I’ve got a bit of ‘splanin to do

That’s because it’s been since October since I’ve done a real blog post.  It’s not that nothing blog worthy has happened. A lot has happened, actually.  It’s just that I haven’t felt like writing it up and since I don’t make any money or make any promises about posting, I just didn’t.  So let’s see what I remember.

My job kept me on the road after the October triathlon.  I’ve traveled to Germany, Vegas, St. Louis, Vegas (again), St. Louis (again), G-Vegas, DC, and Charleston, SC.  The Germany trip was to upgrade a customers database server.  It took a 24 hour work day (my first ever), but we hit the planned return to service time and the customer has invited me back.  I don’t have any problem with that. 

The first trip to Vegas was for the celebration of my 50th birthday.  I’m still not used to being that old, but so be it.  That trip was awesome.  Most of the folks that I really wanted there made it.  We had incredible dinner at the Hofbrauhaus on Thursday, followed by another incredible dinner Carnevino in the Palazzo, followed by the Cher show at Caesar's on Saturday.  There was some gambling in between with a good session of blackjack, a bad session of pai gow, and lot’s of poker.  Dr. K and I got in a couple of good workouts in the beatuiful fitness spa of the Venetian (where we stayed courtesy of Skoon and Brian the Red) and a visit with my younger brother and Dr. K’s aunt.  Though I ended up on the negative end for gambling, it was my best trip to Vegas ever.

The first trip to St. Louis was for work and nothing real special on that.  I did play some poker at Lumiere Place and River City, both times with poor outcomes, and stayed right downtown near the arch and Busch Stadium.  That was fun.

The second trip to Vegas was for the World Poker Blogger Tour (WPBT).  Seeing that bunch of degens just gets better and better the more times we get together.  The gambling hit a new low as I posted my biggest Vegas loss ever, but I’d do it again.  If I’ve got the resources, I will.

The second trip to St. Louis is probably best forgotten.  I was to present two days of training, but the customer’s folks only showed for 1 of the 4 sessions due to poor weather and general disinterest.  Too bad.  I had some good stuff planned.  I stayed and played at the Harrah’s Hotel and Casino.  My losses continued to mount this trip as well (are you seeing a trend here), so I’ll just move on.

G-Vegas brings us up to the new year and actually New Years Day and the BadBlood New Year’s Tourney.  You can hear all about it on the Gambling Tales Podcast, but the gory details are that I got my money in good and didn’t win any of the significant hands that I needed to post another big loss.  I’ve had good luck and bad luck in G-Vegas.  I’ll try again soon.

Finally, the trip to DC was interesting.  I think that will make for a good blog post of it’s own as that memory is fresh from last week.  I’ll break out this weekend’s trip to Charleston as well.

As for other highlights from the past quarter – Thanksgiving and Christmas were good with family and friends healthy and doing well.  Dr. K lost a bet with her nephew (a Clemson fan) and went over the top in paying off as the picture shows.

The two pictures in this post were taken with my new Windows Phone 7 which really kicksass.  I won’t say that it’s better than the other smart phones (iPhone, Driod), but it holds it’ own with a lot of potential yet to come.

That’s most of the highlights.  There are trips to Seattle, Colorado Springs and San Antonio in the near future.  I’ll try to do better at keeping up.

United Airlines F’s over its Customers

On Thursday I had what must rank as one of my top ten all-time worst customer service experience at the hands of United Airlines.  It all started when my 2:30 pm flight to Washington-Dulles was cancelled due to bad weather in the DC area.  I don’t blame them for not flying without permission, but cancelling the flight altogether put the 130 or so folks on the plane in need of rebooking to get to their destination.  Had we flown when the airport reopened, I would have made my flight to Kuwait which was also delayed instead of enduring the torture that followed.

As we pulled back to the gate an announcement was made for domestic customers to line up at one gate and international customers at the other.  I’m thinking that they will give the international customers a priority since they have more expensive tickets and longer delays if flights are missed.  Nothing could have been further from what happened.

The domestic line was about twice as long as the international line, so it wasn’t surprising to see two agents servicing those passengers.  I was 9th of about 45 passengers in the international line.  Things were looking ok until the second customer in my line.  The first customer was in the wrong line so he was gone at once.  The next guy took over 50 minutes to try every possible option and ask every possible question.  Several international passengers asked for the agents to help us out a bit.  That wasn’t going to happen. 

As the ‘help’ whet on, the average time to book domestic passengers was maybe 5 minutes and the average passenger in the international line took about 30 minutes.  Even though I started 9th in line, I didn’t get any help with my travel until I had stood in line for over 3 hours.  Of course, by that time there was no way to get to Kuwait in time to catch my connection. None.  And since my connection only runs three days a week, it pushed my travel back 3 days.

Even though our line was moving so much slower, the 2 agents serving domestic passengers made no effort to help our line at all until all of the domestics were gone.  That happened right about the 3 hour mark.  Score 90 domestic, 8 international.  Nice.

At that point, some folks from further back in the international line stepped into the domestic line.  Once the domestics were gone, the agents continued with those line-jumpers in front of them instead of serving the next customer in the proper line.  Let that be a lesson to those who listen to instructions and play by the rules.  The folks behind the desk don’t give a crap about that.  They will do what is easier for them.  And did United keep all 3 agents working to help customers?  Nope.  One of the agents disappeared with no explanation.

Thankfully I was in my home town, so I could schedule a tentative trip and go home.  I really feel for the folks who were still 3 hours deep in the line and facing a night in a hotel and another day of traveling.

DId I say I could just go home?  That’s not quite true.  I still had to retrieve my bag from the airline.  That took another 30 minutes of waiting at the bag conveyor line.  From there I hopped on the waiting shuttle to airport parking and got right to my car.  Then I say the worst backup at the parking pay windows that I’ve every seen.  It took another 30 minutes to pay for the parking that I didn’t need.  I was home about 20 minutes later, much to the surprise of Dr. K.

