One of those days

Yesterday was a good one. I had a business lunch that I will just say I could do no wrong. It could have been a really bad situation but the planets were all aligned for me and everything went better than perfect.

And then there was last night. Wow. A few months ago hockey season started and to be nice the Thrashers werent doing well. 0-6 start lead to the firing of the coach. During the crappy start, I started thinking what would be something fun to do. A theme night seemed like something fun and so I started putting it together.

I thought why not celebrate the Thrashers' radio color guy, and former NHL'er Jeff Odgers. When Odgers played hockey he was known as "the Sheriff" because he was usually called upon to dispense justice on the ice. He rocked the foo-man-choo. So the thought was get an old Thrashers jersey, a badge and a fake mustache and you could show Odgers some love.

My original thought was there would be maybe 10 of us doing it, sitting together and having a great time. What we ended up with was 30+ people sitting in two areas of the arena, lots of time on the jumbotron and the mascot dressed up with us. After the game, Odgers' on-air partner donned the badge and 'Stache. When they interviewed Thrashers player Chris Thorburn, Thorburn was handed a 'Stache and even though he had no idea what was going on he was a good sport and put it on, too.

Odgers seemed to enjoy the love and posed for pictures and signed autographs.

Yeah, this actually happened.


The best mascot in the world gets in on the fun






Thrashers radio guy Dan Kamal getting in on the fun


Thorburn putting on his 'Stache


The Sheriff and his fans

Christmas comes Early[ier]

Last weekend I had to go to a meeting. I was running early so I stopped off at a local mall to kill some time. I am walking around and see Santa. 3 days into November and there is the jolly fat guy pushing parents to purchase some photos of their kids visiting him, as well as encouraging spending money at the mall. I check the local paper and see that this mall was the first this year to push Santa.

I remember a time, not that long ago mind you, when you didnt see Santa until the day after Thanksgiving. You had to wait for him to ride his sleigh down through downtown Manhattan on the Macy's parade and then the next day he would magically appear at your local mall. Next year you will see Santa in early October sporting a Halloween costume (no doubt pimping whatever kiddie movie is playing) and handing out candycorn and chocolate. My Grandkids will probably think that Santa and Uncle Sam are the same person. Fireworks that look like trees and snowflakes will be standard issue at your 4th of July celebration.

Sunday the wife and I had a great brunch and then went loafing around. This may come as a shock, but I wanted a pre-lit, artificial Christmas tree. Years of having sap and needles on the floor, I gave in and am going to have the fake tree. I will still miss the smell and will probably find some pine scented candles to help me cope.