Links
Dater’s Daily Links: Edmonton Quarantine Day 7
EDMONTON, ALBERTA – Hello from Edmonton, where this is (technically) Day 7 of the two-week quarantine. Halfway there! Honestly, it’s gone fast, even though it does seem like a million years in some ways too. I’m pretty sure this is the longest I’ve ever gone without being outside already, though there might have been some heavy childhood sickness that kept me in a while probably.
I’m going to try the moose meat today (for more on that, click here). I gotta admit, I’m nervous about it. I don’t like bad smells, and I’m told that the moose smells “gamey” and tests like it too. But I gotta pull my socks up and do this. I’ll be trying the moose live on 104.3 The Fan at 3:45 this afternoon. Click here to listen live. The moose meat is defrosting out in the kitchen.
Some weird dreams of late. Last night, I dreamt I was the sudden, substitute lead guitarist for Kiss, and the show was going to start in about an hour and I don’t know how to play guitar at all, and I was sure to incur the significant wrath of Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. Thankfully, I woke up before the curtain rose.
I’ve already broken the fan I bought and had delivered. It was a cheap fan, and I accidentally kicked it over, and when I did, one of the plastic fan blades tore. Now I’ve got to get another one. It gets friggin’ hot at night sometimes, though the last day or so has been quite cool in Edmonton and I have a lot of windows to this place I can open.
The Avs arrive here Sunday. Unfortunately, my Edmonton quarantine won’t be up yet when they play the Minnesota Wild in an exhibition game on Monday at Rogers Place. But I’ll be good to go – assuming I pass the proper health checks – for the Avs-Blues round-robin game Aug. 2. I have already made my betting prediction for that game, by the way, which you can see by clicking here.
As always, thanks to those who have donated to the Avs Travel Tip Jar for this trip. If you want to donate too, I won’t stop you. You can do that here. (If you get a “this link has expired” message, you can click on the Tip Jar link on the actual page right next to where you’re reading and it will work fine. I don’t know why the link sometimes expires when I actually link to it within a story).
I’ve only been here a week, and yet I feel like I know absolutely everything there is to know about my airbnb and the surrounding outside scene. I know that water knobs in the shower are very, very temperamental and need to be adjusted exactly so to get the proper water temperature, which I prefer on the medium-warm-to-cooler side.
I know that some decent cool breezes will waft in through the bedroom window during the day, but things usually fall very still at night. That’s when missing a fan comes in. I know that the person below me (I’m on the third floor of an apartment building) likes loud electronic music. I know this having had it blasting until close to 2 a.m. the other night.
OK, let’s get to some other links, some hockey links:
- Want to know what life will be like for the Avs and other NHL players “inside the bubble?” This piece has some good insight (Sportsnet)
- Here’s a league-produced, 50-minute video about what life is like (NHL.com)
- Things are still very bitter between Altitude and Comcast (Altitude Twitter)
- As far as I know, I’m still only one of two U.S.-based, independent hockey writers who are here in Edmonton and down to cover this thing from inside the building and live the Edmonton quarantine life. The other is Sarah McLellan, the Minnesota Wild beat writer for the Star-Tribune. Her daily diary of Edmonton quarantine life is good reading (Star-Tribune)
- Here’s a story advocating for Nathan MacKinnon to win the Hart. I agree (Hockey News)
- More reaction on the Kracken (NHL.com)
- There is COVID-19 here in Edmonton, despite what you may have heard. Not nearly on the level of the U.S., but it’s here (Edmonton Journal)
- Please welcome San Jose Hockey Now to the family. It’s led by a real good young writer, Sheng Peng. (San Jose Hockey Now). We added Florida Hockey Now recently too.
- Bad news for Montreal; the Habs’ play-in opponent, Pittsburgh, just got a certain player back (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)
OK time to log off now and start mentally gearing up more to try that moose meat.