Something Squirrelly this Way Comes

I don't wanna talk about hockey today. Canes have lost 4 of their last 5. Although last night's loss is not a result of my jinxing them, so at least my conscious is clear about that.

Here's a game that Kelp told me about. I haven't actually played it as it requires installing & running an Activex control - which I currently am unable to do.

Click on Astero-Raids

I'm surprised that a couple of you didn't give me grief for not posting about the Canes Capitals game on Saturday. Although I'd rather focus on Friday's game between them. Shocking, I'm sure.

I met up with some friends & their friends for the game at the Verizon Center. After horrendous delays on the yellow line (waited 30 minutes for it to show, then another 10 after I got on the train), which was after it took me 20 minutes to go about 2 miles to get To a metro station, I get to the arena at 7.00 exactly. Our seats were up high so we missed the puck drop entirely. As it turns out, I could've been even later & not have missed much that I wanted to see...

You won't get any play-by-play from me on the game. Suffice it to say the Canes lost Saturday, 7-3 (but they won Friday 6-2!!!). Nifty thing that they did was at the end of the game. All the players that scored a goal had their name announced & they came out & skated a bit & then went back in the tunnel so the next person could do their spin. Good way to honor the players & to let them relive the thrill of scoring.

One guy had his first ever NHL goal. I don't remember his name & I currently feel no motivation to look it up as he isn't a Cane. Last time I was at a hockey game (something like 2 years ago), they didn't do the bows for the goal scorers. I think it's a great idea & I hope all the clubs are doing that.

Lesson learned in all this? Don't watch the Canes play the Caps from the 400's at Verizon Center wearing my (previously lucky) maroon t-shirt. Perhaps my 2004 NHL draft t-shirt that AO signed. Hmm....

Labels: Canes, Carolina Hurricanes, hockey, NHL, Washington Capitals

Coworker sent a game along to me a week or so ago. Figured this was a good way for yall to start your Monday.

Basically you control a frog with your arrow keys, jumping from stone to stone until all are gone. Froggie cannot go backwards, so keep that in mind. There's nothing to download or install, so most of yall should have no trouble playing it.

Kaeru Jump

Also, the boards keep changing. There are 10 levels. So if you get stuck on level 7 & can't get past it no matter how many times you hit retry, just click quit & start again at Level 1.

Labels: game, Kaeru Jump

There is a foul odor in the office today. Smells like something died & has been baking in the sun. Foul. Foul. Foul! Thought it was the one lady's breakfast as she often eats ..oddly smelling food in the mornings. I did a walk by of her cube & the odor wasn't noticeable. It seems to be hovering around my cube. I've already checked my sneakers to see if I stepped in something. I've smelled my clothes even. It's not me (which, I already knew but just wanted to double check). I've opened up all the drawers, even the ones I don't use, thinking maybe a mouse had crawled in one & died (there's a rodent problem in the building). Thankfully it's nearly 8. That's when this one guy gets in & sprays Lysol everywhere. Today I'll be grateful for it, even as I hack & wheeze from that smell.

Canes play the Caps tonight & tomorrow! First in Raleigh then in DC. That's two Canes' games I'll get to see. In a row! What a way to start the weekend.

Momma - I'll be thinking of you today. I'm sorry I couldn't be there. Say goodbye to George for me.

The game was fun to watch although, I can't believe I'm going to say this, I was sick and tired of hearing Elevation snippets long before the game was over. Whenever the West scored, the PA system played The Edge's riff's & Bono's Ohh Ohh's. After hearing it 12 times, you can imagine why I was a little tired of it. Tho only because I was actually cheering for the East. I chose to ignore who was "coaching" the East & focus on the players.

Justin Williams & Eric Staal both scored points. Way to go Canes!! What was up with Sid? He didn't seem to be in top form. Perhaps nerves got the better of him? He didn't seem to want to shoot the puck, just pass it to someone else and was hesitant in his skating. Same with Ovechkin, although he did manage to score.

