Sleep Is Good

Good morning everyone.  Midnight is fast-approaching here on the east coast, but there's zero chance that I'll hit the 'publish' button before midnight, so good morning.

This is the Christmas present to myself that I previously mentioned, the new tablet that I am currently typing on.  Anyway, after working eight days straight, I now have 4 out of 6 days off.  I spent the first of those days catching up on my sleep.  Starting about 24 hours ago, I slept for 8 hours, then took a 3-hour nap shortly afterward, and then took another 2-3 hour late afternoon thru early evening snooze.  I believe that this 13-14 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period is the most that I've had since arriving in New Hampshire.  Well, I watched my Spurs beat the most hyped team in the NBA tonight, and now I've got 'Law & Order' playing in the background as I tap these keys.  My brother recently sent me a nice package from the desert, which arrived today...

For those of you who know me a little, I have a habit of playing with three poker chips, even when I'm not at a poker table.  I manipulate the chips thru my fingers and against each so often that I actually wear away the clay that the chips are made of.  Thankfully some reinforcements arrived today...  :D

Speaking of my brother, Pete and myself both called a first last week in my blog Coach's Parlay Card.  Never before had all four road teams won playoff games in the NFL's Wild Card round, but Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Green Bay all picked up W's last weekend.  Along with our friend Joey, we'll all be back at my other blog tomorrow with our predictions for this weekend's divisional round of games.

As I mentioned last time, I'm way behind in posting stolen material and stories involving my friends, so off we go...

In her first competitive show ever, my friend Leanne placed 5th out of close to 100 contestants.  If you search the blog archives, you'll find her name 1 or 100 times as I've stolen from her quite often.  :)  Congratulations Leanne - super proud of you!!  This contest took place before Christmas - that's how far behind I am here...

This meme shared by my friend Heather is an accurate enough depiction of my own New Year's Eve, and one that I'm determined not to repeat.  I had to work until early that evening, and having to work again on New Year's Day, I spent the evening in bed watching the Alabama/Michigan State game...  #yippee

This is a really cool photo that my friend Candice shared just before Christmas.  The information given with the picture only says that it is a bridge that goes from Missouri to Kansas.

I also wanted to note in this entry that another blog has joined my list of suggested links over there on the right.  'Roads To Tommorow' is the newest poker blog to join that list, and what makes it different from the others listed is that the writer is still in his infancy playing poker (relatively speaking, compared to the other writers), and that he usually posts more often than the rest of us.

I'm going to call it a night, but I'll be sure to bother you again soon...  :)

Snow Dogs

Good evening everyone.  I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to post.  As the holiday season progressed and I got more and more busy, it took longer for me to post.  In turn, this gave me more material to steal from my friends and write about, which meant that I'd need to do an even longer post with the material that I had stored up.  This is how my mind works...  :)  Tomorrow I begin a stretch where I'm working several consecutive days again, so I will hit the 'publish' button tonight, regardless of whether or not I cover everything that I want to get to.  I go into this entry knowing that I currently have 4 of 6 days off of work at the end of the stretch, so you will see more posts in your future.  Where to begin...

Let's start with work.  For those of you who don't know, I'm working for Walmart here in my hometown.  I took the job about a month and a half before Thanksgiving, which really means about 45 days before 'Black Friday.'  The time from 'Black Friday' through last Sunday has pretty much been a BLUR...  :)  I am currently training to be a Customer Service Manager for my hometown Walmart, and the past few months have seen me cashier, work at the customer service desk, push carts in the parking lot, and work at the layaway desk, just to name a few things.  For those of you who know me a little, you know that I have quite an extensive resume'.  I have a business degree, I have over 30 post-graduate hours of college on top of that, I taught and coached high school for nine years, I've worked at the World Series of Poker, I've dealt poker on the Las Vegas Strip, and I've worked for the University of Texas at Austin (among my many, MANY jobs)...  Now I can say that I've worked through the holiday season for THE major retailer.  As you can imagine, working for Walmart through the holidays presents several challenges, and I'm happy to say that our group did one heck of a job bringing the store into the new year.  I need to give a shout out to all of my fellow employees for making that happen, and for your support and guidance along the way!  As you can imagine, several people are being tagged on facebook to this post...  :)  My coworkers have also been very kind in giving me rides to and from work when our schedules mesh.  If you'll remember from Austin (and even Las Vegas), I walked or took the bus to and from work (or to the Strip).  The walk is longer here, and the weather is colder, so the rides are GREATLY appreciated.

Ah yes, Coach touched on the weather.  Now seems like a good time to break out the snow dog...

