Thirty Years

Good morning everyone. It seems like a good time to fire up the blog again. Well, yesterday seemed like a good time also, since it marked thirty years since I graduate from college. In the almost YEAR that I have taken off from blogging, it seems that Blogger has decided to transition to a new format. You can switch to the new format, or in the new future, Blogger will automatically switch your blog for you. At the current time, regardless of which format I try, I'm unable to upload photos (or at least unable to figure out how). When I tried yesterday, they uploaded as link text. I tried to figure out why, got frustrated, and gave up on writing. This text looks small as I type it, and I can't figure out how to adjust that either, but I'm going to publish this anyway, and see what it looks like. In the preview window it doesn't look horrible, but we'll see... Obviously a lot has happened in the last year, with the presence of Covid-19. The virus was a major factor in my decision to leave my sportsbook position in Biloxi, Mississippi. I just recently moved back to San Marcos, America. My reasoning was that I didn't see team sports (especially football, which I wrote the most bets on at work, and bet the most myself)having much success in the near future. If there's not going to be much football, it makes more sense for me to be in Texas than in Mississippi, or in Las Vegas, etc. I think that the NBA has the best opportunity for success, because they have the smallest number of players, or they're keeping them isolated ("The Bubble," if you will). I think that the NHL has the next best chance for success, as they have the next smallest number of athletes, and are also staying isolated. Major League Baseball, and then football are next in the pecking order, and they have more challenges because of their expanded rosters and the traveling that they are doing. The Big Ten and Pac-12 just postponed their fall sports seasons yesterday, so it appears that my decision wasn't completely without merit (for any haters out there)... Don't get me wrong, I'm whole-heartedly hoping that we find a vaccine as soon as possible, and I want to see EVERYTHING played, but it wasn't worth the gamble for me to sign a lease in Biloxi til the end of next July based on the information that I had available to me at the time. As for myself, I'm finally getting my sleep back on a normal schedule. Just this past week, I'm finally sleeping eight hours consecutively. It rained practically the whole week that I was preparing to leave Biloxi, and I wanted to leave the yard at my rental house as short as possible, so I was trying to find spots between the rain drops where I could cut my grass. Managing my yard came in addition to packing my stuff and cleaning the house of course. On the day that I did move from Mississippi to Texas, I woke up at 1:00 a.m., finished packing and cleaning until about 8:30 a.m., returned my cable box and internet modem, turned in my house keys, and then drove over nine hours to San Marcos, where I unloaded my stuff and ate my traditional "moving pizzas..." The pizza is about the most unhealthy thing that I've eaten recently, as I've lost about 20 pounds from my peak weight this summer, and plan on losing about another 20-25 more. Maybe by then I'll figure out this photo-posting riddle, and I'll be able to give you some comparison pictures. Other than eating smaller portions, while also eating more healthy food, I've also been spending a lot of time playing DraftKings fantasy golf, while I slowly unpack and get my sleep schedule right. Until this last week, I had won money three weeks in a row, scrambling up a bunch of different lineups of golfers, and having a few hit each time. I'm also starting to watch more NBA and NHL, as they may represent the majority of team sports that we'll have for a while. I've also continued to play a bunch of free poker on an app called 'Poker Legends' that I found early in the spring. I'm thankful to have found it, because I was watching way too much t.v. when our sportsbook closed on St. Patrick's Day. NOT that the t.v. hasn't been on while I chip away on the poker site, but at least I haven't been glued to it nonstop... : ) I'm hoping to get this apartment in order pretty soon, and then to have some job information for you. Which reminds me, I was finally able to buy the car that I had been saving up for this spring, which helps tremendously on the job front (and many other fronts). ; ) Well, I have a day full of unpacking and watching hockey games ahead of me (did you see that FIVE overtime game yesterday/last night?!). I have stated before, I LOVE playoff hockey games with multiple overtimes, where it just becomes a battle of attrition. Oh yeah, I'm also putting a few bucks each day on the fantasy hockey, just to have action. : P Have a great week, and I'll see you soon!

Segue Anyone?

