Dater's Post-Vacation Thoughts

A little of this and a little of that

Unlike my other writer on this site, Pat Salvas, I did not write during a roughly 10-day vacation that ended Friday. And, I feel shame for that. But only a little.

One of the big reasons why I got in trouble in the past for saying or doing the occasionally idiotic thing was because I worked too much. I felt like I had to work all day for the print product, then work much of the night for the online product. Gotta get those clicks, gotta stay relevant in the digital age, gotta work my ass off to keep a job.

That led to a world-class case of insomnia, which led to reliance on prescription drugs to sleep, which led to me abusing those drugs and sometimes writing things that, to this day, I have zero memory of actually writing at the time.

I’m not saying that as an excuse. Not trying to make myself sound like a hero, either, like,“Hey, I only screwed up because I’m just such a hard worker.” But that third paragraph is simply just stating a fact.

The good news: I’ve been “normal” for a good while now. At least, in my opinion - and in the opinion of others I trust (friends, family). I give all the credit to Jesus, my Lord and Savior.

But that’s enough preaching. This is an Avalanche site, not a pulpit. However, I want to riff off Pat’s last column, which was, well, good (Pat knows I dispense with writing compliments like the IRS dispenses with forgiveness notes on unpaid taxes).

Some of what Pat was about his own life, much of which I could relate to. So I’ll riff on that, and apologies for doing so, as a writer never thinks there is anything more interesting than talking about himself. Most of it was on the Avs’ 2025-26 schedule, though, which I’ll riff on in my own uncannily likable and readable way. Without further ado: