Bonus Whoring

I started my one full day in Vegas, not by hitting the nearest poker table, but by touring the strip and joining player's clubs to get some good coupons and swag. The main coupons that I wanted were for match play.

I had 3 match plays on this trip. Two were for $25 and one for 5. I won one of three for a profit of $20. so before any poker, I'm up about $30 for the trip at the start of the poker playing day. (I had a real nice +$170 session at the Hooters Poker Room late Tuesday night to put me up $10 at the start of the day)

A few other impressions of the strip:

• The City Center and Cosmopolitan projects (between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo) is a huge mass of construction. It is remarkable how far they have come in the last 10 months. (Pictures above)
• You can not tell there was a fire at the Monte Carlo a few weeks ago.
• Wynn's Encore tower is nearly complete. Except for the cranes, it looks complete.
• The Palazzo (new tower at the Venetian) is fabulous. (Pictures below)

I stopped by the Wynn to see the start of the Wynn Classic poker tournament. I was hoping to run into FlipChip, but no such luck today. I don't know if it was a sad sight or not, but I did spot poker pro T.J. Cloutier at a $15 craps table all by himself. I thought about placing a bet so I could recount the day TJ and I played craps together, but I didn't think it was worth $15. I made a swing through the Palazzo and Venetian on my way to my poker objective, the fabulous Flamingo.

The poker room there sucks, but I was hoping that the players would match. Unfortunately for me, the cards are what sucked. I found a very familiar pattern of playing very tight, getting some action on every bet, and hanging around even until a good starting hand gets my chips in only to be sucked out by somebody who should not have been in the hand.

That is exactly what happened after about 3 hours of play. I got QQ and got my $12 open called by 2 players. The flop is all low trash, I jam for about $60 more and get one caller who hit his 64o for two pair. IGBTHN (I go back to hotel now).

I hung out at my hotel for about an hour checking email and taking a short break before heading to the Planet Hollywood for the 6 pm tourney. The Grinder used to play in this one, but no longer. It is just a well structured $60 tourney. Since it was really a 7 pm tourney, I signed up and then sat at a $1-2 NL table to pass the time.

That familiar pattern of hanging around to get stacked was still in force and took about an hour before I ran my flopped 2 pair into an over-sized stack on an outside straight draw. Guess what. yep. IGGDN (get dinner). I'm now down $200 for the day and $170 for the trip.

But I'm not posting bad-beat stories on this trip. I did well in the tourney getting 6th out of 36 to double my buy-in and bring my trip total to -$110. From here I cruised to Bellagio to play some $1-3 NL and find again that they don't spread such low limits. They start at $2-5, so I keep moving. Bally's has a good sized list for $1-2, but Paris is open (they post both lists at Bally's).

I show up at Paris at about 11 pm, Ready to play for about an hour. I hang around my $115 buy-in for the hour and start to look for the exit. Then I get dealt 66 on the button and get in a 6 way limped pot. the flop comes 567 and it gets checked to me. I bet $12 and get 2 callers. The turn is a 2 and the player to my right goes all in for $38 more. I call and the 3rd player folds. The river brings the fourth 6 to make me quad 6s. Bonus! So I take down the $120 ish pot and a $110 high hand bonus. After a couple more good hands I stand up and cash out for about $300.

I end this Vegas trip just a little over $100 thanks to a late rally. I board the plane in about 20 minutes and will be home in 5 hours. Good times.

Vegas 2/2008

What a day!  We get to the customer site this morning and get some really strange looks, or maybe they were strained.  We are told that the SQL part of the meeting will now begin after lunch and not at 10:45 as we had been told.  In addition, they want us to speak with the hardware rep.  Curious.

She comes out and explains that they are not just giving the results of their audit, but are doing a presentation to get a contract to do the whole project.

Well that changes things a bit.  Mostly it meant that no one from our company could attend the meeting.  Yep, I flew 4/5 of the way across the country to not attend a meeting.  After speaking with my manager and the manager of the customer's team, we split for the airport.

