Friday, January 29, 2016

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I got new wheels.  (Did I mention I was getting new wheels?  I'm getting new wheels.)  I forwent my beloved natural Radar Diamonds for a set of......

Red Radar Diamonds.

Our cold practice space means the track is unnaturally slick, so I went down a hardness.

Did I say "cold"?  I meant FREEZING ZOMFG WTF.  Last night the temperature was 39.6°.  IT WAS WARMER OUTSIDE. We're all in long underwear and gloves and ski masks. It's miserable.

On the plus side, I was told I made some great calls last night, so yay me.  Also had a situation where a jammer was trying to call it off but wasn't touching her hips (she was touching higher up on her torso).  The bench was like SHE'S CALLING IT OFF, QUEENIE, C'MON! but I was like SHE'S NOT TOUCHING HER HIPS I'M NOT GONNA CALL IT OFF UNTIL SHE DOES (I didn't say that, of course.) Then she *did* touch her hips....but only did it once.  In the words of the Star*Kist tuna commercials, sorry, Charlie.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

My bible

Very official and whatnot
I don't know why it's sideways, but there are flags for each section
I've made stickers to represent the track and a straightaway

It's much easier than trying to draw a half-way decent straightaway over and over



Monday, January 25, 2016

#33

Went pretty well.  There were *so many times*, though, that a skater would return from the Penalty Box and cut right in front of me to re-enter the track and I would either have to stop or I would run into them.  It got to the point where I actually yelled I'M GOING TO START CALLING MISCONDUCTS IF Y'ALL DON'T STOP.

(The HR warned both teams, and after that it was okay, but still.)

Figured out what I'm going to do for my skates - I'm going to be a guinea pig!  I can get a deal on these skates and they look amazing and I'm a sucker for new stuff, so I said SURE SIGN ME UP.

Earlier today, after taking pen and Wite-Out to my planner YET AGAIN, I decided to make a simple spreadsheet of all the bouts in the area that I could ref - where they are, what league, regulation/sanctioned/other, and my response.  I figured it would make things easier.

IT SO DID NOT MAKE THINGS EASIER.

On the other hand, it did make me realize that I don't have any refereeing going on until All-Stars on the 19th of February.

Friday, January 22, 2016

things, in list form

  1. WHEN YOU ARE FRONT IPRING, STOP LOOKING AT THE FRICKIN' 10' MARKS ON THE FLOOR.
  2. When you are front IPRing, it's your responsibility to call the out of play blocks/assists and the failures to return/reform.  If you don't do it, NOBODY WILL.
  3. Meeting with Ilana from Turnaround Skates after Saturday's bout to get fitted for new skates!  Yaaaay!
  4. The Queenie Family is going to be going to Seattle during this summer, and we'd been talking about going in late August, when the Yankees are playing the Mariners.  Turns out that Rat City is going to host a tournament right around that time, too.  Will definitely apply for it.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

so....(and as my mother would reply, "sew buttons!")

I've been doing some thinking and talking with other refs, and I've decided that I'm going to wait until I have a bunch of evaluations, and then apply for Level 2 certification (you have to wait a year between applying for levels, so if I go for 1 now, I'd have to wait.)

Thursday, January 14, 2016

wheeeeeee

So I'm thinking I will buy new skates, or at the very least, new boots.  I've had my current ones for almost 4 years now (it was this weekend in 2012 that I went to NYC and Five Stride to get them), and I can wiggle my toes in them easily now.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016