I'm a Tarheel, I guess

Let me start this post with a picture that I lifted from TripJax. If he minds, I imagine that he will leave me a post telling me so or he'll just come to Charlotte and kick my ass, but it is just too much fun not to share:

So that make’s me a Tarheel fan, right? Maybe not.

My relationship with my alma mater has always been a strained one at best. I spent a full four years in Chapel Hill. I received the most confusing degree in education history from UNC, RTVMP. You don't know what that is unless you went to school there, and even then you had to be paying attention to pick that initialization up. It stands for Radio, TV, and Motion Pictures. Hell, I went back to school four years later just to not have to explain RTVMP every time I spoke about college. Now I just say Mass Media and life if simpler.

I had my fun while there. I managed to cause a couple of campus-wide arguments. I'm sure that nobody that knows me today could believe that (cough, cough). The best was when the football players all got air conditioners for their dorm rooms. I don't know how things are today, but back then you were allowed to RENT an air conditioners from Student Health Services IF, and ONLY IF, you had a prescription from your doctor.

I think it was when we returned to school my junior year (1981) when each football player's room suddently had AC. I lived in the dorm with the players, so it was real obvious and the injustice of it ticked me off. So I did the American thing, I wrote a smart-assed letter to the editor of the campus news paper, "The Daily Tarheel."

They printed it.

Oops. I didn't plan that far ahead.

Well, the next thing you know I'm getting not-so-vaguely threatening phone calls at night and notes from my friends on my door asking if they can have my stuff when I'm gone. Dan Dunn would call me AC to this day were we to meet. I still have the letter from John Swofford (now the commissioner of the ACC (Air Conditioner Conference?), who was the Athletic Director, explaining how none of my student fees were paying for the AC and how they would be removed by October. Last time I was on campus, those AC units were still there. (No, he didn't say October of what year.)

There was another minor issue with the girl’s basketball team and how their sport, like mine (track) would never be as popular at the men's basketball team. If you will notice, they are still pissed about that letter and are kicking butt just to try to prove me wrong.

So as you can see, I had my fun at UNC. I also drank lots of beer, dated my share of co-eds, played some Rugby, and generally squandered a great opportunity. I know this and paid an additional 2.5 years of school to get a real degree (though I don't use that one either).

While I was at UNC, I crossed paths with a few of the famous athletes. I saw James Worthey naked as me and a buddy were knocking on doors getting autographs for a handicapped child. Jimmy Black was there, too. I literally ran into Lawrence Taylor in the dorm one day, BAM, his chest to my head. Michael Jordan and I dated roommates for about 2 weeks. Michael must have really liked her to have stuck around that long.

But the man who left the best impression on me was Matt Doherty. Matt was friendly, unassuming, and a damn good basketball player. He roomed with a fellow, Steve, that I had a TV production class with. We would go over to Steve's apartment to work on projects and Matt would hang out just like one of the guys. He always said hello on campus and conducted himself as someone much less important than he really was.

I was thrilled when he did a great job of coaching at Notre Dame, even though I can't stand the school's athletic program. I was even more thrilled when he became the head coach at UNC. Matt brought in all of the players that took Carolina to the national championship last year. I firmly believe, without any inside knowledge to back this up, that if Roy Williams had remained happy at Kansas, that Matt would still be the coach at UNC and that they would still have been national champs last year. He would have been a good coach for the school for the next 30 or 40 years.

I think what happened is that some powerful Ram'sclubbers found out that Roy was unhappy with his new AD at Kansas and available. Then someone started a smear campaign against Matt. They were aided by injuries to most of the best players that led to a poor year record-wise. I mean, what school is going to listen to the complaints of its freshmen players (who it was obvious then that they would not be in school for four years) and fire its young talented head coach. And what do you know, Roy Williams just happens to be available?!?!!?

I was so freaking mad, I felt "that this situation absolutely require[d] a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part."(Animal House (1978)) So, for the remainder of the playing days of "those freshmen," I made the most horrific symbolic gesture of protest that I could imagine: I became a Duke fan. Yes, D-U-K-E. I wore the t-shirt to the gym. I wore the hat to work, and I cheered for the boys on Coach K Court. I would have cheered for the Iranians over the heels, though I was glad that they won the championship as it got "those freshmen" out of my school.

So now I'm back. I love the job Roy has done with the young guys this year. It has been fun to be winning as an underdog, and the Dook game... well, it just doesn't get any sweeter.

