"I think my new dream job would be a host for a show on the Travel Channel - the show would be all about eating at buffets and working out..." -Zane McCoy- (via facebook)
"I wonder if Vegans are ever concerned that animals are going hungry because they are eating up all their food..." -@LeroyTee- (via twitter)
"Love is what is left in a relationship after all the selfishness is taken out..."
-@jjblonde84- (via twitter)
"My friend told me I'm delusional, so I set him on fire and took off on my dragon..."
-@_InsanelyNormal- (via twitter)
"You haven't truly made it on Twitter until someone recognizes you in the unemployment line and asks for your autograph..." -@carlyken- (via twitter)
Good afternoon everyone, and welcome back to something completely different... I did a short post on Saturday, where I explained my reasoning for the new name and background for the blog, but I assume that most of you are seeing it for the first time today. Like I asked of you when I made the changes before this, please let me know what you think of the new look - I really do appreciate the last round of comments, and they in no small part led to this new look. You told me that the green under the new format was too bright (especially on cell phones), so hopefully this will be readable now (you know, the words..., not that my content will start making any sense)... ;) I tagged a big group of you to this post on facebook because I know that you'll be honest with me. However, don't feel slighted if you're not in that group - please let me know what you think of the new name and look, whether that be via the comment section here, through facebook, twitter, or in person.
As I give you my completely horrid weekly fantasy baseball update, let me also give a shoutout to those of you in my leagues who have been reading Bikini Hill. The way that the view tracking is set up here by blogger, I only get a 'sampling' of where pageviews come from (websites, etc...), but I have seen cdmsports.com showing up on a regular basis, so I hope that you're enjoying reading about my misery... :) Now onto this week's wonderful news...
League 1 (25 entry fee - 1st place - 125, 2nd place - 25)
1) Neshanic 76.50
2) DraftDodgers 69.00
3) Pappys Boyz 60.00
10) The View From Bikini Hill 38.00 (Yes, I renamed the blog out of shame)... :P
League 2 (50 entry/40 w/discount - 1st place - 300, 2nd place 50)
1) Breaking Bats 90.00 (NINETY freaking points...) Punk... :)
2) 4troublemakers 68.00
3) Loons XXIV 67.00
5) The Bikini Hill Bobcats 54.00
League 3 (50 entry/40 w/discount - 1st place - 300, 2nd place 50)
1) Nappy Heads 71.50
2) jonnylove7 59.50
3) Mad Men 59.00
5) The Bikini Hill Nine 55.50 (Fishing For Trout, Loons XXI tied for 5th)
As for my "favorite" fantasy horror stories this week... Well, The View From Bikini Hill is now back to SEVEN players on the DL after Huston Street and A.J. Ellis decided to join the crowd (oh, and A.J. Ellis was my catcher for ALL THREE TEAMS) - "and the hits just keep on coming..." So I'm at work on Friday (I believe), and Clayton Kershaw has a 5-3 lead in the 9th inning, with a reliever in the game against the Rockies. There's a runner on base when the batter just CRUSHES THE BALL! Anyway, the game is now tied 5-5, and no win for Coach... #shocking THEN I see that Strasburg was pulled in the 2nd inning of his start with an injury - BEAUTIFUL... Just for the sake of you being kind enough to stop by and read my blog, I hope that y'all are a bunch of sadists... :)
Speaking of sports, things have broken right for my San Antonio Spurs to this point. The Heat and Pacers will be playing a Game 7 tonight, and the winner will have only 2 days of rest before tipping off the Finals with the Spurs on Thursday. I'm hoping to watch a triple overtime game tonight... ;)
Let me give you a little story from work last night... :) I'm working at the front door, and in the right lane of the street in front Harper's, a car starts cruising slowly behind the row of cars that is parked in front of the businesses on our side of the Square. The guy on the passenger side then leans out of the window as the car comes to a stop behind one of the parked cars, waving his right arm as he starts yelling, "LET'S GO!!!" Of course the car that he is motioning to and shouting at is COMPLETELY EMPTY... :)
As I write my blog today, let me retell the story about how I wouldn't even have a blog if it wasn't for --S, who writes 'Life as a Las Vegas Poker Dealer' (link on the right). When I was dealing poker in Las Vegas, --S was dealing poker at the Flamingo (sorry, the Pink Chicken), and he would often come to our "bustling poker room" to play. In his most recent blog entry, --S stated that a move to Hawaii with his wife is pretty much in the works. One of the reasons that he gave for this was that he finds the thought of spending any more time in Vegas depressing... This is something that I have said about the desert before, as I continue to wonder why we can't just have an intersection of Bikini Hill, 6th Street, and the Strip right here in Central Texas. :) I want to wish my friend and his wife the best of luck as they make plans to move to paradise, and I won't even address the INSANE CLAIM that if he had his life to live over again, that he'd do nothing in his past any differently... :)
Speaking of friends who are trying to annoy me, I mentioned fellow blogger Lucki Duck (Small Potatoes Poker and Sports Betting - link on the right) here recently, and that he was going to be playing in Event 7 of this year's World Series of Poker. Well, the $1,000.00 No-Limit Hold 'Em event began yesterday, and out of 1,837 entries, our friend Pete finished in 154th place, for a $2,033.00 cash... :) I can't be in Vegas, and he's CASHING in WSOP events... Congratulations Pete!
And speaking of annoying people that my little blog can't seem to get rid of, our friend Alyssa (yeah, that one) made a trip to South Texas this weekend. I'll let her tell you the story about what happened: "Drove through Dairy Queen to get a snack to eat while driving, and when the lady asked what I wanted to drink, I panicked and responded, "cheese"..." You can take the girl out of San Marcos, but you can't get her out of the blog... :)
I'm not going to improve on that, so have a great day and I'll see you again tomorrow!