I was not supposed to leave Phoenix until 7 pm and it was only 1 pm when I got through security at the airport.  I checked the desk about the next flight to Vegas and they gave me a seat.  I had to take a middle seat and give up my first-class seat, but it beat the crap out of sitting in the airport for 5.5 hours.  Best part that I still got upgraded before we took off.

So I'm now in Vegas and have joined the Owl Club here at the Hooters Hotel and Casino.  They gave me $100 in slot play and a table match play of $25.  I've also played poker at the MGM for 3 hours.  Since I'm not going to write anymore bad beat stories about this trip, that is the end of this post.

Business First - Solo Rage Next

I've got a few minutes and I finally feel like writing something.  When I'm home, there are some many other things that I like to do or have to do that blogging get pushed to the back burner.  Playing pool, guitar hero, paying bills, fixing something on the house, playing with the dogs, going out (or staying it) with the wife, etc. all rate higher than blogging. 

When I'm on the road, those things aren't available and so it comes time to catch up on the blog.

I'm currently in Phoenix, AZ awaiting a meeting with one of my customers.  Right now it is clear and 55 degrees here.  Charlotte is 49 degrees and raining like crazy.  I hate I'm missing out on that.

I flew all the way out here yesterday for the meeting today.  We won't start until 10:45 and I won't be surprised if we are done my lunch.  I hope we at least go until 3 or 4.  It would just be too crazy to come all this way for a 1 or 2 hours meeting.  That's what con calls are for.  I'm not even presenting at the meeting.  Hardware vendors are doing that.  I'm just there to represent my company and to stay involved in the project.

So, to make the best of a bad situation, after the meeting, I'm hopping on a plane and making the 1 hour journey to Vegas.  I plan to go solo for about 32 hours or so before flying out Thursday morning.  My rough plan is to play at the MGM tonight.  After a good night's sleep, I head up to the Venetian and Wynn to check out some of the sights and action.  Wednesday night is still to be determined.  Any offers?

Before I go, I have to report on last night's poker action.  I returned to the casino that I don't think I have ever left with money that has been placed on a table.  It has felted me every time.  Last night was no exception.  All that is allowed in AZ is limit poker.  The only no-limit substitute was a $5-200 game that sounded to rich for me. 

So I sat at a donkey $2-4 table.  I lost with flopped top trips 4 times, once to a flopped straight, once to flopped trips with a bigger kicker, and once each to a rivered flush and boat.  My top straight got beat by a rivered flush.  I think I took one or pots of any decent size.  Casino Arizona has never been kind to me and I'll never go back this month.  I only went through $100, but I was looking to kill time and have dinner.  I guess I got that, but I'm now behind for the trip.

 

Next up, Vegas, baby.

Saturday Night in Concord, NC

Just reading those words in the title reminds me of a John Denver song from my youth.  The song is "Saturday Night in Toledo, Ohio".  In case you aren't familiar with it, it goes something like this:

"Saturday night in Toledo, Ohio is like being nowhere at all.
All through the day how the hours rush by, you sit in the park and you watch the grass die.

"You ask how I know of Toledo, Ohio? Well I spent a week there one day.
They've got entertainment to dazzle your eyes: go visit the bakery and watch the buns rise."

You get the idea. 

Well, Dr. K and I found just the opposite in Concord last night.  We attended the Old Courthouse Theater's production of "Moon Over Buffalo".  The play was hilarious.  Jim the Knife is a good friend and the male lead in the play. 

I have to say it really is a bitch supporting your friends sometimes.  We had to drive a whole 20 minutes to be greeted as somebody special, sit in a comfortable theater for 2 hours, be thoroughly entertained by a troop very talented actors and in the end have the wife be very happy with her man for the hefty price of $15 per person.  Oh, the things I'll endure for my friends. :)

I've known for some time that Jim has a great voice.  I've also seen him act in some commercials, but last night, he put the whole package together.  I would have been impressed with his performance had he been a complete stranger.  He was professional quality.  I really think he could go as far as he wants with his acting.

