Early 2016

Northwood hockey playoffs kicked off last Sunday with a pair of games after Saturday's four game wrap of the regular season that saw all eight teams hit the Gardens ice. A scheduling miracle pitted the teams in first and second place in a head to head game for the regular season title. In a tight 2-1 contest the second place Kings jumped into first.

We have a new format for playoffs this season with the eight teams being split into odds and evens. The standings were close enough that all teams wanted a shot at the big prize. They'll play 6 games in a double round robin and then the top team in each division will face off for the championship. Even the fourth place odds will play the fourth place evens in a trophy game at the end.

On other hockey fronts my quickly cobbled together schedule for Lakehead Minor is up and running. There have been lots of changes as teams work their way around travel that I wasn't aware of. So far everything seems to be working. On to the playoffs...at least I won't be stepping into the middle of a 600 game schedule with nothing more than a single spreadsheet and good intentions.

The music streaming service and app Rdio that I had been using for music shut down after being bought out by Pandora in December, leaving me looking for an alternative. Paying $10 a month for access to just about any music has allowed lots of exploring so I wanted to find another similar service. I decided on Google Music since the app was on my phone and it offered just about everything I was looking for. It connects to Chromecast much better and the app runs far faster. Other than the pain of having to reestablish my huge library, the transition has been positive.

I have to say I'm liking this cold turn in the weather. Rain in January is not normal and makes walking treacherous. With cold mornings I just add a few items of clothing and head out. The frozen slush was tough to walk on without slipping and even when I catch myself from falling my back takes the brunt.

I've missed riding outside, in fact I haven't been out on a bike yet this year. I have some 70 km on the trainer but it's a chore. The hour grinds by even with a movie playing.

I've opened a new site for writing and pictures. Not much to see or read yet but I'm trying over here.