As I’m writing this, my second try at this trip is going much better, but there is a long way to go.

The lines in my Face(book) keep getting clearer

I’ll just warn you up front, this is going to be a long navel-gazing post, and if you weren’t affected by the situation, you probably won’t be interested in this story.  Of course, you may be interested in how small a world it can by and how people are connected.  Facebook really brings that last point out.  But to tell my tale, I have to supply some background and that starts with who I was in high school, a bit over 30 years ago.

BTW, I changed all of the names in this story. I think that those involved will recognize their character.

I was a little kid in the 9th grade.  Little as in small.  My late blooming caused my time in junior high to be a living hell.  I had started liking girls, but with one or two exceptions they had not started liking me.  My athletic record was pedestrian at best.  I didn’t take getting picked on very well.  I was an average kid in a lot of ways and a geeky looser in others.  I thought a lot more of myself than that and really didn’t understand why everyone else didn’t see it, too.  It put a bit of a chip on my shoulder and sure didn’t give me any training for handling success.

So I arrive in high school and things start going better almost immediately. I had grown a good bit over the summer.  I made a ton of new friends when classes began.  Before long I had a car and had been on a few dates.  I really started enjoying the social scene.

In the spring, I switched out of running distance races in track and tried a sport that had fascinated me for as long as I could remember, pole vaulting.  Turns out I was really good at it.  It was at Big G High School when I really took off (pun intended) increasing my best height by 2 feet and taking 2nd place in the meet. I became the best new pole vaulter in the county that year.  I followed up that success with a run for the junior class council.  I not only won, but was voted class president.  I was flying higher than any time in my life.  Needless to say, I wasn’t ready for it and messed up a few things in the following year.

I had started dating a girl, we’ll call her Allison, which I had known from church since I was 4.  She was and is a wonderful person and I was really lucky that she liked me in return.  We dated through the summer in into our junior year, she at Big G H.S. and me at the Big I.  My status change got the best of me that year.  As I got the opportunity to start seeing other girls, I did, but I didn’t tell Allison.  Just before Christmas I met Jenny at school.  She was nice and young and cute.  The two girls went to different schools and had no way of meeting, so what’s the risk.  Right?

That went just fine for a while, so well, in fact, that when I got the opportunity, I started dating a third girl, Lynn.  There was nothing wrong with the first two girls’ looks, but I think everyone would agree that Lynn was stunning (probably still is).  She was tall and thin with long blond hair and delicate features made her one of the most beautiful girls I’d ever known.  The fact that she AND Jenny both went to the same school was a risk that I decided to take.  I can’t say what I was thinking because I just wasn’t.

There was nothing more serious with any of these relationships than first base with maybe an occasional attempt to steal second, so I wasn’t doing anything physically dangerous, just really callous, selfish, and downright stupid.  Those were fun times, but it didn’t take long before the stress and the lies turned the whole situation sour.  I ended up breaking up with all three shortly thereafter.  In one particularly callous move, I told Lynn when we arrived at school one morning and left her crying in the car with a request to “lock it up when you are through.”  Jerk just doesn’t go far enough to describe me that day.  My breakup with Jenny wasn’t any better.  I think I just stopped calling Allison.

That was a really long setup about things that happened a long time ago.  Now fast forward to 2009 and the rise of Facebook.  It' has been great fun connecting with a lot of folks that I haven’t seen or heard from since high school.  I reconnected with Jenny and her sister Linda almost right away.  It was a while after that, but I eventually reconnected with Allison.  Until this past week, I’d not been able to track Lynn down, but I found her husband and he’s been kind enough to pass my connection info along to her.  I’ve yet to hear from her and won’t pursue it any further.  Of course, given the story so far I wouldn’t blame her for not writing.

That brings us to the Facebook lines where I started.  As soon as I friended Allison, I got a real surprise.  It said that we had 2 friends in common even though I had not friended anyone that I thought Allison would know.  One of those friends was Linda, Jenny’s sister.  I just had to find out how this connection was made.  It turns out that Allison and Linda shared a suite in college.  What are the odds?  I came clean with this story to both sides and we all had a good laugh, including Jenny.

I thought that would be the end of it.  However, this past week I was looking around the internet to see if I could find Lynn.  I’ll poke around for folks I used to know.  I probably thought of her for some random reason, a song maybe.  I knew her married name and the town she lived in a while back, but still couldn’t get a lead on her whereabouts.  So I tried finding her husband and found Tom on Facebook.  That’s when I got a real shock.  It said that we had a mutual friend, and that friend was Allison.  That was too weird and something that I’ve not had the chance to share with anyone.   It turns out that Allison and Tom were friends and classmates at Big G High School (recurring theme).  Unbelievable!  It is a small world after all (couldn’t resist).

I have always been disappointed in myself for that whole situation in high school.  I would say that Allison, Jenny, and Lynn, and I ended up with pretty good lives since those days.  Our paths crossing and my mistakes were part of that path and I wouldn’t change my destination for anything, so I would never say that I wish it hadn’t happened.  I hope they all feel the same.  To say that I’m sorry it happened is a bit of a contradiction, but I am. 

It is funny and weird that Allison would end up connected to Jenny (once removed) and now Lynn (also once removed).  and Jenny and Lynn went to school together, so they probably remember each other at least a little.  It took Facebook to reveal it.  Turns out everybody knows everybody.  Well, almost.

Fenway’s Knee

Dr. K and I decided a long time ago that there would be no little Ks running around the K estate. Instead, we have 2 children that most people call dogs. Dr. K named the dogs Fenway and Wrigley. You can tell she is a baseball fan.

Both dogs are from the same kennel and both are golden retrievers. That is about where the similarities end. Fenway is the older of the two. He is male, smart, beautiful, playful, demanding, and a bit of a loner when everything is well. When he doesn’t feel well, he demands attention to the point of being clingy. Here is a recent picture of our boy:

Wrigley is the sweetest dog you will ever meet. She doesn’t have the classic good looks of Fenway. She is not very bright, can’t track, doesn’t play, loves to sleep, and is totally devoted to Dr. K. She can be funny as hell though she doesn’t mean to be. But as far as being loyal or a good pet, she is awesome.