Monday, June 3, 2013
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Bikini Hill, 6th, & The Strip
Good evening everyone. After changing the name of my blog recently from 'The View From Bikini Hill' to 'The View From Bikini Hill & 6th' due to my upcoming move back to the ATX (Austin, Texas), I thought about the new name and what I write about in this blog, and I decided that 'Bikini Hill, 6th, & The Strip' more accurately reflects the blog's content. For those of you who are regular readers, this will be the last name change (for a while at least)... ;) And yes Lightning, this does mean that you won't be reading a blog entry here next week under the blog name of 'Bikini Beach'... :) Also, for the guys who were waiting in line to get up to the Veranda last night and started yelling, "C'MON, THE VIEW FROM BIKINI ATOLL..." - NO, you won't be seeing that as the name of the blog either... :) Have a great weekend and I'll see you again on Monday!
Friday, May 31, 2013
I Remember The First Time (19)/NHL 3rd Rd.
"I'm the Michael Jordan of mumbling song lyrics until I get to the part I know..."
-@Really_OK- (via twitter)
"Nothing makes us feel as good about our relationship as spending time with far more dysfunctional couples..." -@ShipInTheKnight- (via twitter)
"Playing the lottery is one way to tell people you didn't pay attention in math class..."
-@Cali_Kid_Mike- (via twitter)
"Don't trust people too easily - not everyone approaches you with sincerity..."
-@writersdream- (via twitter)
"This is the time of year when I start running up to random people asking, "Hey, do you have a pool? Will you be my friend?" -@BrianHDot- (via twitter)
I remember the first time that I heard something brilliant on the Square in San Marcos, America... A drunk patron said the following to my friend Tim, who works at the bars next door to Harper's: "Man, you're cool as hell, but that bearded doorguy that used to work here is a jerk..." 'Jerk' is a substitute word - I'm trying to keep it 'PG' here, and Tim got rid of his beard about two weeks ago... ;)
I remember the first time that the Scripps National Spelling Bee was on ESPN, but I didn't want of bunch of kids to make me feel stupid, so I didn't watch it...
I remember the first time that I worked as a chip runner at the 2005 World Series of Poker... Yes boys and girls, it's already been eight years. Again, this year's WSOP started on Wednesday, and you can keep up with everything at www.wsop.com/
I also remember the first time that I played in an event at the World Series of Poker... I played in the $500.00 buy-in Casino Employees Event the following year at the 2006 WSOP, when my short-stacked pocket aces went up against pocket queens and pocket sixes, queen on the river... Oh, such fond memories... :(
I remember the first time that I bored you with blog statistics... May 2013 is now officially the month that Bikini Hill & 6th received its most views. The current count for the month now stands at 3,832 views (36,760 all-time), and any other clicks in the next 2 and 1/2 hours (til 7:00 p.m. CST) will add to that total. The previous high total for a month had been 3,805 views in January 2013. This is also the fifth consecutive month that the blog was viewed more than 3,000 times. Thanks for stopping by... :)
I remember the first time that I bored you just a little bit more chirping about the blog... I recently asked for input about the new background, and the most common complaint that I have received is that the green is too bright. With the template that I'm using now, the green that is in place is the darkest that I had to choose from, but the next time that I change the background, I promise to find a darker green or a darker color. Thank you for your input... :)
I remember the first time (or the first one hundred times) that one of my fantasy baseball teams imploded... So yesterday the White Sox are playing the Cubs at Wrigley, and I've got Jake Peavy on the mound. I'm in the kitchen (t.v. in my bedroom) when I hear, "and that ball is hit DEEP to left field......., AND IT'S GONE!!!..." More or less, that was the call when the Cubs PITCHER, Travis Wood, hit a GRAND SLAM off of Peavy, who is obviously one of my fantasy pitchers... I'm sure that the blog is getting its money's worth in entertainment value from the $105.00 that I spent on my 3 fantasy league entries, but HAVE A HEART... Isn't the season over already???
I remember the first time that was the second time that Verissimo was a doorguy in training... So Verissimo stops by 'Coach's Corner' last night (they should call it Coach's Corner, shouldn't they, and put up a plaque or something there when I'm done after next Saturday? - more about that in a minute...). So Verissimo asks me why SHE DIDN'T get to use the clicker the last time that she was there, since Angelica did. I said, "oh, you know Angelica?" Verissimo says, "no..." :)
I remember the first time that I told you when I'm leaving my job... So next Saturday (June 8th) will be my last day at Harper's/Slackers/The Veranda. My friends Amy and Mo stopped by Coach's Corner (see, it's catchy, right?) last night, and Mo asked me what I liked to eat - DANGEROUS QUESTION, and do you have a lot of time to spare??? :) Mo said that she might bake something for me since I'm leaving, and I told her that I don't eat many sweets (cookies, cake, etc...), but that I would get a list to her of things that I do like. It occurred to me that I should just go ahead and put the list here since I'm sure that all of you are just DYING to give me something... :) What do I like?: lasagna (when I worked for Greyhound as a food services supervisor in San Antonio while working on my teaching certification, Mary, a friend of the family and my supervisor, made me WHOLE LASAGNAS that I would basically eat for EVERY MEAL until the lasagna was completely gone...); pizza (mushrooms are my favorite topping); Haribo gummy bears (an exception to the sweets rule); Blue Diamond almonds (the wasabi flavored ones); and Gardetto's cheese or mustard pretzels. Now, let me BE CLEAR - I do not expect anyone to make or get me anything, but there's your list Mo... :) Oh, and I also like the Spurs, Red Sox, and the Steelers... (I'm SO HORRIBLE...) :P
I remember the first time that I told you what happened while I was talking to Amy and Mo last night... So this line of about ten people starts walking by us going downstairs while we're chatting about the important subject above, when this guy goes, "HIGH-FIVE" and slaps Amy's hand. The guy then TOTALLY IGNORES Mo as he walks by, at which point Mo shouts his name. Yes, you read that correctly - the guy gives Amy, who he doesn't know, a high-five, and COMPLETELY BLOWS OFF Mo, the girl he does know... :)
I remember the first time that I needed a Kings fan... Okay, so now it's time to make my predictions for the third round of the NHL playoffs. Here's how things went in the last round:
My Prediction/Actual Result
Penguins over the Senators in 5 games/Penguins in 5 games
Rangers over the Bruins in 6 games/Bruins in 5 games (shut up Pete)
Blackhawks over the Red Wings in 5 games/Blackhawks in 7 games
Kings over the Sharks in 7 games/Kings in 7 games
I'm now 9-3 through 2 rounds of the playoffs, and I nailed the exact number of games with the winner TWICE in the second round (okay, get me a going away present)... ;) Back to needing a Kings fan, I have three regular readers of the blog who still have a team in the hunt. My brother Pete in a Bruins fan, my blogging friend Grrouchie is a Penguins fan, and my blogging friend Lightning is a Blackhawks fan. Without any further stalling, here are my predictions for the conference finals...
