Mine was lovely, a great Turkey dinner on Christmas Eve courtesy of my daughter, Charles-Anne Wardlaw, and a couple of great Delmonico steaks on Christmas Day courtesy of myself and my wife, Barbara.
But there were a few ripples, three to be exact. They have brought chuckles from some and they also might from you, but one certainly didn’t from Barbara.
In regard to the first such case, just prior to the holiday I was backing one of our vehicles out of the garage just as Barbara was pulling into the driveway with the other.
Noticing the garage door open and my vehicle in it, but not noticing the lights on it were on and I was backing out, she hit the remote to close the door.
It came down smack dab on the roof of my vehicle, attempted to retreat but then jerked to a stop as it jumped the track.
Startled, I quickly pulled back into the garage, my aerial remaining intact only because of the bend in the door.
The vehicle was fine but I had to call Soo Overhead Doors to repair the door, as I have had to do several times in the past, at a cost of $90.
In the second instance, Barbara decided on Christmas morning to cook bacon in the oven. The smoke when she opened the oven door was enough to set off our smoke alarm, which is wired in.
Within moments, our main alarm was sounding as well.
By the time I shut it off, we had missed two phone calls from ADT because of the noise and I hadn’t thought to phone them.
So knock, knock, who’s there?
The fire department, of course.
Another ninety or so bucks out the door.
Now the tricky one.
We had had a mouse in the house, which we eventually found dead on the basement floor, but I never put away the traps. Barbara suggested that with Christmas here it was time I should. So, like the good and dutiful husband I am, I did.
It was only a couple of days later I heard this loud “owwww.”
Turns out I had made a couple of mistakes when putting the traps away. First I had just put them in a console in the living room and, I am now very sorry to say, heavy emphasis on the very sorry, I hadn’t sprung them.
The loud “owwww” had come from Barbara as, putting something else away in the console, the trap came down on one of her fingers, taking the bark off as it did so.
The silver lining in this, of course, is that I am still alive.
Although the question lingers: “Why didn’t you spring the traps? Dummy.”
I’d like to say it’s a guy thing but it turns out even the guy can’t seem to understand it.
Happy New Year.
*****
I keep reading that the Soo Greyhounds would like to add a quality defenceman.This leads me to ask why, then, did they let Medric Mercier go to the Oshawa Generals for a couple of mid-round draft picks?
I know some in the media and also some in the stands were not a fan of Mercier, seeing him as too laid back in the fast-skating puck-control environment in which the Greyhounds operate.
I never saw him in that light. No doubt he wasn’t flashy, but I always saw him as a steady performer.
It appears the Generals saw more in him than the Hounds did and their belief has borne fruit.
Mercier had one goal and three assists in nine games for the Hounds, a point in every other game not being all that bad for a defenceman.
But in Oshawa he has really blossomed. As of Thursday, in 26 games he has scored 10 goals and added 13 assists, almost a point a game.
To put it in perspective, his 10-goal total with the Generals is only one shy of what has been scored by the entire Greyhounds’ defence, where Conor Timmins leads with six, Colton White has three and Gustav Bouramman and Mac Hollowell each one.
And Mercier actually ties the Hounds’ total if you take into account the goal he scored while with the Hounds.
Mercier was minus one with the Hounds; he is minus two with the Generals.
One of the present members of the Hounds’ defence is minus eight and another minus seven.
And you’re telling me Mercier couldn’t fit in here?
Just asking?
Doug Millroy can be reached at dmillroy@gmail.com