We were also very impressed with the performances of Andrea Rassler as the daughter and Becky Porter who played the grandmother.  Those were the standouts, but there wasn't a weakness in the entire cast.  They were all terrific.

The greatest discoveries are those that show up in unexpected times and places.  I would not have expected so much from an evening in Downtown Concord.  It was a great discovery and a wonderful evening.

Poker not so much fun tonight

Yea, I lost a few points, but that doesn't bother me.  Normally the entertainment value would be worth several times what I invested.  No, it was something else and it ate on me all night.  I wish it hadn't and I wish I could just let it go.  That's what a grown up would do.

I know that nobody there meant anything personal, but the timing really left me with something I want to say, and the folks gathered were pretty aggressive about not wanting to hear it.   The topic was politics and one of the guests had just made what, to me, was a purely partisan political comment that contradicted an earlier statement he had made.  In affect, he told me I was wrong and that it (all the problems in the world?) was always the republican's fault as the rest of the group cut off the conversation.  They've never cut off any conversation before, but they sure cut me off.

Well the reaction in my gut was and big "Fuck That!!" It must be something from my childhood, but that hit a button that hasn't been hit in a long time.  I didn't rant or rave, but I kinda wish I had.  Had I done that, Falstaff could have thrown me out (it's his house after all) giving me some finality to the discussion.  Had there been more folks there I would probably have hit the road, at least to cool down for a while.  In my younger days, I would have called it a night.  Instead, I just sat there like a jerk and didn't say a thing.

It's a sign of growth that I didn't react as I would have, but after 47 years I should be a lot further along than I showed tonight.  There is a lot of growth still in front of me.  We have a good fun group that I really love being around and I'm sorry to anyone who was paying enough attention to have been made uncomfortable.  I know I sure was tonight.

Gratuitous Photo Posting

Just because I haven't seen this one in a while.

This is Dry Falls near Highlands, NC.

Happy Valentine's Day - not

(disclaimer: I don't have any children) 

A buddy of mine at work is going through a rough time.  A week ago, his wife left him.  He had no idea it was coming.  Worse yet, she took their 6 year-old twins with her to a friends house.  She called him at work that day to make sure he was not on his way home and made an excuse for why she would be out with the kids.  The friend's that she took the kids (who are asmatic) to stay with have cats and a dog to which the kids are allergic.  He found out what had gone down about 9 o'clock that night when he reached his wife on the phone and she told him that she was gone and the kids are safe and "that's all you need to know."

Damn.

Now I know I'm only getting one side of the story and there is a lot more to go with what I have above, but skip ahead to today.  My buddy has moved out of his house so his wife and kids can move back in.  I would imagine that it will be her's (and the kid's) to keep.  She has avoided getting a job for the past two years, so he'll get to pay her for leaving him and it is already pretty clear that they (the wife and layer) are going to do everything they can to make him out to be a pervert or monster.

To hear his side, he was staying in this marriage to keep the family together for the kids.  I'm sure it wasn't perfect, but I'll bet it was better that what they have right now.  And if you are wondering if she was abused, she is a black belt martial arts instructor and he weighs about 160.  I don't think that is an issue.

The real problem, to hear him tell it, is that he is trying to play by the rules, be a nice guy and try to settle things as quickly as possible for the kids sake.  He doesn't realize that she has probably been talking to her lawyer and setting him up for months.

If there were any justice, the kids would be at home with him and she would be visiting them from wherever she found to live.  But it doesn't work that was for guys.  She will probably get the house, the kids (which she will use as a lever with which to beat him), cash and every opportunity to date and move on.  If he is a good guy, he will get indentured servitude for the next 12 years.

This is going to be sad to watch as the system roll over him like a Mac Truck.  I could understand (but not condone) why some guys do real stupid things in situations like this.  I would probably be one of them.

Happy Valentine's Day. :(

Break is over - Back to Work

That was a nice little break from blogging.  It's not that nothing has been happening or that nothing was on my mind.  I just didn't feel like writing it down.