 

My friend Brigette shared this to facebook not too long ago, and I had to do a double-take.  When a snowman just won't do, right?  :)  Okay, about this weather.  Our last warm day was Christmas, when the temperature was 51 degrees.  I have proof of this for you later...  :)  Anyway, when I left work last night, the temperature was 1 degree.  ONE...  For people like me, we have been incredibly fortunate to have such a mild winter.  Well, winter has arrived, and we won't likely see 51 degrees again anytime soon.  Back to Christmas, my mom and her friend were my lunch dates...

And here's my proof of the last warm day ever of 2015...

If you look very closely in the upper left hand corner of the photo...  :)  Don't worry, just for your amusement, I will be sure to post several photos of the snow and misery throughout the winter...  ;)  Speaking of good things winding down, I feel that I must cut this blog post short (ahem)....  :)  If you were looking at my blog note sheet, you would realize how difficult this is for me to do.  A couple of things before I go...  First, I told my friend Michaela that I would include her awesome facebook share tonight, so...

That would be a shot of Texas from the International Space Station my friends...  And I also need to share that with my new job, I haven't seen the amount of football that I'm accustomed to watching.  HOWEVER, I will be able to see the Alabama/Clemson game, and I will also be watching both AFC Wild Card games on Saturday...

Go Steelers!!!  ;)  Have an Outstanding 2016, and I'll see you soon!

Happy Holidays

I'm working several hours over the next few days, so I wanted to go ahead and wish all of you a Merry Christmas and an Outstanding 2016!  If things go as planned, I'll be typing on my brand new tablet the next time I talk to you.  Until then, enjoy your holidays!

Sentimental Street

"I've been kicked so many times, I don't know nothin' else..." -Night Ranger- (Sentimental Street)

"For when there's nothing left, I'll fight for every breath..." -The Outfield- (Taking My Chances)



Good evening everyone.  Today has been a trip down "Sentimental Street" as I've been running errands up and down Main Street, and have once again ended up at the Littleton Public Library to do another post for y'all.  Let's see, where to begin...  For starters, I'm starting to think that the local library may end up getting more press in my blog than from any other source.  :)  "Sentimental Street" - in case I haven't mentioned it before, after we "fall back" for the time change, it gets dark for the "evening" at about 4:15 p.m. here in Littleton, U.S.A.  Yes, that's a capital YUCK!!!  On the very bright side, we have had an EXTREMELY mild winter up to this point, with high's still in the 30's and negligible snow.  Back to the yuck and not very bright side (although money comes in handy), I worked the past six days in a row before today, and I will be working the next seven days in a row starting tomorrow.  On the next bright side, I found out that I won't work on Christmas Day.  After working on Thanksgiving, I just assumed that we were open for Christmas also.  On the next not-so-bright side, there are ZERO college bowl games on Christmas Day.  So back and forth, and up and down we go...  ;)

Since I won't be off again til next Thursday, that's likely about the time that you'll be seeing my next blog post here (next Thursday or Friday).  I plan on doing my next blog post with our weekend football picks at Coach's Parlay Card tomorrow night if Joey and my brother Pete cooperate.  Joey is evidently taking a short vacation in Cali...

Yeah, Joey's in a casino - I'm SHOCKED...  Meanwhile, Pete wreaked havoc on a 1/2 table in the Red Rock Poker Room yesterday, and he also won a few sports bets to boot...

Sorry, that's only a "stock photo" of the room at Red Rock.  Pete was too busy winning money to take pictures evidently...  Anyway, these two jokers are having fun, and I'm just hoping not to be buried in a blizzard...  ;)  Speaking of all these people doing all this fun stuff, I'm very proud to share that my sister recently completed the San Antonio Rock N Roll Half Marathon.  Here's Whitney showing off at the finish line...

And here she is sporting the hardware that she took home...

Whitney was PROBABLY already dating the guy, but wouldn't it be a great story if she found him on the course?  :)  Great stuff Whitney!  Like I said before, WOO HOO!!  Very proud of you...  :D  And now we've come to the portion of our program where we steal from our friends (as if I haven't already been doing that)...  My friend Keenan shared this, and PLEASE, for the love of everything that's holy, PLEASE rack your weights...

I'm going to steal from myself this time, and I think that this is a pretty good picture of the gym at my Alma Mater...

I spent a lot of time watching varsity basketball games with a great view from the bench during my senior year is this gymnasium.  And I think that your girl is somewhere in there Carlene... :)  I also took this photo recently, and BELIEVE ME when I say that this is just a small preview of things to come...