Penguins over the Bruins in 5 games
Blackhawks over the Kings in 5 games
If my quick research is accurate, the Pens were 3-0 against the Bruins this season, and the Blackhawks went 2-1 against the Kings. The Penguins have looked dominant so far in the postseason, and Quick makes me nervous in goal for the Kings, because he strays so far. I'm happy to say that I have probably watched more hockey in these playoffs than I have since I was in high school... :)
I hope that you have a great weekend and I'll see you again on Monday!
-@Really_OK- (via twitter)
"Nothing makes us feel as good about our relationship as spending time with far more dysfunctional couples..." -@ShipInTheKnight- (via twitter)
"Playing the lottery is one way to tell people you didn't pay attention in math class..."
-@Cali_Kid_Mike- (via twitter)
"Don't trust people too easily - not everyone approaches you with sincerity..."
-@writersdream- (via twitter)
"This is the time of year when I start running up to random people asking, "Hey, do you have a pool? Will you be my friend?" -@BrianHDot- (via twitter)
I remember the first time that I heard something brilliant on the Square in San Marcos, America... A drunk patron said the following to my friend Tim, who works at the bars next door to Harper's: "Man, you're cool as hell, but that bearded doorguy that used to work here is a jerk..." 'Jerk' is a substitute word - I'm trying to keep it 'PG' here, and Tim got rid of his beard about two weeks ago... ;)
I remember the first time that the Scripps National Spelling Bee was on ESPN, but I didn't want of bunch of kids to make me feel stupid, so I didn't watch it...
I remember the first time that I worked as a chip runner at the 2005 World Series of Poker... Yes boys and girls, it's already been eight years. Again, this year's WSOP started on Wednesday, and you can keep up with everything at www.wsop.com/
I also remember the first time that I played in an event at the World Series of Poker... I played in the $500.00 buy-in Casino Employees Event the following year at the 2006 WSOP, when my short-stacked pocket aces went up against pocket queens and pocket sixes, queen on the river... Oh, such fond memories... :(
I remember the first time that I bored you with blog statistics... May 2013 is now officially the month that Bikini Hill & 6th received its most views. The current count for the month now stands at 3,832 views (36,760 all-time), and any other clicks in the next 2 and 1/2 hours (til 7:00 p.m. CST) will add to that total. The previous high total for a month had been 3,805 views in January 2013. This is also the fifth consecutive month that the blog was viewed more than 3,000 times. Thanks for stopping by... :)
I remember the first time that I bored you just a little bit more chirping about the blog... I recently asked for input about the new background, and the most common complaint that I have received is that the green is too bright. With the template that I'm using now, the green that is in place is the darkest that I had to choose from, but the next time that I change the background, I promise to find a darker green or a darker color. Thank you for your input... :)
I remember the first time (or the first one hundred times) that one of my fantasy baseball teams imploded... So yesterday the White Sox are playing the Cubs at Wrigley, and I've got Jake Peavy on the mound. I'm in the kitchen (t.v. in my bedroom) when I hear, "and that ball is hit DEEP to left field......., AND IT'S GONE!!!..." More or less, that was the call when the Cubs PITCHER, Travis Wood, hit a GRAND SLAM off of Peavy, who is obviously one of my fantasy pitchers... I'm sure that the blog is getting its money's worth in entertainment value from the $105.00 that I spent on my 3 fantasy league entries, but HAVE A HEART... Isn't the season over already???
I remember the first time that was the second time that Verissimo was a doorguy in training... So Verissimo stops by 'Coach's Corner' last night (they should call it Coach's Corner, shouldn't they, and put up a plaque or something there when I'm done after next Saturday? - more about that in a minute...). So Verissimo asks me why SHE DIDN'T get to use the clicker the last time that she was there, since Angelica did. I said, "oh, you know Angelica?" Verissimo says, "no..." :)
I remember the first time that I told you when I'm leaving my job... So next Saturday (June 8th) will be my last day at Harper's/Slackers/The Veranda. My friends Amy and Mo stopped by Coach's Corner (see, it's catchy, right?) last night, and Mo asked me what I liked to eat - DANGEROUS QUESTION, and do you have a lot of time to spare??? :) Mo said that she might bake something for me since I'm leaving, and I told her that I don't eat many sweets (cookies, cake, etc...), but that I would get a list to her of things that I do like. It occurred to me that I should just go ahead and put the list here since I'm sure that all of you are just DYING to give me something... :) What do I like?: lasagna (when I worked for Greyhound as a food services supervisor in San Antonio while working on my teaching certification, Mary, a friend of the family and my supervisor, made me WHOLE LASAGNAS that I would basically eat for EVERY MEAL until the lasagna was completely gone...); pizza (mushrooms are my favorite topping); Haribo gummy bears (an exception to the sweets rule); Blue Diamond almonds (the wasabi flavored ones); and Gardetto's cheese or mustard pretzels. Now, let me BE CLEAR - I do not expect anyone to make or get me anything, but there's your list Mo... :) Oh, and I also like the Spurs, Red Sox, and the Steelers... (I'm SO HORRIBLE...) :P
I remember the first time that I told you what happened while I was talking to Amy and Mo last night... So this line of about ten people starts walking by us going downstairs while we're chatting about the important subject above, when this guy goes, "HIGH-FIVE" and slaps Amy's hand. The guy then TOTALLY IGNORES Mo as he walks by, at which point Mo shouts his name. Yes, you read that correctly - the guy gives Amy, who he doesn't know, a high-five, and COMPLETELY BLOWS OFF Mo, the girl he does know... :)
I remember the first time that I needed a Kings fan... Okay, so now it's time to make my predictions for the third round of the NHL playoffs. Here's how things went in the last round:
My Prediction/Actual Result
Penguins over the Senators in 5 games/Penguins in 5 games
Rangers over the Bruins in 6 games/Bruins in 5 games (shut up Pete)
Blackhawks over the Red Wings in 5 games/Blackhawks in 7 games
Kings over the Sharks in 7 games/Kings in 7 games
I'm now 9-3 through 2 rounds of the playoffs, and I nailed the exact number of games with the winner TWICE in the second round (okay, get me a going away present)... ;) Back to needing a Kings fan, I have three regular readers of the blog who still have a team in the hunt. My brother Pete in a Bruins fan, my blogging friend Grrouchie is a Penguins fan, and my blogging friend Lightning is a Blackhawks fan. Without any further stalling, here are my predictions for the conference finals...
