Last night the Roommate and I went to the Winterhawks hockey game; the Roommate works for a company that is a sponsor for the Winterhawks so we got playoff tickets! Ka-CHING. I don't know a whole lot about hockey but most of the players are super hot even under all the padding and the helmet and all and it's fun to watch them beat the crap out of each other, so I always jump at the change to go. And then there's the other reason I love the hockey games here: mullets! This sport attracts some of the most red neck looking people around (our group excluded) and you can see why. THE FIGHTS! So I get to do a lot of people watching, said mullets on the gentlemen and tube tops and bleached frizzy hair on the ladies. Evidently it's all about class.

Where's the blood on the ice?

Last night we sat with some friends in a very high up area of the coliseum where there were not that many people sitting because our friends "are loud"---their words. The game was very close, in fact out team scored, then their team scored, ours scored again, then theirs. By the final period it was neck and neck and the crowd was going wild, me included. We were all on our feet clapping when the final buzzer sounded. And I was clapping too, as I watched the ring on my left ring finger go flying off my hand and into the empty seats about seven rows in front of me. "My ring, did you see that?" I asked the Roommate, and he had indeed also noticed my silver one-of-a-kind ring flying forward, ever so gracefully. I immediately got up and walked to the row it looked like the ring flew to and looked under the row of chairs. No ring. I looked under the row in front of it, thinking the design of the ring, a spiral sort of thing, would be particularly bouncy and spring like. Still not ring. By this time the Roommate was helping me look. I looked under the row in front of that one, which actually had people sitting in it, and peered under the seats. I got strange looks from the people on this row and the row in front of it. I explained what had happened and that I was looking for my ring, which the Roommate said had a diamond on it, evidently thinking that if someone else had lost a ring with an actual diamond on it, I would get that too. The folks on these rows started half-assed looking for my ring as well. About then a coliseum usher came over to see what was going on; I again explained. The usher started looking for it as well.

The Roommate's lame attempt at looking like a red neck.

We searched and searched and then the "overtime" period was about to start and everyone including me lost interest in locating the missing ring. The usher disappeared and came back with a blond usher who told us she was an expert in finding lost jewelry. I assume she was hired just for this special skill, so she went to work while we watched the rest of the game. The other team scored after a while and the game was over, a defeat for our team. Add to that disappointment the fact that the "finder usher" hadn't located my missing ring so no wonder there were sad faces all around. We filed out of the bleachers and into the inner walkway of the coliseum to exit and return to our homes, dejected. As we were just pushing the security bar on the doors to leave the building we heard a woman yelling "Wait!" and turned to see the "finder usher" running to us with my ring! Amazing! I hugged her and thanked her profusely and the Roommate tried to give her twenty bucks for her trouble but she declined. Turns out she does if for the thrill of the hunt.

Reunited, and it feels sooooo gooooood.

So thank you, Finder Usher, you found my ring! It's amazing that she could find such a small piece of jewerly in such a big space with peanut shells and empty beer bottles everywhere, but I guess that's why she makes the big bucks. And is honored by the name "Finder Usher". Lord only knows what else she finds but I'd rather not know.

We will now observe a moment of silence for Finder Ushers everywhere. Without you we would all have nekked fingers.