badger_14

Pro tip: if your opponent is wearing a high school practice jersey, he probably does not belong in D-level. If he is wearing socks with stirrups on them - run, do not walk, to the nearest exit. This man has not been a novice since before you were born, and will not be merciful. I finally played after a goddamn month long absence, and actually played pretty decently. It was probably mostly low C with a scattering of very novice and very not novice players. It's not as bad as some of the ones I've been to. It's hard to judge really, because it seems like there's a bigger gap between C and B than D and C. At any rate, I played respectably, they didn't swap us (the goalies) and I'm getting antsy about getting in ice time before I go to Montreal for the tournament.

We're into trauma (injuries and interventions) in medic school, and last night my instructor set up a sim lab where we had to intubate a mannikin that was covered in fake blood and full of fake vomit, in the dark, surrounded by balloons and furniture, with a strobe light and loud techno music going. It was awesome.

The boss at my "fun" job (not EMS) has been being a bit of a bastard lately - he takes a stripe off us for making any kind of mistake or belittles us for asking for questions/clarification, in front of the customers no less, and I'm pretty sure he's made at least one of my co-workers cry. On top of that, it's not consistent - you never know that day if you'll get Good Boss or Bad Boss, and while he occasionally apologizes, he follows up the apology with a justification of his behavior ("I'm sorry I was frustrated and snapped at you, BUT you're being frustrating" etc). Rumor has it the management is under new pressure from their bosses, which happens, but belittling us or yelling at us doesn't give us the opportunity to help. Some days, I just want to stop him mid-sentence and say, look, is the customer actively on fire right now? No? Do we lack the resources to handle this situation? No? Great, this is not a crisis, and it can be handled without a fuss. He's in the process of having meetings with all the desk staff (by 2's and 3's) and I am not looking forward to it at all.

I'm balancing what I can between school and work; NH is out. :( But we'll find something.

With my friend visiting from the desert (New Mexico), we've had a fine time doing things that aren't available where he is. We've played hockey together, learned that his gear fits in my bag at the same time as mine (no lie; but he's a small guy), made excellent soup with another friend of mine, gone horseback riding (ok, so this is available in NM, but he got to see trees with leaves this time, and blackberries, and rosehips), went swimming in a lake (he never gets tired of all the water we have here - last time, we tried to get him to swim in the ocean, but it was a little too cold for him), and yesterday we went to HockeyMonkey, which has more gear than he's ever seen in one place at one time. Upcoming plans for the week include candlepin bowling and proper seafood.

Got to play with my friend from the desert on Saturday. I felt like I've had better games, but also worse games, and I didn't really face a whole lot of shots. (come on, guys, step it up. this is pickup.) My friend almost had a shot on me, and I probably should've warned him that some of the guys I skate with are quite good. Probably. But they're friendly people. Since getting the flex-toes, I've been playing with the looseness of my straps, testing them out at looser configurations. Finding a new comfort zone. My goalie-friend from medic school has offered to let me try out her spare Brian's pads, since we're about the same height. We'll see if they fit in general, then I'll hopefully be able to give them a go at a pickup or something. Not that I'll ever be able to afford such pads (not til graduating medic school, anyhow)... but it'll be fun to try. She and I are planning to head up to a tournament in Montreal over Columbus Day weekend (not on the same team, of course) with some other folks we know, so I'm trying to get in more time at the gym and pool, and work on my hand-eye with the tennis ball so as not to make a fool of myself. Still have 4 lessons left as well.

I'm sorry you're having struggles! I hope everything works out in the end.

My friend from New Mexico has come to visit before he jets off for a year in Russia. Since I'm a bad influence he started playing hockey, so now we can skate together!

Oh, yes, the Pike is ... things are happening with the Pike (I-90) right now. And like Chippa said, you're right near all the interchanges. Construction at the former toll plazas, plus the Comm. Ave bridge replacement... plan ahead carefully when you head into the city. Depending on what you have to do in town, I'd advise parking at a commuter rail station and taking the train in.

Good idea! There's at least one place around here I know of. I think most of the gear is fine, but I may have permanently stained my favorite jersey. :(

Welcome! I hope you both enjoy the area. Hopefully it is not too miserably hot & sticky on your trip.

Due mainly to the trauma of cardiology finals, I forgot to air out my gear last week, causing a near-hazmat event in my hockey bag. Gear is being disinfected and dessicated, jerseys are being given a thorough wash, but I'm afraid I might have damaged my favorite jersey, and I also need to trash the bag for sure. (luckily I have a spare) Unfortunately I also only realized this last night as I was getting ready for a training session. Gross. x___x

Went to the ortho yesterday and got some long overdue cortisone shots. I always think it feels weird afterward and worry, but then I realize this is just how normal people feel without chronic pain. It's a grand thing. I do wish this (arthritis) had been caught earlier (ortho's opinion is that this has probably been going on since childhood) but I'll roll with what I have, stay active, and hope for some other nonsurgical treatment options as time goes on. For now, I'm enjoying a respite.