Not that I can fault them. I can't imagine what that must be like. Playing with these amazing players (I can't say the best of the best because Rod & Cam weren't there), in front of a crowd that's cheering for both sides (altho noticeably more for the West) and with different rules (ie no hitting). I'm hopeful that next year they'll shine like they do in regular games.

Unrelatedly, Mousey is MIA.

Labels: NHL All Stars

I had Monday off from work & was lounging around at home in my recliner, numbing my brain with cartoons. I catch a movement to the side of the tv & glance over. There, in front of my sliding glass doors is a mouse. I sit there & blink a couple of times, thinking maybe one of the Rescue Rangers had leapt from my tv into my living room. If that were the case, then apparently technicolor only works inside the tv because my mousey was grey.

Mousey then starts scurrying along & zips behind a book case. He was back there long enough to make me think I was seeing things (re: more than 30 seconds). Then I hear rustling & look over to my couch & here comes Mousey out from under the couch & over Sunday's newspaper straight towards me. I look around me for something to toss at him so he'd veer course, I grab a book (Stephen King/Peter Straub collaboration no less) and wing it towards Mousey. He veers off & scampers in front of me, behind another bookcase & then into the kitchen. I haven't seen him since.

I called maintenance & amazingly enough, I had a guy in my apt with mousetraps in less than three hours. He set four sticky traps with little globs of my peanut butter as bait. Then he gave me instructions on how to remove Mousey when he gets caught before going upstairs to set traps in the apartment immediately above me. I so hope that They are the ones that nab Mousey. Especially since Maintenance Man set a trap Behind my oven. No way I'm moving my oven to remove Mousey & if I pull out the drawer & try to scooch him out with a broom, I'm likely to jar Mousey free of the trap. I have no desire to come home & hear squealing because Mousey's lust for peanut butter got the best of him.

And yes, a couple of my friends have taken to calling him Mickey. Which is fine, I sure hope he's not a Gadget! Or even worse, a pregnant Gadget! *shudders* I bang on drawers & cabinets before opening them now & I turn on lights before I enter a room instead of letting a hall light be enough.

On the bright side the Youngstars All Stars hockey game was on last night. Pretty funny to watch since these guys aren't used to playing as a team & not hitting when they play. Best thing for me tho was the Skills Challenge that was on after the game. Although I did get threatened with statistics - not a pretty thought. The East won both the Youngstars game (9-8) and the Skills Challenge - Way to go Sid the Kid!!!

Tonight is the All Stars game on Versus from 8-11 Eastern.

Labels: mouse, NHL All Stars, NHL Skills, NHL Youngstars, Rescue Rangers

Later this week at Something Squirrelly....

Maintenance Man Mouse Maneuvering, All Star Game Hockey Talk and Canes vs Caps. For today, all I have is

RIP Uncle George

I didn't forget yall on Friday. Honest! I just couldn't get Blogger to work. I'd try to login & it'd freeze up. Or I'd login & then it'd bump me back to the login stage. Did that all blasted day. Stupid, squirrelly thing.

What was I going to say on Friday? Don't remember, other than a rant about the Craps clobbering the Canes in Raleigh :( Ah well, they have two rematches (this Fri & Sat) right after the All Star game.

We finally acquired some snow here in the DC area! Yay! Started about 1 yesterday afternoon & was still coming down when the sun set. The grass is utterly covered by my place and the sky is still gray & overcast. It looks like winter! WoooHoo! Makes me ever so happy that I'm off from work today.

I'm going to make some turkey lentil soup (am making up my own recipe for this), do my laundry, take a nap (or 2) & likely take a walk in the snow.

Casablanca was on last night. Yes, I'm one of those people that if it's on then it's damn near impossible for me to not watch it. I'm always struck by how many popular phrases are in that movie. If it wasn't so good then all the cliche's would drive me to distraction (the overuse & commonplace defintion of cliche, thankyouverymuch). One of these days I'll actually get the movie on DVD. That may cut my tv watching urge in half. Possibly.

