Balloons and Football - Labor Day Weekend in COS

It's been almost a month since I was in Colorado for Labor Day Weekend, but I figured I'd take a moment for memories and to go back through my photos.

The main point of this weekend was to get the rest of my things to bring to California. When moving out of Rochester, a lot of my stuff came home to CO, while a bunch went with Ant in the moving van straight here. Well, now it was time to pick up the rest of my things. I'd hoped that if I left a month before bringing it all out, I'd have time to get a job that would pay rent for my own place and I'd have somewhere to put it, but that was apparently over optimistic. I've still had no luck on a steady job (hockey will pay school loans and gas when they kick in, but doesn't cover rent anywhere), and am bumming at Anthony's place with a lot of my things downstairs in the garage. But that's really got nothing to do with Labor Day Weekend.

My main driving point to go home this particular weekend, aside from the fact it was a long weekend and Ant could come with me, was the Colorado Balloon Classic. I used to go every year, or at least what seemed like it, before going to college, but of course couldn't attend from RIT, as classes always START on Labor Day. And the cruel irony of it is that I got my super awesome DSLR for high school graduation, meaning I haven't had the chance to photograph the balloons until this year.

So, I was super excited to get some good photographs at the festival. I have decided that it was a good learning year, but I was not particularly impressed with any of the photos. Actually, I like most of Ant's better from the glow. We didn't have ideal conditions, either, I suppose, and I'll certainly have to come back again. The way to do it really is to get to the festival each day, or at least multiple times. With the tight schedule of packing and driving back, we only had the chance to attend one "launch" (they didn't go up because of weather, unfortunately) and one glow.

It was very nice to go again, and to show Ant. I don't think he's ever seen anything like it, and he seemed to enjoy it. And, the Energizer Bunny was there this year. I ALWAYS remember him being there, but I guess I have selective memory from my childhood, and he's actually a special treat. Anyway, here are a few more photos from the event.




Although the balloon festival could easily fill a day, we also made it to a AFA football tailgate and game. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures there, but it was good to see old friends again, eat some tasty food, and show Ant yet another Colorado Springs tradition. The flyover at the start of the game was awesome, three F15s, I believe, and I'm a little disappointed with Ant for not taking any photos (I didn't want to take my huge camera into the game this time). He apparently didn't expect they'd be as low as they were, and thought he couldn't get a good photo. He was shocked that they hardly cleared the scoreboard, and of course was ultra excited. We also got to see the Wings of Blue jump pre-game, and a falcon fly at halftime.

The game itself was a bit of a wash, though. I think the final score was 72-0 Air Force. I think that works out to over 400 pushups for the cadets... Ant and I stuck around for halftime, then went back to the parking lot. I was getting a bit sunburned, and we were both pretty tired. It wasn't long til everyone else decided the game was done enough to leave, and we headed home.

Believe it or not, all that is one day, Saturday. It's a long enough post, though, so I'll leave the rest of the tip for another entry.

Life of September

I suppose you could say life has been a little crazy lately, especially if you look at my entry count on here. I don't feel like I've done much productive since I'm still looking for a job, but I went through Ant's camera the other day and realized there are quite a few things and events that have happened since the start of this month, including the real kickoff of the hockey season.

September started off with Labor Day weekend and a trip home to COS. That was a jam-packed weekend with trips to the Colorado Balloon Classic (early morning, and evening glow), plus the AFA kickoff football game, packing all my stuff to bring to Cali, and then the actual road trip across CO, Nevada, Arizona, and California, includincluding a quick stop in Las Vegas.

The following weekend was full of hockey, and it was a great start to the season with 5 games to kick off. It's a bit different working all games in a 3-official system here, instead of that being a rarity as in NY. It can be incredibly tiring, and I'm finding that being home during the week filling out application after application is not helping to keep me in shape (nor is the stress of unemployment, I'm sure). But it's been a lot of fun and I've gotten to meet several pretty cool people here.

The following weekend invovled significantly less hockey (turned out one ice game, plus my regular roller hockey on Sunday nights), so Ant took me on a surprise adventure. We went on a wine tour in Temecula Valley! It was pretty awesome, but I think I'll reserve another entry for the details of that trip.

And this weekend, I just completed a girls'/women's tournament in Anaheim, with a total of ten games from Friday night through Sunday. A lot of those games (especially several I was refing as opposed to lining) seemed to just go end to end the whole time, and I was rather unimpressed with my physical condition. However, Heather came down from Northern LA to do evaluations for us (the tournament was as much an officials' development event for the lady refs in the area as it was a chance for the teams to play). It was great to see her again, and evaluations are always helpful. I have to say, though, I was pretty hockey-d out by then end of Sunday. I'll be ready and kicking for next weekend again, though.