Tried a different painkiller today, and a knee-strap (which generally is just whistling in the dark), and on the whole felt much better. It's still pear-shaped (not literally) and I need to see the ortho (Tuesday can't come soon enough) but it was fine for an hour-and-change of hockey. Aside from that, I played much better than the past few weeks. I let in some stupid goals (etc, etc.) but a few different people remarked on improved quickness - I was all over the puck and tracking it, I thought, very well. There were situations where previously I would have lost track but I didn't this time. I've been working very hard (or at least, dutifully) on hand-eye coordination with a tennis ball, a wall, and any spare minutes I have. I try to do like 5-10 minutes a day (on average - gym days it's more, school days I have to squeeze it in during breaks). Just variations on a theme - throw, catch, repeat, throw with one hand, catch with the other, throw-catch with one hand, do all of it on one leg, do it on the other leg, etc. Surprising what a difference that's made. I'm looking forward to scheduling a lesson for this week after seeing the ortho. It's probably just flaring arthritis and I'm due for a couple of cortisone shots. Fingers crossed.

I'd like to hope (depending on the counselor to camper ratio - I will assume you're all in a group of your own with no kids) that the head coach would be okay with having your drills modified a bit, since that's what should be happening with a broad range of skill levels anyway. It's absolutely worth a shot, especially if the other guys are having trouble, too. I've found there's an irksome emphasis on speed-speed-speed in a lot of youth stuff, even at the beginner level - there's a push to keep kids from bumbling around in line, sure, but some folks take it as "do absolutely everything as fast as you can, even if you don't actually know how to do it", so that may just be the nature of this camp and the attitude of the organizers. Hopefully, it works out. :)

That sounds like a great opportunity! Enjoy.

I think I played poorly, but I will blame it on my knee being well overdue for a cortisone shot. When the adrenaline kicked in and I didn't hurt, it was fine. I have been doing a lot of wall-ball and hand eye stuff, and I think my reactions are much quicker. I got a 5-pack of goalie lessons for my birthday, which I intend to parcel out after the ortho checks me over week after next. Looking forward to it.

It's a complicated situation. (The hospice, the dying, for everyone) I didn't say much to him beyond asking if he'd thrown out the books. I know he has a lot going on. (I currently live at home.)

They really, really like going glove-side on you, don't they? You definitely seem stronger on the left side (I think so, but I could be seeing it all backwards).

Alas, he knew what they were. His excuse was that he was just really into the cleaning blitz. He says he is sorry.

I am sure this only makes sense to people with an artistic bent, but my dad (in his cleaning frenzy - the hospice agency insists we need a hospital bed for my mom, so we have to do some weeding) threw out all of my old (high school, college) sketchbooks. Easily a couple dozen. Without asking me, letting me know, or even inquiring what I wanted to do with them. I probably would have been ok recycling them, if I had gotten the chance to scan them first, and keep anything really important as a hardcopy. I'm so angry. For me, as an artist, it's like having someone take out an essential chunk of myself ("oh, this kidney?") and throw it in the garbage. It's a history of me and my artistic development. The books went to the hospital with me many times. The work won awards. Did he throw out the stupid participation trophies from the soccer and baseball I played when I was 5? No, no, those he kept.

Was told I played very, very well today. I didn't feel like it, honestly. Slowly recuperating from my lung infection, I've managed to swim and work out a tiny bit this week, but hockey is a whole 'nother ball game, and I feel like I'm going to regret playing later. I also thought my counterpart was getting hailed, while I saw far fewer shots. I did feel like I did better on the angling thing, after watching a couple of good videos on youtube to get a better visual sense of landmarks, etc. I also got my skates sharpened on Monday, which might have helped. (I'm one of those folks who gets their skates done about twice a year, maybe 3 times). Thirdly, at the same time I got my chest protector, I bought a set of Flex-Toe ties to try. It just about took an act of God to get them on my pads, but they were pretty easy to use and they stayed in place. I don't know if I feel a great and glorious miracle has occurred by wearing them, and I need to do a bit of strap-adjusting to account for them, but I like them so far. They certainly aren't inhibiting my play. I'll consider their impact over the next few weeks in game-play. So far, so good.

We got a brand new pediatric airway sim - a "syndaver" or synthetic cadaver - at medic school, and it is ABSOLUTELY REPULSIVE and the stuff of nightmares but it's also amazing and the most realistic mannikin I've ever seen. (airway just means it's the head and shoulders/upper torso). It has tastebuds for pete's sake. It smells weird. I love it.

Usually I'm not this bad, even after a couple of weeks off. I just feel like everything is going by me. It will do me some good to have a lesson anyway, I think. I can call it an early birthday present. Eh- yes and no. Not in terms of movement (because moving in sneakers on court/concrete is a whole lot different than being in skates on ice). But yes in terms of reaction and alertness, things like tracking the ball/puck. Yes also in the sense that it's good to shake things up and try something different - sometimes I find a different pickup to go to as well, just because it's new people and I don't know how they operate, so it shakes up my brain. Same with playing on the small ice (3v3 or 4v4) vs. the large ice. Inline I think is better than street (on foot) because in street (foot) hockey it's a lot of slapshots and not much else. Inline behaves a little bit more like ice. (even with a ball).

Go to the doctor for a TB test (school requirement), come back with a diagnosis of probable pneumonia. That explains a lot. >(