Jeff Free III

I went to play hockey yesterday for the first time since the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I drove to the rink in Delaware right near the Delcastle golf course. It's only supposed to be a 25-30 minute drive or so, but I missed my turn onto Rt 34 in Delaware. There was tons of construction, and I swear there were no signs on 141 South to tell you that 34 was coming up. So I had to turn around after taking an exit when 141 turned into a legit highway. The ride there ended up taking me like 50 minutes. Tell Me More was on NPR, which I hate more than any other show on NPR, even more than Fresh Air and maybe even more than You Bet Your Garden or Car Talk, which all suck.

The rink was dry, which was good. But it was very very cold. My skates were messed up, sort of - the lace had come out of the highest eyelet that I used, and the tip of it was frayed and had lost its aglet, so I couldn't get it through. I tried licking it a few times to condense it, but it was no help. I needed to look at it earlier, before I came. I ended up just wrapping the lace all the way around my skate and trying my best to get a knot from that. It felt loose and it was hanging off the left side of my skate, but it was okay for now.

I didn't have a good puck to play with; just one of those crappy "speed pucks" that we'd yell at the ref for using if we were playing in a league. I had called Sports Authority earlier, and they said they only carried pucks made by Franklin, which are awful, so that was no help. Then I called Dick's and asked if they sold pucks by IDS or Rocket, and they asked me to please hold on. Ten minutes later they still hadn't gotten back to the line, so I called back, and asked again. Five minutes later they still hadn't gotten back to the line, so I called back, and asked again. I was slightly forceful with my question this time, and told them I'd been on hold for fifteen minutes already. I'd been talking to Nick online though, about actuary stuff. Then they picked up and told me they didn't sell any pucks at all.

After playing for a little bit, two kids showed up, about my age. They took half the rink, I took half. It was very cold, my eyes were dripping, my nose was running, and I was afraid I was going to get a headache if I stayed much longer. At one point I shot the puck out, and decided I'd had enough. I had other things to do at home anyway. So I untied the knot hanging off the left side of my boot and got in the car. I made a wrong turn again, and it took me 50 minutes again.