This weekend was much busier than I expected it to be. I was hoping to just sit at home and try to recuperate from being sick most of the week, but I felt fine, and it seemed sort of lazy just to be stuck in front of the tv when it was so beautiful outside. Some friends called at the last minute to ask if I wanted to go to an impromptu hockey clinic at the local rink, which was fun. I had a league game yesterday (my 2nd league) where we lost about 15-1. I'm only guessing because they stopped keeping track somewhere in the 3rd period when it was 10 goals. Then, because my OTHER team is looking for players, a friend and I went to pickup at night to see some of our potential recruits skate. Man, my legs are tired!

I did have some time to play with Wally and catch up on some Tivo, though I'm now three weeks behind on "24" and I wasn't in the mood to watch it. Did anyone catch the Southpark last week where they spoofed "24"? Cartman was the Jack Bauer character. Hilarious. Here's a long clip:



Here is why REI is so cool. I was looking for a travel backpack to take to Australia with me. I'd gone to a local travel store and looked at their stuff, picked out a couple I liked (around the $280 range), and went home to try (unsuccessfully) to find them cheaper on the internet. I figured I'd go to REI. I might be spending a lot of money, but at least I'd get the dividends next year. I found the pack I wanted ($280) and another small bag ($35). I figured with tax and everything it would be close to $350. I got up to the register and the girl scanned my card then asked, "Would you like to use your 20% off coupon on the larger bag?" I didn't even know I HAD a coupon. I said sure. She then told me I still had $19 left in dividends. The total ended up being only $265. What other store would let you know you could save more money instead of taking you for the whole thing?

The song for the day is "Forget Me Not" by Bad English off their 1989 self-titled album. This supergroup consisted of John Waite (of The Babys and his own solo sucess) and Jonathan Cain (Journey keyboardist as well as former Babys member). The group also included guitarist Neal Schon of Journey and Ricky Phillips who had played with Waite in The Babys. Together, they produced some decent pop rock, including this song. I was always a Journey fan, and I love the sound of both Cain and Schon's playing. Add to that John Waite's voice, and it was a nice combination.