New Link

I’ve added a new link on the blogroll, to a good website about the sport of hockey.

Check out the site Pro Hockey News.

Mowin’ the Lawn

The way winter went, Diane and I started to wonder if we’d ever see our big new Kewanee lawn again. Man, that was a lot of snow. Almost Minnesota-like, I must say.

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My latest addiction.

No, not drugs. Never touched ‘em. Rarely drink, never smoked if you don’t count the few “look, I’m cool” cigars I’ve tasted. I chewed a little “tabacky”, when I played baseball, but basically I’m vice free. Except for games.

I like games. Mind games particularly. I spent a lot of time with the Rubik’s Cube when I was a teenager, but NEVER had the patience to figure it out, and am amazed at the people who do it so quickly today, except the blindfolded ones. They’ve gotta be cheating, right?

In the computer/video game age, I’ve become hooked on several games over the years, with each new game helping me kick the habit of the old game. I have the steering wheel and foot pedals required to play all the CPU racing games, I’ve even hooked up huge speakers to my system and placed them under my chair so I can “feel” the rumble while playing “Srpint Car Racing”.

Anyway, Sudoku is my latest addiction. Diane got me a handheld Sudoku game for christmas, and I have trouble putting it down. Here’s how bad it is: I have a Motor Trend in the bathroom that I’ve had for three weeks, and haven’t read it yet. Now THAT’S amazing.

Sudoku…it’s not just a puzzle, it’s a way of life.

Decorating is a blast!

For the last few years, Diane has been collecting different parts of a little village to put on display during the christmas season. We put it up today, and it’s starting to look like quite the town. We’ve got buildings, trees, streetlights that work, a skating pond that uses magnets to make the skaters “skate”, a cobblestone street, animals grazing in a fenced area outside a barn, a fishing hole with a couple of guys dangling poles in the nearly-frozen water (and probably sharing a flask of blackberry brandy), all sorts of holiday things.

As we get older and the world moves faster and faster, as we personally get busier, as life basically flies by, it’s amazing how relaxing it can be to turn on all the lights of the tiny village, sit on the couch, and just stare at it. It’s fun. I imagine there will be a quiet time tonight, with all lights off except for the village, and we’ll just sit there an enjoy our immobile town. I recommend the therapy of it.