The Avs won last night. Woohoo! Canes vs Craps tonight & since the cable people have an agreement to air all craps games, I'll get to watch. Yes! I'll be keeping my beady little eyes open for friends in the crowd. Let's Go Canes!!!

Labels: Canes, Carolina Hurricanes, Casablanca, hockey, Washington Capitals

Not sure what to say other than Muffin - my heart is with you. Let me know what I can do. I'll have candles burning on Friday & call on Saturday.



Good - Canes won.
Bad - Blackhawks lost.
Ambivalent - Penguins won.

The Bruins beat the sabres last night. Woooohooooo!!!! :) I somewhat like the Bruins but I really dislike the sabres so yesterday's game was defnitely a win-win situation.

Unrelatedly I think I figured out the torrent stuff. So anybody maybe Thinking about giving me pointers, feel free. I can always use more info. I evem nabbed the U2 PopMart show I saw (Kansas City 1997) but am still looking for the Vertigo (U2) shows I atteneded (DC, DC, Pittsburgh & Cleveland). Anyone have those? Hook me up with them?

Labels: hockey, PopMart, torrent, U2, Vertigo

Well folks, I can't claim that I wrote an entry for Friday and hit the "Save" button instead of "Publish" button. Technically I guess I could but then I'd be lying through my keyboard. I was just busy. By the time I even remembered it was nearly noon and I was working through lunch. Didn't think of it again until I was walking to my bus stop. So, for all those who live for my entries, sorry. Hope you survived. ;)

I'm currently still struggling to get a grasp on this whole torrent deal. I fiddled around with it a couple years ago but gave up in frustration. I'm trying it again, with not much more success. Leeching I have no problems with (three more U2 shows on my puter), it's the whole seeding aspect. I try but it doesn't work. I seriously don't get it & then I feel like a heel because I'm not helping out others trying to download.

First it says that its reached the seeding limit. Okay, fine. But then I see more people join on as seeders, so I try again. That was over 8 hours ago and it still says Waiting: drag to reorder. What the heck?? Anyone?

Didn't see any hockey this weekend. Got the text with the Canes score on Saturday and possibly did some cursing (lost 3-4 to Thrashers) but that's the closest I got to it.

Labels: bittorrent, Canes, leech, leecher, seed, seeder, torrent

Remember how I mentioned yesterday that walking in three inch heels is a pain? Yeah, well, it became even more painful yesterday afternoon when I did a face plant in the pantry.

The pantries are in the middle of the floor with doors on both sides. I often cut through the pantry to be like a chicken (get to the other side *rimshot*) as it cuts my 'commuting' time down from almost a minute to mere seconds. The floors are a non-skid rubber looking variety. If you don't pick your foot up, your shoe will not scuff forward like it would on carpet, tile, lineoleum, etc. It stays where it is & you stumble. Fine. No problem. Except when walking in the above mentioned shoes.

So I'm walking through, body moves forward, right foot stays in place. I twist trying to grab the table to prevent a fall. This knocks me further off balance, puts my arms akimbo & down I go. Had I not twisted, I could've put my hands in front of me & prevented the full face plant.

I've got lovely red rings on my knees, the one is missing a layer or two of skin. I also smacked my nose & forehead on the floor. My right shoe came off, the packet of papers I was carrying landed neatly on the table and I'm sprawled out on my face. I get up as quickly as I can manage with my singing knees & check my nose for any signs of bleeding. While my eyes are watering & my nose is sending out "ice me!" signals in tandem with my knees, no blood is flowing. I lucked out on that one.

The very best part of this whole endeavor? Not a person saw me fall or get back up. The pain, humiliation & embarrassment were witnessed by me alone. Thank god! I have no problems telling people what a clutz I am but I'd really rather not give presentations. I'm squirrelly like that.

