I CAN Do It

i thought that i'd be a little nervous this week because of the motorboat operator certification course and my complete and utter lack of experience pulling a trailer or driving a boat. but it isn't as bad as i thought it would be. i'm actually having fun with it. and all of this is coming from the girl who isn't even really comfortable backing the truck by itself.

yesterday was the first day of the class, and we spent the morning in the classroom going over the (extreme) basics... like the parts of the boat and trailer. then we went out and looked at the trailers and stuff and the different boats that DISL has. then we watched a video on visual distress signals. and then came the fun part... we went down to the beach and shot off some day/night flares. and we also had to practice putting out fires. i was a little nervous about that part. you know, with my being the queen of the kitchen fire and all. but it was fine. i showed that gasoline-fire-in-a-huge-metal-bowl who's boss (i am). after that, we watched another silly video on trailering, and then we had to actually practice trailering.

i don't think i did too horribly for someone with absolutely zero trailering experience. plus, i got stuck with the truck in which the bench seat in front doesn't move up (one of the lever things is broken), so i couldn't really reach the pedals without scooting up on the seat. that kind of sucked, but i managed. mike (guy teaching the course) told me i did pretty well, anyway. i only squished 2 out of 12 cones when we had to weave in and out of them. i pretended they were ducks. i was a little sad about the two 'ducks' that sacrificed themselves so that i could learn to drive a trailer properly. what if they had been real ducks? well, a real duck would probably have panicked and run/flown out of the way. but still...

i didn't squish any cones when i was backing onto the 'ramp' that was really just a space in between four cones. i had to start over a couple of times, but i just get so confused with all the mirrors and the trailer going the opposite way of the truck and all. it takes me a minute to readjust. after i successfully backed the boat onto the 'ramp' twice, mike was like, "gimme 5. now get out of here while you're ahead and get robbie in here." robbie was my partner. he was giving me directions while i was backing up. then i gave him directions. after all that, mike made me park the boat. i only had to start over once that time. like i told mike, there's no law that says you have to get the boat in the water on the first try... as long as i don't crash into anything i'll be fine.

tomorrow we have to practice falling overboard and hauling ourselves back into the boat. i think that's going to be hard. i'm having flashbacks of maine... you know, when SOB cameron jumped off the dock with me, and then three people had to grab me and pull me out 'cause i couldn't do it myself. in my defense, i was fully clothed in jeans and a jacket, and i was drunk, and i was holding a smirnoff ice and kate's glasses... and laughing and being pissed off all at the same time. i'm going to use the 'get one leg over the side and roll' technique. it's gonna be hard, and i'm probably gonna hurt myself, but by george, i can do it.

ooh! in other news, the flyers really suck and really need to get their shit together and are overall just really disappointing right now (i'm still hoping for improvement - they've got good stuff to work with, they should just never, ever let robert esche play again. 9 goals on 37 shots? that's pathetic, i don't care if his defense was non-existent). i couldn't even make myself watch all of their game against buffalo last night. yikes. after the 5th goal in the 2nd period, i was like, "that's it. i can't take anymore." and esche had such a brilliant 1st period... what the hell happened? so really, he allowed 9 goals on 25 shots just in the 2nd and 3rd periods. at least when niittymaki loses, the games are somewhat close. i know that the rest of team isn't exactly on top of its game, but esche isn't exactly playing well, either. i think it's about time niittymaki was officially named the flyers' #1 goalie... and for the rest of the team to learn how to finish on golden opportunities (of which mike richards seems to get more than most. i like the kid, but he needs to get it together, too).

that's not what i intended to write when i started with 'ooh! in other news...' i intended to say that i got a new cell phone, which wouldn't really be that exciting if it weren't for my brilliant choice of ring tones... wait for it... the danger zone! sweet! chad was like, "you would." i love it. to me, that song is hockey. the ice pilots should totally start coming out to that song again. it was so perfect. when i was choosing songs for my ringtone i was stuck in a 3-way tie among green day's "when i come around," bon jovi's "livin on a prayer," and billy idol's "rebel yell." those are all fantastic songs, i know, and they would all make great ring tones, but i just couldn't choose between them. and then in a moment of intense inspiration i knew what my ring tone should be. "the danger zone." kenny loggins. it's great, i tell you.