So you go boys. I'm behind you all the way, just be decent people and remember, sometimes you don't have to do much to make an impression on people to get their loyalty.

Be Careful Who You Kiss

I’m back in Vegas this weekend. Every trip has its own identity. The identity varies with the purpose of the trip (business, pleasure), the lead time in planning the trip (emergency trip, vacation), and the other people involved (friends going with, staying with locals, going solo and making friends there). It feels to me like I have been picking from the above lists and coming up with a different trip every few weeks now.

The current trip is part business and part pleasure. It was planned quickly, but not an emergency by any means. I’m traveling solo on this trip and staying with some friends that live in Henderson. The accommodations are spartan, but when you are with a group that you genuinely enjoy, that really has no impact on the trip.

There is good news to report on the poker front. Several of our group decided to play the $200 buy-in tournament at Binion’s last night. That price is too steep for my bankroll when I have not played yet on this trip. The last trip, I did pay $260 for a tourney, but that was when I was up $200 for the trip. I decided to move up a level from my usual $2-4 donkey poker.

I played $4-8 limit. The table was neutral except for one asian fellow who raised preflop about 8 hands of every 10. The other 2 hands were split evenly between calling and folding. That made for a very expensive game and I though about moving, but decided to do what I could. I though about moving again after I came up 2nd best on the first hand with AQs and again with JJ on the second hand.

But I buckled-down my game and waited until more good cards came along. As it turned out, last night was a good night for sets. I must have seen half of my pocket pairs turn into sets. Not that they all won, but many of them did.

At one point I got up $200, but a few more 2nd best hands and one painful lay-down of the best hand in a 3 way pot saw my final winnings shrink to $106.

After poker our “party of 7” went to one of my favorite eateries in Vegas: The Upper Deck Café in the Las Vegas Club. The event of the night happened when a chemically impaired patron of the restaurant got in the face of the one we call Monster. He got so much in Monster’s face that their lips actually touched. I think that was as gross for me to see as it was for Monster to experience. Did I mention that Monster used to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championships?

Well, as their lips touch, Monster’s hands impact on this guy’s chest and he slams his back into the rail at the cashier’s station. In a few minutes the casino security shows up. There is talking and pointing and we were eventually seated. Needless to say, the kiss was a favorite topic of conversation for the rest of the night and morning.

Today will see more poker followed by a flight back to Charlotte. Be careful who you kiss.

So the fonts look like she-ot?!?!

Here it how it looks on my screen:

I'm guessing that this is a FireFox issue. Any other ideas?

Is this the beginning of the end for online poker?

WASHINGTON - More than 100 lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced a bipartisan bill Thursday to outlaw the $12 billion Internet gambling industry.

"The explosive growth of the Internet has provided a means for gambling operations to evade existing anti-gambling laws," said Rep. Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat. "These Internet gambling Web sites typically operate offshore and often serve as a prime vehicle for money laundering and other criminal enterprises."

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican and chief sponsor of the bill, said Internet gambling has mushroomed into a $12 billion industry that also threatens minors.

The bill would update an existing ban against interstate gambling over telephone lines to also outlaw use of the Internet and related technology, Goodlatte said.

A total of 115 House lawmakers co-sponsored the bill.

The legislation would specifically prohibit a gambling business from accepting credit cards, checks, wire and Internet transfers in illegal gambling transactions. It also would set a maximum prison sentence of five years for violations.

Goodlatte and Boucher previously introduced similar legislation but the bill was defeated in 2000 due in part to efforts by Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who represented gambling interests, according to both lawmakers.

Abramoff pleaded guilty to fraud charges in early January and is cooperating with prosecutors in a corruption probe that could implicate lawmakers and officials across Washington.
No companion bill has yet been introduced in the Senate, a Goodlatte spokeswoman said.

Time to count blessings

It has been a rough couple of days, so it’s time to count blessings:

- My wife (always at the top of the list)
- My health
- Our dogs, Wrigley and Fenway, who love us no matter what.
- My family and my wife’s family. They are all so good to us that it really does seem like one family.
- Good jobs
- Our home
- Lack of financial worry. I’m not rich, but I’m doing OK.

Life can be a bitch sometimes and this week I’ve been beset by some people who don’t find the same things important in life (I just can’t be any kinder than that). In this case it has cost me a lot of money because I trusted them. That lesson is hard, but I don’t want to change. Selling that trust isn’t worth the money saved. I keep telling myself that, but being taken is still hard.

It is good to remember how blessed my life is. I wish the same or better for you dear reader.

