The Stanley Cup Playoffs are here, and each of you would do very well to let yourself be swept away by the magic that is hockey. Somehow, though, I doubt many of you are interested in heeding my advice.
You know, someone once told me that Wayne Gretzky ate three hot dogs before each one of his games. I don’t believe it for a second, but I often contemplate how many more records he would have set if he had done just that. Why not come to Franktuary, have a dog and then go set a record of your own?
Well, it’s good to be whole again here at Franktuary. Of course, it’s snowing so things haven’t been nearly as busy as earlier in the week when we were halved.
Anyway, a woman just walked by my store, indoors, with a large shopping cart. How disjointed. That’s neither here nor there, but I kid you not.
So how ’bout those Penguins, staying in Pittsburgh. Woohoo!
And finally, you should know that my “rotten apple” is back in the shop. Updates to this blog may be sporadic over the next few days. Kidding aside, the guy at the Apple Store was great last night. I’m getting a new CD drive with 10 days to spare on my warranty. I’m pretty excited about that. In the world of customer service it’s the individual you deal with directly that makes more of a difference than the actual company he works for.
Today, as is 20th of every month, is the day that sales tax is due if you are a business. Happy Holidays!
Of course, today also happens to be the day that the city of Pittsburgh was awarded it’s single slots license by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The plan that would have provided a brand new arena for the city at no cost to the public was turned down, which, in my opinion, is really a shame. Count both Mario Lemieux and I as never having heard of a city turning down $300 million in private funding for a public facility… that is until today.
It’s a mystery to me, but hopefully things will work out for the best. As far as I can tell the fine people of this city will probably be paying higher taxes in the near future so a new arena can be built or there won’t be a new arena at all. Neither of those scenarios sound particularly appealing, but what can you do? It’s not as if we ever were given a chance to vote on this issue.
While a new arena isn’t essential, there is no doubt that it would benefit the city– not just the city’s hockey fans. I’m not so certain the pros outweigh the cons of having a casino– especially one that will be built next to the Carnegie Science Center where so many impressionable children visit on a regular basis. Time will tell, but until I’m proved wrong, I have to give the people behind this decision a big sarcastic “Way to GO!”
So, if the next time you visit Franktuary, a combo costs $4.32 instead of $4.28, remember we didn’t raise our prices, it was your brilliant government officials.
A second reminder… we will be closed on Thansgiving as well as the day after Thanksgiving. But fear not, that’s not all you have to read today!
The other day, and by the other day I mean on a crisp fall evening back in 1991, Joey Kocur of the New York Rangers appeared to shoot a hockey puck literally through the net. The NHL had recently adopted instant replay and what I’ve just described is exactly what the replay suggested. However, there appeared to be no holes in the twine. How can a hockey puck travel through a net without breaking it? The goal stood, but it remains a mystery I at times still ponder.
The other other day, and by that I mean this past Sunday, I made the best garlic bread of my life. I made meatballs too. Delicious!
I confess. Some of the time I used to spend writing this blog has gone into reading hockey blogs instead. With American mainstream media coverage of the world’s greatest game the worst it’s been in my lifetime, a hockey fan has to do whatever it takes.
Enter, among others, blueshirtbulletin.com, hockeyrodent.com, and a newly discovered favorite of mine, hockeybuzz.com.
However, reading about hockey is not all I’ve been doing. Things with Hot D***a have been pretty darn busy, and that’s a good thing. In fact, my partner and I are in the midst of a nineteen day stretch where there’s food-serving-work-to-do each and every day.
Today a man wanted to buy a soda with his Access (food stamp) card. I hate those things. Perhaps I have a lack of compassion, but I don’t think that’s it. Simply put, there is no reason anyone should ever have Access to something as superfluous as a soft drink with welfare money.
The name Access says it all. I mean why doesn’t the government grant me Access to a high definition television? It’s just about as necessary as a soda and I sure would like one. I just don’t want to spend the asking price to get one.
Anyway, I digress. Come pay us a visit. We’re open to the public Monday through Friday, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm. That aforementioned 19 day stretch will be all the more pleasant if you make yourself a part of it!
That’s the word of the day. It means “a small grimace or pout.”
For example, one could remark. “you will never see a moue in Hot D***a.” Spelled phonetically it would be “muooue.”
Lately I’ve begun to watch the tv series “24.” A roommate of mine owns the DVDs for each season of the show. I started watching from Season 2, Disc 2, Episode 2 and I’m proceeding sequentially. Currently I’m on Season 2, Disc 4, Episode 3.
More importantly, I have learned that Elisha Cuthbert, the actress who plays Kim Bauer, is Canadian. I’ve always liked the Canadian people, you know. Apparently Elisha is a big hockey fan and both her brother and mother are avid players. She even has a blog on NHL.com. Hooray Elisha!
I’m playing in a hockey league right now and my team just made the semi-finals. I know, I know quite the accomplishment. It doesn’t get any better than Adult E League roller hockey at the Island Sports Center.
My point in telling you this is that our semi-finals appearance is apparently a best of two series. The schedule clearly says so. I’m not sure how that’s possible, but I’d greatly appreciate it if you submit your own theory via the comment forum on this blog.
Speaking of hockey, I recently learned that in the 70s a progressive rock organist named Rick Wakeman wrote an album called “The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.” In conjunction with the record he staged an ice show which caused him to go bankrupt after only three performances. Wow. I think hockey is definitely the superior use for an ice rink.
The next time I write to you I will officially be in my mid-twenties.
Well, friends, the New York Rangers are out of the playoffs, so as far as I’m concerned it is now officially baseball season. At least it’s May. For the past few years in my mind baseball started somewhere between October and January.
I chopped off my handlebar mustache this morning. It just wasn’t working like it did a few weeks ago. The left side, it looped out instead of up. Someday it will be back.
I would write more, but a health inspector just walked in… yikes!
On Monday morning I stared Destiny in the face and a single tear drop fell from Her eye. I’m serious. Destiny is my cat, and I capitalized “her” to be tricky. It was pretty strange, if not poetic, and definitely highly appropriate given a sequence of events that has occurred this week.
The latter of those events revolves around the fact that somehow the New Jersey Devils are the Atlantic Division Champions, and the New York Rangers, who never trailed the Devils until last night, now sit sixth in the Eastern Conference. The good news is the playoffs start Saturday and the good guys face-off against the bad guys in the first round. I’ll be doing everything I can to keep Destiny smiling!
It’s time for a hot dog. Now THAT’S a good idea.
Last night I was getting ready to play a hockey game, when a customer of mine walked into my locker room. It was pretty strange. Turns out he’s in the same league as me. Before I knew him only as “two veggie dogs with cheese, Dr. Pepper- no ice.” Now I know him as my opponent. He’s a nice guy. Since I’m a goalie maybe I should tell him that if he scores a hat trick against me he can have free veggie dogs for a week!
I just got a side job handing out free newspapers before Pirates game. It sort of found me. I start tonight. Hopefully it goes well!