Oddly enough while the floor looks like rubber, it does not promote bouncing. Who knew?

Between winter finally making an appearance here, programs not working normally & the news that a former coworker had a baby boy (well, his wife did) I plum forgot to post an entry before now. Sorry yall. I know that a couple of you have prolly been checking every 10 or 15 minutes, waiting for my pearls of wisdom & squirrelly tales to appear. How ever do yall survive the weekends??

I made a yummy salad for dinner last night. Fresh baby spinach, diced red onion, diced roma tomato, sprinkle of shredded "italian cheese" (mix of parmesan, romano & mozzerella), dash of salt, vast quantities of black pepper (I'm an addict) and a dressing made of extra virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar. Scrumptious! It only seemed slightly odd to be eating a salad while yelling at the tv - two hockey games were on last night.

Actually I think there were 10 games played last night but only two were televised for my viewing enjoyment. The craps clobbered the Flyers and the Avs lost to the Red Wings in a shoot out. Stupid shoot out.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy - The Canes won last night! And it feels like winter outside!

Grr Argh - Three inch heels are a pain to walk in.

Consistency - The shoot out as a way to determine the winner of the game is Crap! Oh and The Edge is a funny, witty man.

Labels: Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, hockey, spinach salad, The Edge

That's what I've got for you today. I can't even fall back on hockey as there was only one game last night & I couldn't even watch it. Kings & Oilers. Sadly the Kings lost (sorry FF).

I had an amusing conversation with a friend last night. Nothing that would interest yall though. I realized shortly after our chat, whilst I was sipping tea, that I've known him for 12 years. Then I felt old. The whole tea drinking part only made it worse. Next thing you know I'll have 18 cats and be walking around in my housecoat leaning heavily on a cane, a pot of tea cooling on the stove. Oy.

Bright note - There's hockey tonight!

Blah note - I actually own a cane.

Other note - Yep, Cam still amazes me and The Edge is still *WOW*.

I had this brilliant idea for an entry today. Thought of it last night and neglected to jot it down so, of course, I can't remember what it was. Lemme retrace my steps yesterday...

Grocery store. Read the paper. Made a modified version of the Harvest Pork Stew (added green lentils, black eyed peas, used pureed cooked squash instead of cubed, granny smith instead of Mac appples, I coated the pork in flour before cooking in skillet (to thicken up the soup) & I put it in the crockpot) - it's okay, apples have lost all flavor & are mush though. Read a book. Thumbed through Q magazine. Texted peeps. OH! Right!

I was on Animal Planet last night :) AP was having a special on the Giant Pandas at the National Zoo. I was in a segment called Baby Panda's First Year which premiered last night.

I have to get this out of my system - Tai Shan is TOO CUTE! Oh man. He's such an adorable, cuddly, fuzzy little ball of cuteness. Okay. I think I'm good for now. But my sheer joy at his cuteness & squirrelly behavior is ever present. So don't be surprised if more commentary about how much I adore Tai Shan pops up.

Anyway I was on at the very end of the segement, during Tai Shan's first birthday party. Yes I went to the Zoo early on July 9, 2005, stood in line, sweated my eyebrows off just to stand at the observation deck with hundreds of other people and see him eat his fruitcicle. Well worth it. You can see my back and the back & side of my head. I recognized my hat. I think I was on the screen for all of three seconds :)

Also, a shocking thing happened to me on Saturday. I was watching the Crapitals vs Thrashers game and, at the very end, actually Cheered when Alex Semin scored with only 17 seconds remaining in Overtime. It was a pretty goal and a great pass from Emminger. Alex O. also ended his goal scoring drought during the game. Will my peeps in Raleigh ever let me watch hockey with them again?? Cheering on the crapitals -surely that's a sign of the apocalypse. I know Buffy would agree....

