OMG, A new Gooblog Post!?

I’m back! Like the bad penny you can’t shake, or the burning pee you may have picked up on shore leave in the Dutch West Indies, I am back. For those of you that noticed, and have been wondering where I am thank you for the concern. All is well; I just had a major tech issue. For those of you that didn’t notice, well, just shut up and read.

OK, so where have I been you ask? For those of you that don’t know, MOL and I are expecting a little girl in February. A girl is good, because our girl’s name we had picked out was Robert Gordon Orr. Worked out good. Anyway, we cleaned out our old office, and it is now the baby’s room. In the transition from the baby’s room, to the back room, I could not get my PC re set up. Everything I tried failed, and then I went to Prague and Paris. Then I got back from Prague and Paris, and I couldn’t get my PC set up..probably because I thought I was dead. I thought that, because I couldn’t power it on anymore. So, long story short, the cable guy was here Thursday for an unrelated matter, and he must have figured out what was wrong with my PC because I was going to move it this morning to make way for a new PC, and the fucking thing powered right up, connected to the internets, and was all, hey bud. Let’s party! Now as MOL paints a rocking chair in the baby’s room, I am back in the saddle again.

Gotta tell, it’s good to be back. First off, Prague and Paris was friggin amazing. Prague was so old and had beautiful people, and architecture everywhere. The food was amazing, and the people were all super nice and spoke English. If you drink beer, go to Prague. They love it over there. Every place we ate at, it was the cheapest beverage on the menu. Oh, and the goulash? Oh my word. It’s like pizza here. Everywhere serves it, but each has a different take on the gravy. Just incredible.

The hockey games were pretty cool too. I mean, the first game sucked for the Bruins, but the second was much better. In the interest of fairness to both fan groups, I am glad they split. It would have really sucked if the Bruins lost both games, or if the Coyotes fans that came even farther than Bruins fans saw their team lose two; it would have been a real bummer. The O2 Arena was a nice big clean place, with excellent site lines. One of the better buildings I have been in for a hockey games, and again, the food was pretty darn good too.

Did I mention I met Milan Lucic? Oh, I will now. Sunday we had a stroke of luck and sat right behind Mr. and Mrs. Lucic. They were super nice people, and I saw Mrs. Lucic in between periods and asked her if she would sign something for Louis, the 9 year old kid with us that was desperate for an autograph. She said, Mama’s autograph isn’t worth anything. We’ll get Milan to do it. They told us to stay in our seats when the game ended, and they’d take us over to where the players come out to meet him. I also told her we had named our little girl dog after her son because she’s tough and scrappy, and after laughing for a minute she replied, Maybe I will tell Milan you named the dog after him. Probably not that it’s a girl!

When the game ended, we waited for Mila to come out, and Mrs. Lucic introduced me and Louis to him. He was very cordial, and thanked us for coming all the way from Boston for the game. I was blown away. I mean, here this kid is, the third star of the game. The last thing he probably wanted to do is meet two total strangers, but he was super nice, and thanked us for coming. No one on earth quite like a hockey player. After taking a picture with us, we got out of his hair so he could get some family time before getting on a plane back to Boston. To say it made Louis’s trip, is the understatement of the year, and it was pretty darn cool for MOL and I as well!

The next morning we flew to Paris where we stayed for another couple of days. I was fully prepared to hate Paris because of all the horror stories you hear about the French being rude and whatnot, but I was totally blown away. Everyone was incredibly nice to us, and again, it is such an old and beautiful city, it’s hard not to have a good time. The only drawback wads the timing of our visit coincided with the first day of a national strike in protest of raising of the retirement age. We could get around the city via the Metro, but all the museums and things were closed. Kind of a bummer, but our hotel was at the base of the Eiffel Tower so, with a view like that, it’s hard to complain.

Now then, to hockey matters. I have been encouraged by the Bruins start this year. I really like this team, and I think they are going to be superb this year. Around the NHL I have been following the Islanders very closely, and out west, I dig the Blues. Darren Pang is one of the best color guys in the league, and he makes the broadcasts very interesting. Hockey is back, and so is Goonblog!