Special K

LasVegasVegas.com/pokerblog

This week, I have the honor of being a guest writer on http://www.lasvegasvegas.com/pokerblog/. After my recent trip to Vegas I penned the "Top nine ways you know you spent too long in Vegas after returning to work." Flip Chip though enough of it to make it this week's nine's list at LasVegasVegas.com. He and his son are wonderful and hard working guys. You should check their excellent site out if you have any interest at all in poker or Vegas.

A few other notes:

• Everyone in my family agrees that my grandmother needs to go into assisted living except my grandmother. For the first time ever, I sat down with her and told her what she should do. That was hard. I just pray that some of it sinks in.
• My uncle is very, very sick with cancer. He is facing a six or eight week routine of chemo and then surgery.
• The award from my peers at work is great, but pales in importance to the two points above, but thanks anyway.

Rocky Mountain High

It's Sunday night and the end of another kick-ass week. This week really kicked my ass.

Don't get me wrong, it was great. I had a really good visit to a customer in Golden. This visit got me to Colorado ski country on the company's bill so that I could visit my Brother and his family in Boulder. It also gave me the unexpected treat of going skiing this year. I had blown off my usual ski vacation for the poker in Vegas this year. But shortly before leaving for Vegas, one of my managers contacted me about this customer visit.

Wouldn't you know it, I woke up with a developing cold the morning I was leaving for CO. I know where I got it from, and he is a regular reader of this blog, so I don't have to mention any names. It's OK though. I'd catch a cold in vegas again for all of the fun I had there.

The post-nasal drip and sore throat kept trying to get a foot-hold all week, but never really impeaded my plans. Wednesday and Thursday were spent with the customer. Friday was solo skiing at Copper Mountain. Skiing is fun, but skiing alone is the bottom rung or that ladder. It's just more fun with friends. Friday night I stayed at my brother's house and early Saturday morning (6:00 am to be exact), we (me, my brother and nephew) loaded into the van and headed for Breckenridge.

Breck is by far my favorite place to ski, and this year it is even better. 7" of new snow had fallen in the past day, and for a Saturday, the crowd was not awful. The sun was out so the terrain could be seen well. It wasn't too cold or too windy. It was some of the best conditions I've ever skied. When I say that it is even better now, I mean that put in a new lift this year at the very top of the mountain (peak 8 for those who know the place). This lift takes you up to over 13,800 feet. From there, you can ski for over 2.5 miles into town with out stopping. I tried, but had to take a break (OK, two breaks), but it was a blast. Here is a view from the top.

I caught an early flight home this morning. I got up at 4:15 to catch my 6:45 departure from DEN. I got the big bump up to first class giving me on of the most uncomfortable seats in any first class cabin, but I had enough room so I have no complaints.

This week I have a very boring destination, Wilkesboro, NC. I think after the last few weeks, boring is going to be enjoyable.

Vegas Wrap

Man, that was a week. Much more fun like that will kill me.

Sleeping is definitely optional. I've got a short turn around this week.

I got in from Vegas on Sunday afternoon and I leave for Denver tomorrow morning. I'll have to keep this post short as there is still much to do between now and flight time.

Let me start with Vegas highlights. We played poker. We played tournaments, and ring games.

I played in 8 tourneys and moneyed in 3. That's great and I wouldn't expect to do that well again. The bad news is that my luck at the ring games was bad. So bad, in fact, that after carefully keeping track of wins and losses over the 5 days of poker, I came out dead even. $0.00. I couldn't believe it when I added it up last night. I had fun playing so that makes the trip a winner.

According to the hookers in Vegas, I have very nice eyes. Who could argue with that. BTW, they never touched me or saw more skin that my face and hands, so stop thinking what you are thinking.

It was great fun seeing a friend of a friend talking to a hooker in front of the Mirage and then seeing him asked about it the next morning and seeing him wonder how the hell we knew.

Did I mention that I won a poker tournament in Vegas! Golden Nugget's evening tourney. I came back from just 3 $100 chips (starting amount was about $2500). My buddy BG made the final table as well. When I took 3rd at the Aladdin two days later, BG won the thing. That is very cool.

I got threatened to be tossed out of the MGM poker room for saying 'Bullshit.' I really didn't know that was still cussing. I left anyway.

While at the MGM, I had the most wonderful hand of poker of the whole trip. I was in the big blind of a $2-4 limit ring game. There were two young drunks 2 and 3 seats to my right. I'd been watching them raise absolute trash for a while. They would push and push until they either won the pot or folded that trash on the river. It really pissed me off.