Going back a little over a week, there was Poker at BG's in the country.  I won the tournament with very few cards, but really strong cards when others had good enough cards to play with me.  I think I busted out about half the players, but that was a good while ago and the story may have grown in my mind.  I also did real well in the cash game finishing the night with about 170 more points than I started with.

Oh yea, that was the night our host's nose opened into a red torrent to start a run of three straight days visiting the local emergency room.  Falstaff wrote it up much better than could I.  Read it here.

The following night was pool league and the super bowl.  Both worked out the way I wanted.  I smoked my opponent and the Giants took down the Patriot's collective egos.

Work was really busy last week, thought I don't remember just what happened.  I remember that there were lots of con calls and interviews and no time to sit and write up a decent blog post, so I didn't.  It was nice to be home at night for the first week in the past three.

The biggest news for the Special K household is that Dr. K has taken a position with a local audiology clinic.  She is already very happy with the new employer and co-workers.  Better yet, it is only 10 minutes from the house.  That is compared to the 40-50 minutes she spent getting to and from her last job.  Last and probably least important in the big scheme, the pay is much better that she has ever received before.  I'm so proud of her I can't put it into words.

This past Saturday was alright for pasta and poker.  Damn, I've been playing lots of poker here recently, but it is so much fun and Jim the Knife made us an offer that we couldn't refuse.  The offer was a home-made pasta dinner followed by hours of cards.  The meal and company were big winners for me.  The poker was a little winner (21 points), but that beats the crap out of losing.  Thanks again, Jim.  It was a terrific night.

One interesting hand happened when three of us hit our flushes on the river.  I beat the low flush and got beat by T with the short stack and a J to beat my ten.  I at least got some money back from the side pot.  You can read more about the night here.

Pool on Sunday was a different story.  Where I smoked last week, I got smoked this week.  I took a 3-0 loss to a lower ranked player.  I probably hurt my game by raking leaves and shoveling dirt before going to play, but my opponent played really well and I didn't.

Wow, not that I've got that all recorded, we can move on to more important matters.  I'll let you know as soon as I figure out what those are.

One more thing though.  I upgraded my Flickr account and uploaded a heaping helping of photos last night.  I wanted to test the integration of Flickr with this Windows Live Writer that I use so here goes with some photos from Yellowstone in October 2004:

Larger versions are available by clicking on the photos. That wasn't much integration, but I can work with it.

Quote

Linus Torvalds (creator of the Linux operating system) on the slow uptake of Linux on desktop computers:

"Better is worse if it's different."

So true.

A Giant Falls

On Sunday, a giant in my field of work passed away.  His name was Ken Henderson.  I have spoken to Ken one-on-one only twice and heard him lecture once, so I can't count his passing as a personal loss.

But for my profession and my company, his loss is as big a loss as I could imagine.  Ken was the guru of Microsoft SQL Server.  He wrote the Guru's Guide to Microsoft SQL Server Architecture and Internals, a bible in our industry.  There are very few people who know the inner workings of SQL Server as well as Ken.  Fewer still shared what they knew as well.

Many people who have worked with Microsoft SQL Support on a database problem have used the PSSdiag utility to gather data to help solve the problem.  PSSDiag proved so useful that it was built into the current version of SQL Server as SQLDiag.  PSSDiag was Ken's baby.  It has saved our customers countless hours of troubleshooting time over the years.

So where am I going with this?  It is a loss for everyone when someone as brilliant, talented and dedicated as Ken is struck down in his prime.  He is one of those folks who most never hear of, but help so many.  Every profession has unsung heroes like Ken.  He was a giant.  I think he deserves a little extra thought and recognition, so its here in this post. 

Thanks, Ken.

A Limit on the Insanity

A good crowd gathered for the Falstaff home game last night.  Instead of the usual .25/.50 NL Hold' em that we've been playing since I joined the group, we switched it up to play 1/5 limit dealers choice.  The games had to be something that was spread in a Vegas casino which pretty much meant the HORSE games (Hold' em, Omaha, Razz, (7 card) Stud, or (Omaha) Eight or better (O8) (Hi/Lo).

