season which we accepted. Guess end of the day, as a hockey parent, I am most interested in raising a great kid(already did one to adulthood), hopefully have them get a good education(X2) & support all their hopes and dream. All three of those have nothing to do with outside forces. I’ll conclude with an awesome story of raising a great kid and tonight. I was working the box and one of her old coaches was coming on next and visited me. We chatted for a bit and the game ended during that time 10M(during game and shorty after) or so. She obviously noticed at some point and skated over to say hello to him, give him a handshake, that became a hug. I just stood there and was proud. I am not sure why that stands out to me, but I guess could have just rolled off the ice, but wanted to touch base and I thought it was awesome. (how’s that for a who I am dump. Probably posted too much in this thread)

That’s very well said Chk Hrd. I agree, spending money on your kids sporting activities, doesn’t mean that you are trying to build an athlete that will someday get scholarship offers. It does happen, assume everyone involved in competitive athletics could name someone they feel is driven by that exact thing. I have spent A LOT of money on hockey, will spend a year worth of college this year alone for my daughter. More or less, depending on the school I guess.. I do it because my kids love it….and my wife and I love it. I get to go to Boston, DC, Vermont and Ontario twice this year to watch her play. That’s not even counting trips to Colorado and Idaho/Wyoming/Montana. They are GREAT family trips and we build lifetime memories. I look forward to each one, they are mini family vacations. There are worse ways to spend time and money, than traveling the country with your family watching kids play hockey. No scholarship needed. Son just finished 4 years playing for the University of Utah in the ACHA. Will have his masters in IT this fall and graduates with zero debt. Never touched his college fund for tuition, but did recently as a down payment on a house. If my daughter chooses to go to college, we will pay for it in entirety. Hopefully like her brother, that doesn’t include dipping into her college fund and she uses that as a springboard her post university life.

I’ve said it here before, but my opinion is to give your kid(s) options(different teams, levels, tryout options, practice expectations[including dry land] of said teams, ways that may change their fee time habits, homework schedule etc) all the information as you know it and let them drive the decision. Once they make the decision, that is a commitment to the team and themselves, to work hard and complete that commitment. The following year, they can get that same information and make a decision. They will have some insight into what that entails. I also think multi-sport is very important. We specifically say we don’t commit year round to a sport related to this. I also think that if a parent has their kid in any sport as a means to a college scholarship, that’s unfortunate, but who am I to judge.

That’s horrible, sending positive thoughts to you and your family. Take care.

Yes

It was great to finally meet you & so fun to watch the teams compete. I hope we can make it up to Montana for round 2!

Winter season ended tonight for the D3 team, tough two and out. Still D4 going. But why “Sweet Spot”, Summer season coming and shorts and flip flops in the locker room !

Canon 70-200 2.8

Check that total. Just talked with Canon Factory Service, after opening her up for the repair, more damaged to the lens than they originally thought. New estimate will put me around $850 total. I authorize the payment and fix, but at this point I really wonder if I should have just paid another $450 and bought a new lens. After a phone conversation and being assured it’d come back like new, I went that direction. Not a great day.

You know, that’s a good question and should have checked. Paid now, but I’m going to look into it, never know in the future. May even be worth a rider.

A lack of focus, leading me to drop my camera is going to cost me a little over $450 in repairs to the lens. It appears the camera body was not damaged, I say appears as I threw another lens on and snapped a single pic that looked fine on the viewfinder. I will say that Canon Factory Service has been great to work with.

Strange. You’re sure he knew who you and your son were? Did you email the guy for an explanation?

So sorry.