So really, I just wanted to let you all know that I am in fact still alive and kicking here in California. I've had several people mention my lack of entries as of late, so here's an update just for you all. I have pictures from several of the above mentioned events, so I'd like to get separate posts for them sometime this week. I may wind up doing a couple posts a day to get them all in, but we'll see what happens...

The Informant!

I haven't been to see many movies lately, but I finally got out to see The Informant! this last weekend. And all I have to say is,

Don't. Waste. Your money.

I know this movie has been getting pretty good reviews, but I don't understand how. It has nothing going for it. There is no action, no solvable mystery, and no comedy of any substance. I believe any good movie has to have some kind of intelligent stimulation, whether that's witty comedy, something to fight for or against, or a mystery to be solved. I can even get on the bandwagon for some major action-only movies. But I couldn't even stay awake for this one, and that's a first for me. It's not even me not liking "subtle humor" films. That may not be my favorite genre, but I can appreciate subtle humor, and that's not what this movie has. There was simply no wit to it at all.

You might compare The Informant! overall to Catch Me If You Can, except instead of some incredible mastermind genius who's always one step ahead, it's some brainless pathological liar blundering his way through stealing millions (you don't even know in the end how much he winds up with. Is it 9 or 11 million?). Sure there are "plot twists," but they develop through yet another blundering lie rather than some crafty solution. There's no plan, no direction, no driven development. I guess that's the major issue I have with the film.

Anyway, if you MUST see this movie, just wait til you can see it for about $2. It's just not worth the cost to see in the theaters.

San Diego District Officiating Seminar

I guess I can say the ice hockey season has now started.

I went down to San Diego this last weekend (Thurs night - Sun) for the District Officiating Seminar (DOS). For those unaware, this is one of the three steps we have to go through as USA Hockey ice referees for our annual certification. We have to complete an open-book test online, attend a seminar which includes a skating session, and take a closed book test administered at the seminar.

It's not mandatory to attend a 3-day seminar like the DOS; most are only a day long, but I felt like it was a good option for me, being in a new district and having not skated at all for the last 3 months. I'm also going for my Level 4 certification, which involves a more difficult closed-book test and a skating exam. So, all signs pointed to the DOS being a good option. I have a friend from Regional Camp two years ago who lives out here and was also planning to attend, and she was kind enough to drive me around down there and split an inexpensive hotel to help me on expenses. Otherwise I would have been driving an hour and a half commute at the beginning and end of each very long day. So thanks so much to Jess for helping me out there.

It was really nice to be out hanging with other referees again, too. While the DOS wasn't anywhere near as serious as camp, it was good to be around people I could talk rules and situations with, and to get three days of power skating instruction before the test. And it reminded me that there is something I'm good at out here.

By the end of the seminar, I had schedulers from both LA and San Diego asking that I work for them. I think it's just accepted I'll be based in LA (Anaheim area, especially), but the SD scheduler said he'd be happy to schedule me any time I was interested. SO, I don't know yet if I've passed my Level 4 tests, but at least I've impressed a few key people enough to start working. Mission almost completely accomplished.

It was interesting, too, attending in San Diego. There were very few officials from LA who went, and probably 85-90% of the participants were from San Diego. But I think SD is close enough that those connections will be very helpful/useful. Some of the guys involved in the SD association's leadership were talking about flying a guy in for a power skating 'camp' or seminar part way through the season. They want to find at least 25 interested officials to make it worth the cost of flying in the instructor, putting him up, and paying for his time and ice. I really do hope they can find those officials - I've been looking for something like this for years, but it seems that very few people are really committed enough to care about this sort of personal development mid-season. I did tell them, however, that if they put this together, I wanted to know about it and that I would absolutely participate, so I'm looking forward to that a little later in the season.

So, I'm ready to get skating again! I do need to get new skates, though. I was shocked how painful my skates were when I put them on after three months of rest. I would have expected the lace bite to clear up a little over the summer, if not completely, but it was even more painful than I'd remembered. I got money for new skates last Christmas/birthday, but I couldn't find a store last winter with the skates in stock to try before buying. Good news, though. It turns out that one of the major online hockey sites is based here in LA, so I gotta go up and visit them. All the little details of preparing for a new season...