We spent most of the night on O8 and Stud with some Hold' em, Razz, and Omaha mixed in.  My night started out really rough.  Actually, it was pretty typical for recent games.  I couldn't complete any hands at first and didn't show anything down for quite a while.

The first stand-out hand for me was in O8, I held 88A something and the flop came 855 with 2 diamonds.  I spent the hand pushing pretty hard to build a pot and at least 2 players coming along for the ride.  I was somewhat relieved when the river showed the last 5 to make sure there would be no low.  Of course, one of the players that remained had the 4th 5 to crush me and almost end my night.  I really hate one outers on the river.

It was a big night for big hands.  We saw 3 sets of quads and two straight flushes, one was a royal and was hit in Stud.  Wow.

I can't really complain.  I started completing some hands and won a few nice pots to continue my night.  I took a few breaks to play Falstaff's guitar hero.  I don't think most of the folks there realize how much fun I had playing that game.  Sometimes, I entertain my self really well.

Another memorable O8 hand gave me TT2A with the 2 and A in Clubs.  The flop gave me an A high flush with 3 clubs, one of which was the Tc.  The hand had four callers and I think it was capped.  The turn was the Kc I think, which allowed some other lower flush to get more aggressive.  The river paired the 2 on board to give me a tens over 2s full house.  Unfortunately for Falstaff, that 2 gave him a lesser full house (2s over Ks maybe).  In any case, I scooped that pot pretty much insuring that I'd have a good night after all.

I made the most out of the last half of the night and ended with a profit around 230 points or so.  This coming week is to be a tourney followed by cash games at BGs.  More fun to be had.

Conversation Topics

• Guitar Hero (How to play and demos)
• Room available at the Monte Carlo
• I know/knew of Don Lochman
• "Is that the customer in Hawaii"
• Razz sucks (times about 20)
• Nate: "I raise" (times about 150)
• To Nate: "You're Jewish - Are you going to audition for Anne Frank?"
• Many favorite lines from "Blazing Saddles"
• This is my friend.  He is a Republican.
• Electoral Dysfunction

The week that was

I don't complain about my life.  I've really got it pretty good, but from time to time a curve comes my way.  Last week was just such a week.

While I as in Tucson about 10 days ago, I got up in the morning with a tight feeling in my chest.  I just assumed it was some desert allergy or me just not being used to the climate.  It was no big deal since I would be heading to the pacific northwest the next day.

The weather in SW Washington state was crappy, wet and cold.  My chest congestion began to develop into a full-blown cold.  By Saturday, I was home and was in full blown sick mode.  The worst part was that I would not be able to rest.  I had a workshop that had been planned for a couple months coming up starting on Monday.  The customer was flying their people in from around the country, laptops had been delivered and there was no way to get a replacement at this late date.

So on Sunday, I traveled up to Gaithersburg, MD and spent Monday through Thursday working through one of the worst colds I've had in a decade.  Workshop days are long enough when I'm feeling well.  I thought the week would never end, but it did.

I took the first flight back on Thursday evening (walked right on as a stand-by with out waiting at all).  I got home and crawled in bed for about 14 hours.

I'm feeling better finally.  My cold is down to an irritating cough and I was able to run some today.  I have another trip coming up this week.  This one should be a lot less stressful and I plan to feel a lot better.

Oh, yea.  I did play some poker last night.  I'll post my impressions on that outing in the next post.

Thoughts on Portland

The airport is really nice. It's cold. It's sunny. The hotel room is nice and warm.  It's cold and foggy.  The customer meeting went well. The airport is really nice.

Notes from Tucson

I like Tucson.  The weather in the middle of winter is really nice.  Lows have been in the 30s and highs in the 60s and 70s, and, of course, it has been very sunny.  I'm sure this is off-set in the summer with highs in the 210s, but not this week.

Traffic has been very low.  I've driven the morning and afternoon rushs each day this week and could barely tell that traffic was increased over midday.  I've been on the out-skirts of town (from the airport thru the AFB to the east side for those who know anything about Tucson).  The drivers are fine, but Charlotte drivers make just about all drivers look that way.

