Friday, February 29, 2008

Sixtieth of a Hundred and Thirty Eight

Argh. Chip stack went up, chip stack went down. Over and over again like a roller coaster. The ups were fun, the downs, not so fun. Couldn't believe it either when I caught myself calling ninety percent of the flops in the first hour of the tournament. I was being dealt such good cards though. Giving others action, and getting some action on my raises. I got away from all newcomers to the table, thanks to old guido number two who kept telling them how my ace-queen beat out the seat to my left with ace three when he called my all-in after two aces hit the flop. After the first break, my action was down to less than thirty percent of hands dealt and I was feeling much better. When the antes kicked in, my luck ran out and I lost two of the next three races I did get into, to finally knock me out. These Friday 'nooners' are starting to get to me. Time for a movie...

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Movie Weekend

Jumper - Cool diving into the war of Jumpers vs. Paladins without knowing who to trust. May have to go and see this one again.
No Country for Old Men - OMG, another psyhcopath killer trying to get money back from a deal gone wrong, even taking out his competition, and how a local sheriff copes. I'm all confused.
There Will Be Blood - I'm glad I read the script before I went so I would know most of what was going on. Even with a few scenes still missing, it is a long way to go slam small town religious leader and independent oilmen. Go only to be shocked. Loosely based on Upton Sinclair's 'Oil'.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Jurist Prudence

So last Thursday I was a bit worried. There was only one more I day that I would have to go in for jury service, and I had a first class ticket to Houston on Friday. I dial the 800 number for the court jury service line, enter my jury number and pin like I had since Sunday to see if I would be called in for the next day. If I was to be called in, what would I do? Reschedule to a later flight and not have a seat in row two? Or tell them I'm out of town and need to be on-call for another day in another week. Fortunately, the recording told me that my group number was not needed, and I just had to mail in the form in the provided envelope [glad I saved that] and send it back to them with a signature and I am now done serving the LA Superior Court system for twelve months. Stamped the envelope put it by the door, packed my bag and went to sleep early after setting the alarm for three AM. Made the five forty five flight and watch a weird little movie on the plane. Mr. Magorium's Magic Emporium. Must have been a really good book, but did not translate to a movie very well. At least there was sound. The flight back on Monday they showed Bee Movie, but the right side of the plane in the first twenty rows did not have sound. Glad I picked up a page turner in a bookstore of the Houston Airport. The Blue Zone. The place where you are when the witness protection plan has lost contact with you. This is starting to get long, and without saying very much. I do have more to say, maybe on another day.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Radio Health

Was driving around at lunch time listening to the radio when the commentator mentioned that we all have access to health care, it's health insurance that the people need. Changes the spin a bit, does it not?
I felt a headache a few days ago, and a fever the night after that. So I knew it was some type of infection, just did not know what kind. Then my left cheek started to swell, 'great' I thought, a problem tooth. Made an appointment with a dentist and told them where it hurt. They saw the irritation and prescribed antibiotics, but did not find a bad tooth. I then let them x-ray the whole mouth and prepare for my cleaning in a couple of weeks. The Dentist calls my house that night and tells me that it's a good thing they x-rayed the works, cause the found the problem root under an artificial crown on the lower left jaw that could cause the pain on the upper left jaw. Lovely so today I call the endodontist to schedule a root-canal pre-op through a cap. That appointment is next Tuesday, and this weekend I am flying to Texas. The last time I was in Texas I had a tooth issue, too. Should I stop planning trips to Texas? Nope, too many friends and family there.
I've been on-call for jury duty all week, but have not been selected. I call in every night and punch in my juror number and pin number but am told by a recording to call again the next night. They better not call me in on Friday, for I have a first class ticket out of here until Monday night. Hopefully the antibiotics will knock the swelling down by then.
Have a happy President's Day weekend...

Monday, February 11, 2008

Fourteen Months and Counting

It's been fourteen months since I decided to have my eyes done and exchange my youthful nearsightedness from a path to bifocals to a path without prescription glasses. I now need some 1.5x cheaters for fine print, or when my eyes are tired, or in a low light room, but other than that, I have enjoyed life more in the last year through these eyes than I ever did fumbling with glasses. Rolling over in the middle of the night only to discover in the morning that you broke the arms off the frames was a late night reading or TV habit that plagued me for years. That is not an issue anymore. I can read at night with a bright light, or a low light and the 1.5x cheaters. TV provides it's own light. If they start to feel a little dry, just watch an episode of Extreme Make Over Home Edition and I'll tear right up. Driving with real sunglasses is a joy compared to flips, or clip on shades to struggle with. To me, it was worth every penny.