We’ve been having a problem with Fenway over the past week and a half. Fenway blew out his knee. He was running in the back yard and snapped his ACL. I was outside with him and heard it pop. I didn’t know dogs did such things. A quick search of Bing shows that they do.

Today, Fenway is undergoing surgery to repair his leg. For the next 12 weeks we have to keep him from running or playing as he loves to do. He won’t be able to go out without being on a leash. That part means that Dr. K and I will be going out with the dog in one hand and an umbrella in the other.

I’m no parent, but watching the dog go through this has been heart-breaking. We are hoping for the best. I’ll post updates, and maybe some gross post-op pictures, here soon.

Odds and Ins and Ends and Outs

The odds of me making my 100 post year seem to be slipping away.  I only write when I feel like it or if I have something that really needs to be said despite how I feel and that is just not conducive to a lot of posts this time of year.  So be it.

I am having a hella good time with our new podcast.  The whole intent of the podcast was to have fun, go fun places, and meet people that I want to meet.  This has worked out remarkably well.  We’ve (we being Falstaff and me) posted 2 shows and recorded the tracks for 2 more.  That’s enough to get us through our upcoming Vegas blogger trip and that trip should be a bounty of material.  That’s our plan anyway.

If you haven’t, check out the ‘cast at http://gtpodcast.com.

I’ve been learning about digital recording, editing, creating Feedburner, Call Burner, Skype, mp3s, WordPress, RSS feeds, iTunes, Audacity, jpg logos, and on and on.  It has been frustrating at times but I’ve really enjoyed learning new stuff.  I think/hope that the result looks and sounds professional.  That is a key to getting and keeping an audience.  I know a lot of podcaster don’t want to charge or get sponsors for their podcasts out of a desire to remain creatively unfettered or under some moral obligation to keep the internet free.  No me.  I’d like to get some sponsorship and make the deal produce some cash.  Not a lot of green, but enough to cover the cost of the equipment, licensing, and maybe a room in Vegas for a few nights.  That should be doable.  Heck, my poker hobby has made money so far.  Why not our podcast?

Did I mention that it is up at http://gtpodcast.com?

Other Odds and Ends:

• The trip back from Sao Paulo was hell and I really don’t feel like reliving it enough to write it up except to say that the gate agent who thinks seat G is an isle seat can kiss my American butt.
• Everything I had to be thankful for in 2008 is still in my life in 2009 plus one or two things.  It has been too much to have asked for.  All I can be is thankful.
• I’m skipping poker tonight to be with Dr. K.  Good call.  I’m really glad the game found enough players without me.

That’s enough for now.  Dr. K will be home shortly.  If you need something to do, take 40 minutes or so and listen to The Gambling Tales Podcast.  You’ll sleep better for it.

The Boys are just Sick – Iraq Poker II

I played the local game again Wednesday night. It may have been the sickest game I’ve ever been involved in. It didn’t take any time at all (literally 2 or 3 hands) before guys were regularly pushing all-in preflop playing Omaha 8 or better. A-2-x-x Shove. That was the game. Most folks buy in for around $40. One guy got a little ill, stood up and threw $200 on the table stating “OK, if that’s the way you want to play, let’s go!” That just makes this rock smile from ear to ear. I got to say my favorite phrase 3 times this night - “I’ve got the nuts and there is no low.” Is that poetry, or what?

We also played so freaky games that I’m not sure I remember. We played 5 card double draw with 5s and 10 wild. I won one of those with K5K10 for quads. We played a couple of variations of stud with a chicago (low or high spade gets half). I took one pot when I got dealt the 2 of spades and pushed everyone off the pot. Cool. Before the night was over, I had dubbed this game “Huckleberry Farms” because there is ALWAYS a huckleberry around. I walked out a bit early with $202 more than I came with.

Here are a few random pictures from around the office:

Be careful what you put on your ‘Nilla Wafers:

Jeff is slaving away:

Our lifeline:

Let’s all learn some Microsoft stuff:

Later.

Oh the Noise, Noise, Noise!

Apologies to Ted Geisel, but that is what I’m noticing about Iraq today.  This is one really loud place.  Sure, my bed is hard and a bit too short and every meal is in one of three mess halls nearby, and work is 12 hours a day, every day.  All of that adds to the grind, but noise never cuts a break.

We get a few low flying helicopters over our house back home.  The hospital is very close and sometimes the pilots take a bit of a shortcut overhead.  Those are little toys compared to the Blackhawk helicopters that are flying here day and night.  Those suckers fly low and loud and in noisy pairs.  When they come in over the trailer where I work, everything on the walls either rattles or flaps.  I feel it very clearly in my chest.  Is it bothersome?  Yes, but I still want to run outside and watch them fly by every time.

All of our power comes from generators on base.  Each one looks just like the kind shipping containers that you see unloading from cargo ships.  In fact, guess they are shipping containers.  They had to get here somehow.  Those monsters run on diesel and make a humming sound when you are indoors.  When outdoors, it sounds like you are riding on the front bumper of a tractor trailer truck.   Of course, they point the fumes sideways instead of straight up so we can enjoy the smell as well as the full effects of the sound.  The one that I hear the most is running the electricity in my workspace.  I know this because several times an hour, I’ll hear the generator engine slow down.  Two seconds later every computers battery backup will give off a single “BEEP”.  It’s like they are talking to each other.

