Saturday, April 21, 2007
Saturday, April 14, 2007
RSVP, damn it!
I have to get this off my chest. People, it is rude as hell to not respond to an invitation. It is worse to respond and not follow through on your response.
Allow me to explain. When someone decides to host an event, be it a party, poker tournament, or whatever, they are doing two things. First, they are offering to go to trouble and expense for your benefit. They are also paying you the compliment of wanting your company. In many cases, they are also taking a risk that they will be able to create a fun, entertaining event for all of the guests. When you don't reply to an invitation, or say you are coming and don't come, or say you are not coming and then show up, you are undermining the host's ability to provided the event for others and ignoring a compliment (i.e. being a jerk).
A case in point was last nights poker game. One player drove for 45 minutes with a limited budget to play in the tournament. He had been assured that we had enough players coming. When two people did not show up, we didn't have enough. We switched to a cash game. The long-driving player really didn't have enough money to play effectively and was broke after about 30 minutes. An hour and a half of driving for 30 minutes of short-handed poker is not fair to him and is an embarassment to the host (not me).
A short phone call by the no-shows might have avoided this whole mess. It is a simple consideration that I've seen avoided time and time again until I'm sick of it.
I know that stuff comes up at the last minute. Kids get sick, spouses decide that you can't leave, cars break, we forget about previous engagement until the last minute. That kind of stuff happens and is understandable. But you can almost always call when it does.
In summary, the invitation is a compliment that says that someone would like your company. Don't be a jerk. Treat it as such and respond. Then follow through. Rant complete.
Allow me to explain. When someone decides to host an event, be it a party, poker tournament, or whatever, they are doing two things. First, they are offering to go to trouble and expense for your benefit. They are also paying you the compliment of wanting your company. In many cases, they are also taking a risk that they will be able to create a fun, entertaining event for all of the guests. When you don't reply to an invitation, or say you are coming and don't come, or say you are not coming and then show up, you are undermining the host's ability to provided the event for others and ignoring a compliment (i.e. being a jerk).
A case in point was last nights poker game. One player drove for 45 minutes with a limited budget to play in the tournament. He had been assured that we had enough players coming. When two people did not show up, we didn't have enough. We switched to a cash game. The long-driving player really didn't have enough money to play effectively and was broke after about 30 minutes. An hour and a half of driving for 30 minutes of short-handed poker is not fair to him and is an embarassment to the host (not me).
A short phone call by the no-shows might have avoided this whole mess. It is a simple consideration that I've seen avoided time and time again until I'm sick of it.
I know that stuff comes up at the last minute. Kids get sick, spouses decide that you can't leave, cars break, we forget about previous engagement until the last minute. That kind of stuff happens and is understandable. But you can almost always call when it does.
In summary, the invitation is a compliment that says that someone would like your company. Don't be a jerk. Treat it as such and respond. Then follow through. Rant complete.
Poker Conversation
Let me start by saying that I am not a "Poker Blogger." I don't write about poker often enough or as a high enough percentage to qualify. Dr. Pauly, Iggy, Badblood, TripJax and Falstaff do a much better job of explaining the settings, situations, and breaks of the great game than I ever could. Me, I'm a part-time blogger who likes to play small stakes poker with friends. I did so last night.
The turnout sucked. We had hoped to have a tournament of 8 to 10 players, but various problems kept that from happening. Two confirmed players never arrived and never called. I'm sorry, but that is beyond rude. (I lied, I'm not sorry) One who had confirmed realized on Thursday and he would be driving home from the beach on Friday when the game was starting. He called after his wife (who BTW, is a great lady) reminded him of the conflict. But he did call, which is all we could ask. The remainder of the invitees were kind enough to say that they couldn't make it. We ended up with 5 players and a cash game.
Since I'm not a poker blogger, I won't go into the in's and out's of the cards. What struck me as an almost-never-blogged-about topic and huge part of the event is the table conversation. That is really what makes the game worth attending.
Last night’s topics:
Nappy-headed hos
What was the name of the villain’s assistant with the killer hat in Goldfinger? (Odd Job I found out later)
Snorting Wasabi
The spaceship scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian
The name of the Monty Python movie that includes the song "Every Sperm is Sacred?" (The Meaning of Life)
Gears of War
Pop-top liquor
Special K is one lucky bastard in marriage
Daytona wings at Hooters
Growing weed and the plumber
The outrageous price of shows in Vegas
Going to Vegas in First Class or not going at all
That is what I remember, at least, of what I want to tell. I'm sure there was much more. Next time I'll take notes like a real poker blogger.