Friday, February 8, 2008

High Carbon Delivery System

Start up the car, fold up a stack of dead trees with rubber bands or plastic bags, slowly drive around neighborhoods throwing newspapers onto driveways. Yes, Newspaper delivery is a High Carbon Deliver System, and the sooner this process stops, the cleaner our air and water will be and the happier we all will be. Except the newspaper publisher who has to figure out how to make a living...

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Happy Chinese New Year!

It is now the Year of the Rat, and I fear I will continue writing Year of the Pig on my checks for another couple of weeks.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

LA, you've been duped.


Measure 'S' passed. So instead of the ten percent tax on phones just going away as ordred by the courts, the city residents voted in a replacement tax of nine percent on all communications. Your internet connection, your cell phone, your land lines, are now all taxable by the city at a current rate of nine percent. It could have been zero if you vote down this 'reduction' of the rate. Foolish mortals. Enjoy having your internet access taxed now.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Don't Vote Strategically

If you are casting a ballot this Tuesday, as a couple dozen of states are in their primary races leading up to the national conventions, please don't vote strategically. Vote the way your of your mind and your heart. Go with the flow of your inner self. Give your true voice a chance. Let it be counted. Even if it is one against many. Strategy can be played in the final election.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Fiftieth of One Hundred Ninety One

Take off Friday morning in search of a tournament. To late for the pre-dawn tournament the garden, barely enough time to make it to the lake for their friday morning omaha, if I speed. So I speed even more. Well, until traffic where the sixty and the fifteen met. Ended up a half hour late with no seats left. They were already eleven to a table with the button being dealt out. So off I head up the mountain on state seventy four. Beautiful view of the lake from three thousand feet up. I'm going to have to take my camera up there in a couple of weeks or so. Just as I hit the county line, there is a construction zone and highway traffic is down to one lane. So I wait my turn to go a couple of miles on the wrong side of the road past the construction zone. This makes me late for the eleven thirty tournament at hollywood park, but I still have time to catch the one PM hold'em at the bike. Up the seven-ten I go from the four-o-five. I make it a half an hour early, sign in and grab a magazine from the rack and a sandwich from the shop. Eventually we sit at our tables and there is still a long line of folk signing up. This is going to be a big one. Normally I've seen ninety to a hundred sign up for this one. Today, a hundred and ninety one at twenty tables. They started taking tables from the cash game area to seat all of us. Poor dealers were staying for an hour per table before being pushed. Two very chatty and two some-what chatty folk were tearing up the table. Raising pre-flop, betting big on the turn, and scooping at the folds of others. One old man wasn't having any of it. Reraising on the turn and the river to scoop in his. It took an hour before someone called him and he finally showed a set of fives. I was folding most of my hands, and when I did raise, everyone else folded, so all I would get were the blinds and antes. Did get to knock out a few players. Even two at once. By the second break even had a nice stack of chips in front of me and could settle back into my game. Boy, was that the wrong idea. Should have stayed tight. When some others were moved to my table after theirs broke up, I did not have the same rep with them. Already knocked out the very chatty ones. And the somewhat chatty ones were starting to irk me. I usually ignore getting caught up in table talk, but when it is directed at you, it's tough. Smile, stare, exchange pleasantries is usually as far as I go. They want to know how your smile and eyes look when you are talking about something you like as opposed to something you don't like to try and help them guess what your cards are. If you give them the same look everytime, you are a pretty good actor. If you give them a different look everytime, even in similiar situations, you are a better actor. I am not that good of an actor. My brother in Houston will tell you that he can read me very well. He always seems to fold when I holding at least a pair of queens. In any event, After three hours of this and a new person at the table with a chip stack about sixty percent of mine, went all in after the flop. That same flop also gave me two pair. When the rest of the table folded around to me, I called his bet. He showed a set of threes and my two painted pair did not look so good anymore. Without another king or queen on the turn, nor the river, I was down to forty percent of my stack. Darn. Folded a few more rounds and finally called another all-in with my king ten hoping to beat out a random pair in a race. After no one else calls, He shows two nines, and with no king nor ten on the turn nor the river, I'm out in about fitieth place. At least I got past a hundred and forty others, too bad it only paid down to twenty seventh place. We'll try again soon. Did get to drive through three counties and see a lot of sights from the desert, to the hills, to the sea.