Saturday, September 22, 2007

If The Wife ever wises up and leaves me...

...I go here for a few years, get my head straight, and come back a lean, centered, Kung Fu killing machine. And apparently I do so for very little money.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Embedded in Hayward

This morning, the courthouse I am assigned to was evacuated due to a bomb scare. Long morning; the highlight was the giant explosion when the bomb squad detonated a suspicious garbage can after the sniffer dogs marked it as containing "something." Since there was no evidence of any explosive devices, I suppose that could have included a chicken salad sandwich.

After they blew up the suspicious garbage can, we were allowed back inside. Imagine my surprise when, over two hours later when we left for lunch, the destroyed garbage can, complete with garbage and other jagged metal shards, was still lying around. The Social Services Agency is across the street, including Child Protective Services; maybe this was some new "parenting obstacle course," and if you don't let your kids play with the shrapnel, you get to take them home?

Here's a little video I shot, in case you were hoping I was exaggerating:



I feel like I'm ready to be a correspondent in Anbar province.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Karma

Over the weekend, I took what was possibly the worst bad beat in poker I have ever taken; it was the true definition of a "bad beat," in that I had this guy dominated at the turn, and the river brought the one card in the deck that could have saved him. I lost a little over $40 on one hand, and that pretty much cooled my play for the rest of the weekend.

However, where most online sites do not offer bad beat jackpots, I came close the next day. I had put my name into a contest on Full Tilt; if you earned 7 poker points in one day, your name got entered into a random drawing for $77. Imagine my surprise when, the next day, still steaming more than a little, I get an email saying that $77 has just been deposited into my account.

I realize it was a random drawing, but I want to believe that the Poker Gods looked down on me and said, "That was pretty sick. How about a do-over?" Thanks, guys.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Goodbye, Sam

I guess it is appropriate that, on the anniversary of the third day after the anniversary of the death of Diana, Bret chose to cut Sam, the people's skanky bitch. I had hoped for a Sam/Jes final two, but now it is not to be. Sam, you lived your time in the Rock of Love house like a candle in the wind...a purple and black skull candle from Hot Topic with a Hello Kitty ribbon tied around it (for the irony, of course), but a candle none the less. I will miss you, even though I have to admit that I agree with Bret that the likelihood of you handling his touring/groupie lifestyle is suspect at best. "Winning" the show for the "privilege" to date a balding rock star from the 80s may no longer be in your future, Sam, but you're a winner in my books.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Tired, but worth it

Dropped The Wife off at the airport this morning; she is going on a cruise with her mother this week, and, if this map is correct, they should dodge Felix by a wide margin.

After the airport run, I drove straight up 101 to the River Rock Casino for their Saturday morning No Limit Hold 'Em tournament. I liked the structure a lot; reasonable buy-in, lots of players, T10,000 in chips, and 20-minute blinds. Having a lot of starting chips and slower blinds allows you to actually play poker, instead of encouraging crazy all-in moves from the start. I will definitely make the drive again. I made the final table, coming in 7th place, and got back my entry fee times two. Nice. Then, it was on to the 3-6 Limit table, where I played for about three hours, and managed to almost triple my buy-in. I hit some very nice hands, including winning four large pots in a row that made up the bulk of my money. Limit poker is all about patience, and even more so when you are playing in person, and you see a fraction of the number of hands you see online. Today, I was the spider, and their chips were the flies.

Which, BTW, is a very appropriate analogy, since there were several flies buzzing around the poker room (it was over 90 degrees in Geyserville today). If it weren't for the hundreds of extra dollars I went home with, I would be very disgusted right now.