My Week (so far) in Point Form

• Monday- Hit in face while playing basketball with the geezers. By a girl. This is my third year playing at the gym on the base and it's the first time that I've seen them invite a girl to play, in order to even up the numbers on each team. She and I were guards on the same side and she rifled a pass at me. Not a regular 60yr old man-pass. But a twenty-something 'I wish I was Nolan Ryan' fastball that clearly indicated she had missed her calling as a baseball pitcher. Luckily my face was angled slightly to the left or I would have surely had a broken nose. The swelling quickly subsided. The embarrassment lingered on.


• Tuesday- The drafting Overlords at work began cracking the whip for my current job. It is a sizable chunk of steel and Friday marks month-end. Do it now! Grrrrr! Took Sean to cadet Halloween party (he was dressed as a 5'-8" leprechaun with a fez top hat, green bow tie and braces on his teeth).


• Wednesday- My own WIP requires an ending. And editing. And scary parts. Many folks kindly commented on my last post that they are looking forward to my graveyard #fridayflash story. Must get cracking on this. The clock is ticking...Also...my friend Laurita Miller over at Brain Droppings announced that she had won the Canadian Blog Award in the Culture and Literature section. A big old Woot! to her and thanks to those of you who popped over and supported her by voting. Sadly my tux and once long, dark hair could not be on hand to see her collect her award. Though should she win a Giller Prize...


• Thursday (last night)- I dreamed about my neighbour. In some situations that may be considered acceptable...except the guy is 55, retired, balding and overweight. A bit like Jason Alexander except that he can't sing or dance and he's not very funny. Is there something wrong with me? Would I benefit from seeing a professional about this?

(note to self: see if work benefit package covers psychotherapy).

Bastketball & Court

Last night was the first evening of basketball with the geezers. Yes, the insanity has begun again. Surprisingly there were no injuries. Knock on wood. We had a number of young military guys playing tonight (in order to rent the gym at the base we have to allow members of the forces to play if they wish). They force us to play at a faster speed, which I suppose is good. Then again, it's all fun and games until someone slips a disc or has a massive coronary right there on the court.

The geezer on the left is pretty much reflective of the crowd I play ball with. I may look a bit like them, but I'm just a babe when it comes to age. The military aside, I think that I'm second youngest at nearly 48 years old. It's sad, I shouldn't hurt so much at my age.

I took one ibuprofen before the game (preemptive strike) and 2 more after my shower later on. Between the pills and the single malt I'm almost not feeling any pain at all. Of course I exaggerate...it was beer, not scotch.

A criminal trial started yesterday in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in Grand Falls-Windsor. The case may hold interest to both Canadians and Americans as it involves a woman from Pennsylvania charged with criminal negligence in the shooting death of her husband four years ago today in a popular hunting area in central Newfoundland. In the dim light after sunset, she thought her approaching husband was a black bear and shot him.

The case had caught our attention at the time as we had only been living here for two weeks. The RCMP had investigated and allowed the woman to return home but the man's father pressed for charges to be laid and she was extradited here last May to await her court date. There has been some suspicion about the case as the woman apparently received a hefty life insurance payout after the fact.

The testimony yesterday was mainly from the guide who took them hunting. It sounds like many rules were broken, such as hunting after sunset and the hunters not wearing orange blazing to make them more identifiable, and perhaps the guide is a bit accountable here as well. For those wanting to follow along, there is decent reporting coming from CBC and the local Telegram newspaper out of St. John's.

(Apologies for the formatting here...I have more paragraphs on my screen when looking at the story, but when I hit 'publish' blogger lumps them together for some reason. $%&*ing technology...or maybe it's just operator error!)

I think I'm Gonna Die

Tonight was the first night of basketball for our men's league this season. We haven't played since mid-May. We'll, there's not really structured teams...and it's not a league, as such. Just a bunch of guys that rent the gym at the military base for an hour to relive their youth (yute?). Some of these gents have been playing together for over 35 years. It sort of gives you an idea of the age bracket when I, a couple of weeks away from 47, am one of the "youngsters". I think the oldest is 63 or so. I privately refer to the weekly spectacle as "Geezerball."

Now let me get this out in the open...I'm nobody's idea of an athlete. I didn't play team sports back in school (not even basketball). I was talked into this gig last fall by my sister-in-law's husband who is a bit of a jock. "Yes b'y, just a bit of fun and exercise." Ha, such a liar!

I feel like somebody has driven sharp knives into both my knee caps, exchanged my thighs for heavy chunks of rubber and pounded my lower spine with a baseball bat. Hmm, guess that I was more out of shape than I thought. A few of the guys like to go downtown to a bar for nachos, wings and pitchers of beer. That can be enjoyable, on the rare occasion, but I tend to not want to undo the good effects of the torture exercise.

A think that I may have to adopt a couple of cliched mantras: "No pain, No gain" comes to mind. Also, "What does not kill me, makes me stronger" may apply here as well. Either way I will be sure to have myself checked out of the hospital next Monday in time for the game. I am off for a hot shower and a handful of Ibuprofen with a tea chaser.