"Everyone is on a timeout!  Shhh...don't talk to me!....that's all....carry on..." -Alma Medrano-

"13 days til graduation, 32 days til X Games, 48 days til Caribbean Cruise, 58 days til Vegas...  Summer hurry up!!!!" -Brittany Flores-

"Two years ago today my wife uttered the phrase, "Hurry up, my ring is waiting for me," because I wasn't walking fast enough to get to the jewelry store.  Less than 30 minutes later she was wearing the perfect ring and I was destined to never have money again..." -Grrouchie-

"She was unstoppable, not because she did not have failures or doubts, but because she continued on despite them..." -via Lorraine Lamb-

"I laugh..., I love..., I hope..., I try..., I hurt..., I need..., I fear..., I cry..., and I know you do the same things too, so we're really not that different, me and you..." -Collin Raye- (Not That Different)

"Am I that strong..., to carry on?..., I might change your life, I might save my world, could you save me?..., and all of your weight, all you dream, falls on me, it falls on me..." -Fuel- (Falls On Me)

"You've already won me over, in spite of me, and don't be alarmed if I fall, head over feet, don't be surprised if I love you, for all that you are, I couldn't help it, it's all your fault..." -Alanis Morrissette- (Head Over Feet)




Good evening everyone.  In the first of what will be several segues today, I'll take you back in time to when my friend Heather's first ever words to me were, "You better stop watching me..."  Yeah, that story is somewhere in the blog archives, as this photo was in Heather's recent archives...

"That one time I graduated college a year ago..."  Not a bad tag Heather...  :)  So yes, it's that time of year again, when the spring semester is about to end, and Bobcats and Longhorns will be receiving their diplomas in San Marcos and Austin (and Corpus too Brittany)...  ;)  Surprisingly, Heather wasn't my first friend to post a 'Flashback Friday' graduation photo from last year in San Marcos, as Maureen beat her to the punch...

Maureen's picture immediately caught my eye because she's soaked, which I thought was appropriate for a former lifeguard, and someone who I watched (helped? - okay, more watched) save a youngster's life in the very same San Marcos River that several Bobcats jump into after graduating.  That story is also in a previous blog post here.  I'm evidently very big on recurring roles in the blog, and water...

Tina was in the blog not too long ago, and was kind enough to break out a surfboard recently for her cover photo and remind me that I don't live near the water.  Tina can be a pain like that...  :)  I love the water, but have never lived near it (not counting the aforementioned river that runs by 'Bikini Hill,' but A LOT of water).

My friend Pete was more than willing to jump on board with the water theme, sharing this recent vacation snapshot.  Let me interject here that Austin has had more than its share of rain recently (and has a bunch more in the ten-day forecast), and that a substantial amount of it leaked into my apartment recently during a big storm.  You'd probably know more about these types of things if I'd ever blog...  :)  Back to the water though, it wouldn't be complete without...

SHARKS!  I rarely post photos with my friends' children in here, but I had already decided to be officially jealous of my friends and all of their water photos when I saw this gem yesterday. Leanne's poor little guy seems to be having an awful time in the jumpy house, doesn't he?  :) Speaking of friends, and their children's photos, and not writing much recently...

This is a great Easter shot of my friend Megan's boy that stood out in my mind because I saw it not long after seeing another photo where a friend's child looked ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED of posing with an overgrown bunny.  :)  So I missed Easter...  Oh, I also missed the Blue Bell ice cream recall.  My friend Jamie reminded me of this recently when she shared a status along with her sentiment, "Took 'em long enough.  I need some homemade vanilla like yesterday!!!"  I saw a great meme back at the time of the recall, but now I don't remember which of my friends posted it. Basically, the gist of it was that the rest of the country didn't understand:  Texans weren't more limited in their choice of ice cream without Blue Bell, but Texans were OUT OF ICE CREAM!  :)  I also missed sharing the news of Apple rolling out their new watches.  My friend Jason received one as a birthday present recently...

:)  We also missed the Mayweather/Pacquiao "fight."  I didn't see the "action," but I followed along on Twitter, and my friend Valerie shared this shortly after the "fight of the century..."

And I'll be honest with you, this is ALL that I read on Twitter about the "fight..."  We also missed the closing of the Riviera this week, so I'll give you this showgirl in its honor...

My friend Jessica is becoming more and more famous by the minute...  :)  Speaking of things that are Las Vegas related, I've also neglected to tell you that my brother Pete landed a job working at the World Series of Poker this summer ("Yay" as Josie would say)...  Maybe someday I'll write a little bit about poker again.  There are some great blog links over to the right, most of which are poker related, if you're interested in reading some good stories on the subject.  It's funny, I went from writing one blog to writing four, and then I pretty much stopped writing completely.  And that really doesn't bother me...  :)

Alright, I guess it's about time to publish this, but I did see a few more things on facebook this week that didn't fit nicely and neatly into my segue barrage, but I thought that they were worth sharing anyway...

My friend Carren shared this, and there is probably nothing that frustrates me as much as bad driving.  I mean, oblivious people can actually KILL YOU...  And my friend Sophie shared this...,

Have a great Mother's Day Weekend, and I'll see you soon (maybe)...