Town Meeting, March 2010

[Techguy]

Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary to all members who celebrate this month.

Happy St. Patrick's Day in advance to all who celebrate.

Is it spring yet? I hope the ground hog was wrong and spring arrives early. I think almost everyone could use a break from the cold and snow right about now.

Mrs. T and I are flying to Washington DC twice this month to visit friends. Our first trip is this coming weekend, the second during spring break week. What Mrs. T doesn't know, since this is an early birthday/anniversary gift, we're going to Washington Capitals games at Verizon Center during both trips. She thinks her main gift will be the Washington Capitals 10 Greatest Games DVD set that I already pre-ordered from Amazon, but boy is she in for a major surprise.

Thanks to my friend pulling strings and calling in some favors, we're all going to the NY Rangers game on Saturday 3/6 and the Dallas Stars on Monday 3/8. We're also going to see the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday 3/24 and the Calgary Flames on Sunday 3/28. The seats are right behind the Caps' players bench, so Mrs. T should be in a very good mood with up close and personal views of Alex Ovechkin, even better if the Caps win. She'll probably yell out something in Russian. which will create a rather unique ambiance for me and our friends. The post game de-briefings should be equally memorable.

This birthday/anniversary surprise has been weeks and months in the making. I was hard pressed to come up with some idea for a special gift, and thanks to my friend's resourcefulness, I'll be able to make my wife's special days even more special for her. After what she's been through in her cancer battle, she deserves the best. For the past couple of years, she's said on several occasions that her fantasy wish is to see the Capitals play in person. We have NHL Center Ice so she can follow her team and I can follow the Rangers. I can't wait until she finds out what her gift is. Her fantasy wish is going to become a reality.

[DonnaJo]

How lovely, Techguy. I'm sure Mrs. T will be ecstatic! It's so nice how you two enjoy hockey together. ;D

Also can't wait for spring. We've had so much snow this year.

[Sirenna]

Spring is in the air here - 9 degrees on the weekend

[Techguy]

Mrs. T still has no clue what's in store for her. I'm purposely not packing my NY Rangers jersey for this weekend's trip so she won't get suspicious. It's probably a more practical and prudent move anyway, as the "Rock the Red" atmosphere for the Caps will be deafening.

As of today all my wife knows is we're going out with our friends Saturday night. I can't wait until we pull into the Verizon Center parking lot. It should be priceless. She doesn't even know about the second trip later this month. I'll give her the news after she's done (hopefully) raving about this weekend's experience.

One more thing, a momentary aside as I step on a soap box. I never cease to be amazed when I hear my male friends complain about not understanding women. They are totally clueless about what women want. For me, there's no mystery or magic wand involved. Women want what EVERYONE wants, to be listened to and treated special. If guys would take the time to get involved in something that their wives/girlfriends are interested in, most likely they will reciprocate. I decided early on in our relationship to get involved in an activity that's important to Mrs. T, and that was volunteering at our local animal shelter. She reciprocated in kind by learning about my great passion, which is hockey. Our mutual joint involvement in these activities has enriched both our lives in ways that I can't begin to describe. This is our big "secret" for a successful and mutually satisfying relationship.

Techguy, *stepping off the soap box to get back to work, complete my homework assignments, and pack for the weekend*

[Sirenna]

That's going to be a lovely surprise for her.
Thank you for sharing your secret to long-lasting love. I always thought that reciprocal interests might be good for a relationship but you and Mrs. T are living proof.

On another note, a friend told me about this comedian, Andy Borowitz. Now he's my early-morning laugh. www.borowitzreport.com/archives/

[Techguy]

This is my last post for a few days. Mrs. T and I head out to DC tomorrow for what I hope will be a fabulous weekend and a birthday gift she will remember forever. I'd like to visit the Smithsonian on Sunday, between game days. There's so much to see there, we'll probably go to the Smithsonian again sometime during our second DC trip later this month. I'll be back here and posting again soon--I'll let you know how it all went after I return on Tuesday.

[Sirenna]

Have a wonderful time!

[Techguy]

Mrs. T and I just got in a couple hours ago. Wow, where do I begin?

The DC trip was awesome, exceeding my expectations for how my wife would react. When she realized what was happening, as we pulled into the Verizon Center parking lot, I thought we were having a Kiss and Cry deja vu moment from the Olympics figure skating.

As soon as we got into the arena, Mrs. T made a beeline for the team store to purchase something red, naturally an Alex Ovechkin item, to cheer on the Caps and her guy. We then had to make another beeline for our seats so she wouldn't miss a moment of the warmups before the game. She doesn't go anywhere without her cell phone, so she got down to business taking pics, and more during the game. I think I'm going to have to buy another external hard drive for our computer just for Mrs. T to store her Caps/Ovie pics. ;D

Between periods she just had to text her pals from the Caps and Ovie fan clubs to share photos and catch up on some news. Her pals from the Scarlet Caps, the all-female fan group, told her to stay away from the message boards because half the Caps fans are in a panic because Ovie hadn't scored a goal in a few games, and the other half accused the first of being trolls from the Pens board, trying to stir the pot. ROFL! Mrs. T took their cue and only visited her favorite blogs where she is registered.

Our seats were incredible, behind the Caps bench along the corridor to the tunnel into the locker room. Watching games on TV really doesn't do hockey justice. Sitting that close, the players are bigger, faster, and stronger, All the sounds are amplified--you can hear the hits, the players communicating with each other to set up plays, the puck hitting the glass and boards at 100MPH. This up close experience reinforced how much I miss going to games in person.

Mrs. T got into her Russian thing, cheering and screaming, which we know the players heard because a couple of times, not only Ovie but the other Russian Alex--Semin--turned around and nodded. Ovie is King of DC at the Verizon Center, no doubt about it. My wife noticed right away at the first game that Ovie had shaved off his beard, and at the second game his hair was cut shorter. She told me his Mom was in town for a visit, and that's probably why he cleaned up his act. ROFL again!

Here's a YouTube from last night's game. If you blink you'll miss it, but at about the 1:05 mark there's a brief shot of our seating area.

There's so much more to talk about but I don't want to hog this thread. Besides that, Mrs. T wants to check her favorite sites for more Ovie news. She says she prefers Ovie's scruffy rakish bad boy image to the clean cut look. I'm no authority in these matters, so with her permission, she allowed me to share these views to see for yourselves and make your own choice.

Ovie the rake -- this is one of Mrs. T's favorite pics of Ovie
Ovie the clean cut boy -- hot off the YouTube presses

And...we get to do this all over again in a couple of weeks!

[Patcat]

What a great present for Mrs. T. I can understand why she likes Ovie.

Patcat

[DonnaJo]

So happy that you two had such a great time! I remember you telling us how crazy the blogs and message boards are for hockey - much more so than this place could ever be. ;D

I prefer Ovie more clean shaven. But that's usually my preference when it comes to men and beards.

[Techguy]

DJ, my personal experience with sports related message boards, especially hockey, is that most of them have been hijacked by pubescent males who take delight in and brag about how often and how quickly they can get banned. These boards and fan sites are usually so large that the moderators can't police them as well or as often. That's why I very seldom visit these sites anymore. I prefer the personal blogs that have much smaller membership and are more closely monitored by the hosts.