Moving on Up

So the slide of the Los Angeles Kings seems to have abated. They beat the Mighty Ducks, Coyotes, and Canucks for three wins in a row. This puts them into the middle of the playoff race and in a tie for first place in the Pacific division with Dallas.

My favorite moment in the last game was Sean Avery fighting a guy a head taller and 50 pounds heavier. I swear Sean had to jump every time he swung so that he could hit the guy.

This last weekend, my dad, wife, niece, and I went to Oakland/San Francisco for an outing for my dad’s 80th birthday. We took Amtrak and what a nightmare. I enjoy traveling by train and often take the train when I can. San Diego, no problems. Santa Barbara, no problems. San Luis Obispo, no problem. Oakland, lots of problem. What’s the difference? To get to Oakland from LA requires a trip on the Coast Starlight. This train is frequently late and our trip proved no exception. We arrived 6 hours late into Oakland at 0130 with a nice rain coming down. Fun. Fortunately, we took a San Joquain train home and arrive only 30 minutes late because of traffic from the bus portion of the trip.

The Slide Continues

Yech! The slide continues. The Kings lost in Montreal, beat Toronto, and lost at home to Carolina. Seems that the Kings can only play two good periods at the moment and lose the game in the other period. The worse thing is that they are in second place and Dallas has 4 games in hand.

Ugh!

The Kings are in a bit of a slump. They’ve lost two in a row for the first time this season. Not only did they lose two in a row, they’re playing bad. Stinking up the place bad. To make matters worse, they are losing 2-0 to the Senators and have scored 3 power play goals in the last 45 power plays. Hell, I might be able to do that. Ok, maybe not, but you get the point.

Sunday, Sunday

Annette and I went to a few more Kings games over the last two weeks. Last night we saw them defeat the ‘Hawks and we are going to the Red Wings-Kings game tomorrow. I’m hoping the Kings can beat the ‘Wings.

Gotta love this:

Western Conference
Team GP Pts
1. * Detroit 25 36
2. * Los Angeles 24 33
3. * Vancouver 24 32
4. Nashville 21 31
5. Dallas 23 31
6. Calgary 25 31
7. Edmonton 25 29
8. Phoenix 26 28
9. Colorado 23 27
10. Minnesota 22 22
11. Anaheim 24 22
12. San Jose 23 20
13. Chicago 22 18
14. Columbus 24 12
15. St. Louis 22 11
* = Division Leader

My Kings are number two in the western conference, first in the Pacific Division. Sweet…..

The other big news is that Annette was approved to take her marriage and family therapy licensing tests. Woo-hoo! She did 3,000 hours of internship and needed to get them approved by the state. She had stressed immensely over the approval process. She received the good news yesterday. Now, all she has to do is pass two tests.

Another Day, Another Blog

Ok, so Annette received another order soon after the first but it has been quiet ever since. This is somewhat disheartening to Annette after she has put in so much time. For any you who missed it, visit www.businessblossoms.com to check it out.

Let’s see. After 20 games in the NHL season, the Los Angeles Kings have 27 points and are in first place. This isn’t too shabby after 25% of the season. Projected out to a whole 82 season would net the Kings 110 points. Probably enought to make the playoffs.

The most interesting game of the week for us was Thursday’s game against the Canucks. The Kings established a 5-1 lead about 4 minutes into the third period. By 3 minutes left in the game, the score was 5-4 with the Kings back on their heels. Somehow, the Kings held on even though there was a flurry of activity and shots in front on the Kings net. The crowd reaction to Bertuzzi surprised me. Like in Colorado, there was a number of boos when he touched the puck. If you don’t know, Bertuzzi was the guy on Vancouver who sucker punch Moore and broke his neck last season.

A Flower Business Order

Woo-hoo! Annette received her first flower order last night. She had put her fliers here and there and someone wanted an arrangement sent to Lake Sheerwood.

Take a look at her first flyer. The business is starting to take off.

Long Time, No Writings

So, let’s see, it has been a week since my last ramblings. The Kings have won a game and tied a game since the last time we talked. Roenick has started to turn around his season. The Kings are in first place.

There have been a few weird incidents in my life.

I recently submitted a rebate form. After about 10 weeks, I received a notice saying that I hadn’t submitted a copy of the UPC not an original. So my claim had been denied. On the notice, was a phone number to call. I called the number and explained I had two rebates and probably mixed up the envelopes. The nice operator told me that it was ok. Did I have a copy of it? I said yes and she told me to mail the copy with the card to the address on the card. Huh?

I’ve been having fun with my local California Highway Patrol officer. It seems that someone in my neighborhood calls and complains about cars that are parked on Deerhill, a street near my townhome. So, the CHiP left two notices on my car in October asking that my car be moved. These two notices were legit since I hadn’t moved my car due to mechnical problems for over the prescribed 72 hours. Last week, on Monday, a notice was placed on my car. I moved my car to my garage on Monday night. Tuesday morning, I moved the car back to the street. I was warned again. The warning told me to move my car 1 mile. So I drove my car back to my garage and on Saturday night, I parked on the street again. On Tuesday, my car was towed because I had only moved the car less than a mile. F***. $175 later, I parked my car back on the stree Tuesday night. Yesterday, Wednesday, I had another warning. WTF? I have a call into Officer Hoskings to ask why he ticketed me when he had my car towed the previous day. He KNEW that my car had a mile on it. My guess is some smuck in my neighbor is calling in to complain. Talk about a waste of government resources. I’m trying to figure out if I can get the CHP to pursue this guy for false police reports.

Last Semester and the Kings

Ok, something besides the Kings to begin with today. Yesterday, I signed up for my last class at Pepperdine. It seems just like yesterday that I started the program in April 2002. It seemed like 4 years was forever and I’d never make it to the end. Now, I’m 6 months away. I can see the end. I’m ready for the end.

The Los Angeles Kings are doing very well this year and could be doing much better. Even though they had 18 points in 13 games the total could easily be 20. The Kings lost two games with less than a minute left in the third period. If they had held out for the tie and a trip to overtime, two more points. I guess I can’t complain since they are in first place in the Pacific Division.

Tonight, after the big win in Dallas, the Kings play Phoenix. Go Kings Go!

Kings to the Stanley Cup!

Ok, maybe a little early for this but they are off to a nice start. 14 points in 10 games. Last night, they beat the Ducks after losing to Calgary. What is most annoying about the Calagry loss is that the Kings could’ve won or at least received one point. The winning goal came with less than 30 seconds left. Arrrrrrg. Annette and I will be at the game this Saturday.

SBC Hell

Ok, I’m in SBC hell. Annette has started a flower business and wants to have an 800 number for it. So, about 3 weeks ago, we ordered an 800 number through SBC. We were told that it would be done on 10/14/2005. So, on Monday, 10/24, I called to ask why it wasn’t working. After 40 minutes on the phone, I was promised it would be done by 5pm on Monday. So, today, when it didn’t work, I called SBC. Another 35 minutes and counting, I still have no resolution.

Phone companies. Gotta love them.