Speaking of the air force base (Davis-Monthan Air Force Base), they have a very cool (for me) airplane graveyard here in Tucson.  As you drive along Kolb Ave through the base there are dozens of military aircraft on both sides of the road.  Even my untrained eye spotted C-130s, A-10, F-15s, A-7s, Cobra Helicopters, C-5s, and others that I can't put a name to. 

Then, just around the corner is the Pima Air Museum.  They have a ton of vintage planes sitting out in the AZ sunshine.  I saw Russian Migs, an old Air Force One, B-52s, A-4s, an A-6, F-14, some old delta wing fighters and a supper guppy transport plane among dozens of others.  And that was just what I could spot while driving.  I think they keep the good stuff inside.

The business part of the trip started much worse than I expected.  I really didn't need to be there.  I made the best of it and learned a ton about Biztalk.  The meetings turned around on day 2 and I got to make some presentations that really helped the customer out.  I think they will have me back for some training.  I'll have to schedule an extra day to play poker and tour the aircraft.

Speaking of poker, I did manage to go by the Desert Diamond Casino last night.  No limit poker is not legal in AZ, except in tournaments.  They did spread a $2-20 spread limit game but were only taking interest last night.  I put my name on the list but the game never came together.

I ended up sitting at the $1-3 limit table.  This is not the poker that I wanted to play, but it was better than sitting in the hotel room.  I got up about $50 in the first 45 minutes and then the cards took their all-to-familiar turn and I never won another hand.  I didn't even have any hands that would have won had I played every hand.  It was bazaar, yet familiar.  In 2.5 hours of play, I ended the night down just over $50.  I'll have to count that as good play considering the cards.

Now it's off to Vancouver, WA (across the river from Portland, OR) where I have a business meeting tomorrow and then home on Friday, but not before stopping by Vegas for a few hours.  See ya.

Question

What nationally known politician was in Tucson tonight?  I don't have any idea, but my colleagues and I went out to dinner tonight and the place was crawling with secret service guys.  The staff had been told not to talk about it.

I'll be watching the news tomorrow to see if anyone jumps up.  I heard a rumor that it was the Vice President.  We'll see, maybe.

OJ

Sure, OJ Simpson is back in jail for violating the conditions of his bail, but he's in VEGAS, baby.  Cool.

An Audacious Plan

au·da·cious [aw-dey-shuhs]

–adjective

1. Extremely bold or daring; recklessly brave; fearless: 
2. Extremely original; without restriction to prior ideas; highly inventive
3. Recklessly bold in defiance of convention, propriety, law, or the like; insolent; brazen.
4. Lively; unrestrained; uninhibited

(from Dictionary.com)

Yea, that sounds about right.

After meeting GCox in Vegas in December and hearing/reading the adventures of TripJax and Maudie, I decided that I should get myself to Oki-Vegas at the next opportunity.  The dates for that next opportunity were announced on Monday.

Oki-Vegas will be open from July 11 through 13, 2008.  As there are no limits on North Carolinians, I am so there, although questions remain.  How I would get there and back being the main issue.  I though of calling up TripJax, since he also lives in NC, to see if we could share the ride.  I thought of pinging the Falstaff home game crowd to see if one or more wanted to join the quest.  I thought about spending US Air points and flying.

Then it hit me.  I have other things that need doing this summer, most notably to take Dr. K to baseball games in cities we have yet to visit.  Why not combine the two?  Because it's stupid, that's why.  No, that has never stopped me before.  Why start now?  I'll just call it audacious instead.

So I started looking at the specifics.  Oki-Vegas is in, well, Oklahoma.  The remaining baseball cities are Phoenix, Kansas City, St. Louis, Dallas (Arlington), and Houston.  As it turns out, we could catch a game in Dallas just before Oki-Vegas.  After three days of partying and recovery in OKC, we could head off to Phoenix via Boulder/Denver, then to games in Denver, KC, and St.L. before returning to CLT.  The baseball schedule was kind and fit our schedule like a glove (except for Houston which will have to wait until later in the summer).

