Father Time

The Playoff Beard lasted exactly 40 days, which is about two dozen less days than I had hoped. It would have put Dr. Jack Shepherd’s future-beard to shame. I was watching the last Ducks/Red Wings game and was impressed with the beards on those guys. I think it’s a symbol of the grind that the playoffs are – the number of games, the travel, and the increasing strength of opponents as you progress round to round. For me, it was more like I had the thing every minute of the day just for the sake of the 10 hours or so of hockey I would watch every week. It definitely looks cooler on the guys on the ice than it did on me in my lame office job. Maybe it would have been different if I wasn’t the only one I knew doing it. It was really the team from 2005-06 that inspired my commitment to do it. This year’s squad wasn’t nearly as inspiring, so this may have been a one-time thing. The only other option is to do it every year, and I’ll look like Scott Niedermayer before this blessed team of mine wins anything.

I thought that LOST last night was brilliant. During the scene when The Others were approaching the dynamite tents, my heart was actually pounding. On The Sopranos during the incident with Meadow it was doing the same thing. I guess I just get wrapped up in my stories. I think Jack is such an interesting character. He does exactly what you expect based on what was established in his backstory, but he is still a very complex character. It’s like once he succeeds in leading “his people” off the island, he has no purpose. He wants Ben to live to see himself fail, but the irony is what Jack’s “success” has brought him. It’s just great stuff.

Fast-forwarding through the commercials last night during LOST, it was still pretty clear that the new offerings from ABC next season are going to suck. Like we need an entire hour devoted to that chick from Grey’s Anatomy feeling sorry for herself and sharing every personal detail and feeling with whatever passerby slows down long enough. It will be interesting to see which programs are accepted and rejected by the women that work in my office. They watch a lot of television. And I’m sure that “Dirty Sexy Money” is already on their radar.

A big old pile of mulch is scheduled to be delivered sometime during the evening today or tomorrow. Instead of socializing we decided to attack the yard on Saturday. We have decided to try for little accomplishments throughout the week and on weekends so there is always some sense of satisfaction that the house is under control It will be nice to buy some plants and get the yard in shape. Hopefully the children cooperate. I’m sure we will have one little helper ready to go.

I’ve started buying those energy-saving lightbulbs and replacing our old ones. The saving in energy and reduction in pollution is hard for me to pass up. Considering that the bulbs last about seven years, it’s a no-brainer for me. They even have three-way bulbs and they work really great. The only drawback is that you can’t use them outdoors where they could get wet, and you can’t use them on a dimmer. Our three-way bulbs never seem to work all three ways anyway.

Can’t wait for the long weekend and hoping for early dismissal tomorrow.