Another Step Forward; Hockey Fun

Brief note: I talked to The Guy about The Job Opening today, and it went well. We're going to set up an interview (eep) for this week: he's going to check with The Woman I'll be interviewing with about her schedule, and I checked with my boss about whether she'd prefer I make my "appointment" such that I come in late or leave early. (I don't think you can go wrong, when setting up an interview, by showing some respect for your current workplace. Any company that didn't like it when I'm trying not to leave my employer hanging is probably not a place I'd be happy working.)

We'll talk again tomorrow and put the pieces together, and then I will tell you when the mass finger-crossing time is.

Meanwhile, I want to write about the fun of the Bruins rookie game that I went to last Wednesday, and I've already let it get pushed down the list, and must write now! Before it is ridiculously too late.
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I was sooo sleepy Thursday morning. Oh, so sleepy. It was worth it, definitely, but (yawn).

We got to the Garden early enough to pretty much have our choice of seats (it was general admission), so we sat at one end, three rows back. In other words, this close:


Very fun, though to be honest I wouldn't choose to sit there if I won the lottery and finally got those season tickets I've dreamed of. For one thing, I like to be up a little to get the overall view, and more to the center to see both ends. More specifically, though, I disliked the aluminum stands that are apparently fill-in seating for hockey, and which felt flimsy and noisy to me. Every move of your neighbors vibrated through, and the stairs are not all of the same height, which was weird (and made carrying beer that much more of a challenge). It is kind of nice that for once, I wouldn't want the most expensive choice!

So I wouldn't buy there, but for one night it was great fun to be up close to the action. In fact, we were close enough that the small boy sitting in front of us (maybe three? or four?) got scared by the noise of bodies hitting the boards, and cried for a few minutes before his dad got him distracted.

Little guy:


It was a good-sized crowd, a fact of which I got proof:


The second game, Thursday night, got over 14,000, making twenty-five thousand hockey fans coming out on a weeknight to watch the rookies. Not bad!

The pre-game announcements were kind of silly:


But the atmosphere was good:


I love the sounds of the game (which you can barely hear behind the arena rock, but trust me):




By pure luck, we chose the end that the Bruins warmed up in, and they scored a few times in the second period, when we were at their offensive end, so we were right in the action.


And you know what else? I got *carded*! This is pretty exciting for someone who hardly ever drinks (I don't want to say never ... but I don't remember when the last time was), and who's a month short of 42. My friend forgot her ID, so I bought her beer. She's certainly of legal drinking age*, and I know for sure because we worked together in the early 90s, but it still felt illicit somehow. And awkward, since I didn't know what I was doing (when the vendor asked me for ID, I thought she wanted the money), and had trouble carrying the darn things without major spillage. It was a different experience for me, for sure.

*Her daughter is of legal drinking age, which is bizarre to me.

I was pleased by the end result, but also by the general energy and hustle the players showed.


In positive news, my hearing seemed to be back to normal the next day, after feeling half-deafened post-game, and I didn't seem to be hoarse from all the yelling. I was a little sore, which is weird given that the most exertion I got was standing up to cheer a goal, but for whatever reason, definitely a little achy.

Well worth the time, effort, and (not much) money! I hope that they do them in Boston again next year.

And, even in my sleep-deprived state Thursday morning, something nice happened on the T: I talked to another knitter! I was working on the blue sock, and a woman asked me what the pattern was. She pulled out her hat-in-progress, we talked knitting and notions* and it was really nice.

*She told me that you can get a dog tag with the instructions for kitchnering on it. Fun! Much more fun than the 3x5 card I have it written on.