Happy Holidays: It's time for a little rhyme

So it's the holiday season and all through the land

People are laid off and thinking of starting a band.

A group set to rock out and show they got fight,

Tired of the bullshit and sick of their plight.

Let's all commiserate on linkedin and facebook,

A Jeff Covey push is really all it took.

But cyberspace reality pales in comparison,

To the harsh state our country is in.

It's hard not to question, where all the change?

And not trying to shift blame...

But 350 billion is quite a big chunk

Is wall street just a pit, CEOs just drunk?

No money is moving, stores cry no fair,

Who will be shopping, does anyone care?

For it's the season of giving, or for some maybe making,

A wood working project, or maybe some baking.

Or maybe some artwork, or perhaps just time,

And that's my thought to end this holiday rhyme,

It doesn't have to be big, it doesn't have to be rich.

Just something from the heart, cause unfortunately sometimes life's just a bitch.

Week before Thanksgiving - AND WE'VE GOT ICE!

Amazing... after a little of afternoon rink maintenance, the ice was ready for action and as soon as the kids returned home from school, the kids hit the ice. Here's some of the action...

The Eldest - ROCKS!

Last night was The Eldest's big rock concert... acoustic style. 

THIN ICE! Water is freezing... and I almost fell in

So the rink is in. Water is poured. Leaves were added, (not intentionally) Right now we're looking at about an inch thick ice, but in my attempt to tight-rope walk the boards up against the garage so I could shovel off some of the late falling leaves, I was one bent index finger away from complete splashdown. 

It's the first time I've ever tried to squeeze by on that side of the rink, and I think it might also be my last. I'm hoping that after this weekend the ice will be thick enough to stand on. The opposite side from the garage, where the ground is the highest, I need to do a little fill in with ice. It would be nice to get the whole surface around a couple inches thick and then have a blanket of snow fall, which I could then shovel into the gap.

Trying to start the rink as early as I did, it's really been a learning experience. If the leaves create a huge problem, I might have to hope for a thaw out, or really work the Zamboni as the season gets into full swing.

Rest of the news:

Couple of job resumes off to various HR folks.

Trained as a recount challenger for the Senate race.

Learned how to edit with iMovie and iDVD.

Transition team announces focus on renewable energy.

Falcons craw back into contention

I can't be beat at the Air Hockey game I added to the bottom of the blog.

The eldest performs in his first Rock Concert at HarMar Mall Thursday... he rocks! A shot of some of his finest guitar work.

Ice Time!

Folks it's not even December and believe it or not, I might already be suffering a small amount of hockey burn out. No, it's true. I wasn't able to update the blog this weekend, cause it's hard to type with hockey gloves on. Let's see, Friday evening, coached Top Dog's squirt team, then had a late night game with the Highland coaches that lasted late into the wee hours of the night.

Saturday, Top Dog had his first game. Although he didn't rip the twine, as he is often want to do, he was named player of the game in a 3-1 lose. At the same time, at the same arena, but in a different rink, Snow Princess had a practice of her own... then later that night, after a rousing game of couples Bunco at some friend's house, I had a Falcons game out in New Hope. The Falcons won, 8-3 and although I netted no points in the contest, I did get into it with the opposing goal-tender, and it wasn't until after I started messing with his head that he started letting in goals. I did take 2 penalties for my transgressions, but sometimes you have to take one (or two) for the team. For more on the Falcons, check out the AHA website at www.ahahockey.com Check out the B2 pool for stats and schedule.

Sunday rolls around and again Snow Princess had early morning practice. I had the pleasure of running part of the practice and there's nothing more enjoyable than helping and watching Mites figure out the game. Many are just learning the very important aspect of hockey and that is stopping... it's a slow process, but critical as the kids are finding that crashing into the boards is not the best way to stop their momentum.

Then after the Packers destroyed da Bears and the defending Fantasy Football Champion JackRynos notched a win from the front-running Blowfish in the CHFFL (Cheesehead fantasy football league) the J-5 jumped in the minivan, headed off for Top Dog's second game of the season up in Shoreview. (about 25 minutes away) The problem, we arrived at 3:50pm, only to find out the game was NOT at 4:20, as I thought, but instead at 6:40. So we turned around, had a light dinner, only to pile back in the minivan to return to the arena a couple of hours later. 

The team played better and netted a 5-5 tie and should have had a win had it not been for a slight mental lapse with :49 seconds left to play in the game. Still scoreless on the game, Top Dog had some nice chances, and made some nice plays, but like his papa, only showed up on the stat sheet after getting a penalty for slashing. It was a bad call as it was hustle that put the play in motion. They were on a breakaway and he tracked down the shooter and stick-checked the kid, the way he's been taught by lifting the stick from underneath. Bias, but it was a bad call. He lifted the stick, which is the proper way, but used some force and I think the sound of composite stick on composite stick is what caused the call.

