Bier School

I sent Joe off to his first day of Beer School on Saturday--growler and keg tapper in hand. They grow up so fast, don't they?

Somedays, my job is great...

"I read the State Journal, the NY Times, and the Cap Times everyday. I have to keep up on what that Bush has been up to, see what he's done now....I'm 92 years old and I've never seen as terrible of a president as that George W Bush." (Followed by a sigh, a generous shaking of the head, and laughter). "Well, at least we can laugh about it together...You have to laugh, it's the only thing that can keep you going sometimes".
--A morning rant from a 92 year-old female patient

Sometimes, my patients are fantastic.

Bad to the Bone

Oscar the Thug

Oscar has decided he doesn't want to have many dog friends in this town. In an attempt to socialize Coati (my parents' dog) and Oscar together, my dad, Joe, and I took the dogs out last Tuesday for a walk around the neighborhood and then back home to our backyard. They had a rocky past--getting in a gruesome fight one Thanksgiving a couple of years ago (Oscar won that fight). They were doing so well this time, until....Well, let's just say it ended very, very badly. The good news is that Coati is making a glorious recovery...stitches, drains, and all. I hear she looks stunning in an old t-shirt of mine and her lovely elizabethian collar. Yeah, wasn't a great day in the history of Oscar. He made out without a scratch on him. I ended up with a few doggy inflicted wounds too when I had to pry a set of jaws off of Coati. It was going SO well....Darn it all. Oscar will have to stick with staying on the leash around new dogs and only play off the leash with Luna and Honey (too bad Honey is only about 10 states away). And poor Coati. It's too bad, because Oscar is fantastic around kids and adults. I guess if we want to make a change with his doggy "anti-socialness", we'll have to go to the professionals.

Hockey, Finally!

Yesterday, I played in my first hockey game since moving to Madison. The games were started by a bunch of UW computer science people, but are open to the public provided that the limit of skaters hasn't been met. I found out about it from a non-CS guy in the homebrewers club. Basically, it's pickup-style hockey (the game is at a set time, and whoever shows up divides into two teams that play against each other) with a regular set of players.

Back in Michigan, I was playing in a similar league two mornings a week. The regular participants were a memorable bunch of characters whose skill levels ranged from "I'll catch the puck if it slowly hits where my stick is" to "I played college varsity, but still show up to these games for some reason." I was smack in the middle of the talent pool, probably classified as "it's not pretty to watch, but it sometimes gets the job done." After a couple of years, the overall pace of the game had gotten pretty quick and the diversity of skill, style and personality made the skates fun and interesting.

The group in Madison seems to be at about the same overall skill level, but the range of individual ability is much narrower. I'm still smack in the middle, judging by the first skate with whoever happened to show up yesterday. I scored my team's first goal and assisted on the next, but I ran out of gas five minutes later :). The last time I had a good anaerobic workout was three months ago, and it caught up to me too quickly for my liking. I managed to stay alive and not suck too much for the rest of the skate, but I definitely need to play a few more times before I can claim that I'm back in the swing of things.

In related news, the NHL resumes regular-season play this Wednesday! I still have some pent-up beef with the league, but it's overshadowed by my excitement of having the game back (as long as the games get some TV airtime in Madison). Mmm... beef.