I don’t make official calendars, nor I don’t have meteorlogic degrees, but the summer finished officially for me yesterday because my last service in the Ballpark was filled for this summer. The local professional team does not go to the play-offs this season after he was eliminated a few weeks ago, but it was still a nice season of baseball with which I witnessed a triple game, a handful of beams and a few other rarely seen calls. With the baseball season that ends, that means that my focus can only return to hockey and in turn this blog. This article is only a few shy of 6600 in the existence of HBIC, and that brings me to the intersection again.
I worked on something new for this blog that I wanted to add for a while, but I couldn’t get the layout quite right. I am still not completely satisfied with the results, but version 1.0 of this addition achieved what I wanted. I will release that tomorrow so that everyone can see it, but it will be something that I keep working on as time passes. Or no matter how long this blog keeps running.
This summer I promised changes how this blog works and functions, and I have quietly tested a number of things to see how I like some of these changes. A few have worked, a few do not have that, and I try to find out a number of other options for the things that didn’t work. Not taking a day off of both jobs all summer has contributed to less test time that I had wanted, but I am not to blame anyone for that situation except myself. C’est la vie, I think.
About taking no day off, let’s reach the core of this article on the last day of August. I never imagined that this blog lasted as long as it lasted, but there are stories, both old and new, who are worth any research. The coming days, weeks and months will certainly be more stories that can be investigated, dissected and debated. The question with which I have struggled for the past two years, because another hockey season is looming, is “how long do I want to keep doing this?” When I never expected it would come that far.
Three years ago I said that I would stop at 6687 articles as a tribute to the two players I admired the most in my career – Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby. Both men came to the Penguins franchise as game changers, and they took expectations by winning several Stanley Cups. That number still plays in the game if I approach 6600 articles, but the days would be numbered if this blog approached a total of 6687 entries. That’s something to think about.
Maybe I just need hockey to start again. Of course I spent most of yesterday before I did more today, and I notice that I am really starting to love sleep. Put me constantly feeling tired is not something that I had in mind for the summer, but I still noticed that I was constantly running out all summer. Part of that lack of sleep can easily be solved by pushing this blog aside to give me more time to do more what I want, but old habits are difficult to break.
With another summer in the books, I can honestly say that time is fleeting. Time is not waiting for a man, and time is a limited source that becomes much more valuable as it decreases in quantity. I never seemed to have had enough, and I am always looking for a way to win more. One of those ways is to sacrifice an activity that takes that time that can be used better elsewhere, and at the end of the day HBIC can be the sacrifice. Not meant play.
But for now I will see you tomorrow. There is more to write.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
#Summer #unofficial