With all the hockey excitement, The Eldest now wants to play this year. He hasn't played organized hockey yet, but is a good skater, and indicated he now wants to play this year AND wants me to coach his team. Oh boy, more ice time. Details are sketchy as to weather I can still get him on to a team, but I'd love to see him have a sport to get into and if you haven't guessed it by now, I think hockey is one of the finest.

Time to Vote

Sure, November 4th was a monumental day in our nation's history, but once again it's time to vote.  The NHL all-star voting is in full swing and Mikko Koivu needs your support. 

Speaking of hockey; The backyard  rink is now complete and being filled. As I type, the hose is on full bore and the rink is becoming a pool. The weather forecast calls for 6 out of the next 10 days to be below freezing and if that holds, we might have ice before Thanksgiving. The tricky part will be keeping all the debris, falling leaves and pine needles, out of the water while it freezes. I will be looking at getting some waders and "dragging" the water with a fishing net to remove as much of the leaves as I can. After it freezes, a shovel will keep the debris out.  This is the earliest the rink has gone in and I might be jumping the gun a bit, but my hope is if we do have a warm up, I can keep everyone off until it refreezes.

On to the really important stuff. Took a blow today on the job front. The University of Minnesota had an open position in the Institute on the Environment for a multimedia producer. Fabulous position, fell completely in the wheel house of matching skills and interest and would have afforded the opportunity to work and go back to school. That would have been perfect, however on the same day I found the position it was filled. So back to the grind. The resume is completely updated and I think looks pretty good, and I'm trying to get more word out there in an attempt to network my way into positions of interest.

Speaking of interest, I have been asked by the Al Franken campaign to assist with the recount. Starting on the 18th, ballots will be recounted across the state and at this point, Al is currently 206 votes down. If things hold true to form, that number will swing wildly as the recount gets into full swing. Back when I was producing the Kent Hrbek Show I had talked both campaigns into going fishing with Kent for what I was calling a KHO fish off. The plan, take each guy out, fish with them on Lake Minnetonka, chat with them about outdoor issues, and see who could catch the biggest fish. The problem, Kent himself backed out. Would have made for great rating, I would probably still have my job and since I was producing, I think I could have swayed about 206 votes.  (My gut tells me that Al could have out-fished Norm any day of the week). So on Saturday I go for some training and then on Tuesday I spend the day helping recount the votes and challenging those ballots that should or should not count. The process will most likely take 2-1/2 weeks, but I need to focus on the job search so I'll probably put in about 2 days.... unless of course it leads to a position itself... which ultimately would be a good thing.

Speaking of a good thing... here's a question for you. How much should parents do in helping their kids get there homework projects done? Case in point, on Monday the Eldest and his friend Justin got together to complete a history assignment about the Civil War. They were to be news-reporters and file a report from the battlefield. Topics they choose to discuss, Fort Sumpter, Bull Run, Emancipation Proclamation etc... They wrote out the whole thing, and had an idea of how they wanted it to turn out. I said, reporting, video... hey I can help. They said "we want to include pictures and music", and I said I can help. Well 10-12 hours of editing, $20 worth of blank DVDs  later I put together a Ken Burns type documentary with their work. I have a feeling, it will be the most polished work turned in, but I'm sure the Eldest's teacher will question his involvement. He was very involved, but did not stay up until 3am editing the piece. Of course, if I had access to editing equipment that I had worked with before it wouldn't have taken as long, but instead I was learning how to edit with iMovie on the Mac... and found a few limitations. (I want Final Cut for my birthday) But it was a lot of fun and I hope, for his grades sake, it was worth the effort. So again... how much parent involvement in preparing you children to succeed in school?

Finally, speaking of school, tomorrow I explore continuing school for a teaching degree, just to get the info. Might be another blog with that one.... peace!

Back to the Search

Now the job search returns in earnest, but not before running out and purchasing some new fangled hardware for the computer to help translate camcorder video into a usable format... that's because mister big time TV producer didn't realize the compatibility issues between the camcorder and iMovie. So the Eldest's civil war Eyewitness News Special report, didn't get in on time and so that left me scrambling.

Also, had to replace a window on the first floor cause the lovely tried to break in the house cause that's where she left the keys... unfortunately, due to the fact that we had someone else actually break into the house and steal thousands of dollars of stuff, I've screwed all the 1st floor windows shut... so if one was to try and break in again, you'd have to break a window. Bingo.