Labels: hockey, pork stew, Tai Shan, Washington Capitals

I'm not going to focus on the Canes' game last night. Nope. Nosiree. Stupid Coyotes. And why are they named the Coyotes? And is it pronounced Kai-yote or Kai-yo-tee? I've lived in four states & I've heard both versions and have been laughed at incessantly for saying the latter, "Only little kids say kai-yo-tee. hee hee hee." Whatever, Missy. If the person saying that to me hadn't been a good friend, I might have had to smack her.

Instead let's take a gander at other games last night. The Bruins & the Maple Leafs - Holy Crap!! 10-2!! Geez! Poor Bruins. Actually, last night was just a crappy night, hockey wise. The teams I like lost and the teams I despise won. Grrrrrr. And no, I don't despise all the teams that won last just the stars, the devils (sorry TC!) and the crapitals. Admittedly, Ove has elevated the craps in my personal rankings. They're no longer the Most despised team on my list.

Bright note - It's Friday! and it's raining. It's like spring outside.

Sad note - It's like spring outside and it's winter. Oy! Bring on the snow!! The frost! The heavy coats! There's major flooding in the world, drought, blizzards, warm weather when it should be cold and yet there are Still people who doubt that climate change is happening. I bet they even say Coyotes funny... maybe coy-yotes.

Constant note - Cam Ward still rocks my world. Well, not as much as The Edge does, but then, who could?

Labels: Carolina Hurricanes, climate change, coyotes, hockey

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary has a variety of definitions for Objectivity. The one I'm interested in defines objectivity as

expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without distortion by personal feelings, prejudices, or interpretations (objective art) (an objective history of the war) (an objective judgment)

The application of the above has no place here. Especially when dealing with hockey. If I don't see the game then I can, of course, draw wild conclusions based on the outcome. For example, Tuesday night the Canes lost to the Penguins. Obviously it's because the Canes LET the Penguins win.

See the Canes won the Stanley Cup last year and the Penguins, well, nicest thing I can say about their season last year is hahahahahahaha. Err I mean, it wasn't Stanley Cup worthy. So the Canes let the Penguins win one out of the goodness of their hearts. A New Year's gift to the Penguin fans. Yep. Gotta be it.

In other hockey news, the Sentators clobbered the Sabres last night. WOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!! And I joined an NHL Bloggers thingamajiggy (yes, that's a technical word). Click on the spiffy link over to the right for more info.

Labels: Carolina Hurricanes, hockey, objectivity

It's Day Six of my visit from Sneecouphlegmghze and I'm back at work. Good news is my head only spins when I stand up. Bad news is I'm not the only one hacking & coughing here. My new mantra is: Please don't let me catch any more germies.

And this "warming" liquid Theraflu stuff isn't as good as the powdered variety you dissolve in hot water. Leaves your head stuffy (on top of the spinning sensation) and the taste it's umm I'll just say not good. Frankly if I ever ate a real cherry that tasted like this stuff, I'd never eat another one.

Bright note: Gorgeous sunrise this morning here at the nation's capital.

I had today off from work in honor of President Ford. However, I had to use my own time (vacation, sick, compressed day) if I want to get paid for it. Nice Catch-22 from the government.

I spent the majority of the day horizontal on my couch. Thank you
Sneecouphlegmghze. I did spend some time uploading more music to itunes. I haven't uploaded them to Evan yet. He's still got half a battery left & I want to drain him down as much as possible before charging him. And I don't know that there's a way to add music without charging.

So there you have it. Tomorrow I'm back at work, spreading germies to everyone I meet. I mean joy. Yeah, spreading joy. ;)

Muffin,

I know I just talked to you on the phone but I wanted to say Happy Birthday! again. And I miss you and Mr. Muffin should really be doing the laundry today. ;)

Love you buckets,
K.


For everyone else (& Muffin too), Happy New Year!! May you all have great health & good friends in the year to come - A happy, healthy new year.