Parlay Cards, Poker, Disappointment...

Good afternoon everyone.  I made last night's brief post using my phone, and at the time I wasn't considering that I would be renewing my library card locally.  I also wasn't pondering the possibility that said library would have computers available for its cardholders to use.

Last Thursday I arrived at the LVH at about 5:30 p.m., awaiting the release of their football parlay cards.  I was told that they would be available at 6:00 p.m., so I settled in and watched the college football games that were being televised into the almost full sportsbook, these being the first real games of the season.  At about 6:30 p.m., when the cards became available, I grabbed a stack and sat down for about an hour and penciled in my picks.

I headed to the Riviera from the LVH, as I was hoping to accumulate some hours toward the Saturday freeroll tournament.  I was fortunate enough to find a game waiting for me, one that filled up not too long after I sat down.  I used the first of my food comps during this game to acquire some chicken low mein from the Banana Leaf.  Very friendly staff and a very tasty meal, which I enjoyed while playing poker and watching Washington State and BYU not cover the over - didn't even come close...  Anyway, I left the Riviera at about 1:00 a.m. and headed home.

When I arrived at my apartment, I noticed a piece of door-fitting on the ground - the little plate with the two screws that holds the protruding piece when the doorknob isn't being turned.  I picked it up and thought to myself, "no"...  I went ahead and tried the doorknob without putting my key in the lock, and sure enough, the door opened, the wood along the door frame splintered and leaning into the apartment at a 45-degree angle as a result of someone using their BOOT against the door THREE TIMES to gain entry.  I called the Las Vegas Police Department and then the onsite security phone number.  When the security guy arrived, he said that he had just been by my apartment about 15 minutes earlier and hadn't noticed anything (this will become a common theme)...  The police officer arrived shortly afterward and asked me if anything was missing.  At first glance, it didn't appear that anything had been taken.  My desktop computer was on a table right in the front of the apartment, the magnets on my refrigerator were still holding a potential 400 dollars worth of winning football tickets - very strange.  In the bedroom, it was obvious that the intruder(s) had been in my closet and my drawers, because they weren't closed like they had been.  As the police officer was in his car about to leave (talking to another officer who had showed up by this time), I went to plug my android into its charger and noticed that the charger wasn't there.  I went back outside and notified the officer of this, and this confirmed what we both suspected - it appears that the burglar(s) was scared off somehow.  The officer seemed sure of this once we discovered that the charger had been stolen, because if something was going to be taken, why not take more?

During the hour and a half that the police officer was there, I had a lot of time to think.  I did not have a large enough bankroll with me to move to a different neighborhood pricewise.  It's funny (though not "ha ha" funny) because when I got together with grrouchie at the Riv Sportsbook, we talked about how we had both lived in less than pristine neighborhoods in Las Vegas.  Although these may have been lower income neighborhoods, no one had ever messed with us before.  Well, I knew that if I returned to San Marcos (which was the backup plan all along should I not be able to find work or hit a homerun with my poker and sports betting), I was pretty confident that I would be able to find a job and a place to live.  What really irritates me about the break-in is that my unit was VERY VISIBLE, with a street running alongside it, a similar building located across from it, and another complex facing mine from across a fence, and NO ONE saw or heard anything...  OKAY...

Anyway, I packed everything BACK INTO my very trusty, dependable vehicle and drove back to San Marcos, America.  Yesterday was a very frustrating day for me trying to get my internet service connected...  After being told initially that I could take the modem and receive instant service, THREE visits BACK to Time Warner and TWO phone calls to technicians later, and now I am waiting for a service visit on Saturday, between 4:00 and 5:00 (this being on the day that Texas State has its FBS home-opener against Texas Tech at 6:00, but that's beside the point)... 

Anyway, I hope that all of you have a great day, and that you enjoy your football game tonight.  I will probably be posting to you again from here until I am hooked up at my apartment.  I'm still sticking with the Giants -3 1/2, which is what I got them at...