Penguins over the Bruins in 5 games
Blackhawks over the Kings in 5 games
If my quick research is accurate, the Pens were 3-0 against the Bruins this season, and the Blackhawks went 2-1 against the Kings. The Penguins have looked dominant so far in the postseason, and Quick makes me nervous in goal for the Kings, because he strays so far. I'm happy to say that I have probably watched more hockey in these playoffs than I have since I was in high school... :)
I hope that you have a great weekend and I'll see you again on Monday!
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Sean Is A Better Poker Player Than Me...
Good morning everyone. Don't look now, but you're about to read an actual poker post... For those of you who haven't been reading Bikini Hill & 6th since its inception (which is pretty much everyone), the original plan was to write about poker once a week. If you look over to my links on the right side of this page, most of those writers originally started out with true poker blogs... Due to the "perfect storm" of a VERY EARLY Memorial Day poker tournament and the first cards of the 2013 World Series of Poker being pitched today, you get to read about some Texas Hold 'Em... :)
So I innocently left work after my Sunday night shift (very early on Monday morning) and went to the grocery store. After I returned home and turned my phone on, I had a call and a text waiting for me. For those of you who don't know, if I'm not using my Droid, I usually have it turned off because it has a nasty habit of calling people if I leave it on while it's in my pocket. Keeping it off also saves the battery, so there ya go... Anyway, it seems that some of my friends and coworkers had decided to play some poker after I had left work, and wanted to know if I'd be interested in playing........ HMMMMMM??? I texted back that I would be there in about twenty minutes, after taking a quick shower. After getting out of my five minute shower, I got a phone call - "are you coming or what?!..." :)
As I walked into the house, I heard a lot of commotion..., and DICE??? It seems that three of the people who were about to play cards were warming up by laying down what turned out to be more than twice the amount of the tournament buy-in on a lucky roll of the dice - can you say Phil Ivey??? :) For an impromptu poker tournament, it turned out to be very organized: 7 players; 100 in tournament chips; 30-minute rounds; a doubling blind structure starting with blinds of 1 and 2 (2/4, 4/8, 8/16...); First place would take everything, but the final two could make a deal.
I had never played against anyone at this table, and I hadn't played poker since my December trip to Las Vegas, so this was going to be an interesting start to my weekend (my Sunday night shift being my "Friday"). The first major hand occurred when a misread (or misclaimed) straight shoved on a scary (?) board against pocket aces (player to my right). I put the '?' after 'scary' because this hand brings up some interesting poker points. The shove came post-flop (obviously), and the player who claimed to have the straight (which never came) said that he was surprised that aces called him there. Of course aces would be vulnerable to a straight, a set, two pairs, etc... in this situation, but some players just don't ever lay down pocket aces... This was the question being pondered by my friend with the busted draw as he finished in 7th place.
My hands during this tournament were either premium hands (about a half-dozen), or they were garbage. My first hand of note came about midway through the first round when I had pocket queens. I got cute and limped in this situation, which was not a good idea. To this point, people had been playing pretty loose holdings, and I didn't want to run everyone off (which was my reasoning at this juncture)... Well, the board came out with a low straight draw and a flush draw. I made a bet of five after the action was checked to me, and had a single caller. The turn brought both a possible straight and flush, but I bet out five again after being checked to, and was again called. On a seemingly innocuous river (a non-flush nine), my opponent suddenly bet out. Hmmmm... To this point, my opponent's play in the tournament could best be described as "super-apologetic" (I dare you to find that player type in your poker books and magazines). I took this to mean that he had NO IDEA what he was doing, OR that he had a REALLY GOOD IDEA about how to play. I only had twelve chips invested in the hand, and it was still very early (the tournament started at 5:15 a.m., so it was REALLY EARLY), so I proceeded to fold after asking, "that NINE hit you?" MANY TIMES I have seen people bet a "blank" on the river after slow-playing a good hand, but my read was wrong in this case. My friend showed a pair smaller than the nine, and just a pair, so my queens would have won there - live and learn...
The next big hand of note in this tournament involved my friend Sean and the player to my right. Sean is the only person that I spoke with about making this blog entry, so his is the only name that I'm using other than "my friend," which will be every other player... :) Anyway, for a tournament with 100 in chips, 50 going in from each player on the river constitutes a big hand... The board on this hand (still in the 1/2 round I believe) had a queen on the flop, and played out with two other cards which would make a king-high straight possible. I know this because after the player on my right bet 20, Sean raised him to 50..., and was CALLED..., by the nut (no possible flush) king-high straight... When I saw the winning hand, I remember remarking, "just the nut straight" (I think I dealt this hand), but no one at the table (including myself) commented on the fact that the winning hand ONLY CALLED here... I think that Sean went ahead and showed a big queen at the end of this hand, and in hindsight, it probably would have been better for me if the winning hand WOULD HAVE raised here, just in case Sean would have called...
