It's so Hard to Say Goodbye

Last night was my last volleyball lesson and it's so sad to know I won't be going back next week. However, I couldn't have asked for a better ending. I'm in the beginner's class and there is an advanced class immediately after ours on Thursday nights. One of the girls in my class, A, and I are both pretty decent players (compared to the others in our class who have never played volleyball) and we usually stick around after class to ask questions, stretch, etc.

Well, last night our instructor was telling us where we could go play during the summer and he mentioned that he needed two extra people that night for the class, so A and I got to play with the boys. I can't tell you how great it was to play volleyball with people who actually knew what they were doing and who cared about doing it right.

Also, I don't know if I ever mentioned this before, but I have a HUGE stigma about setting the ball. For whatever reason I've always been afraid of doing it - and as a result I've really sucked it up whenever I tried to do it, and managed to jack up my thumb the second week of play (and it's still so swollen that I have a man thumb!) Last night though, I had some amazing sets. And oddly enough, I felt really good doing it. That's not to say that I'm really good at it; there is definitely room for improvement, BUT I think I may have conquered my fear of setting.

So... it turns out that I REALLY enjoy playing volleyball and I'm going to try and play as much as possible. I'm going to make it my mission to go to pick-up games every week and try to get on a team this summer.

*DING - A Guest Post

I've been a little negligent with my posts lately and one particular person brought it to my attention more than once, so I invited him to fill the space for me. His name is Dan (last name hidden to protect his identity) and his post is funny - just like Dan. So read on and let me know if you like his post; if so, I may just ask him to guest blog again.

If you don't like it, go easy on him - he's a newb.

Without further ado...

So here I am trying to come up with something witty pertaining to the fact that I’m originally from Maine to head this guest post off with. Unfortunately I’ve got nothing; my normally rapier sharp wit has been dulled by a day sitting at work. I’ll have to settle on something mildly entertaining:

News from the North!

You may be asking yourself, what possible news could this random individual have that pertains to me? To be perfectly honest not much if any in regards to my humble social life. News that SHOULD pertain to everyone however is the current political climate in the country. I’m a fairly avid reader of websites like www.Digg.com, www.slashdot.org, www.drudgereport.com and some various political blogs. I’m always amazed at our generation’s ability to vomit up ignorant buzz words. I don’t think it’s localized to just the 20-odd-something-or-others, but it’s depressing to see an onslaught of emoticons, poor grammar and poorly thought out editorials regurgitated over and over again.

Partially fueling this ‘intellectual shift’ seems to be the ever-increasing sense of entitlement in this country. Playing the victim card has become a past time in the legal system. Take a look in the realm of medicine: Have you injured yourself somehow? Call this number and we’ll make someone pay! This basic inability to accept consequences of your actions has numerous repercussions, not the least of which is driving up medical costs causing insurance prices to soar.

Wait a second:

Who wants to read a guest post where the write just berates modern social tendencies? THAT WOULD BE BORING AND OUTRIGHT LAME! That would make me seem like some whining baby:

(I really love this picture)

This post requires more ZAZZ! Let’s go ahead and switch gears a little bit. Allow me to illuminate you a little bit on who I am and why I’m even posting here to begin with. My name is Dan, yes I’m originally from Maine, and I now live outside of Boston. I work at Analog Devices with Michele’s boyfriend Stephen (OMG STEPHEN XOXOX <3>KISSES BUT NO BABIES!!!!!111!!!11!22!!).

Thinking back I honestly can’t remember when the first time Michele and I met. It may have been at one of my co-worker’s parties, it may have been at volleyball. It doesn’t make a difference in the long run because I CAN BEAT HER AT BEIRUT WITH MY BAD HAND (Beer pong to the less civilized). It’s ‘OK’ though, I accept her for who she is.

She does seem to share my affinity for social sports (Beirut inclusive)((And that’s where we met….Volleyball!)). It’s one of the many things about Analog Devices that I really enjoy; the ability to play softball/volleyball/hockey etc. etc. with my co-workers. Looking at the weather today, it’s mid 70’s and we have a practice game at around 5:30. Juxtaposing that against last night where I drank Busch Light while playing Team Fortress 2, Rock Band and surfing www.ytmnd.com (Here's a good one) it’ll be a nice change of pace. So long as I don’t get injured for tomorrow night’s volleyball it’ll be 100% good.

That’s about all I’ve got for this horribly convoluted post….I’ll leave you with a bit of wisdom in picture form: