Calm Before The Storm

Good evening everyone.  I'm right smack dab in the middle of doing chores, so this seems like the perfect time to procrastinate.  This is probably going to be my last best opportunity to shoot a few written words in your direction before the NCAA Tournament gets underway, the "calm before the storm" if you will.  I ripped off that phrase from it's creator (whoever that is) sometime back, but now it's been swiped from me.  Whenever we're slow at work before a big sporting event (Super Bowl, NCAA Tournament, you get the idea, etc...), I'll casually let the words, "This is the calm before the storm" roll from my lips in my acquired southern drawl...  Then in the past few weeks, Gaming Today not only reported on a writer at a sportsbook in Nevada using the phrase, but GT actually made the phrase THE HEADLINE of that edition!  The nerve...

So yes, anyway, I'm cleaning up my clothes and my house in preparation of taking bets on and watching a lot of basketball during the remainder of March.  The "madness" unofficially kicked off last night when the #1 team in the nation (DEBATABLE) Gonzaga lost by 13 in the finals of the West Coast Conference Tournament, sending Saint Mary's to the big dance with an automatic bid.  I'd argue that the West Coast Conference is college basketball's answer to the AFC East, but we have all month to fight about basketball.  :D  YouTube.  While we're talking about doing chores, I think that using YouTube as a jukebox is about as underrated as the concept of taking naps.  In the corner of the room, I have the Louisville/Notre Dame game muted as I play tune after tune through my computer.  I highly recommend this if you have never tried it.  YouTube isn't even paying me for the plug...

Back to the tournament and the ensuing calamity (I don't want to use the word "madness" too many times, since the NCAA evidently owns the word), I took a moment to reflect recently, and I reminded myself how lucky I am that my current job is watching sports t.v.  That's not all of it obviously, but basically, if you break it down, I'm watching sports on television for a living.  That probably explains why in almost thirty-one months with Caesars Entertainment, I've yet to miss a day of work, or even come in late.  :D  "Watch sports on t.v., and talk about the games with people?  What time do I have to show up?  :D  In all honesty, next week is a big favorite to be the most stressful that my job will be until football starts again.  Starting with my brother Pete, and ending with my friend and book manager Rob, I could thank a lot of people for their assistance and patience as they taught me the ropes of doing the other things that we do (besides watching t.v.), as I sit here typing on the Mississippi Gulf Coast anticipating some exciting basketball over the next several weeks.

As for a big bunch of the other people in-between, it's only three months until June, and my flights have been confirmed for my excursion to the desert.  I actually received an e-mail today (this is completely true, I am not making this up), and two of my flights have been completely changed (in addition to one totally different airplane), and I now have to be prepared to depart from the Gulfport/Biloxi airport TWO MINUTES EARLIER!  *gasp*  I either arrive in Las Vegas a minute earlier or later also, I don't remember which...

This seems like a good time to take a random timeout.  I was about to explain how after my trip to Las Vegas, I would probably start looking to buy a vehicle when I return to Mississippi, and I'm also going to be in the marker for an aquarium so I can own some more fish, so you get this...  I bought seven new goldfish about three months ago, and these turned out to be the two "lucky" ones.  (Seven, it's a gambling/casino thing - lucky number seven...).  ANYWAY, the fish are nameless, and the one in the front likes to chase the other around the fish bowl.  I did answer an open solicitation on Facebook yesterday about naming a pet.  A former coworker of mine asked for suggestions about naming a new gecko.  Well, it was actually a vote on two pre-chosen names, but my write-in vote was Gordon.  Gordon Gecko...  If you don't get it, you're going to have to look it up, because I'm not going to explain it.  I've seen a few geckos around my house, and if I ever have the urge to catch one, Gordon will be his/her name, it's a lock.

Anyway, since my job at the University of Texas, where my Montero Sport died, I have never looked into acquiring a new vehicle.  While living in Austin, I had a place on West Campus about fifteen minutes from work (this will be a recurring theme), and my job on the Forty Acres gave me free access to the city bus system, so I didn't really need a car.  Then I moved back to my hometown (we're not going to get into all of that), and then I moved to Las Vegas, and then I moved to Biloxi.  In every situation, I could walk to work, and I have a friend who lets me use his car about once a month to go buy groceries, so I really haven't had the pressing need for a vehicle. (In Las Vegas, my friend Joey would take me to shop about once a month, and here in Mississippi, my friend Nick doesn't have the same patience to watch me shop for an hour, but he's kind enough to lend me his car keys...).  :D  So my number one plan (Plan A), is to win enough money in Las Vegas to pay for a new vehicle.  That would be ideal...  If that doesn't work, I'll need to save some more money (Plan B).  After I return from the desert, I will have been at this property for almost a year, and with Caesars for almost three years, so that should show some job stability, yada, yada.  I won't tell the new car people that I watch t.v. for a living...  ;)

So, I told you that to tell you this.  Despite my advantageous new location geographically (I am about an 8 1/2 hour drive from San Marcos, America, I am within a dozen hours of each of my parents, and really close to a lot of neat things that are just a short drive (a few hours), I should probably get a car again.  With the new four-day schedule that I'm working (I'm now working four 10-hour days as opposed to five 8-hour shifts, in case you missed our last episode), I could theoretically miss four days of work (paid time off), and take a ten-day trip somewhere.  I haven't been to San Marcos in quite some time, so that's probably at the top of my list.  NOTE:  San Marcos also means Austin/San Antonio, since they're all located in the same convenient corridor.  San Antonio to Austin is just an hour (well, with zero traffic), and San Marcos is located in-between the two.

Back to gambling, although I love to play poker (yet, ironically, have yet to visit a Gulf Coast poker room since I've arrived), I think that you have more edges betting sports than you do playing cards (well, that I have more edges betting sports)  :D, but I will definitely be playing some poker while in Las Vegas, since I'll be staying right on the Strip, AND the World Series of Poker will be taking place at the Rio, which brings a lot more poker players and money to town.  Another thing that I won't be telling the new car people is how much time and effort will be spent preparing to bet the 2019 football season, but that's another post for another day...  ;)

Alright gang, I've spent enough time chatting with you (and ignoring my chores), so I'm going to get back to it.  Enjoy the college basketball for the rest of the month, and I'll talk to you soon...