It's the Weekend...

The day got off to a bad start. Part of it was due to the fact I stayed up until the wee hours reading the archives of a couple of bloggers I like…I hit the sack around 0400. So, I wake up around 1000, stumble towards the kitchen and begin making the coffee. I removed the old filter from the basket and gave it a cavalier toss towards the garbage. I missed. Frickin’ coffee grounds on the wall and all over the floor. Not good. Not good at ALL. I finished assembling the brew, started the pot, cleaned up the mess and crawled back under the covers, mumbling to myself.

Things got better after the first cup. They always do.

It’s cold: 36 degrees as I write, with a wind chill of 25. I went out briefly, very briefly, to buy mission-essential consumables and check the mail. At least the sun is shining, and that’s a good thing. I see the East Coast is gearing up for what could be a killer snow storm tomorrow. The forecast is for ten to 12 inches for NYC and Boston, who are under a blizzard warning. A classic nor’easter seems to be brewing, but weather forecasters are notoriously pessimistic. It’s never as bad as they want it to be. That’s just my experience, YMMV. Bottom line…I should count my blessings. It may be cold, but I won’t be shoveling anything tomorrow.

Watched the US women’s hockey team dominate the Swiss women this morning, 6-0. It was 2-0 going into the third and then Team USA turned it on, pulling away and never looking back. And Boy-Howdy, Team USA do have some FOXES!

Speaking of foxes and hockey, I saw my very first hockey game in Tokyo, in 1976 or ‘77. The World Class B championships were held in Tokyo that year and I was seeing a DoD-schools elementary school teacher from either Wisconsin or Minnesota at the time (not seriously “seeing,” I was committed (and engaged) to TSMP even though she had returned to the US. But I needed enjoyed female companionship.) Anyway. The lady was a serious hockey fan, a hockey player, and quite…uh…presentable, too. She had tickets to several games and we went. The experience was a revelation: I was simply amazed at the speed and grace of the game, not to mention the excitement. I don’t remember the woman’s name, but I sure do owe her. She made a hockey fan out of me, even though it was nearly ten years until I took up residence in a city that had an NHL team.

While we’re on about hockey: Note to NBC and the rest of the media: It’s HOCKEY, not “ice hockey.” This is the WINTER Olympics, guys, there’s no need to differentiate between hockey and field hockey. As a matter of fact, there’s NEVER a need to differentiate between the two sports. The only similarities between the two are both sports use a net and sticks. That’s it. So get it right, will ya? A pet-peeve of mine.

If you’re reading this, you’re either a member of an elite group of folks or a weird minority, according to Gallup. Gallup didn’t use the terms elite or weird, I should add. Those are my characterizations.

Gallup's annual Lifestyle survey, conducted Dec. 5-8, 2005, finds only 9% of Internet users saying they frequently read blogs, another 11% read them occasionally, 13% say they rarely read them, while 66% never read them.

And the percentage of people reading blogs isn’t growing, either. It’s held steady since Gallup last surveyed such things. The good news? 73% of Americans use the internet. That is cool, very cool. If I had to point to a single thing that’s changed my life profoundly and for the better in the past ten years, it would be the ‘net. I simply cannot imagine life without an internet connection. And I sure do love me some blogs!!