As the chips flew back and forth (and back to Sean) throughout the rest of this round and into the second round: I RAISED my pocket queens this time, checked around a king-high flop, and then made a small bet on the turn and took the pot; I limped with AK and WHIFFED; limped with pocket 7's, turned a set and checked heads-up, saw a third flush card on the turn, and a FOURTH flush card on the river, and took the small pot at showdown (Sean was away from the table for this hand and shouldn't be entitled to this information, so SHHHHH....); and my hand of note during the early second round came when I raised my A Q to 20, got TWO callers (so much respect), and AGAIN whiffed the flop, which I had to fold to a bet (both hands went to showdown, and I was behind as 1 of the 2 weaker hands that called me preflop paired up). Also during this round, my "super-apologetic" friend busted out, as did another friend with a unique playing style. 'Unique playing style' would make a preflop raise to 11 for example, and then bet 4 (the minimum) after the flop (this tactic was utilized more than once).
So now we're down to 4 players, and we're in round 3, with blinds of 4 and 8, when I see pocket aces. I believe that there was a single limper, and my raise to 25 got no action (pocket aces - you win a small pot or lose a big pot with them, so the saying goes...). The majority of the chips at the table were now in the stacks of Sean and the player to my right as Nike busted out in 4th place. Nike (true to his name) had been running back and forth across the room between our table and another table ('casino' would be way too strong a word, but it was a fun predawn Memorial Day party)... :) Nike played a lot like me, except that he got bigger pieces (SOME PIECE) of the flops that he saw, so his stack-size fluctuated more than mine.
At this point, I suggested that we give 3rd place their buy-in back (I was a DISTANT THIRD at the time, but it was worth a shot)... :) Sean shot this down, and I don't blame him, considering the stack that he had at the time. As play continued, I might (??) have won another hand, but in the late tournament style that I'm "famous" for (ask my brother about the Sahara tournaments that I cashed in...), I just hoped that one of these stacks would knock the other off, unless I got a premium hand of course... Well, as luck would have it, Sean did knock out the player to my right, and we were now heads-up. Of course I immediately suggested that we give second place their buy-in back, and I could see that Sean was seriously considering it when his wife came over and gave him a hug, which had me thinking, "DON'T BREAK HIS TRAIN OF THOUGHT KATE!" :) Sean did agree to give second place their entry back, on the condition that I tell everyone that Sean is a better poker player than me, in the event that he won... I agreed to this of course, because how could I argue that Sean wasn't the better player, if he won? This also brings up some good poker points (yes, I'm going to keep you in suspense as to how the tournament ended, unless you already read the title of this post of course)... The first point is that the agreement to give second their buy-in back wasn't a bad move on Sean's part, and in all honesty, if I did start mounting a comeback, I would have suggested that we give second place more, in case I won the whole thing. Here the reason why: I have seen SEVERAL tournaments where the chip-leader refused to make a "chop-agreement," and then got BURNED because their stack disappeared. When play got down to heads-up, Sean was ahead of me about 650 to 50: if I double-up once, it's now 600 to 100; another double-up, and it's 500 to 200; and with one more double-up, I'm now ahead 400 to 300 (it can happen that fast, and I've seen it, SEVERAL TIMES)... Second, Sean is a good poker player (saying that he's "better than me" doesn't necessarily mean much)... :) As a friend, I wouldn't worry about Sean sitting at a poker table in Las Vegas (he's never played at one before). In our post-tournament discussion, Sean pointed out how he was sure to sit to my left, giving him position on me (the opportunity to act after me in each hand). Sean also noted that he saw how I wanted more action on one of the hands that I won. This gets to something that I'm going to address in future posts that I do about working at Harper's: I feel like I've earned a Doctorate in people watching during the past year, and Sean pays attention too...
Okay, enough stalling... So on the VERY FIRST HAND of heads-up, I look down at 10-7 in the big blind. I call Sean's small preflop raise, and the flop comes J-7-x. What are the odds that your opponent hits a flop? As you ponder that question, I ended up shoving my pair of 7's, and Sean calls before flipping over J 8 - what are the odds?... :) The turn was a Jack (I'm now drawing dead), and the river was an 8 (and now I'm buried)...