On my hand, I picked up 89s and had to call one raise from drunk punk #1 (DP1). We saw the flop with 4 players. The flop was 789 rainbow. DP2 bets. I raise and other player folds. DP1 raises. DP2 calls. I cap it and the DPs complete the betting.

The turn is a unsuited Q and the madness starts again with DP2 calling the whole way to the cap between me and DP1. I'm a bit worried that DP1 flopped a straight, but he's been playing such trash, I can't ease up now.

The river is the sweetest 8 I ever saw. DP2 checks and folds as me and me and DP1 raise and reraise. After I'm reraised, I ask the dealer if there is a cap now that we are heads up (talk about a tell) and he says that there is since we started with 3. Crap! So we cap it and DP1 smirks and turns over pocket 7s for a full house, 7s full of 8s. It did my heart and bank roll good to look him in the eye as I turned over 8s full of 9s to take a huge pot (about $136). DP1 wasn't so chatty or pushy after that. I never said another thing. :)

A good time was had by all but I don't need to see any more poker for at least a week. On to Denver for business and a couple days skiing. Be good.

Top 9 ways you know you spent too long in Vegas after returning to work

9. You wonder what happened to the shoe shine guy in the men's room.
8. You catch yourself scanning the cafeteria for hookers.
7. It's 5:30 and you wonder why everybody is going home.
6. You are disappointed that you can't get shrimp or crab legs at the 'buffet'.
5. The only Elvis impersonator is Pilipino and there is only ONE.
4. Boss is real tired of poker references in business meetings ("We need to go all-in to make this deal.").
3. You are surprised to wake up refreshed.
2. You hang out in front of the office waiting for the valet.
1. Oh, so THAT'S the sun.

What day is it? Where am I?

…two questions that I seem to be asking myself over the past few days. The current stretch of work and travel must be wearing on me some.

Thursday night was poker night in Renton, WA for me. I dropped in on Diamond Lil’s Poker Room. I played the $4-8 limit hold’em game which was their lowest level. That is the highest limit that I have played in a cash game, but I figured poker is poker. I got a good early start that soon turned sour. I had two A-high flushes get beat along with a King-high flush. I was down to my last $10 (of the $200 I started with) at one point. But I stayed tight and worked my way back up to $243 over the course of 5 hours. It was a good grind and good practice for Vegas. It was 3:30 in the morning, so I decided that was enough.

Friday, I attended a meeting with Bill Gates and Steve Balmer, the Chairman and CEO (respectively) of Microsoft. It was a town hall type meeting for employees. There was nothing really interesting said. You could read most of it in any business magazine, but I got some great pictures.

Friday night I got to the Seattle-Tacoma Airport (Sea-Tac) for my flight back to Charlotte via Chicago. The weather was bad in Chicago delaying the plane for several hours. Luckily, United found another plane and got us going about 30 minutes late. I had a tight connection in Chicago and this just made it really tight, but not too bad. I drew a middle seat for this leg and I had a real ass in the isle seat next to me. He crowded me the whole trip. I don’t think I got more than 10 minutes sleep during the whole 4 hour flight.

We got to O’Hare. I had to go from gate C10 to B30 (a long ass way), but I arrived at the gate just as they were starting to board. The rest of the flight was great.

So I am home around 10am. My wife is the most understanding soul. I tried to stay up and visit for a while, but she could tell that I was about to fall over and sent me to bed. I ended up sleeping until 5 pm.

I took the wife to dinner (Chicken Wings) and returned home. This night I had to help a customer with a project that I thought would be short. We started around 11 pm. Unfortunately, this project was neither short nor simple and I ended up getting to bed around 7 am. I slept hard until about 2 pm.

Last night I laid down around 1 am thinking that I probably wouldn’t sleep well, but I slept like a log and got up ready to go this morning at 8 am. May sleep scheduled are optional. No one ever told me.

Well tomorrow I head to Vegas for some vacation with my poker buddies and to photograph another tournament. Now I know sleep schedules are optional. Y’all have a good week. I post if I get a connection.

Flashback

FLASHBACK


Me - I love a good hummer!

Slogging Through Seattle

Well, actually, I’m in Redmond. The trip has gone well so far.