  
I guess that's why they're called the "White Mountains..."  Back to more cheerful views, this is a photo that my friend Leslie shared from the Santa Monica Pier, a place that I DEFINITELY must find someday...

After all, my throwback photo has me fitting right in out in Cali...

I also had my friend Karen popping in from my teaching and coaching days with this 'Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich...'

Goodness gracious...  Speaking of my former kiddos, Leanne's first competition is this weekend, and she posted these...

Believe me when I tell you that girl has worked hard.  Have fun this weekend Leanne!  :)  Jessica is another one of my many former student-athletes who has worked tirelessly, and I'm bringing this snapshot back from last year...

I hope that y'all are enjoying the holiday season to this point, and that you'll continue to do so until I see you next week!

Thanksgiving Weekend

"I promise I might, not walk on by, maybe next time, but not this time..., even though I know, I don't want to know, yeah I guess I know, I just hate how it sounds..., if I traded it all, if I gave it all away for one thing, just for one thing..., if I sorted it out, if I knew all about this one thing, wouldn't that be something?" -Finger Eleven- (One Thing)

"I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn, I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel..." -Natalie Imbruglia- (Torn)

"I can't light, no more of your darkness..., all my pictures, seem to fade to black and white..., I'm growing tired, and time stands still before me..., frozen here, on the ladder of my life..."
-Roger Daltrey- (Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me)



Good afternoon everyone.  I'm sitting here at the Littleton Public Library hurting these keys when I could be at home watching college football (what am I thinking?!)...  This has been a very long Thanksgiving Weekend for me to say the least, but now I'm on my second day off of two in a row, so I thought that I'd say hi to you.  I worked from 3:30 p.m. til 12:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving, and we actually weren't as busy as I thought we were going to be.  Let me qualify that previous statement by saying that we had lines at all of our registers from 6:00 p.m. thru about 9:15 p.m. - I just assumed that the standing lines at our registers were going to last longer I guess.  I ran into my friend Kari here on Main Street yesterday (she has seemingly gained some sort of "fame" for her walks downtown).  Anyway, I was mentioning working on Thanksgiving, and Kari said that she's cautious about going out in those crowds (for several reasons).  I kind of shrugged it off because our event went pretty well on Thanksgiving night, but later when I was perusing Facebook yesterday, it seems that SEVERAL places had problems with people getting trampled, with multiple injuries and even deaths occurring.  I myself have never shopped on Thanksgiving or 'Black Friday' for deals, and I don't think that I ever will... 

For the second week in a row, my 'Football Friday' post at Coach's Parlay Card came out late, but if you want to see what Joey, Pete, and myself think about this weekend's football games (both NCAA and NFL), our favorite bets are there.  We went 5-4 last week, so there still might be a little bit of hope left for us.  Speaking of Pete, he just had another birthday this week.  It's amazing how fast we get old, isn't it?

Speaking of age, this is the portion of the program where we segue to stealing stuff from our friends...  ;)

   
My friend Kristen shared this one on Facebook earlier in the week, and if I adhere to this, you won't be seeing much of me up here in the White Mountains for quite a while..  :)  And since we're on the topic of 'Peanuts' and Thanksgiving, my friend Callie posted this cartoon on the internet a few days back...

The only turkey that I had for the holiday was at work, so I'm still a little bitter.  "Woof..."  And this one is dedicated to those of you who prepared meals over the holiday, via my friend Megan and her toddler Coy...

It must have been fun trying to clean that mess up...  :)  And this meme goes out to those of you who may have bitten into your meals just a little too soon, via my friend Shae...

And this photo goes out as encouragement to all of us who are going to be in dire need of losing weight and getting more physically fit after the holiday season ends...

This is my friend Leanne, who is now only two weeks out from competing in her first show.  I have featured Leanne a few times throughout the course of writing 'Bikini Hill,' and now I can honestly say that she might be able to take me in a fight..., MAYBE...  :)  Best of luck to you Leanne!  Back to the holidays, I'm telling you up front that you should not waste your time trying to figure out this meme, and that if you do, you'll be disappointed.  You can blame my friend Mary...  :)

My friend Ashley shared a timely thought for those of you who may doubt yourselves unnecessarily, because you put too much stock in what others think of you...

And this one is an oldie but goodie that I found, basically along those lines...

 

And this one is the sun going down on me...

I know what you're saying to yourself - "could Coach possibly share more 'Peanuts' strips in his blog???"  Well, the sun going down on this post is probably my cue to go and watch the rest of that Ohio State/Michigan game...  ;)  Have a great weekend and I'll see you soon!