I plugged all of this into MS Streets and Trips.  It turns out to only be 5400 road miles, give or take.  We can do it in less than 2 weeks and we won't have to spend more than 8 hours on the road any day except the return home from St. Louis.  We might even see a good bit of the USA in the process. (Where is that "World's Largest Rhubarb" display?)

I ran this plan by Dr. K last night.  I should not have been surprised, but she sounded down right enthusiastic about the trip.  Her only requirement was that we stay in a nice hotel in Oki-Vegas.  Actually, I think she may have said she needs to stay in a nice hotel in OKC, but I get the point.  The $30 a night motel offered by GCox won't do.  It is not the Oki-Vegas way, but it is a compromise that I can live with.

So it looks like Special and Dr. K will be making an appearance in Oki-Vegas and quite possibly a baseball park near you.  I know I'm excited.

The calm before the storm

The past few days have been slow, but then again, maybe that was just the last hour.  In the past month, we've had our oven break, our refrigerator go out, and our heat go out.

The heat took a call to the heating and air company that I use and it was fixed within about 2 hours and $600.  Good thing, too.  It went down to 15 here in Charlotte that night.

The fridge got replaced with a new stainless steel hulk of a fridge.  We now have an ice maker (which we didn't have before) and much less noise in the kitchen.

As for the new range, well, what we got wasn't new.  It was actually a killer deal on a used range from the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store.  We got a $450 unit for $200 and the money goes to build homes for the deserving poor.

After the fiasco with the gas line a year ago, Dr. K was not about to let me install the new gas range by myself.  Luckily, my uncle D is in town to help with Granny C's final arrangements.  Since his profession was that of a mechanical engineer, he got the Dr. K seal of approval for gas appliances.  It took us 20 minutes to swap the units.

Now that the house in in order I can get away with some travel.  In the coming days I have trips to Hopewell, VA (Granny C's memorial), Tucson, AZ (business meeting), Vancouver, WA (another business meeting), vegas (a few hours of poker), and Gaithersburg, MD (presenting a workshop).

Time to get on with it.

Thelma Temple Curtis 1919-2008

My grandmother passed away this morning. She was the only grandmother I ever knew. She was 88 and had been in declining mental and physical health since my grandfather passed a few years ago.

Some of our friends and family get taken from us too early which leaves us shocked and grieving, like Mr C. This is not the case with Thelma. She lived a good life. She had a good marriage of over 60 years, two beautiful children(my mother and uncle), 5 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren.

In the past couple of years, she really didn't have much to live for that I could see. She didn't have anything that she enjoyed. I don't think she liked assisted living, although it was necessary for her to be there. All of her siblings preceded her. It just looks like it was time.

There were times back in Virginia when she was very different. She lived much of her life "in the country" surrounded by her brothers, sisters and life-long friends. She was at her best while everyone busy making a living or raising their children or spoiling their grandchildren.

Thelma will live on through the memories that we carry forward. Some of my strongest memories are:

• The pressure cooker full of collard greens on the gas stove top. I can hear the hiss and rattle right now.
• The house where she lived on 21st Avenue in Hopewell, VA.
• The huge white Olds 88 that she drove.
• The way she and my granddad were able to do things that defied the limits of age or energy like replacing the duct work in the crawl space of their house when they were in their 70s.
• her showing me how to mail a letter. We used a 5 cent stamp back then.
• her taking me and my younger brother to such movie classics as "Kansas City Bomber", and "The Neptune Factor"
• She was the cleaning-est person I've ever known. If she didn't get her vacuum cleaner on time, I think it would have come to get her. She once disassembled her over door to clean the inside of the glass. (or did we make that one up?) (Note: We didn't make that up. She also disassembled much of the inside of her dishwasher to clean it as well)

God bless and farewell, Thelma. We'll miss you.

It's good to know someone out there is studying this stuff #2

Scientists look to sperm to power nanobots

Insert your own joke here.  I can't choose between all of the possibilities.