Then there is the mess hall, or DFAC (Dee-Fak).  I know they had a competition in Spivey’s Corner, NC (home of the hollern’ world championships) to design a chair/floor combination that would maximize noise and irritation.  I hope no animals were harmed in the testing because if so, there are so mighty irritated swine in Eastern NC these days.  Those heavy metal chairs have a seat that percusses like rock drummer’s tom-tom.  Soldiers must be drilled in the methods of moving chairs without the chair ever leaving the floor.  I can see Lou Gossett yelling at Richard Gere now, “HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SIT IN THAT CHAIR WITH IT IN THE AIR BOY?  YOU GET THAT CHAIR OUT AND GIVE ME 20, MAY-O-NAISE, AND i DON’T WANT TO BE ABLE TO HEAR NOTHIN WHEN YOU ARE DONE!”  I promise you, Lou would be deaf as a stump after 20 reps.

Finally, the heat in this oasis has a noisy side-effect that is oh so American – the air conditioner.  They are everywhere and they are loud.  That make’s a lot of sense as they don’t get much of a break.  The heat here is just incredible.  First thing in the morning is just a little hot.  I’ll break a little sweat walking the 50 yards from the showers to my trailer.  When the sun finally comes up, then it’s really on.  A temperature of 110 (which happens often) means over 140 in the sunshine and boy houdy does the sun shine.  It’s a hot that you don’t get used to.  It just keeps coming and coming.  All you can do is get out of the way.  When you feel it, you really understand that this is dangerous heat.  Not taking it seriously means trouble, big trouble.  So the air conditioners are always under a heavy load.  I don’t even think a few of them have thermostats.  No need since they never catch up.

To top it all off, I got a real audio treat last night.  It was just short of midnight and I had a dream about riding in a car that had slammed on the breaks but wasn’t stopping and then I imagined that I was in my bed and a car was coming through the wall.  About then I woke up enough to realize that my AC unit had decided to throw a bearing and start the most awful metal-on-metal screeching sound I’ve heard in many years.  I little testing showed that the unit was on it’s last legs.  I turned it off and by 3 am the heat was too much.  I turned it back on and it did fine for about 10 degrees and 15 minutes and then Screeeeeeeech!  I made it through till morning with that.  If it’s not fixed tonight, I may be wishing for a bit more noise while I try to sweat and sleep.

Iraq – Nothing Spectacular Thank Goodness

I’ve been on this journey for a week now and there’s not been a lot of blog-worthy post material.  It’s been busy and that is a blessing.  boredom and loneliness are the enemies.  As long as I can avoid them the time will pass quickly, I’ll get a good amount of work done and I’ll leave feeling it was all worth it.

My roommate and replacee left yesterday leaving me in my own CHU (hut, bunk, whatever).  It’s not home, but it’s better.  The days here are 12 hours of work and meals, a few hours of recreation and/or relaxation, and sleep, rinse, repeat.  It is a grind but like I said, it helps to make the days go by quickly.

Unlike last year, I’ve got wireless internet.  That means that I have connectivity in the office and the bunk with a wide open connection.  It gives me enough bandwidth to make a Skype call and slow web pages.  And posting to the blog, of course.  Most everything else is just how I remembered it – Hot, dusty, dry, and hot.  Did I mention hot?  Most days are running 110 to 115 in the shade.  Thankfully the air at work and the bunk works pretty well so comfort isn’t a big deal

I made a poker contact yesterday.  Come to fine out there are games 3 nights a week.  I’ll check out my first real action tomorrow night.  I’m not sure how much poker I’ll be able to handle with the compressed sleep schedule.  I’m thinking 2 nights might be doable.  I’ll know by Wednesday.

Time to get back to work.  Thanks for stopping by.

Stalled in Transit

If you were reading this blog last year, you might remember that I arrived in Baghdad on time, but my luggage didn’t make it until 3 days later.  Well this time neither me nor my luggage has made it to Baghdad as yet.

My trip started off well enough.  Dr. K dropped me off at the Charlotte airport in plenty of time to get something to eat before my flight.  While there, I ran into T from our poker home game.  She was on her way to a “professional conference” in Las Vegas.  That’s lucky right there.  I hope she is doing well at the tables.

My flights from CLT and Dullas both departed on time and arrived early.  Due to problems with my paperwork, I knew that I would spend a day at the hotel airport until the issue got resolved.  In talking to the gate agent for my Kuwait to Baghdad airline, he pointed out that the passport number on my paperwork didn’t match the number on my passport.  Great, a second problem.

They called the hotel and get me an escort and bus ride over to the hotel. The two advantages to this hotel are that I don’t have to officially enter Kuwait to stay there and it is cheap.  My first shock came when I learned that I would not be getting my bags at the hotel.  They would have to stay at the airport.  I had meds, a t-shirt and change of underware, so I could handle this for one night. Next was the size of the room.  I’ve owned bigger closets.  I knew right then that I’d only be in this hotel one night.  I’d be one my way to somewhere else the next day, whether that was Baghdad or a better hotel or the streets of Kuwait City.

Due to the time zone and timing of the flights, it was pie-in-the-sky thinking that this paperwork would come through on time for me to fly on Monday.  Luckily, my contact in Baghdad got me in touch with Mandy, a local employee of the company we are working for.  She told me that they have apartments set up like dorms that are used for just this type of layover.  I got myself back to the airport, got a visa to enter Kuwait, tracked down my bags and escaped the airport. 

I had to hang out at the Caribou Coffee just outside of the official airport for about 90 minutes until Mandy could come pick me up.   I must say this apartment is really nice.  I have access to food, a big screen TV, Internet, and a pool table.  There are a couple other guys staying here right now.  It is nice to have someone to chat with and just be around.  Loneliness is my mortal enemy for the next 4 weeks.  This place really helps on that score.

The apartment in in a high-rise right on the Persian Gulf.  Attached are a few views from the windows.

I’m still waiting to hear from my project manager on my paperwork, but I have to believe that it will come through today (Tuesday).  I’m currently schedule to fly to Baghdad on Wednesday evening.  If I don’t get it by 11 pm or so, I’m going to miss the guy I’m replacing and not get any real introduction to the project.  It will be a big disadvantage to my start on this project.  It could also mean that I’ll take a military flight into camp.  That sounds like a bit more adventurous though maybe not Dr. K approved.

