Nov 28 - And I am back from both a week's vacation and a wild spending spree at Canadian Tire where I swear I have single handedly pushed the stock price up 10%.

You did not get to hear from me last week while up at Carriage Hill for two very good reasons. First, it would have interfered with my R&R and attempts to prove that I could still create World Famous Spanish Coffees after several Guinness (piece of cake - I think) and second the Internet at Carriage Hill is some flavour of AT&T somethingorother and it "sucked". Trying to watch page loads on my TouchPad brought back painful memories of my 300 baud dial up youth and I could not get WordPress to work properly on it so I said "to H___ with it" and went to the fridge for another soothing beverage.

All in all, the time away with friends was nice with one notable exception! I am never again going to play Parcheezi with anyone as a) everyone else cheats and b) when they are not cheating they are ganging up on me to ensure I don't win. Match that up with abysmal dice rolling and it is a good thing I am not at all competitive or I could have gotten REALLY PISSED OFF!

Fortunately I am not like that!

Now that I am back I have some, not much, stored up content that I can ration out. Given the time of year and my schedule, I bet I can make it last a while.

Suspensions - sounds like some folks just don't get it, but I am not sure who the don't get its are? There are very clear rules about needing to sign game sheets and in that brilliant coaches Guide I penned many years ago, (excerpt below but I guess I was not tough enough)

Technically, improper or incomplete game sheets (including missing team official signatures are potential grounds for forfeit and, or suspension. While coaches should appreciate that all of these details may not be rigorously enforced during regular House League play or are often not considered “that important”, it is important to realize that they can be challenged in tournament or exhibition play

and updated regularly and that has since been plagiarized by the ungodly I made it clear, even if you did not read the dreaded OMHA syllabus known as the Manual of operations (Regulations, Section 6.0 team Officials, 6.1, Game Responsibilities, a - coaches, and d - iv other officials, that failure to properly sign a game sheet was grounds for capital punishment.

However, I am somewhat confused here. Unless the aforementioned teams were playing an out of town team or committed some heinous crime that necessitated the learned wise men from Richmond Hill to require said document, then what in the name of Sam Blazes were they doing with the sheet in the first place.!!!!!?? Absolutely none of their business not needed for House League.

AHA!! like Archimedes bathtub brilliance I think By Jove I have it. Two letters - "MD". Those powerful Novice Leafs - Must be "Red" - must be MD - as MD must turn in game sheets to big brother for additional scrutiny , AND voila - the crime is spotted.

If that is the case - beware all you MD victims - the same pitfalls (time off) awaits any and all of you who fail to comply with page 106, Another punishment blessing of the MD world and for what? At Novice?

Coaches - The Headsman is wielding his axe as two NHL coaches bite the dust. One, probably the loudest and most profane of the 30 gets chopped as apparently "his players won't play for him" and the other, one of the quietest (Montreal excluded) because his players apparently just can't play.

You can't fire the players so the coach goes to the block. Pretty save assumption that hatchet time is not over yet as four teams have fewer points than the befuddled 'canes (Flames, Islanders, Ducks and BJs). I'm thinking Islanders and don't be surprised if one of the recent defunctees gets the gig as it seems the NHL brain trusts have moved away from new blood and are back in recycle mode.

Humour - I do so like those exhilarating rides. Who said I wouldn't fit. Ben and I disembarking from the "Bullet Train" at Woodbine Centre. We are #1 - at the CT Staff A Kids party - Photo by Shaun (once he stopped laughing. Wouldn't you know - I am wearing an OMHA shirt.

Brampton - Come back in my next episode when I actually defend BYMA! Unbelievable but true and of course without all the facts as I can't let that colour my opinion.

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Nov 19 - As I was browsing the on-line papers prior to packing up and heading out, two quick items:

First - Happy birthday Andrew. The years fly by and it is hard to believe the "baby" has now more than passed the quarter century mark. See - I did not say exactly how old you are in case it is a big secret.

Second - I'm green with envy - We are off to Carriage Hill but they are skiing at Whistler. Wish I were there. However, it has been a number of years since I did any serious skiing (I don't do mud mountain or sliding in Ontario) so it might be a good thing - health wise - so it is likely a good thing that the maniac does not get loose on the mountain - so much for Whistler Wayne!

Whistler first day!

Now - back to pack and go.

