Edward J. Pluchar - The Blogsplitter

There’s been some controversy on the sports talk shows in Chicago, regarding Blackhawks fans who hold Game 7 tickets for the final series.  Of course, this is irrelevant now, but the thought was that those fans would have loved to witness their team winning the Stanley Cup.  The overwhelming response was “HERESY!  Just finish the series, as soon as possible!”

So it was in Philadelphia that the Hawks won.  The announcers noted that many Philadelphia fans remained in the stadium for the Stanley Cup presentation, which is indeed impressive.  However, I’m pretty sure I heard them booing when Jonathan Toews was awarded the playoff MVP.  Not that I need a villain to appreciate this, but those guys are idiots.

(I need to take a break right now.  I’m watching the 10:00 news on NBC, and it’s hilarious.  Christian Farr is reporting on the street in Chicago, amid cheering fans, and he was gradually being swept away from the camera as fans kept trying to get their faces on-screen.  He took it well, continuing to report on the excitement while the camera operator panned away, perhaps avoiding the appearance that Farr was suffocating under a mass of humanity).

Rocky Wirtz has a huge butt.

Patrick Kane basically wouldn’t sit still for the post-game interview.  He called his buddies over to be on-camera with him.  Nothing beats his immediate celebration, he who knew the puck went in right away.

Jeremy Roenick was tearful.  I was moved by that.

Annti Niemi had to wait to hoist the Cup.  I don’t know much about the etiquette, though I can guess, and he probably should have held it sooner.  Nevertheless, the crowd gave him fresh applause, and he deserved it.  He was incredibly poised throughout the series.  I’m not sure I saw any sign of frustration or even lack of concentration.  There was one replay, in particular, where a Flier broke open and had a shot on him.  Just before the shot Niemi coiled up, and sprung out at the puck as it came at him.  He looked like a wildcat.

(Christian Farr is back on.  He has a wariness in his eyes.  I think he might pull out a weapon if the crowd tries to carry him away again).

If I were to buy a Blackhawks jersey, it would be between Niemi and Hossa.  Kane is exciting to watching, jolting even, but Hossa is nearly poetry on ice.  He has the incredible balance of pouring all his effort into the game with minimal waste.  There’s actually a theological concept - I think it’s called Divine Economy - which says that God’s love and movement in the world are unimaginably abundant, and yet nothing is wasted.  Hossa is beautiful to watch.

Ultimately, as I related to Timmy O, I’ve enjoyed getting into the Hawks (admittedly late, barely catching the bandwagon) because it’s so refreshing to see a Chicago team winning.

And no, the ‘05 Sox don’t count.

A therapist brought in brownies and sparkling grape juice to thank her co-workers for their help with yesterday’s talent show (which deserves a post, but won’t get one here).  The sparkling juice bottles, of course, bear a resemblance to champagne, and the comments flew.

You had your standard, alcohol-in-the-morning? comments from most people.  The joke I liked was:

(Laughing) “I saw that and thought, ‘Are we all getting fired?’”

For my part, I thought, but didn’t say, the following:  “For a moment I thought I was walking through a T-Pain video.”

I don’t know.  I’ve never seen a T-Pain video, except “I’m on a boat,” so I’m not sure how funny that is.  Which is why I didn’t lay it on them.

My office is next door to the training center where new employees learn about our school, autism, and so on.  I often overhear parts of the training, including a video that Joy, the trainer, plays for everyone.

Today I was leaving to do something when I heard Joy say, “Here’s a list of people who are good to know at Giant Steps.”  I rushed back over and poked my head in, to see if I made the list.

I had made the list, but something wasn’t right.  Joy noticed me and said, “Oh, and here’s Ed!”

Said I:  That’s not my name!

Joy looked up and saw “Ed Furlong, Facilities Manager.”  We had a good laugh, and she promised to correct my name later.

Ed Furlong - Marcy must be telling stories about me again.

At work we have a two-part (apparently optional) stress management class.

There was a video.

I wish I could say it was a romping good video, with plenty of hokey lines and scenes to entertain a mob, but there was only one such scene.

The authors suggest making lists and prioritizing as a way of mitigating stress.  Let me share.

You’ll make three lists.  List A will be all of the important things that need to be done.  List B will be important, but less urgent.  List C includes any remaining tasks you’d like to get done, if there’s time.

On the video, a sample “List A” was shown, including items like, “Pick up Jenny from soccer practice” and “Schedule meeting with management.”  About these, the narrator said, “You will start on this list first, working from the top down.”