At this point, let me note that Sean was the person who hired me after my disappointing move to the desert last summer, and that he's one of the people that I'll come back to, BEGGING FOR A JOB if I can't find something in Austin (oh, I would HATE that commute)... Let me also wish Sean good luck on his surgery today (he has a torn tendon in his arm, the kind that's going to require a "Ray Lewis-type brace" - Sean's words, and all of us football fans can IMMEDIATELY picture it). Let me also say that Sean has a custom poker set that Kate bought for him in Las Vegas, and all that it's missing is a good deck of cards. Well, someone that I know has two authentic decks of plastic poker cards that they used while training to be a poker dealer in Las Vegas, and would probably give one of them up for someone who is having surgery today, so the question is, "red or blue Sean?" ;)
As I said, the World Series of Poker starts today. The WSOP will run until July 15th (except for the "November Nine"), and you can follow along at www.wsop.com/ Card Player's site www.cardplayer.com is also another excellent poker site for keeping up with what's happening in the poker world. If you want people to root for, a couple of fellow bloggers (again, links on the right) are competing in the WSOP this summer. Pete Moffatt (Lucki Duck) will be playing in Event 7, and Dave Smith (Memphis MOJO) will be playing in Event 26 if you want to track their progress during those events - good luck guys! I actually just received my t-shirt in the mail yesterday from one of Pete's blogs (#1SportsPicks), and I will be wearing it to work tonight, in the spirit of supporting his efforts (and because the material is light - it's hot in San Marcos, America now)... :) Also today, San Marcos bids farewell to Alyssa (yes, THAT Alyssa)... We wish her the very best of luck on her move to Abilene (some people will do ANYTHING to get into the blog)... ;)
Have a great day and I will see you again on Friday! Oh..., and Sean is a better poker player than me... :)
So I innocently left work after my Sunday night shift (very early on Monday morning) and went to the grocery store. After I returned home and turned my phone on, I had a call and a text waiting for me. For those of you who don't know, if I'm not using my Droid, I usually have it turned off because it has a nasty habit of calling people if I leave it on while it's in my pocket. Keeping it off also saves the battery, so there ya go... Anyway, it seems that some of my friends and coworkers had decided to play some poker after I had left work, and wanted to know if I'd be interested in playing........ HMMMMMM??? I texted back that I would be there in about twenty minutes, after taking a quick shower. After getting out of my five minute shower, I got a phone call - "are you coming or what?!..." :)
As I walked into the house, I heard a lot of commotion..., and DICE??? It seems that three of the people who were about to play cards were warming up by laying down what turned out to be more than twice the amount of the tournament buy-in on a lucky roll of the dice - can you say Phil Ivey??? :) For an impromptu poker tournament, it turned out to be very organized: 7 players; 100 in tournament chips; 30-minute rounds; a doubling blind structure starting with blinds of 1 and 2 (2/4, 4/8, 8/16...); First place would take everything, but the final two could make a deal.
I had never played against anyone at this table, and I hadn't played poker since my December trip to Las Vegas, so this was going to be an interesting start to my weekend (my Sunday night shift being my "Friday"). The first major hand occurred when a misread (or misclaimed) straight shoved on a scary (?) board against pocket aces (player to my right). I put the '?' after 'scary' because this hand brings up some interesting poker points. The shove came post-flop (obviously), and the player who claimed to have the straight (which never came) said that he was surprised that aces called him there. Of course aces would be vulnerable to a straight, a set, two pairs, etc... in this situation, but some players just don't ever lay down pocket aces... This was the question being pondered by my friend with the busted draw as he finished in 7th place.
My hands during this tournament were either premium hands (about a half-dozen), or they were garbage. My first hand of note came about midway through the first round when I had pocket queens. I got cute and limped in this situation, which was not a good idea. To this point, people had been playing pretty loose holdings, and I didn't want to run everyone off (which was my reasoning at this juncture)... Well, the board came out with a low straight draw and a flush draw. I made a bet of five after the action was checked to me, and had a single caller. The turn brought both a possible straight and flush, but I bet out five again after being checked to, and was again called. On a seemingly innocuous river (a non-flush nine), my opponent suddenly bet out. Hmmmm... To this point, my opponent's play in the tournament could best be described as "super-apologetic" (I dare you to find that player type in your poker books and magazines). I took this to mean that he had NO IDEA what he was doing, OR that he had a REALLY GOOD IDEA about how to play. I only had twelve chips invested in the hand, and it was still very early (the tournament started at 5:15 a.m., so it was REALLY EARLY), so I proceeded to fold after asking, "that NINE hit you?" MANY TIMES I have seen people bet a "blank" on the river after slow-playing a good hand, but my read was wrong in this case. My friend showed a pair smaller than the nine, and just a pair, so my queens would have won there - live and learn...
The next big hand of note in this tournament involved my friend Sean and the player to my right. Sean is the only person that I spoke with about making this blog entry, so his is the only name that I'm using other than "my friend," which will be every other player... :) Anyway, for a tournament with 100 in chips, 50 going in from each player on the river constitutes a big hand... The board on this hand (still in the 1/2 round I believe) had a queen on the flop, and played out with two other cards which would make a king-high straight possible. I know this because after the player on my right bet 20, Sean raised him to 50..., and was CALLED..., by the nut (no possible flush) king-high straight... When I saw the winning hand, I remember remarking, "just the nut straight" (I think I dealt this hand), but no one at the table (including myself) commented on the fact that the winning hand ONLY CALLED here... I think that Sean went ahead and showed a big queen at the end of this hand, and in hindsight, it probably would have been better for me if the winning hand WOULD HAVE raised here, just in case Sean would have called...
As the chips flew back and forth (and back to Sean) throughout the rest of this round and into the second round: I RAISED my pocket queens this time, checked around a king-high flop, and then made a small bet on the turn and took the pot; I limped with AK and WHIFFED; limped with pocket 7's, turned a set and checked heads-up, saw a third flush card on the turn, and a FOURTH flush card on the river, and took the small pot at showdown (Sean was away from the table for this hand and shouldn't be entitled to this information, so SHHHHH....); and my hand of note during the early second round came when I raised my A Q to 20, got TWO callers (so much respect), and AGAIN whiffed the flop, which I had to fold to a bet (both hands went to showdown, and I was behind as 1 of the 2 weaker hands that called me preflop paired up). Also during this round, my "super-apologetic" friend busted out, as did another friend with a unique playing style. 'Unique playing style' would make a preflop raise to 11 for example, and then bet 4 (the minimum) after the flop (this tactic was utilized more than once).
So now we're down to 4 players, and we're in round 3, with blinds of 4 and 8, when I see pocket aces. I believe that there was a single limper, and my raise to 25 got no action (pocket aces - you win a small pot or lose a big pot with them, so the saying goes...). The majority of the chips at the table were now in the stacks of Sean and the player to my right as Nike busted out in 4th place. Nike (true to his name) had been running back and forth across the room between our table and another table ('casino' would be way too strong a word, but it was a fun predawn Memorial Day party)... :) Nike played a lot like me, except that he got bigger pieces (SOME PIECE) of the flops that he saw, so his stack-size fluctuated more than mine.
