February 24, 2025Monday, February 24, 2025

Just a thought… Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised. [Denis Waitley]

“It’s just a game,” he said.

“It’s just a day,” I said.

In the end we were both wrong, but here’s how our 37^th anniversary went horribly, wonderfully awry.

As I’ve shared, I’m in Palm Springs, California ’til Saturday, at a house booked and prepaid: a) before the US election and we had our nation attacked economically and rhetorically by the Tangerine Palpatine in the White House – or perhaps more aptly, on the golf course, and b) before the mass boycott of AirBnB began over its owner getting in bed with Musk and his DOGE bros who are systematically dismantling the US government.

Last Thursday was a big day and night in our lives: we were married Feb. 20 in 1988 and Rob was flying down from Victoria specifically to celebrate with me, hopefully over a lovely candlelit dinner at a spot we’d reserved two months earlier, before driving us both home this week.

But when we realized it would be Canada versus the US in the final game of the Four Nations hockey tournament on that night, it was I who suggested that we put off dinner and watch the game together. Rob stoically reminded me that it was only hockey (bahahaha – nice try), but I knew we’d both spend dinner wondering what was happening on the ice. So we moved our reservations and anticipated our reunion.

WorstJet had other ideas. Rob got to Vancouver from Victoria and then had to wait through a six-hour delay (caused by a shortage of planes, according to the pilot????), which got him to the Palm Springs airport an hour AFTER the end of the game. Ugh (although not the words I used; if you’re familiar with FFS, you know).

Well, couldn’t you just PVR/DVR the game, Erin?

Ah, that’s a good question, clever reader! But you see, this rental house has no cable, only internet streaming. So no DVR, no way to record. I figured out I could watch through the Disney subscription (ESPN is Mouse-owned) but how to capture the game to watch together after I picked Rob up at the airport?

Well, here’s what I invented.

Using a coat/hat rack, I taped my iPad onto it, cushioned and held in place with tea towels and painters’ tape.

And here’s the view from the iPad as I tested it before the game.

Good thing I did the test: my iPad stopped 90 minutes in because I had filled my storage. So I deleted a bunch of unwatched Netflix shows and there was room. Long story short, Canada won, Rob (who had been informed of the score throughout the flight by pilot announcements) got home and watched the overtime, the dogs mauled him the moment they saw him, and Friday we went out to dinner.

All is well. And for one shining night, we scored a big win over the Ayatollah Covfefe and his 51^st state BS. As Prime Minister Trudeau now famously said, “You can’t take our country – and you can’t take our game.” Amen to that.

And please, if you’re in Ontario, make a plan to vote this week. If your riding has always been one colour and you don’t think you’ll have a voice, you DO have one. Here’s a link to how to vote strategically for change – or not, depending on where you sit – to use how you wish. Good luck to all.