List B had somewhat similar items, such that they might be more or less important depending on the person or circumstances.  “If you finish the first list, move on to the second list.”

When List C was revealed, including “Buy a zip drive” and “Call mom and dad,” the narrator said, “Forget about this list.”

This got a good laugh out of the staff.

While going about my bloggedy-blog bid-nass, I discovered that I have some 9 unfinished, unpublished drafts.

Who do I think I am, Tupac Shakur?

So, motivated in part by Mike Lloyd’s penchant for blogging campaigns, I will begin a campaign to finish and publish those drafts.  More than one is untitled, with 5 words of text or less.

Two new bios submitted to accompany my latest feature for the Greenbrier Valley Quarterly.

Edward J. Pluchar is still an expectant father, but hopefully won’t be “expectant” at press time.  Even so, “a week late” means another week to finish the neverending bathroom project, which only requires baseboard and an exhaust pipe.

Edward J. Pluchar has always made a better impression on mothers than daughters.  After 25 years he convinced (connived?) one of those daughters to marry him; just imagine how much his mother-in-law must think of him!

Dodgeball last Tuesday was one of the most enjoyable sessions.

We had 4 v. 4 going, mostly adults with a few high schoolers (who might be college students, now that someone pointed out the beard one of them is growing).  There was already a 10 year old kid on my team, who was decent, but not really helpful to the team.

During a well-contended series, a girl came strolling into the gym.  She might have been 4 1/2 feet tall, maybe 75 pounds.

Great.  Truly, it’s fine, kids play somewhat often, and we can usually play around them.  But they’re kids.

They suck!

In the next series, this girl was on my team.  I encourage teammates in general, so I shouted my support as she ran all over the court and - hey, she throws harder than I expected!

A few more plays and then - Whoa.  That’s really good timing on her throw.

What’s your name?

Breanna.

Great throw, Breanna!

The best player on the other team charged us, but we dodged his throw and he retreated with a ball.  I pinned him toward the sideline and threw hard, and as he dodged my throw he nearly fell out of bounds.  I turned around, and suddenly everyone was cheering!

The little girl knocked him out.  Apparently she threw just after I did, so that the guy wasn’t expecting it.  And because her throw was just hard enough, he didn’t have time to regain his balance and block or catch her.

Hey, great job Breanna!

Do you know about the kids boot camp, she asked me.  I said I did.

She said she went through it twice, and they played dodgeball.

I asked if that’s how she became so good.

With real humility, she nodded.

Breanna and I were the only two left on our team in the next game, against two opponents.  All but one of the balls was on their side, so Adam, a guy about my age, went around gathering them and placing them near the halfcourt line.  As he bent over to lay the last two balls down - Whack!  A ball came flying from his left, hitting him right in the temple.  He never saw it coming!

It was Breanna.  Everyone went nuts.  I later declared it was my pick for play of the night.

Please, do not delay.

Open Facebook, sign in, and scroll to the very bottom of the page.

In the lower left hand corner, it’ll say “English,” unless there’s something I don’t know about you.  Click that.  Then select, “English (Pirate).”

Do it.  Enjoy!

(Thanks Rebecca!)

Today has been on my mental calendar for quite some time -  Lewisburg’s 3rd annual Chocolate Festival.

What a splendid idea!  I say that like the idea of a chocolate festival is novel because I was here before the CF was, and if you had asked me whether it would be successful I would have said, “Yes, absolutely.”

Let me temper the discussion by saying that the CF is pretty great, but not all that chocoholics might dream it up to be.  There could be a more cohesive assortment of chocolates among the stores dishing out samples.  There could also be a stronger push for more exotic and more imaginative chocolates, really stretching the abilities of the cacao bean product.

Nevertheless, armed with palate cleansers (unsalted crackers, apples, and water), Marcy and I hit the streets and ended up consuming 15 samples of chocolate between the two of us.  I like to get a good breakfast in, but today, I’ve only eaten chocolate and crackers.

Not a bad day.

I hoped to take more pictures of the chocolates, but I didn’t remember my camera until it was almost too late.  So, below, a picture of our final sample.  This brownie, a no-bake cookie smoothie, and a chocolate-caramel covered pretzel were my favorites.

UPDATE:  Shortly after I finished this post, I drove home.  Near the end of the drive, my field of vision began to narrow - I was seeing lights in my periphery.  Then more or less right in front of me.

That’s right - a chocolate induced migraine headache was coming on!  Been a while since that happened…

Our big splurge, from The Wild Bean.

This link will bring you to the SnorgTees website, notably a design that made me laugh.

Plenty of good ones.