Odd Bits - Valentine Edition

Happy Valentine’s Day to you, cherished member of the D-fish online family!

Things seem to be coming back alive today.  The sun is out, snow is receding and life appears to be returning.  Granted, we’re supposed to get more snow tomorrow… GAH!

Ice abounds as the snow melts.

Even our orchid has been reborn.  This is its 4^th time blooming, I believe.

Pinky has to work today, so I’m able to chill and watch the Penguins game in peace.  I left her a card and some chocolates on the table for her to find this morning.  I brought flowers home on Friday,

When she gets home, she’ll get her real present.

A rose pin from Danbury Mint.  They make some nice stuff and have the added bonus of keeping me out of jewelry stores.

Then I’ll make dinner.  I always try to avoid eating out on Valentine’s Day.  I hate the whole grind of the experience.  Instead, I’ll make dinner at home.

Nothing says “I Love You” like a big plate of meat and shrimp.

Transit Travails

I finally got out to work on Friday.  The Metro (subway) runs on an aboveground track for half the way, then goes underground.  But on Friday, they were only running on the belowground segment...  it was something about the cars not being able to keep connection with the electrified 3^rd rail.

  So I had to take a bus from my subway stop to the first of the underground stops and get on  the subway from there.  All in all, my commute went from its normal 45 minutes to an hour and a half.  I’m just hoping they have everything all cleaned off for Monday.  This is NOT a method of travel I want to continue.  The bus ride sucked.  Next time I’m tempted to complain about the Metro, I think I’ll be more inclined to shut my yap.

One decent thing happened though.  On the way home, as I was at the last underground stop, waiting to get back on the bus to take me home, I was in a small mob that was waiting with me.  A bus pulled up and a bunch of people were able to get on.  Then right as I had my foot up on the first step, the bus driver cut off the access.  I was pissed because I’d been there long before a lot of the people that had gotten on. 

Then the bus pulls up about 4 feet and reopens the door, to a second portion of the mob.  I have no idea why.  Oh, I was seriously pissed!  But then a guy that saw what happened stepped back and made a path for me to get on.  I said, “Thanks bro!”  That was a real decent thing for him to do.  And probably the first time anyone has ever shown me any kind of courtesy on public transportation.

Misuse of Grammar Police

This is a pet peeve of mine.  I absolutely hate it when people on TV, especially sports announcers, misuse the phase “mano a mano.”  They almost always use it like it means “man to man,” when in fact it means “hand to hand,” and does not apply to every one on one confrontation.  If you ask me, it applies to sword fighting, arm wrestling and thumb wars.  It does not apply to pass coverage in football, track and field races or Wheel of Fortune.

What it tells me is that the speaker is trying to sound smarter than they are.  If you’re going to use a fancy foreign phrase, you should at least be sure you’re using it right.

Live in Concert

I also got out of the house yesterday to do some shopping; a big excursion to Wal Mart.  (No, I didn’t see anything that would qualify for those grotesque pictures that go around)  But while I was there, I had another one of those moments where you just have no choice but to buy something you didn’t intend to.

This was $7.00.  It was like they were paying me to take it.  Best live rock band ever… it was a no-brainer.  You can never have too much Angus Young. 

Plus, I actually saw that tour in 1996, when they came to Albany.  Our seats were in the 2^nd row on the side.  When Angus came through the crowd on his roadie’s shoulders, I was close enough that I could almost high-five him.  I almost shit my pants.

We watched Tina Turner in concert last night on the Palladia channel.  The show was from last year.  That means she was 70.

I could critique that she wasn’t nearly as active onstage as she was when I first saw her in 1986 (and twice after that).  She still got around, of course, and still danced up a storm from time to time, but most of the time the dancing was left to her 4 very hot dancers.  So compared to her old self, she was not at that level.  But compared to the 70-year old population at large?

Holy hell, she’s a freak of nature.  And still looks damned fine.  Whatever she’s doing should be bottled by AARP and sold over-the-counter.

More Puck Droppings
The Pens played the Nashville Predators today and lost in a shootout.  But it was good to see one of the Predators players again, Steve Sullivan.  He used to play for the Albany River Rats when I lived up there.  We used to go to a lot of Rats games in 1994 and 95.  Sullivan was really small, like 5’7” but was very fast and very slick with the puck.  He was also much scrappier than you’d think for such a diminutive fellow.

Even though the Rats were the New Jersey Devils’ farm team, it’s always been hard to root against the kids I saw come up through the system.  Not many are left in the league, let alone still with the Devils, but I’m always happy to see them turn up.  It was like watching a kid’s team grow up and succeed. 

Question: So why am I bothering to bring this up? 

Answer: So I can use this picture:

The team had a Meet the Rats Night after an early-season game, where you could go around and get autographs from all the players right on the ice.  Sitting down, with his pads riding up, Sullivan looked like a little kid wearing his dad’s clothes.

Mini-Milestones
Today is an anniversary of sorts, but not really a big deal. 

One year ago today I made my first Darwinfish2 post.  I don’t really count it as anything because it was at least another 2 weeks before I actually circulated the URL and told anyone about it.  I thought it was important to have a little something there for first time visitors.  But still, a milestone is a milestone.