There isn’t anything I can do about any of this.  It is all in the hands of the project management and the Army.  My attitude is to be patient, do what I need to do first and what else I can do second and to keep my cool at all times.  So far I’m good on those points.

Steve Streater

Steve Streater was a star on the UNC football team when I arrived on campus in 1979.  Two images of Steve will always be with me. 

The first was on the field when he was the punter.  Steve was All-ACC when he kicked the ball.  He was even better when he ran with it.  I remember Steve taking a snap, bolting around the line, through the defense and into the end zone as 45,000 fans cheered wildly.

The second image was probably on the same day.  I lived in Ehringhaus dorm where most of the football team also lived.  The walkways on each floor face each other.  When Steve arrived back at the dorm after the game, the walkways were full of students cheering and chanting “Streat, Streat, Streat.”  he just waved his appreciation and went into his room.

The rest of the story is a sad one if looked at from a perspective of what could have been.  On the way back to Chapel Hill after signing a contract to play for the Washington Redskins, Steve’s car hit some standing water, flipped and broke his spine.

I met Steve a few years later while working in Wilmington for a local TV station.  Steve spoke to high school kids about wearing seatbelts.  I produced an interview with him after the speech.  He was nice and easy to talk to.  He seemed as happy with his lot as about anyone.  I heard no regrets.

Steve passed last month.  I just read about it here.  My condolences to his family and friends.  Thanks for the memories, Steve.

Back on the Road = Back on the Blog

It was a nice week at home.  I made time to spend with the wife, the dogs, the poker friends and to just relax.  There will not be much of those for the next 7 weeks or so.

I spent the best part of this past week getting ready for the big road trip that has now arrived.  There are a million and one things to do, and all of them never go smoothly.  This time it was only 5 sets of training that I no longer have permissions for.  When I contact the person who needs to help me clear this up, there is no reply.  It almost always works out, but waiting for that to happens is not my strongest skill.

There was plenty of poker to partake in.  We had a special HORSE tourney at Casa de Falstaff.  I wasn’t able to play in the tourney, but I showed up in time to play a few hours of cash game.  It was mostly short-handed.  I started out strong and then my cards dried up like spit on a sham-wow.  I really couldn’t do a thing for about 2.5 hours but watch my chip stack shrink on the blinds and cheap calls.  I made up some ground during the O8 portion of the night, but I still ended the night down 50.

Friday night was the return of Poker at the Warehouse.  We had a full table with The Knife, Little Nick, Falstaff, Brian the Red (from sunburn this night), T, Nate, and TomTom.  A few good hands early followed by hours of crap made this night feel exactly like the night before.  However, when the cards turned, they really turned in my favor. KK gave me a big pot against Nate just one hand before NLH ended.  I had one or two other good scoops in the O8 rounds and a huge scoop late to seal a profit for the night.  That hand had me flop an open-ended straight draw and a decent low with a board of 348 rainbow with me holding 5h6hA???.  A good bet from me (button) drove out a few of the 5 remaining players leaving me, Nate, and the Knife.  The turn was a beautiful 7 giving me the nuts.  I bet something like 20 and get two calls.  The river was a J (no pair and no 3-suit on the board) and I fired 120 since I still had the nuts.  We had discussed that move earlier in the night so I tried it.  It was about this time that I saw that I didn’t have the nuts.  9ine-Ten now made a higher straight.  If anyone had drawn to a top straight, it would have been Nate or Jim.  Jim called with with what I don’t remember, but not 9T and I scooped that pot. (I feel about 60% sure I messed up something about that hand, but you get the picture).

July 4 was Saturday.  Dr. K and I returned to Mama C’s place for a party/picnic that was excellent.  The evening was quiet with a drink or two and the NASCAR race.  Great finish with K-Y Bush spinning and Tony the Tiger taking the win.  Any race that ends with bush spinning is a good race.

Now it is time to get back to work and a lot of work there is to do.  I’m in DC through Thursday.  Before the the sun rises on Friday I will be on my way to DFW via CLT where I will drive up to OKC and Oki-Vegas.  Poker, drinking, and fun will ensue.  On Sunday I drive down to the Ft. Hood area where I spend the week getting final approval to go back to Baghdad, Iraq where, if successful, I will work from mid-July to mid-August.

The prospect of being away from home for so long makes me nervous and a bit depressed.  I’m happy to serve and hope that I can make a valuable contribution to the troops, but it’s not fun.  It will be hot and dusty.  Living conditions will be cramped.  I’ll have to travel walk or ride for most of my meals and the toilet and showers are more than 100 yards away (really sucks in the middle of the night).  So it’s one day at a time from me.  I’ll do my best to do my job.  I’ll enjoy what there is to enjoy and get back safe and sound when the time comes.  I’ll be keeping this space updated with stories and pictures as I can.

Time to get started.  See ya.

The Reunion Fist Pump

Saturday night, I attended my 30th year high school reunion.  That line in itself seems almost an impossibility.  It can not have been 30 years since I walked across the stage of the old Charlotte Coliseum to accept the results of 12 years’ work.  We were the 13th class from Independence to graduate. The date was June 13.  And I was the 12th person to get their diploma.  Tim Blume was the 13th that day.  I had known Tim since at least the 2nd grade.  Tim died about 5 years later.

Wow.  You get the idea now that this is going to be a serious post – a real rocky ride.  You’re right.  The last 30 years have seen a lot of ups and downs, so this post will have the same.

I don’t think Tim was the first classmate to pass and I don’t remember the order, but I remember Tim, Linda, David, Gary, Rusty, Bobby, Susan and others when I remember my class.  I also remember Taylor, Frank, John, Ansle, Patty, Andy, Jody and scores of others from my class who are still around.  All of these people shared one of the best times of my life with me.  When I’m old and my mind is gone and I can’t remember where I am, I’ll still remember many of these folks and the times we had.   Those were good time.  I knew it then and I enjoy remembering them now.  So I took it on myself to see that we had a 30th reunion. 

