Good evening everyone. I'll let you know up front that this post is not one that I have an outline for, and that all of it is just going to be from the hip. This entry is being typed in the spirit of, "Well, if I don't make a post tonight, it's not going to happen for at least another week, because it's my birthday week..." : ) It's hard for me to believe that I'm turning 50 on Saturday. Fifty. FIFTY YEARS OLD... Honestly, when I was younger, I couldn't imagine even being 30. Going to college, getting a degree, getting a real job, etc, etc, etc... :) As I sit here and reflect back for a second, it's hard to believe how much life I've packed into 50 years. It's not often that I sit still and reflect, believe it or not (which is probably why you don't get more blog entries)... ;) I was an "Air Force brat" when I was younger, and moving several times prepared me well for what was ahead. I've graduated from high school, from college, went back to college to get a teaching certification, taught and coached high school for nine years, worked another three years for the University of Texas at Austin (in voice and data cabling, a field that I had zero experience in prior to stepping foot on the campus of UT), worked a couple of years in bars on the Square in San Marcos, I've managed a swimming pool, I was a customer service manager at WalMart, and I was a poker dealer on the Las Vegas Strip... (Deep breath, deep breath...). I was also a chip runner at the World Series of Poker, and I wrote race and sports bets on the Vegas Strip. These are just AMONG the many jobs that I have held, leading up to my current job, which is writing sports bets on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I'm hoping to post more original photos (photos actually shot by me) of the area in the future, but I've led a pretty laid back (LAZY) existence since arriving here in Biloxi.
I've been here in Mississippi for just over seventy days, and the VAST MAJORITY of my weekends have been comprised of catching up on rest. :) My "weekends" in the near future are about to change, as I have been off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but that's going to switch to Thursdays and Fridays. I just received my schedule for next week (Thanks Nick), and although I have to work tomorrow, the Friday thing takes effect this Friday. That means that I have a one-day "work-week" tomorrow, and then I'm off on Friday, before resuming a full work-week. After work tomorrow, I receive an early birthday present (other than being off on Friday) in the form of my alma mater playing a televised home game. The Texas State Bobcats will be hosting Georgia Southern tomorrow night on ESPNU. The "home game" part of that is KEY, because I get to see San Marcos and Bobcat Stadium while taking in the game. As I said, I only confirmed moments ago that I'll be off this Friday, so I don't even have to "sleep fast" after watching the game tomorrow night. Back to being lazy, I've had a pretty normal night's sleep the last two evenings (albeit going to bed a little later than normal), and then I've put a big exclamation point on top of it by taking roughly five-hour naps the last two afternoons... So yeah, I'll probably be watching this whole Warriors/Lakers preseason game, because I feel confident that I'll be able to function on seven hours of sleep at work tomorrow... :P
So back to life being pretty chill on the Mississippi Gulf Coast right now, my big chore for the remainder of this week is placing my bets before this weekend's football games. :) My birthday is on Saturday, which falls on the 'Monday' of my work-week if you've been keeping score at home, but I love my job and being around the football, so like I just mentioned, getting my bets in is my chore in the next few days. My "earlier than the Bobcats playing a televised home game in San Marcos birthday present" was the Red Sox beating the Yankees 3-1 in the American League Divisional Series. I wish that they'd restrict the baseball games to days other than the weekend right now, but I'm sure that I'm in the minority there, so that's something else that I'll have to find time to watch this weekend... :)
As I close out this post, I want to thank all of you who I've met along the way. Included in all of the schooling and the work history that I mentioned above, I've been extremely fortunate to meet a lot of really neat people. Thanks my being my friend, and thanks for tuning into the blog. Enjoy my birthday weekend, and I'll see you again real soon (just not before next week)... ;)