Getting here went great until I actually arrived. The flight from Charlotte to Chicago was good. The guy in the seat next to me was nice and mostly kept to himself. I got to watch some of the Panthers/Bears game during my 2 hour layover. I was a bit worried about the flight out of Chicago. It was very full. The agent at the United desk in Charlotte had pity on my and got me an isle seat in the emergency row. That was much better than the middle seat on row 35 that I had originally. It got even better when nobody sat down in the middle seat, so me and my row-mate had what might have been the only empty seat on the plane between us.

So I arrived in Seattle a happy camper. I called Mrs. K to let her know I was safe. Then the wheels came off. First off, my bag didn’t arrive. Since I had a 2 hour layover, there was no excuse for the bag not making it onto the plane. The agent couldn’t tell me exactly when I would get my bag so I was probably looking at returning to the airport 2 hours later when the next flight arrived from Chicago. What could I do? I filled out the form and headed to the rental car counter.

They had my reservation ready to go, except it wasn’t the intermediate car that I had asked for. As you can see below, they gave me a bright yellow Hummer H3. I asked if they had anything smaller and was offered a Ford Crown Victoria. No thanks. H3 it is.

Since then, it has been smooth sailing. My bag arrived in the middle of the night and was ready for pick up the next morning. The folks at the Redmond Inn have been great. Breakfast and the internet connection is free and the room is big and comfortable. The drive to campus takes about 10 minutes which is remarkable for Redmond. The price is right, too. If I come back in August, I’ll look to stay here again.

The poker has been fun. There was a tourney on Tuesday night for $20. I got AQs on the first hand. A 3x raise took the blinds and I was the early chip leader. I folded the next 4 hands and caught KK on when I was 2 right of the button. As the action comes around, Pat, who is 2 to my right goes all in. There are only the blinds and one caller in at this point. I’m only worried about one hand, and overbetting with AA would be aweful. It’s an easy call. Turns out that it was an aweful play on Pat’s part as he had AA. Another A come on the flop and I am gone.

Tonight went much better. I got a few cards and about 3 big hands won to take 3rd of 25 and a $35 profit. Still, I really didn’t catch any good luck. The hands that I won were strong hands that held up. I had a big JJ get outdrawn by AJ. I had QQ get outdrawn by Ax. That was two straight 70% advantages that got crushed. That’s poker. I am happy that I was able to get so far on good play.

Tomorrow night I plan to visit the local card club. I’ll let you know how it goes.

It was the smallest thing Avis had...

I do love a good hummer.

Seattle, Here I Come

Life if full of twists and turns. The road got a lot bumpier this week for my family. I can’t talk in specifics right now. Some of the folks effected don’t know what is going on. I don’t necessarily agree that anyone should be kept in the dark about serious family matters, it isn’t my decision to make.

I have a real simple rule when it comes to giving bad news. Many of the people around me want to hide the bad news to shelter their loved ones. I can respect that. But on the other hand, those being sheltered want to be trusted with the truth. So my rule here is “if the situation were turned around, would I want to be sheltered or told?” In some cases, the person being sheltered would want to be sheltered, but I think in most cases they would not. So be it.

Tomorrow the travel starts again with a trip to Redmond, Washington to visit a little software outfit that is headquartered there – Microsoft. I’ll be learning on this trip. It will be the first formal training that I have gotten to attend in years. The schedule is very demanding with the class starting at 8:00 am and most days finishing up around 7:00 pm. I am definitely looking forward to it. My camera will also be attending, so I’ll try to post pictures from the road.

Will I be playing any poker while in WA? Oh yes. There are two games on campus, but I will only be able to attend the Wednesday night game. It looks like class will overlap the start of the Tuesday night game. There is also a card club in the area (45 minutes away) that I will probably find my way to on Thursday night.

I used to live in the Seattle area and I still have a friend there and several friends that have moved there since I left. It will be good to see some of them again. Then it will be good to get home before heading back to Vegas.

Here I go again.

The Rapids are Approaching

What a day! If most days are like floating down a long lazy river, today ended like class 5 rapids followed by Niagara Falls.

On my drive into work this morning the radio played the Logical Song by Supertramp. We’ve all heard this song a billion times. This morning, for some odd reason, a heard the sax bridge and thought it sounded a lot like Quaterflash’s “Harden My Heart”. That took my mind off to the time when I actually saw Quarterflash in concert. It was the Mann Music Amphitheater in Philadelphia way back in 1981. (Now we are showing our age!)

I remember that year because it was my first summer as a counselor at Camp Comet – the space age camp for boys. I remembered riding from Waynesboro, PA on our long day off with 3 other counselors to Philly for the show. Unfortunately, I only remember the name of one of those guys, Steve Joynt.

