Potluck & Football

Good morning everyone.  After my freeroll cash at the Monte Carlo on Saturday afternoon, I managed to come down with a bug that's pretty much put me out of commission until today.  It's completely understandable that I got sick.  I had players on both sides of me who were coughing at the poker table on Friday when I was finishing my qualifying hours for the tourney.  Additionally, with everyone always touching the same poker chips, and the AC going from comfortable to so cold that I have to put my jacket on, and the fact that I made the 6-plus mile round trip walk to and from the Monte Carlo 3 times within 48 hours..., yeah, I get it.  The good news is that this came at the VERY START of Pete Peters' and Rob's visits to town (they'll still be here for a while), and that it came BEFORE the start of the football season on Thursday.  I haven't left my apartment since returning home on Saturday except to shop last night with Joey (more on that in a minute), and I slept a lot last night and today.  Hopefully that rest will be sufficient in putting this bug out of its misery.

Joey's willingness to give me a ride to the store again came at a fortuitous time as I was able to buy some Emergen-C and some chicken noodle soup to battle this cold.  That's the good thing about this being a cold - "Starve a fever, feed a cold" - I have been EATING in an attempt to get nutrients into my body.

Just like last year, Joey will be doing football predictions for the blog with me.  In an attempt to totally cheese things up, we're going to be giving you seven picks each week during this football season.  You know, 'Joey's Lucky Seven' and 'Coach's Lucky Seven' (since we're both living in Las Vegas).  I told you it was cheesy...  ;)  Since Joey did better than I did last year picking his 5 games a week versus my 10, this is also a petty attempt by me to ambush him.  Now Joey will have 2 more opportunities a week to get predictions wrong, while I'll have 3 fewer opportunities to miss on my selections...  :D  Due to the ten college football games being played on Thursday and Friday this week, coupled with the absence of NFL games this weekend, we're going to give you our picks for the opening weekend of action tomorrow (Wednesday).  Otherwise, you should expect our weekly predictions here to come to you on Fridays (with maybe Thanksgiving being an exception).  I'm SO READY for football to start...  :)

Today's title implies that you'll find some potluck in this entry, some odds and ends that I've overlooked in previous posts due to my predominant poker content here since returning to Las Vegas.  We'll go back to last night's WalMart trip to begin.  First, I brought my "scratch sheet" (odds with my scribbles on this weekend's college games) for Joey to look over.  I haven't made a single wager yet on the college games, but I have studied.  Joey already found games that we disagree on, so it will be interesting to see what our respective favorites are on Wednesday.

Also, on the way to WalMart, Joey pulled into a mini-mall for me so that I could get the operating hours for the salon where I used to get my hair cut out here.  I couldn't remember the name of the place, but I know it when I see it (the reason that I couldn't look it up and call).  I NEEDED a haircut before I left Texas, but it slipped my mind when I was doing errands in San Marcos the day before I left for the desert.  SOOO, having already been here for almost a month, I've pretty much got a MOP on my head, which I'll be losing first thing in the morning.

As exciting as my hair is, I'm sure that you're dying to read my WalMart-related stories about macaroni & cheese, spaghetti, and Sunny Delight (RIVETING, eh?)...  ;)  In that studio that I lived in for the last year in Austin, a gas stove (not electric) came with it - not exactly a new complex, but close to UT, and the price was right...  Anyway, with the gas turned on, the stovetop (metal, not the burners) was constantly hot, so i didn't use it.  I'm saying, even with the burners off, the metal was still hot.  This meant that I couldn't make two of my favorites, Kraft Mac & Cheese, and spaghetti.  When Joey took me to the store a few visits back, I LOADED UP on these items...  :)  And YES, that is about the extent of my "cooking" - shut up...  ;)  As for the Sunny Delight, I've never been a regular consumer of the drink, but I may have told you a while back that I bought the bottles for my walks to the Strip.  They are the perfect size for carrying, so I mix powered ice tea or Gatorade in them, and carry them with me.  I live about 25 minutes from the Strip (by foot).  Well, I have these bottles with me when I enter the poker rooms, and although the labels have been peeled off, you'd be surprised by the number of poker room employees who are able to recognize the bottles (even with the tea or Gatorade inside), and I get, "Sunny Delight???"  And then I get to tell THEM the story...  :)

Speaking of potluck, I find it kind of amusing that I had predicted that my little blog would reach 75,000 total views by New Year's (yeah, the New Year's about 8 months ago), but that instead, it is going to happen on the opening weekend of football upon my return to the desert (or pretty close).  So appropriate...

Cashing in three freerolls so far this month after having not played much live poker for a very long time, I am confident that I can make a go of this (the poker playing and sports betting) if I can avoid the incredible streaks of bad luck that I encountered early last week.  I can withstand bad beats and being card dead as long as it's not happening consistently, and for extended periods of time.  Hopefully Saturday's freeroll cash and the start of the football season will allow me to turn the corner...  I have a whole STACK of free poker magazines from the various rooms around town that I've barely touched due to the fast-approaching football season.  Like I used to tell my students and athletes, you won't be finished with education once you've completed school - you'll be required to learn for the rest of your life...  Timely with so many people returning to school yesterday, huh?  I'm such a team player...  ;)  Anyway, I've still got LOTS of studying that I need to do...

On that note, have a great day, and Joey and I will see you tomorrow with some FOOTBALL PICKS!!  :D