At this point, I suggested that we give 3rd place their buy-in back (I was a DISTANT THIRD at the time, but it was worth a shot)... :) Sean shot this down, and I don't blame him, considering the stack that he had at the time. As play continued, I might (??) have won another hand, but in the late tournament style that I'm "famous" for (ask my brother about the Sahara tournaments that I cashed in...), I just hoped that one of these stacks would knock the other off, unless I got a premium hand of course... Well, as luck would have it, Sean did knock out the player to my right, and we were now heads-up. Of course I immediately suggested that we give second place their buy-in back, and I could see that Sean was seriously considering it when his wife came over and gave him a hug, which had me thinking, "DON'T BREAK HIS TRAIN OF THOUGHT KATE!" :) Sean did agree to give second place their entry back, on the condition that I tell everyone that Sean is a better poker player than me, in the event that he won... I agreed to this of course, because how could I argue that Sean wasn't the better player, if he won? This also brings up some good poker points (yes, I'm going to keep you in suspense as to how the tournament ended, unless you already read the title of this post of course)... The first point is that the agreement to give second their buy-in back wasn't a bad move on Sean's part, and in all honesty, if I did start mounting a comeback, I would have suggested that we give second place more, in case I won the whole thing. Here the reason why: I have seen SEVERAL tournaments where the chip-leader refused to make a "chop-agreement," and then got BURNED because their stack disappeared. When play got down to heads-up, Sean was ahead of me about 650 to 50: if I double-up once, it's now 600 to 100; another double-up, and it's 500 to 200; and with one more double-up, I'm now ahead 400 to 300 (it can happen that fast, and I've seen it, SEVERAL TIMES)... Second, Sean is a good poker player (saying that he's "better than me" doesn't necessarily mean much)... :) As a friend, I wouldn't worry about Sean sitting at a poker table in Las Vegas (he's never played at one before). In our post-tournament discussion, Sean pointed out how he was sure to sit to my left, giving him position on me (the opportunity to act after me in each hand). Sean also noted that he saw how I wanted more action on one of the hands that I won. This gets to something that I'm going to address in future posts that I do about working at Harper's: I feel like I've earned a Doctorate in people watching during the past year, and Sean pays attention too...
Okay, enough stalling... So on the VERY FIRST HAND of heads-up, I look down at 10-7 in the big blind. I call Sean's small preflop raise, and the flop comes J-7-x. What are the odds that your opponent hits a flop? As you ponder that question, I ended up shoving my pair of 7's, and Sean calls before flipping over J 8 - what are the odds?... :) The turn was a Jack (I'm now drawing dead), and the river was an 8 (and now I'm buried)...
At this point, let me note that Sean was the person who hired me after my disappointing move to the desert last summer, and that he's one of the people that I'll come back to, BEGGING FOR A JOB if I can't find something in Austin (oh, I would HATE that commute)... Let me also wish Sean good luck on his surgery today (he has a torn tendon in his arm, the kind that's going to require a "Ray Lewis-type brace" - Sean's words, and all of us football fans can IMMEDIATELY picture it). Let me also say that Sean has a custom poker set that Kate bought for him in Las Vegas, and all that it's missing is a good deck of cards. Well, someone that I know has two authentic decks of plastic poker cards that they used while training to be a poker dealer in Las Vegas, and would probably give one of them up for someone who is having surgery today, so the question is, "red or blue Sean?" ;)
As I said, the World Series of Poker starts today. The WSOP will run until July 15th (except for the "November Nine"), and you can follow along at www.wsop.com/ Card Player's site www.cardplayer.com is also another excellent poker site for keeping up with what's happening in the poker world. If you want people to root for, a couple of fellow bloggers (again, links on the right) are competing in the WSOP this summer. Pete Moffatt (Lucki Duck) will be playing in Event 7, and Dave Smith (Memphis MOJO) will be playing in Event 26 if you want to track their progress during those events - good luck guys! I actually just received my t-shirt in the mail yesterday from one of Pete's blogs (#1SportsPicks), and I will be wearing it to work tonight, in the spirit of supporting his efforts (and because the material is light - it's hot in San Marcos, America now)... :) Also today, San Marcos bids farewell to Alyssa (yes, THAT Alyssa)... We wish her the very best of luck on her move to Abilene (some people will do ANYTHING to get into the blog)... ;)
Have a great day and I will see you again on Friday! Oh..., and Sean is a better poker player than me... :)
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Could You? (19)
"I'd rather be optimistic than to be a hateful person! Only you can change who you are and who you want to be!!" -@texanslover100- (via twitter)
"Being honest may not get you a lot of friends, but it will get you the right ones..."
-@shizKendallSays- (via twitter)
"Please doubt me - that's when I do my best work..." -@thatUPSdude- (via twitter)
"Me every night: I can have exactly 7 hours 23 minutes and 48 seconds of sleep if I fall asleep right now..." -@ComedyTruth- (via twitter)
"Am I that strong..., to carry on?... I might change your life, I might save my world, COULD YOU SAVE ME?..." -Fuel- (Falls On Me)
Could you give us some great lyrics from an inspirational song that include the question "could you?" since that's your theme today Coach? I could... ;) If you've never heard that song above by Fuel, please check it out. Actually, anytime that I quote lyrics from a song, your homework assignment is to check them out. I have great taste... ;)
Could you tell us what your schedule was like when you were teaching and coaching? Check out the quote above the Fuel lyrics about falling asleep... That was me ALL THE TIME when I was a coach (if you change the '7' hours to 4 hours... Getting burned out was the main reason that I got in and out of the profession so many times...