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Nov 18 – Forgive me readers (again) for I have sinned. It has been 10 days since my last blog. It’s been a while – but – contrary to popular belief and likely the wishes of some, yours truly is thankfully still aligned with the green side up and hopefully entering a less frantic period where I can actually find some stimulating content and the time and energy to post it. BUT – Not next week as we are doing the unthinkable and actually taking a second week of holidays within a three month period and heading off to Carriage Hill Estates near Horseshoe and Huntsville. I fully expect that a good portion of that time will be comparing the merits of a foamy glass of Guinness versus the mellow taste of a good scotch and the decisions around what wines to savour at dinner.

Commercial interruptions will hopefully be kept to a minimum even though I will regrettably be armed with both my Crackberry and Notebook in case all “heck” breaks loose as has happened in the past (February 16, 2007 comes to mind).

A lot has been going on since I last checked in among them:

A “sample” sale – with my employer which is an interesting and challenging event where you are tossed into a room with 100 or more of your colleagues to “grab” what appeals to you from the shelves and pile up your trophies to purchase at an unbelievable price. So far there have been no serious injuries in the stampede to grab stuff but it can get interesting as two or more “friends” race to try and grab that set of sockets (probably one missing – but who cares). Over the years I have been to a bunch of these and have had varying degrees of success or failure in snaffling some good stuff I actually need and can use. Cases in point being a set of golf clubs (funny my games is no better) or an area rug that worked out great but now Jane thinks I will come up with one every time – NOT! This week’s event has to go down on the less successful side of the ledger as most of the goodies (if there were any) were gone by the time I got in.

To make it worse, as soon as I get home, my treasures are ransacked and ripped off by the local residents leaving me with the left-overs that one tends to toss in thinking – “What the heck”!

Among those priceless leftovers, I now have a nifty 5’ flag pole that comes with a special fleur-de-lis flag – like I am going to hang that sucker. I also have a Canada emblem fold up double chair that I doubt I can find anyone to sit in with me. Add to that my (pipeless) pipe clamp, 100’ garden hose, nerf pucks, Raid Wasp killer, anvil, shoelaces and a whack of other equally exciting stuff they left for me and you can understand my excitement. Some of the better stuff I got ripped off for include an AM/FM headset radio with hearing protection (that I was hoping to wear to drown out all the whining I am subjected to), Christmas decorations and stuff – happy to give that up, a good folding chair (to replace Jane’s ball park special, and among some other stuff a ready to assemble cabinet that I had got thinking it would be a nice toy chest for Ben’s stuff at our house but it seems to have gone missing. All in good fun.

There is hopefully always next time but for $40 bucks it was an entertaining time.

Remembrance Day – which I hope everyone observed appropriately and bought several poppies for a reasonable price. My perception, which I hope is wrong is that again this year there seemed to be less activity and the “Lest We Forget” really is happening.

The Joe P Story – that has a number of aspects to it along the lines of what did he or did he not know, what did he or did he not do, and what should he or should he not have done differently. I am not going to suggest any defense for any type of child abuse or harassment behavior but it strikes me that the danger in some of these cases is that “Guilty until proven Innocent” is the norm, that sensationalism and public figures sells papers and that you can’t unring the bell. If Paterno is guilty of any inappropriate behavior even if that is simply a failure to act appropriately on information then hang him as high as you want. Not sure there has been any of that demonstrated (with reasonable proof) here. Clearly this is not a popular position and guess what we have more college scandals coming out now so maybe the good news is that people will realize it is not just hockey that has issues.

Leaf Melt-down – In progress

FSMT – I think basically full with a lot of interest in the Peewee divisions. New skill event this year – “Hardest Shot” with the “RADAR” guns. This should be a Riot and a big draw. Keep an eye on the FSMT website for more info as it comes up www.fsmt.ca  – I have to get working on that too.

House Sold and Closed – not mine but Mom-in-Laws. Some folks put a lot of work into making that happen – good for them but it is tough to see such a big change as is another of those signs of the “changing of the guard” and a reminder that time moves inexorably on.

Ben Time – One and a half year olds sure do have lots of energy! Ben was over on the eekend and took “Beep Beep” for a spin (actually several many) around the house. As I noted on my Facebook page with the video, he is already a better driver than a number of folks I know.

Song of Ice and Fire – I am now into serious George R. R. Martin withdrawal. I have finished the first four books (4,000 pages or so) and completely overwhelmed by the surfeit of characters and shifting relationships and allegiances and can not rationalize spending almost $40 for the fifth book as it is still hard cover only. I could buy a Kindle ebook and read it on my TouchPad but TouchPads are not the best eReaders and I am not sure I have come to grips yet with etherware books. I am a tactile kind of guy when it comes to reading. A comment I made to a colleague after I finished Book 4 and went to a Clive Cussler special was that while I always have enjoyed the Dirk Pitt adventures, they struck me as overly simplistic after wading through the level of complexity in Game of Thrones et al. Maybe I will try the Dale Brown I have laying around next.