I remember Steve for both the unusual last name and because we became pretty good buds that summer. We were two crazy white protestant southern boys in a northern summer camp for Jewish boys. We traveled together. We did the camp morning radio show on the PA system together. And we laughed at the kid and other counselors until our sides ached.

This was now officially one of my “I-wonder-what-ever-happened-to-Steve” moments. I do this fairly often, not just with Steve but with many long lost friends. With the internet, it can be really easy to follow-up on the questions and find out. So I did.

It didn’t take me 15 minutes to find Steve, his web page, his email address, and to get a short note off to him. Needless to say, he was surprised to hear from me after 25 years. We only exchanged quick “What-are-you-doing-nows”, but I look forward to hearing more about the years and maybe getting together for a drink the next time we are in the same town.

I did a bit more searching on Google for “Camp Comet” and ran across a couple of memory pages. I found a fellow counselor named Richard Winestock and shot an email off to him. I’ve yet to hear from Richard, but it hasn’t bounced yet either. We’ll see. I also came across a guest registration site for Comet alumni. I signed to register and also found the name of my favorite camper from those days, Adam A (not pictured above).

Another quick search on Adam’s name and another quick email off to Adam. He replied right away, and he was surprised as well. Adam is now a lawyer in Bethesda, MD. I look forward to hearing more about Adam’s life as well as having drinks or a dinner when I’m up that way.

About that time, a co-worker calls my name and asks me a technical question. That was the end of the lazy river for me. Next thing I know, I’m up to my elbows in somebody else’s computer case.

Then my Mother calls wanting to know if she can come over tonight to talk to me and my wife. I say sure (especially since shy never asks to do that). I can also hear some dread in her voice.

Next, another co-worker calls and needs me to possibly go to Dallas, TX to help a customer.

On the drive home I get another call wanting me to go to Jacksonville, FL. Then the first co-worker calls with another question. Then I get an email asking if I have time to go to Michigan. “Uh, I don’t think so.”

Right after my wife gets home from work my mom shows up and drops us all over Niagara.





My uncle has terminal cancer!




OMFG!



Typing those words just makes the pit in my stomach grow and kick. After all we have been through with Mr. C (father-in-law), we were really looking for 2006 to bring us a break. I guess it doesn’t work that way.

And my poor mother. Damn! She is having to find assisted care for my Grandmother who will not want to go and now this. We lost my Dad 10 years ago and my mom’s father 5 years ago. Now to hit her with problems with her Mother and only Brother at the same time just reeks. Just REEKS.

So it looks like my Uncle D will need chemo for a few weeks and then an operation. No details on this blog right now, but the odds of survival of this kind of operation are a bit under 20% and even then, well, there are other problems to worry about.

My wife, bless her, did some great research on assisted care and got a great list of questions to ask while trying to find a place. Mr. C used to be in a related field, so I’m sure most of that came from him. Bless them both. They are the blessings in my life.

So now it is late and I have to work tomorrow and figure where, if anywhere I’m going on business. I also need to call my brothers since they don’t know any of this yet (at the time of writing – I can’t post until I talk to them – you understand). So tomorrow, I’ll hug my wife and dogs a little harder and work a little harder and probably try to live a little harder. And pray.

They all end the same

Poker tournaments, that is. I'll get to that in a sec.

Life must have really slowed down. I'm not posting nearly as much as I was back in Oct-Nov. I've not been traveling as much is one reason. At least I've not been traveling any where that I care to write about or anyone would care to read about. Atlanta and Durham just don't get my fingers excited. In the next three weeks I'm slated to go to Atlanta (again), Redmond, WA, and Las Vegas. The first one is a working customer visit, the second is training for me, and the last is just for fun or at least lots of poker.

Before I get to Vegas I really need to find a better way to end my poker tourneys. It's not that my chips all go to somebody else and I walk away. No, that would be normal. In my case it seem they all end by me calling some small all-in as a big favorite and getting some 2 or 4 out suckout on the river followed almost immediately by a big pre-flop hand that I go all in with as a big favorite to (you're way ahead of me by now) get sucked-out on by a 2 or 4 out suckout on the river.

Tonight's pub poker was no exception. Well, maybe not strictly as described above, but close enough. I played pretty straight up except for throwing down a suited hammer (7h2h) to steal some blinds and one other junk hand to take a small pot. I couldn't get paid on my premium hands. I really should have pushed this table harder, but I didn't. That's my falut.