I got the ball rolling by calling and sending some emails to those classmates I could locate.  We formed a committee, turned the majority of the work over to a company that specialized in reunions and waited.  I had the pleasure of hearing from many with clues to the whereabouts of others or questions or friend requests on Facebook.  I enjoyed each one.

So along comes the night of the party.  We had about 80 of us show up.  To say I had a great time is an understatement.  Many of the folks that I wanted to see couldn’t be there, but so many others did.  I tried to chat with as many folks as I could.  I really enjoyed showing off Dr. K to prove once and for all how luck I am.

  I had a terrific conversation with a couple that, to be diplomatic, I parted ways with well before graduation.  Another buddy who I’ve known since I was 5 who couldn’t make the party, changed his mind and showed up anyway.  After about two minutes, we all got past how our looks have changed and it seemed like we were back together after summer break.

There were so many grand moments, but there is one that I shared with no one that will be with me forever.  I was standing to the side of the room with my back against the wall (my normal position for school dances).  In my field of view, the friend who is suffering with cancer is dancing with her childhood friend, the lady who recently lost her hysband is chatting with the lady who’s put her life back together since a plane crash took her husband and son.  Three girls who were inseparable in school are inseparable once again.  Everyone I see is smiling or laughing or dancing.  It all came together in that moment.  If I had done anything, I wanted it to be creating that moment.  I couldn’t help but give a little fist pump and a muffled “Yes!”.   That was what it was all about.  it’s about right now.

I really didn’t know why I took it on myself to start the reunion planning, but I left knowing that it was the right thing to do.  I think Tim smiled, too.

To all of you who have sent your thanks for the evening, you are very welcome.  I think I should be thanking you.  I got way more out of it than I put in.  It will take a while for the smile to wear off.

The Angry Young Man

(navel gazing post)
In the past few months, I've been a little surprised at myself. Some things that would have greatly upset me in my younger days now they seem to roll off my back. I'm mostly talking about little stuff like losing poker sessions or personality clashes, bad breaks at work or lost political races. Used to be those types of incidents would dig down deep under my skin and bring up reactions that were not so appropriate. Now it happens much less often.

I like to think Dr. K has something to do with that. Having a happy home life to fall back on will sooth many an emotional cut or scrape. I'd like to think growing up might also have some part in the change. I was reminded of that by a song I heard on the radio recently. It was a song that my high school and pole vault buddy FrankieX used to play on the tape deck in his car (radio? tape deck? Yea, I'm dating myself. I know). He was a big Billy Joel fan, even back before The Stranger came out, so many of the early Billy Joel songs are the songs from my childhood.

This particular song was, as the title of this post suggests, Angry Young Man. In those days, I saw myself somewhat proudly as that AYM and couldn't really understand folks who didn't get "really involved". Because I can still remember my old reaction to that song, the difference in who I am now really comes into focus. The bridge of the song really hit me. Here are those words (40 somethings feel free to sing along):

I believe I've passed the age
of conscientiousness and righteous rage
I've found that just surviving is a noble fight
I once believed in causes too
Had my pointless point of view
and life when on no matter who was wrong or right

What used to sound like surrender now sounds more like a badge of honor. I'm not totally past poor reactions and probably never will be. Although, sometimes it is helpful to be able to tap into the old me when a strong reaction seems necessary so long as I know the difference.

I haven't heard from Frankie in a few years and often miss the old days of pole vaulting and cassette tapes, but today's adventure is a better one in every way.

On with the adventure.

Danube, Part III - The Journey Home

I was feeling a little queezy when we arrived in Saltzburg. I was convinced that it was my turn to have the crud that Dr. K had a few days before, but I was fine for the tour and wondering around the city. The ride to Munich for our last night took about 2 hours. It was going well until the guide and driver decided to take us on a tour through the middle of Munich with its stop-and-go traffic and fumes. Again, I was feeling pretty ill by the time we finally arrived at our hotel. It was Octoberfest time in Munich and my brothers and I were making plans to attend. I figured that I would be OK after some rest and dinner.

I got some rest and I made it about half-way through dinner, but I was not feeling better, so I had to bag Octoberfest and headed back up to the room. I had just told Dr. K that I just could not get comfortable when my pipes reversed flow and I became violently ill. This was about 8 pm. Uncontrollable retching hit me again at 10, and 12, and 3. During the 12:00 session, I heard my brothers and their wives returning from Octoberfest. I felt like I had missed Christmas and a trip to Disney World. Arrg. I also had the trip home to look forward to in the morning. I had no idea how I would survive the 15 minute ride to the airport, much less getting all the way back to the USA in this shape.

Morning came and I was mobile, but that was about it. We got to the airport early and the fun really started. Our plane to Paris was late arriving due to fog in Paris. We were told that there were so many people from our flight connecting to the US, that our plane from Paris to NY would wait. Ha! We arrive at the gate an hour late to find that the plane had left on time. Rebook.

We get on a later flight to NY-Kennedy airport that gets us into the US about the time our Delta flight to Charlotte leaves. I'm feeling a little stronger by the time we get to NY, but still not great. As we expected, the flight to Charlotte had left without us. Worse yet, there were no other Delta flights out that night. Delta had no responsibility to help us with a hotel or food or booking on another airline. Air France had the attitude that they had done their job by getting us to NY and thay were no help either. We were stuck.

At this point, Dr. K made a wise decision and said "just get me home!" We bolted for the JetBlue terminal, threw down the credit card and $600 later, we were on our way home. We made this flight, the absolute last flight to CLT, with maybe 5 minutes to spare. JetBlue was wonderful. They had live TV on each personal screen. They left and arrived on time and kept track of our bags. We walked in the door of our home at 15 past midnight. My bed never slept so good.

It was a good vacation. I enjoyed spending time with my mother, brothers and sisters in-law. I always enjoy it when Dr. K and I get away. The ride home sucked and was completely avoidable, but that didn't change the great time we had.