Sons of Anarchy - Had not heard of this show but someone tipped me off that it was a show I would like. Right they were. It is about a West Coast motorcycle club but not a throwaway biker show. Of course it is another download so I have watched season one. One ends with a hook to get you into season two and I have two and three downloaded and ready to go. Makes for a tough choice with limited free time - blog, or watch biker dudes.

Pack and Go – off tomorrow for a week so don’t look for me here. I may hit the WordPress space – you can check there if you want.

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Nov 8 – Smokin’ Joe has punched out – no pun intended, after a short but brutal battle with liver cancer. Joe was part of what I consider the last hurrahs of the Heavyweight boxing golden days. With Ali, Frazier and Foreman all in the mix and a non fragmented title situation the heavies had a lot of fans, a lot of good stories and a great rivalry. I was a bit of a fan back then – and had picked Liston as a sure winner over that upstart mouthy kid Clay – so I clearly was not a knowledgeable fan – me and millions of others at the time. There were undertones of political intrigue, especially around Ali on his adoption of Muslim beliefs and his name change from Cassius Clay made him a target of a lot of “groups” instead of the darling boy Olympic gold medalist he once was (Rome 1960). Speculation is that he was targeted for the draft as an example and then stripped of his title and jailed when he refused induction. When Frazier won a unanimous decision in the “Fight of the Century”, for Ali’s first loss in ‘67, the speculation was that Joe would never have beat Ali if Ali had not been forced out of the game for three years in his prime.

The two of them battled in MSG for 15 rounds.

Frasier dropped Ali in the 15th but could not finish him off so the fight went the distance and Smokin' Joe won a unanimous decision - in this one!

Ali came back to beat Frazier twice after that including the “Thrilla in Manila” that nearly killed them both. They also marked the end of an era “sort of” as after Sonny the Bear Liston took out Floyd Patterson and Ali took care of both the Bear and Floyd – easily and convincingly, that marked the end of the “Great White Hope” for the Heavyweight scene. While there were a number of subsequent contenders – non ever came close to winning the belt.

Paterno – A living legend in US College ball. 84 years old and the head coach of the Penn State squad for 46 years and a part of the staff for more than 60 years is in a media mess that will do nothing but tarnish an unbelievable record. While there are a number of alleged sex abuse concerns mainly linked to one associate coach and nothing proven, the overall scandal is a mess and creates the whole knows or doesn’t know or who did or did not do what poison atmosphere that must be incredibly hard on a man who has been revered around the football world. Apparently Joe wants to keep on going and coaching “business as usual” but is running into some issues from the administration around him who for example cancelled his normal Tuesday news conference. Another one of those stories where it becomes – “let’s see how this plays out”.

Body checking in HL – Apparently I was misinformed or the situation changed. My info was that Barrie minor Hockey was going to go the MD route and have body checking in HL. Then, they apparently huddled with the OMHA, pondered the decision through the first couple weeks of the season and elected to go No Body Checking. Does that leave only Brampton Youth Hockey’s IC teams and MOHA as the only OMHA (read OHF) centres allowing and supporting House League body checking?

I still owe work on concussions – but – that is a huge topic and needs time and effort to put together. Stay tuned – I will try to get at it.

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Nov 7 – A great weekend for weather and busy on the home front, plus some business time Sunday night which meant I did not get a chance to go out and catch any local hockey action. Have to address that gap this week if life doesn’t get in the way.

The only hockey I did catch – and even I could not take much of it was the absolute pasting the at that time conference cellar dweller Bruins laid on the at that time conference leading Leafs. Ugly. Twice badly burned on quick goals after goals it was painful to watch (unless you are a Wings fan and then your giggling tends to annoy leaf fans). Whatever.

Ben – got to do the whole solo act with Ben Friday night – play, feed, water, bath / shower, change, put to bed, read, lights out!  Apparently this is the first time that anyone other than Mom or Dad has performed this evening ritual on the young man since he was born – and – Grandpa gets the bragging rights – Grandma got aced out as she was not available – too bad – so sad – I win. The good news is that I have not heard that I screwed anything up this time. The bad news is that I received a very vocal indication that someone does not like to leave the bathtub after his ablutions! Very Vocal! However, he got over it.