Four hands from the end I'm sitting on a pretty average stack in the big blind. With 3 limpers, I go raise 3x the big blind with AKo. I get two folds and an all in that was for about half my stack. She shows 10h9h. Naw, I don't get it either. Long story short, she flops nothing and catches a 10 on the river. Crap! Three hands later I'm hurting and I look down at 1010. All in (about 3x BB). I get 2 callers. The flop comes J 8 5. Check, push for another 3 BBs and a fold, so I'm heads up. The other player turns over 66. Cool. "It's a good time to triple up", I think. Hell no. The turn is a 4 and the river a 7 for her straight and my walking papers.

That's poker, or so I'm told.

Otherwise I'm a happy guy. My father-in-law is feeling so much better that he is attending our poker game this weekend. I know that he has missed getting out. My friends who are in their 30's mostly are really looking forward to Mr. C's (in his 70's) return. I think that is a testament to the quality of my friends and Mr. C. I'm still employed, coming up on 12 years at MS. My wife is still beautiful and my dogs are healthy. Even my grandmother's condition is stable.

My wife had a good idea tonight. Let's go kick Iran's ass. That new president of theirs is turning out to be a real loon with ideas of the end of the world. President Bush has done a fine job so far so let's really finish the job of taking out the terrorist by cutting off their benefactors at the knees.

I know there is a lot of disagreement on that score (Bush as President), but the folks you hear crying about everything Bush has done were the same ones crying about everything he did from the time he was born leading all the way up the his first inauguration.

When reading opinion, I have a simple test which you may want to use: Does the writer have good and bad to say about the subject? If so I give it some weight. If it is all praise or all bitch, I throw it out unless I already thought that to begin with, of course. Case in point, if the writer is working over the President, does he mention that the economy is doing great (Clinton would characterize it as the best economy in 550 years!). Or does he write that Bush should be impeached for wiretapping terrorists (which is probably legal)? If you want to change my mind, show some thought by showing some balance.

Here are a few facts that I have recently had friends get wrong:

Costa Rica is not an Island.
Cyprus is an Island.
The first definition of celibate is not married (I got this one wrong). Not having sex was second.
Israel is close to Lebanon

Yea, it's been a while. So what.

Absolutely no one has asked “What’s up with Special K?” Well tough, I’m going to tell you anyway.

Things are good, though they have been better. Those in my families who were sick are healing. Mr. C continues to recover from surgery. He is free of all foreign objects in his body. He has been cleared to drive and took that as an opportunity to go to Charleston, SC for lunch. For those who don’t know Carolina geography, that’s a 6 hour round trip for lunch. I am so glad he feels up to it.

My grandmother is doing better physically, but mentally she just isn’t there like she was just a few months ago. I’m sad for her. I’m sad that she has been sick and in pain. I’m sad that she doesn’t seem to have anything to look forward to. All of her friends and family of her generation is gone already. She did a great job in raising a great daughter (my mom) and son. Hell, she raised her brothers and sisters, so she raised kids through the depression and a world war. She was a fun Grandmother with way more patience than I deserved. I’m in no hurry to see her go. It’s just sad.

I’m traveling again. This time I’m in beautiful Atlanta, GA. It sure isn’t Jamaica. At least the weather was nice in J. Atlanta is probably the lease exciting big city I can think of. That’s because it is so much like Charlotte, just bigger. The tea is sweeter. The accents are thicker. The traffic is worse. Please take me home where my bed is softer and warmer.

My travel schedule is busy for January. I have one more week of potential ‘last minute’ travel on busniss. The second week of Jan is for study at (or near) home. Week 3 is for training for which I will travel to Redmond, WA. Then I return to CLT for the weekend before flying to Vegas with BG and Andres the Colombian. Rounders Mag and Zero Tilt Poker is having another event while I am there. That should make for another great time.

I’m going to miss Gold Preferred status on US Airways this year by 6000 miles. L

Christmas time was marked with catching up with folks I knew in High School. It was fun catching up with Jennifer and Tony (you can catch up with Tony at http://half-lifeandtimes.blogspot.com/).

I got everything on my Christmas list this year. It pays to keep your list short.

God, thank you for my wife. I just can’t say that enough.

I’ve decided that ‘American Idol’ is a good thing. I’m not about to start watching, but the music that is coming out of the winners (I count Clay as a winner) is not bad. Unlike Rap, it is at least musical. I has been awhile since there has been any good new music on the radio.