The turnout sucked. We had hoped to have a tournament of 8 to 10 players, but various problems kept that from happening. Two confirmed players never arrived and never called. I'm sorry, but that is beyond rude. (I lied, I'm not sorry) One who had confirmed realized on Thursday and he would be driving home from the beach on Friday when the game was starting. He called after his wife (who BTW, is a great lady) reminded him of the conflict. But he did call, which is all we could ask. The remainder of the invitees were kind enough to say that they couldn't make it. We ended up with 5 players and a cash game.
Since I'm not a poker blogger, I won't go into the in's and out's of the cards. What struck me as an almost-never-blogged-about topic and huge part of the event is the table conversation. That is really what makes the game worth attending.
Last night’s topics:
Nappy-headed hos
What was the name of the villain’s assistant with the killer hat in Goldfinger? (Odd Job I found out later)
Snorting Wasabi
The spaceship scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian
The name of the Monty Python movie that includes the song "Every Sperm is Sacred?" (The Meaning of Life)
Gears of War
Pop-top liquor
Special K is one lucky bastard in marriage
Daytona wings at Hooters
Growing weed and the plumber
The outrageous price of shows in Vegas
Going to Vegas in First Class or not going at all
That is what I remember, at least, of what I want to tell. I'm sure there was much more. Next time I'll take notes like a real poker blogger.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Randomness
Posting a few things because it's been a while.
I'm sorry that I missed TripJax's trip to the Queen City of the South. This was the second recent trip and the first that I've also been in town for. Next time he'll remember to bring his laptop.
My wife, Mrs K., will be finishing up her Doctorate degree in Audiology (AUD for those who know what that is) in about 2 weeks. I am so proud of her. It's looking like she will finish with straight A's. She has worked super hard on this for well over a year,even doubling up in the last month, just to make sure that her dad would live to see it. She is my hero and inspiration.
Speaking of Mr. C. He is hanging in there pretty well. He is stronger and more alert since getting off his chemo. He will start another course of a different drug in a couple of weeks, so we are hoping it won't sap him like the last round.
Mr. and Mrs. C and their children are headed to the beach later this week. That should be a special time.
Poker sucks.
Last week was hell week at work. We rolled out a new workshop on database performance tuning. I got to write and edit large parts of the manual and labs. I also got to be the first to present it to a paying customer in the whole world. It didn't help that the course was not ready and had to be fixed as I was going into day 1. It went off pretty well. I now have 4 or 5 more scheduled in the next 2 months. I should know the stuff pretty well by then. It's good to be on the back side of all that work.
Our dog Wrigley has a hurt leg and needs to stay calm for the next 10 days. I'm glad it is not more serious. She is the kind of dog that will not be much of a problem keeping down. She's pretty lazy. Cute as hell, but lazy.
I'm going for a sleep study tomorrow night. I think it is time to go practice now. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
I'm sorry that I missed TripJax's trip to the Queen City of the South. This was the second recent trip and the first that I've also been in town for. Next time he'll remember to bring his laptop.
My wife, Mrs K., will be finishing up her Doctorate degree in Audiology (AUD for those who know what that is) in about 2 weeks. I am so proud of her. It's looking like she will finish with straight A's. She has worked super hard on this for well over a year,even doubling up in the last month, just to make sure that her dad would live to see it. She is my hero and inspiration.
Speaking of Mr. C. He is hanging in there pretty well. He is stronger and more alert since getting off his chemo. He will start another course of a different drug in a couple of weeks, so we are hoping it won't sap him like the last round.
Mr. and Mrs. C and their children are headed to the beach later this week. That should be a special time.
Poker sucks.
Last week was hell week at work. We rolled out a new workshop on database performance tuning. I got to write and edit large parts of the manual and labs. I also got to be the first to present it to a paying customer in the whole world. It didn't help that the course was not ready and had to be fixed as I was going into day 1. It went off pretty well. I now have 4 or 5 more scheduled in the next 2 months. I should know the stuff pretty well by then. It's good to be on the back side of all that work.
Our dog Wrigley has a hurt leg and needs to stay calm for the next 10 days. I'm glad it is not more serious. She is the kind of dog that will not be much of a problem keeping down. She's pretty lazy. Cute as hell, but lazy.
I'm going for a sleep study tomorrow night. I think it is time to go practice now. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
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