Craftsmanship – or lack of it. As I have indicated, Jane’s mom has sold her house and as is the case, various and sundry relatives have been figuring up our how to divvy up the spoils manage the distribution and removal of items from the house – especially furniture. Jane and I are the fortunate recipients of her Mom and Dad’s dining room set that the had made when they moved into the house about 15 years ago. They had the set made for them in “Mennonite Country” and it is a very nice set. They had always talked about how it never closed properly but I never paid much attention (should have) until we got it to our place and I took a good look at the tabletop. The so called “master” craftsmen had made the untertop skirt trim slightly longer than the tabletop itself so of course it did not close properly and would not latch! Two minutes on each site with my trusty fine-tooth saw dealt with that little issue until I then found the “screw holes” to bolt the table top to the legs were now misaligned by “that much” – but we managed.

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Nov 4 – I wrote this Friday but with some time and technical challenges was not able to get it posted until today (7^th) – Oops!

One week until Remembrance Day and hopefully I can encourage some support. Usually by now we have a regular veteran selling poppies at the Clarkson GO as I usually go through 3 or 4 a year. So far I have seen a seller there on one day. Not a good sign. There are clearly a diminishing number of veterans left from WWII as a 20 year old 1939 recruit would now be in his or her early 90’s. That does not make their or later veterans needs any less important or deserving.

Along those lines in my daily pursuit of knowledge – e.g., playing along with “Stump the Chump” on Q107 I got the answer wrong!

Q. how much does the annual Poppy Drive bring in – hint – 18 Million poppies are sold. Is it a) $1 million, b) $5 million or c) $10 million.

Trying to be cautious in my optimism, I went for the middle ground - $5 million.

WRONG – Answer – a) $1 million!

Given I usually toss in a Toonie for each of my shopping forays, that makes about $8 off of yours truly and by math would imply a haul of $144 million – not even in the same world as reality. Who are the cheapos who must be putting in pennies, nickels or dimes to sabotage the total? Even if they all went for a lousy “quarter” they would get $4.5 million bucks! Come on folks – step up. Especially anyone with a veteran or military member in their family. It should not be “Lest We Forget” but more like “So We Remember”.

Leafs – Have you got your Lord Stanley tickets and souvenir T-shirts yet? The unstoppable force is rolling over all opposition – regardless of who they stick between pipes. Probably an idiot question but when was the last time a team had used three different tenders in the first 13 games. Last night’s big win was probably helped somewhat by the local boy unfortunately allowing 4 of the first 11 shots to elude him resulting in the big hook coming out.

Regardless, the local yokels recent perennial doormats are at the top of the division conference and the powerhouse Stanley Cup Champs are at the bottom. How long before this flips?  Local Buds – enjoy while you can.

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Nov 1 – Anyone want to buy some mini chocolate bar treats? With a grand total of about 20 kids coming to the door last night we still have a whack left over despite loading up those brave souls who did venture to Chez Moorehead. AND, the last thing I need to be doing is stuffing myself with chocolate treats.

Short - but at least a post. Had a chance to go over and play with Ben for a while so we could not pass that up. I am definitely working on turning him into a "Grandpa's Boy" and so far it seems to be working. He seems to think I'm a good guy and fun so don't anyone clue him into the real facts. I must admit though that these knees do not take as kindly to playing on the floor as they did a generation ago.

Then it was back to base to work on some other volunteer stuff so dinner was grab a couple of sandwiches and head to the tech centre.

With baseball basically over and all the other stuff going on, sports (even hockey) have taken a bit of a backseat in my schedule these days. Things are so bad with all of our schedules that we did not even get the Family Hockey Pool drafted this year. After my performance last year, that is maybe a good thing.

Could it be? – A crack in the Leaf Nation, or should I say the Leaf Nation’s Corporate Clients’ pocketbooks. Not sure I recall the Leafs actively promoting (broadcast and print media) the availability of suites for their games – or at least not to the level that is out there now including the hyperlinked on-line ad in the Globe & Mail.

Somewhat ironic as they are off to one of their best starts in recent years. Maybe folks have caught on to the lack of value in a $10 hot dog.

Look out it is Yuletide Time – with Halloween out of the way, it will be full on Christmas hawking in every retail store on the planet. There was an interesting article in the Globe & Mail on the Zellers situation – as they are basically in a wind down holding pattern pre Target take over but CEO Mark Foote (ex Canadian Tire) is still charged with making a pile of dough and keeping them viable until store close.  Not an easy task. Of note the picture posted by the G&M shows Mark in a Zellers store buried in Xmas decor and stuff.

Can the unending and irritating Carol music be far behind? Almost two months of this fun to go.

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