Poker is on for next Friday night. Pool is on for Tuesday. Y’all go find your own fun.

Later

Short Week

I love short weeks. Tomorrow is a vacation day for Microsoft so this work week is only four days. It great to start the week with only 4 more days to the weekend. Especially this time of year. It’s not that I dislike work. Mine can be fun, in a very geeky sort of way. It’s just that there is very little day light outside of working hours. It gets very hard to accomplish anything that involves being outdoors this time of year. And if we get a rainy weekend then I’m going to be behind in my chores for the rest of the winter.

So yesterday was the beginning of winter and the shortest day of the year. October was the shortest month of 2005, but won’t be the shortest month of 2006. Do you know why?

All of that snow and generally cold weather that large parts of the country has been seeing is just a preview. I would say it was a “warm-up”, but would mix the metaphors a bit much.

I guess it is a short post, too. More from the road soon.

Back from Jamaica

'Twas the last weekend before Christmas...

I got back from my business trip in Jamaica late on Friday night. I really didn't do anything outside of the hotel except for work. I had one night out for dinner at a local sports bar. That was all of three blocks from the hotel. On the way I saw a flock of americans eating at the local KFC. What a waste that is, going all the way to Jamaica and eating the same crap that you can get in any city in the US.

Since I didn't get out, I also didn't get any good pictures. I tried to take a couple from the cab, but that was pretty weak. So no picture posting from this trip.

Thanks to my wife, I'm pretty much ready for Christmas. All of the gifts that need to be sent have been sent and the rest have been bought and are ready for delivery. Some are wrapped and some are not.

There might be some poker this week. Bullits is trying to host a game on Christmas Eve Eve. We'll see if the joy of the season has spread to the spouses. I'll probably warm up with some pub poker on Wednesday night. 'Tis the season for poker, I guess. I'll post my reports.

Y'all have a good week.

Jamaica

Three days in Jamaica and I haven’t blogged a thing. It’s not that there hasn’t been anything to write about. I’ve just been so damn busy that I’ve had no energy left. This customer has been keeping me hopping from sun up to sun down. We are making great progress, so that keep me going, perhaps a little longer than I should. But I’ve only got a day and a half more, so I can keep burning it. Besides, I know my coworkers burn it just as hard, so I can take it too.

So what are the things to blog about. First of all, Kingston is firmly ensconsed in the third world. I really don’t mean to be unkind in saying that. It is just so obvious when riding around town and from the airport to “New Kingston” in particular. There are many housed without roofs, garbage that looks like its been on the road side for years, and people that look like they no worked since they put out the garbage.

The Hilton hotel is very nice. I think this is one of the places that the Kingston middle class comes to live it up. I’ve seen tons of new grads and wedded couples roaming the lobby and restaurants. They all look so happy to be here. I like seeing that and I’m happy for them.

The currency is a hoot. I’m drinking my Red Stripe beer (HOORAY BEER!) right now. I’m betting it cost around $250. No, I didn’t miss the decimal, it is really $250 jamaican. Dinner was just over $3000. The exchange rate to USD is about 60:1. I feel like I’m spending like Johnny F. Chan.

It was at the end of the paragraph above that my appetizer came followed closely by my entre. None of this is too surprising since I am sitting in the sushi bar/restaurant of the hotel. Now for some odd reason, I’m feeling a scoshe more buzzed than before. It could be that the soy sauce or the Red Strip has more alcohol than I anticipated. Must be the soy sauce.

You haven’t lived until you have heard a reagge band play Christmas songs like “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.” I think this is the most English forgein country that I have ever seen. Jamaica was an English colony for hundreds of years. It makes the place very familiar in odd ways.

I love to hear the natives speak. They are so friendly to everyone. I can’t tell half the time when the native that I am with knows the person they are speaking to or not. They are so polite. It get embarssing having the door held open for me as much as it is. I won’t get used to it, but I could.

The weather is wonderful. The lows are in the high 60s and the highs are in the low 80s. The mountains are beautiful. The food is really good too. The Jamaicans are very picky about their food and they tend to eat really well. Chicken and seafood are the staples with beef very available, but expensive. Everything I have tried has be very tasty. The waiter at dinner last night took great pride as he explained that Red Stripe was “very good and world renouned.” How could I not have one or two after that.

This is a nice place, but I’ll still be happy to return home. This place in too much work. J I’ll have to see about coming back on a vacation . At this point, I would recommend it.