Next, Vegas Trip Report

10 Years

Some 12 years ago this past May, I had a really good week.  The months preceding that week had been difficult (understatement).  My first marriage had come to an end and my father had passed away from cancer.  So a good week was really welcomed.  Wednesday of that week was an outing to Lazer Tag.  I can't recall if it was a Jaycee outing or a work outing.  Hell, I don't even remember if anyone got outed.  I remember meeting Bill Gates for the first time that Thursday.  Friday was a good night for dinner and drinks with friends at a bar.

But it was Saturday that changed my life.  I get tears in my eyes just writing that.  Memories can be tough bastards.  Anyway, I got up early to go to a Jaycee project of reclaiming a park in a poor neighbor hood.  The park had been destroyed by hurricane Hugo.  As we gathered in a parking lot for the ride to the work site, I noticed a cute girl that I had not seen before.  I wanted to talk to her, but kept my distance.  Why, I don't know.  We didn't speak until close to the end of the morning's work.  I invited her to come have lunch with the crew (since she was new and all), and she accepted.

The next week or so we met again after a Jaycee meeting and she gave me her number.  I still have the sheet of paper that she wrote it on.  I still have the girl, too.  To shorten what could be a very long story, we dated, I moved to Seattle forever and came back after 6 months.  We were married on August 29, 1998. 

These have been the most wonderful 10 years of my life.  We've had so many adventures and wonderful times.  Baseball and Boston, Rome and Waterfalls, and "putting our feet up" and sometimes, just a poke in the ribs have all been made more special through sharing them with her.  We've held each other up through the tough times of seeing friends and family members pass.  We've picked up a house and a couple dogs along the way to making that house a home. 

I spend a lot of time on the road, but there is no place I'd rather be than home with my wife.  Dr. K has become the best thing that has ever happened in my life and I am so grateful for all that put me in the right place and time to meet her and for all that has happened since.  I can't imagine life without her.

Thanks Honey!  Now let's start 10 more.

Slack

I've been home.  I've been gone.  I've come back.  I've played poker a couple of times and I've not written about any of it.  I haven't given up the blogger thing or been kicked off.  I just haven't felt like writing.  I've been slack.  Some folks pay to advertise on this site, so I need to make an effort to post today.  So like a fiber-challenged old man, I'll try to force one out.  (I write that knowing that my mom does read my blog.  That's the cutting edge right there, baby.)

I've not been slack about exercising.  Dr. K and I have gotten outfitted with a couple of nice bikes and the accessories that go along.  Nowadays, you have to have a helmet, clip-in shoes, a bike computer, tools, shades, etc., etc.  I keep thinking back to when we were kids.  We just got a bike and rode.  We used our eyes and ears for safety (well, sometimes).  I do remember my older brother loosing control on a friends bike going down hill at probably 25-30 mph.  He got the worst case of road rash I've ever seen, but he lived.  He also got hit by a car once and he lived through that, too.

Back to the present - Dr. K and I also got a bicycle trainer so that we can ride indoors.  It will be nice to hop on the bike and get in a workout without going to the YMCA.  I hope it leads to more workouts.  Between running and riding, I got some good cardio exercise 6 of 7 days last week, and that was a week when I was on the road for 4 days.

Those 4 days were spent in Norfolk.  It was a good visit in just about every way.  I've got the place I like to stay when in the area.  The Town Center of Virginia Beach is not far from the customer, has some good hotels and lots of restaurants.  There is also a mall and other stores in case I need to pick something up.  For instance, I decided that I needed a certain book on the spur of the moment.  A short walk to Barnes and Nobel took care of that.

The travel schedule is filled to the brim until mid-October.  Next week, I'll be in Colorado Springs.  Then I'll be home for a week of training and then I'm off to Jackson Hole, WY for a week.  Those are both business trips.  I'll get through them somehow. :)  Then a nice two part vacation starts with the Dr. and I going to Europe for a cruise followed by a trip to Vegas to celebrate the 40th birthday of Brian the Red.  Many of the members of the Falstaff Poker Crew (he may not want us to be a crew) will also attend.

I've got some other things on my mind, like:

• Why can't John McCain remember how many houses he owns?  That looks really bad to folks who don't own a house.  Anyone who has owned rental property would understand if they wanted to.
• Is that the best Obama can do against McCain?
• I liked the way I played cards on Friday night.  I generally made good moves in games with which I am not very familiar.
• I don't like the way I reacted when the cards roshambeax-ed me.  It was not fun for anyone and it was not good poker.  Sorry guys.  More Welbutrian, please!
• I've got a lot of work to get done in the next 4 days before my 10th wedding anniversary (Friday).
• Did anyone pay enough attention to notice that I'm not wearing my wedding ring?  Some may have and worried that it means trouble.  Not even close.  Dr K and I are getting our rings "pimped' for our anniversary.
• How is Schoon doing?  I've thought about him and his wife every day for a while now.
• How am I going to get my work done while blogging.  I'm not.  Bye.

A most depressing post with a happy ending

This is just one of those times. There has been a lot going on. I just haven't felt like it is the kind of thing that either I'd want to share or the kind of thing that anyone would want to read.

For instance, the mother of a very good friend past away from cancer this weekend. Yesterday morning, an elderly neighbor and nice, gentle man passed away. His was from the effects of a stroke, I think. And as much as I wish it were not true, these are probably the last days of the wife of another good friend. She is in her early 30's and a new mother. See, I told you you wouldn't want to hear about it.

There is so little that Dr. K and I can do for any of the caregivers and survivors. We offer help and suggest ways we might, but when it comes right down to it, these are private matters and we are not a part of those families. They had the same situation back in late '07 and early '08 with the passing of my father-in-law and grandmother. Other folks that have been in my life forever are getting old and it is not too difficult to see that this pattern may continue for a while.