Anyway, got that repaired. Got a visit with the genius at the Genius Bar. Decoded the video file to make it usable and now I'm hungry. Oh yea, the job search is just moving right along. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish up the revamped resume today... and then pick up my new DVD of sample projects I've produced, to hopefully land that next new gig.

Keep ya posted...

Rink pictures

Future site of Rink... from Porch to Flower garden to back fence, to garage - 20'x40'

Stack of wood to be used to put up the 18" side boards

Putting up the boards... I pound 1x6 pointed planks about 6" deep into the ground and then screw the 2x6's into the support planks

Lucus and the Captain swing by to give mad props to the rink building

Future NHLer's - one will win the Vezina Trophy and the other will top Wayne Gretzky's total points mark

The Process: Take 2

Building a hockey rink your backyard, you need two things; fairly level ground, and cold. Now in the process of waiting for the weather to cool before I complete the last step of securing the liner in place and filling my temporary backyard pool with H20. I have found a company that will come and pump in chlorinated water and fill it in about 20 minutes... but you know, I much perfer the all day hose run. I'm hoping to borrow water hoses from three neighbors this year and if I can line it up, should be able to fill the rink in about 3-4 hours. It's a longer process, but I'll get the neighbors excited about being a part of the rink, which they all love watching the kids skate during the winter, and sometimes half the fun of getting there is getting there.

I wish I could say the same about renewing the process of finding employment again. I was laid off for about 7 months starting back in January after ShopNBC cut it's work force by about 15% in the series of 2 lay offs. I had worked my way up the "corporate ladder" for six years at home shopping's number three. A unique blend of infomercial and reality programming. Motivating viewers to action. I've often classified it as the third form of tv production. Of course there's news, which is informative television. There's couch potato tv, which is pretty much 80% of television. All entertainment type shows. Sit-coms, dramas, entertainment news, reality shows... mind numbing dribble which might make you laugh or cry or feel something, but most often just time wasting entertainment, and then there's motivation tv... aka home shopping. Trying to entice the viewer to pick up the phone, reach into their wallets and spend money.

I've now worked in all three areas, producing news programs, entertainment series, (Kent Hrbek Outdoors for example) and home shopping/commercials. I've developed a Jack of all Trade mentality and feel comfortable producing any type of programming for the television industry. But folks, it's not the most stable industry to be in and as I've found in bad economic times, especially here in the midwest, not the most secure. So, I now look at other options. 

A producer is in essence the guy who makes sure everything you need to have happen, happens. Every last detail, staying under budget, developing an end product and in the process, making it worth watching. There are tricks to the trade, and are good crews and bad crews, but being the producer, regardless of your parameters you are ultimately the one responsible for making sure the job gets done. That translates to a number of other corporate jobs, but getting young HR recruiters to see that connection, I've found, is tricky.

With the new hope for our country now voted into office, my hope is that our nation takes on a new direction, and because of that I'm also considering a new direction. I certainly feel I have a higher purpose they battling around from one production to the next, and that is why I'm strongly considering getting my teaching degree and teaching and coaching hockey full time. There is so much satisfaction, giving back and I've found over the last 4-5 years of coaching, I'm pretty good at it.

So as that process unfolds, it will be one of the topics of conversation. Keep plugging through the "tv industry" or get out of the television business and into b2b or b2c corporate life, or get the teaching certificate and teach. Regardless, it will be a major focus as we roll through the end of 2008. 

In the meantime, there are rinks to build, basements and 3rd floors to renovate and of course hockey. Enjoy the chill... winter is coming.

CHANGE HAS COME

St. Paul, MN - Today America woke up to a brand new day. A dawning of possibility and the burden of fulfilling the expectations of generations of U.S. citizens grown disenfranchised by their own leaders.

Enough is enough, America said on Election Day. Enough of the greed of the few. Enough of the trickle down economic theory that has proven a bust. Enough of the leadership vacuum in Washington, and enough of the divisiveness that has strained this great nation.

No today, we look out at the same world, but with a different outlook. How can we be a part of bringing change to the local world around each and every one of us. How can you or I benefit from the hope and renewed confidence that we as a nation can come together to create a better future for ourselves and for our children.

With so many people left unemployed due to the economic downturn, myself included for the second time this year, I ask what can I do to improve this situation so that not only my future is secure, but so are those around me. As only as a healthy nation do we grow. Taxpayers need to go back to work. Families need to have time for family. Opportunities need to be created. Leaders must be allowed to lead, and be vigilant in their execution.

Good health to our new president and god speed to this great nation.