Bigger or Better: Life outside of Texas

I don't know why, but I imagine a Minnesota accent when I ruminate on the pronunciation of hockey. I'm not from Minnesota, and as far as I know I've never been to Minnesota, but that doesn't stop me from hearing the northern dialect in my head. I got into watching hockey when I started dating Mark, because he idolizes the Pittsburgh Penguins. If I'm claiming to be into any sport, the best bet is hockey. I enjoy following the Penguins team with Mark, but that doesn't mean we see the same things. Mark will be following the puck turnover closely, and then I'll pipe up, "Oh, look, some Asian companies are advertised on the rink's perimeter. I didn't know Asia was into hockey." Or he'll be listening to media interviews of the coach, and I'll mention, "Wow, did you see his tie? Super classy." ---- Yesterday, I heard about the miracle-on-ice scenario of an emergency backup goalie helping score a win against his "home

I believe I've hinted at this before, but I chose to have surgery on my spine again. Anatomic reason: having a herniated disc meant that the original disc between L5-S1 [lower back] vertebrae is shorter, and contributed to further degeneration in the area. Physiologic reason: it hurt. Last week I had a spinal fusion from the front [technical name ALIF]. I had originally thought my L5-S1 vertebrae would be stabilized with titanium, so prior to surgery I mentally-played Titanium : " You shoot me down but I won't fall/  I am titanium " Turns out my surgeon used synthetic bone graft instead. Well...whatever. Glad I didn't make any T-shirts with that phrase. Me without eyebrows I was kept overnight (maybe for pain control? they had me on a ketamine drip), and because inpatient hospital procedure schedules are dumb, Radiology sent a wheelchair to take me to my xray at 3am. I got out of it by having shaking, nausea, and lightheadedness once standing. Don