Twice In Four Days?

Good evening everyone.  I thought that I'd write again since I'm feeling a little more rested.  Twice in four days, I know - call Guinness...  I'm just watching a little 'Two and a Half Men' and 'The Big Bang Theory' and whatever else catches my eye until I fall asleep tonight.  This is the eve of classes starting on the University of Texas at Austin campus tomorrow, the proverbial "quiet before the storm" if you will...  This is what the trash dumpsters currently (this afternoon) look like at my apartment complex, if you need any proof that the students have returned to Austin...

Photographs of trash.  And just when you thought that my blog couldn't possibly get any better...  Speaking of trash, I bet a little preseason football last night (the baby bets, thank goodness).  Last night I had bet on the Bengals (+3) and also wagered that Cincinnati would score over 18.5 points against Tampa Bay.  By the way, if any of you have ever competed at Fan Duel or Draft Kings, I'd like to get your feedback on those sites.  I've been seeing A LOT of commercials lately as the football season approaches...

Speaking of football, again, my friend Joey, my brother Pete, and myself will be giving you weekly football predictions at one of my other blogs, Coach's Parlay Card.  Regarding my picks, maybe this is where I should have inserted the photo of the trash...  ;)  Actually, I'm still living on my prediction that Kentucky was overrated and would not win the NCAA hoops title this past spring.  Didn't even make it to the championship game...  :)

Alright, now to get that trash out of your mind.  My friend Tim posted a nice picture today from Franconia Notch, where isn't too terribly far from my hometown in New Hampshire...

It's not year-round snow up there...  ;)  And this facebook share came from my friend Brigette, who it seems I'm stealing as much from now as anyone on social media...

Another one of my pet peeves, people who don't use their turn signals and nearly kill me...  Yeah, I really need to start getting my rants out there more...  :)

That's it for tonight gang.  I just wanted to check in real quick.  Have a great week and I'll see you soon!

It's Time To Write

Good evening everyone.  It's been almost a month since I've bothered you.  I should (hopefully) have a lot more time to write in the near future.  Students are now returning to the University of Texas at Austin (which was evident when I saw the broken glass at the entrance to my apartment complex this morning), and that means that my countless hours of overtime for this summer are now done.  I was working on a big project in one of the dorms on campus this summer, and now I'll be able to put that time into my writing (unlucky you)...  I've been so busy that I haven't even studied my football.  I was toying with the thought of entering a random fantasy league online before the season begins, and I realized that I wouldn't have any idea who to draft.  I haven't looked at schedules yet, I don't know who the projected starters are for each team, etc, etc...  As you could probably guess, I do have my t.v. tuned into the NFL Network right now, as I'm mainly listening to the Chargers/Cardinals game.  I have $2.00 worth of baby bet action on the contest, in case you're interested ($1.00 each on San Diego (+3 1/2) and (Under 40).  The game is currently 9-0 Cards with 7:52 remaining in the first half.  The game will likely be long over once you've read this, but whatever...  :)

Speaking of football, can't miss (can't hit?) football picks will once again be coming your way from my "family of blogs."  A couple of changes are in store for this season (as seems to be the case every year).  This season, not only will my friend Joey be contributing his weekly bets, but I also convinced my brother Pete to throw in his favorite selections.  That's right, you'll be receiving wisdom from not just one, but TWO ticket writers at Las Vegas sportsbooks...  In the interest of keeping things easier on myself, AND hopefully improving our winning percentages, each of us will only be giving you our favorite three bets for each week.  These can be from college or NFL games, and they can be against the spread or on the over/under.  These picks will normally be published on Friday, and they should begin appearing at Coach's Parlay Card starting September 4th, just in time for the first full weekend of college football games.  The season is REALLY THAT CLOSE...  :D

Back to my "family of blogs," I hope to start writing a lot more everywhere.  I definitely wouldn't mind earning a living (or at least supplementing my income) by writing if I could just get myself focused and lined out.  I swear, I was so caught up this summer with my project at work that I barely had time to think about much else.  I worked overtime shifts since early July and most of this month, and I'm really looking forward to getting a chance to just RELAX a little...  Speaking of focus, if you've watched any preseason football, isn't the drop off astounding when teams are led by the second team quarterbacks as opposed to their starters???  Anyway, I'm paying a lot to rent out this space from Google, so I might as well you use it, right?  :)

I'm going to call it a night now, but stay tuned..., I'll have a lot more for you soon...  ;)