With all of that said, thinks are good around the House of K. Dr. K has had the worst luck in getting work done on her teeth. The last two issues have resulted in a lot of pain after the fact and turned into root canals. She had been dealing with the second one for 6 months now, but it looks like grinding down the new crown has taken care of that.

The Doctor and I are also coming up on our tenth anniversary at the end of this month. We have been getting each other our gifts and frankly just reveling in our lives together. These ten years have flown by and I'm looking forward to many more. I'll have to write down the stories of how we met and how she got her engagement ring in future posts. Those are two of the stories that we like to share the most.

Dr. K has also gotten the bike riding bug. With all of the depression above, we want to help more with a cure for the cancer part. So our goal is to ride in the 24 hours of booty next year and raise a bunch of money in the process. We have our goal. We have acquired the bikes this week. Other stuff is on order. We will be fully outfitted and in training very soon (if you call riding around "in training"). We also have a commitment from Dr. K's employer to sponsor the team. I think we will have a lot of fun along the way.

So the post was depressing, but that is what is going on and on my mind. The happy ending isn't really and ending, but a milestone and a start in a new direction. It is all LIFE. I, for one, am still glad to be taking part.

Ride Bitch

Cancer sucks.  It hit my family this past year, hard.  Falstaff is doing something about it and could use your support.

Thanks.

What is the quickest way to kill a circus?

Man am I living close to the edge.  No, I'm not talking about Iraq yet.  I'm just talking about having a lot of things all going on at once.  I'm currently trying to juggle getting ready to go to the desert for 3 weeks, plan a high school reunion, dog-sit for my sister-in-law (actually, Dr. K is going most of the work there but this is my rant), buying new glasses (progressive = progressively worse), and contract house work, all while being a good enough husband.

I just watched a news report on the flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  The flooding is horrible.  I hate it for all the people who will have to struggle through this mess, but that is not why I watched it.  The reporter on the ground in CR is the "little" brother to a good friend of mine from my high school days.  Bob was about 7 when I got to know the family.  He is still stuck at that age in my mind.  I have good memories of teaching this young man to hit a baseball.  I think he hit a home run in the very next game.  Now look at him:

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/flood-forces-levee-break-in-cedar-rapids/2101178807 

Actually, I would like for you to at least click on the link.  Maybe a little extra traffic will open some doors for him.  He was a great kid and I'm sure he is a fine man today.  Give him 30 seconds.

My favorite floor contractor came by to look at the work that was needed for my porch (not my Porsche - that's a different dumb joke).  What really surprised me what when he asked me if I wanted him to do it, I said yes and he got started, right then.  He was done in about an hour.  I expected him to come back in a week to get started.  Check the porch off the list.

I leave for the desert on Saturday.  I've spent a butt-load of money on new clothes, shoes, bags, powder drinks, socks, soaps, etc, etc, etc.  Most of it will be useful and everyone knows I could use some new clothes.  I guess I'm about ready.  I will have Internet access, though it may only be during my personal time.  I'll blog what I can.

People ask if I am nervous or excited about the trip.  The honest answer is both.  I really don't know what it is going to be like.  I know about the hot, gritty, dusty part.  I don't know about the food, bed, work area, expectations, and so much more than I can imagine.  The work days will be long.  12 hours per day, six days a week is the norm.  Do I have that much attention?  I hope.  Three weeks is long, but not nearly what everyone else who is there will be doing.  There will be no reason for me to complain about anything.  Will I have the patience?  We'll see.  BTW, I don't look like a bad-ass in my helmet and Kevlar vest.

Life is good and I plan to keep it that way.  I've just got to remember that the rough times are just part of it.  Without them, there can be no good times.

Brian the Red had better make plans to go to the Hofbrauhaus this October in Vegas.  Just ask Falstaff.

Answer to the title question: Go for the juggler.

Announcement

What a day it has been. What a day is still to come. When it started, I got up and joined the army for the morning. As I write this, I am in the Austin, TX airport waiting for a plane to Vegas.

I've been working on a project for the past month for which I passed a big milestone today, so I'm going to start blogging about it. If it wasn't going to happen, there wouldn't have been much to write about. As it is, it will dominate the next month of my life. You see, my traveling database consulting job is taking me to Camp Liberty in Iraq.

That is why I spent the morning with the army. I was concluding the process of getting approval to ship-out. They don't want anyone over there that will get sick, get in the way, or just generally be more of a burden than an asset. They now feel that I won't be that burden.

The process today was really interesting. I won't say much about the specifics as I don't know how much they want to let out. Out of 300-400 people going through this process, I may have been the only civilian. I was the only one with a bright shirt (Home Depot orange in my case), or a ball cap, or facial hair. I may have stood out just a little. The funny thing is that it felt really comfortable. The instructions were clear. The questions were mostly precise and easy to answer. All of the lines were orderly and there was no breaking in line or messing around that I often see in the real world. They could use some reallocation of their resources as one line took and hour and 45 minutes to navigate while other stations were idle. Maybe standing that long was part of the test. When I left, the line had grown to probably 3 hours so it could have been worse.

Over the years, I have had many opportunities to associate with military people. In almost every case they have been polite, smart, and helpful. Today was no different. I didn't know what the hell I was doing half the time, but they understood and quickly put me on the right course. I know there are some bad apples and bad situations in our army, but more than once while standing in line, I was amazed to think that I was in the midst of the best military in the history of the world. We should all be very proud of them.

So I got through the entire process in about 4 and a half hours. This was the last step before I get cleared to go overseas. The plan is for me to leave next Saturday and return on Saturday, July 5th. I expect the three weeks will seem to be very long until I'm back. There will be many 10-14 hour work days with probably 2 or 3 days off during my stay. Maybe I'll catch the bus tour of Baghdad.

I have a ton to do to get ready to go and to get ready to tackle the technical issues that I will see. But I've still got my priorities. I'm going to meet up with the bloggers who have already started gathering in Vegas. There will much more on Iraq in the coming weeks, but the next post will probably be a Vegas trip report. Stay tuned.