On the mighty Mad

Sorry. ALT text: Security camera footage of cat staring directly into the lens about one foot away

The cat's on to me.

Three other gains:

1) Meeting someone who loved music so much that they chose to make a career teaching others.

2) Gaining an understanding of just how incredibly impressive skilled musical artists are, and how they make our lives better.

3) An exposure to a broad range of music before adulthood.

I think this also applies to younger students.

Did a tour of my high school last year and was saddened to hear of the demise of the music program.

I was never gonna be a pro sax player, but the friendships and appreciation of music have lasted a lifetime.

I wasn't just about gaining a skill.

Ya know, Ron McLean doesn't need to point out that Bobby Hull was abusive to his wife, but he also doesn't need to say that Brett, "honoured his father's legacy" either.

Wonder if he had a brother named Earnest.

The last time our Leafs missed the playoffs was the 2015-2016 season.

Since then? The entire world has been in chaos.

Missing the playoffs this year will be healing not just for Leafs fans, but for all of us.

Thank God our long national (hockey league) nightmare is over.

Huh?

Did Treliving do enough to save his job?

No.

Do the Leafs need better coaching?

Yes.

Do Rogers need to get their shit together?

Yes.

Please get someone more competent in place for Draft Day and July 1st.

McMann was a nice story but neither a big asset nor a big piece of the future for the Leafs at age 30.

Yes, glad to get a 1st for Roy. He did not move the dial much in Toronto.

Seems like OEL is staying. I've enjoyed watching him this season, which is something I can't say much lately.

Well, I guess we're all cheering for the Kings for the next few weeks to turn that 3rd into a 2nd.

I do feel for Scott Laughton. It's not his fault that Tre paid way too much for him.

He's played well enough to deserve a middling next contract, but not well enough to fetch a big return.

I think dealing those two firsts away may ultimately be unforgivable for Tre.

And Matthew's year might sink Berube.

Order arrives.

No garlic toast. Can of Dr. Pepper.

Tre sighs and makes Fettucini the new 8D.

Happy "No Farting in the Elevator Day", for all who celebrate.

Yes, on this day, many years ago, Ken, the mail room guy, farted in the elevator, resulting in an email to all staff that stated this was NOT allowed.

Definitely a career highlight for Ken!

(The email soon disappeared, what a shame.)

It's a Bandcamp Friday.

Might buy me some tunes.

Well, thankfully, this didn't age well.

So, yeah, gonna double down on it NEVER happening again. 😀

Maybe a F or D plus Stolarz?

It would have to be two active players. They have to keep some picks and the few decent prospects in their system.

Their best combo might get a 1st and prospect.

Maybe in a year or two, they might have something in the cupboard on Deadline Day.

Not this year.

The Leafs desperately want to get a 1st round pick back this week, but they don't have a trade chip worth that in return.

The only way they're gonna pull it off is in a package deal. Maybe a bubble team badly needs a PK specialist and a 4/5 D. So, Laughton plus OEL might help them over the hump.

We're already in the portion of the NHL trade deadline week where I'm sure some of these players don't actually exist.

Treliving on phone call with the Flames, offering Leafs' first round pick in 2034 for Olli Määtä.

Yet bags of WHOLE potatoes are on sale for $1.99!!

Is William Nylander the 1D that the Leafs have been searching for?

Sign is store washroom that says: Toilet paper only in Toilet Please Thanks Management

Ok, but be careful emptying the garbage can.

Leafs sitting out three players for trade-deadline-related reasons.

Waiting for shot of Tre in the visitors' box, proudly showing everyone a handful of beans.

My boy Billiam Nylander is toying with my blood pressure.

It stung. It's an awful moment 💔

But then, something happens.

It becomes freeing.

She not longer has any currency to pay for my reliability.

I don't need to think about keeping any thread intact.

Once we get the divorce settled, I am done with her.

And my life will go on.

She squandered that.

In a brutal spreadsheet, she clearly showed that my reliability in providing support, emotional, logistical, technical, for 20 years had exactly zero value.

Couldn't even pretend to acknowledge my contributions.

She even revised it lower in the second draft.

Ouch.

I said I had been willing to stay friendly after the divorce gets done. I like being reliable. If my wife needed help with something, or advice, I could have managed that.

However, there would need to be an exchange. I'd have to know that she valued my help, my reliability.

Currency.

Interesting moment in therapy today.

My therapist threw a question at me, saying she struggles with understanding why some people still hang on to the thinnest thread connecting them to their former partner.

She thinks I've cut the thread. How did I get there?

Had to think about that for a sec.

Have to admit, I think I willed the Flyer's second goal into existence.

I thought, "Don't make me watch OT, Philly. Just end this."