Could you please let me know what you think of the new blog background? Bikini Hill & 6th turned twenty months old today, and I was more than tired of seeing that dying dandelion that was at the top of the page, so it's gone... Whether you leave me a comment here, or on my facebook page, or on twitter, or in person, I'd like to know what you think of the new color scheme. I will let you know right now that the colors here will change depending on things that are happening in my universe (for example, if the Spurs were to win their fifth NBA Championship in a few weeks, you might see a lot of black, white, and silver)... For now, I didn't want to depart too much from the old color scheme (the yellow heading representing the sun, the blue repping the sky, the green representing grass, etc...). I have already found that using this template will help me to align my columns more easily, but in turn, it has also messed up the alignment of many of the columns in my older posts, which I have no motivation to go back and change by the way (other than yesterday's post). Please let me know what you think, if this color scheme is readable, etc...
Could you please not deplete San Marcos, America of all of its Pittsburgh Steelers fans? I found out a couple of days ago that my friend Gabby will be moving up to Chicago to do her internship. Gabby is from Ohio and is a diehard Steelers fan. Coupled with the fact that I am going to be moving back to the ATX in the near future, there is definitely going to be a even more severe shortage of Steelers fans here in the fastest-growing large city in the United States... I think that Gabby should take the brunt of the blame for this, but I wish her the best of luck in the Windy City... :)
Could you please make me roll my eyes? Over the weekend I was fortunate enough to see my Red Raider friend and former hoopster Jennifer, the same girl who posted 849 photos of her class ring on facebook recently... Jennifer made her first trip up to the Veranda during this visit, and when she came back downstairs, I asked her what she thought about it. My friend 'DJ Z' was working up top and Jennifer commented on the number of people that were dancing and how she felt old... Let me tell you, I cannot get enough of my former Rattlers telling me that THEY'RE OLD... ;)
Could you give us another Veranda-related story, since you already brought it up? Over the weekend, as some customers were approaching me after our line to get upstairs had vanished, due to the number of people up there dipping back down below our capacity of 200, I heard the following: "Summer is cool because there's no one here..." I just smiled as the small group walked by en route to the 193 people that were still partying up on the roof... ;)
Could you tell us just one more Veranda-related tale, pretty please? Once our customers have been carded downstairs, it is no longer necessary for them to prove their age as they proceed upstairs, but they often try to show me their licenses when they reach me. This is understandable due to the spot where I'm positioned in the hallway, so much so that I haven't even made a point of picking on them here in the blog... :) However, I was amused over the weekend when a girl approached me rapidly with her right arm fully exteneded, license in hand, asking me, "did you see it?" She never stopped as she rushed on by on her way up to the roof, like my brain was equipped with some..., TOLL TAG READER, Terminator-style technology, processing her age-verification as she sped on by... :)
I hope that you have a great day, and I will see you again tomorrow with an actual poker post!!! (That's a message to all of the blog writers whose links you see on the right side of this page)... ;)
"Being honest may not get you a lot of friends, but it will get you the right ones..."
-@shizKendallSays- (via twitter)
"Please doubt me - that's when I do my best work..." -@thatUPSdude- (via twitter)
"Me every night: I can have exactly 7 hours 23 minutes and 48 seconds of sleep if I fall asleep right now..." -@ComedyTruth- (via twitter)
"Am I that strong..., to carry on?... I might change your life, I might save my world, COULD YOU SAVE ME?..." -Fuel- (Falls On Me)
Could you give us some great lyrics from an inspirational song that include the question "could you?" since that's your theme today Coach? I could... ;) If you've never heard that song above by Fuel, please check it out. Actually, anytime that I quote lyrics from a song, your homework assignment is to check them out. I have great taste... ;)
Could you tell us what your schedule was like when you were teaching and coaching? Check out the quote above the Fuel lyrics about falling asleep... That was me ALL THE TIME when I was a coach (if you change the '7' hours to 4 hours... Getting burned out was the main reason that I got in and out of the profession so many times...
Could you please let me know what you think of the new blog background? Bikini Hill & 6th turned twenty months old today, and I was more than tired of seeing that dying dandelion that was at the top of the page, so it's gone... Whether you leave me a comment here, or on my facebook page, or on twitter, or in person, I'd like to know what you think of the new color scheme. I will let you know right now that the colors here will change depending on things that are happening in my universe (for example, if the Spurs were to win their fifth NBA Championship in a few weeks, you might see a lot of black, white, and silver)... For now, I didn't want to depart too much from the old color scheme (the yellow heading representing the sun, the blue repping the sky, the green representing grass, etc...). I have already found that using this template will help me to align my columns more easily, but in turn, it has also messed up the alignment of many of the columns in my older posts, which I have no motivation to go back and change by the way (other than yesterday's post). Please let me know what you think, if this color scheme is readable, etc...
Could you please not deplete San Marcos, America of all of its Pittsburgh Steelers fans? I found out a couple of days ago that my friend Gabby will be moving up to Chicago to do her internship. Gabby is from Ohio and is a diehard Steelers fan. Coupled with the fact that I am going to be moving back to the ATX in the near future, there is definitely going to be a even more severe shortage of Steelers fans here in the fastest-growing large city in the United States... I think that Gabby should take the brunt of the blame for this, but I wish her the best of luck in the Windy City... :)
Could you please make me roll my eyes? Over the weekend I was fortunate enough to see my Red Raider friend and former hoopster Jennifer, the same girl who posted 849 photos of her class ring on facebook recently... Jennifer made her first trip up to the Veranda during this visit, and when she came back downstairs, I asked her what she thought about it. My friend 'DJ Z' was working up top and Jennifer commented on the number of people that were dancing and how she felt old... Let me tell you, I cannot get enough of my former Rattlers telling me that THEY'RE OLD... ;)
Could you give us another Veranda-related story, since you already brought it up? Over the weekend, as some customers were approaching me after our line to get upstairs had vanished, due to the number of people up there dipping back down below our capacity of 200, I heard the following: "Summer is cool because there's no one here..." I just smiled as the small group walked by en route to the 193 people that were still partying up on the roof... ;)
Could you tell us just one more Veranda-related tale, pretty please? Once our customers have been carded downstairs, it is no longer necessary for them to prove their age as they proceed upstairs, but they often try to show me their licenses when they reach me. This is understandable due to the spot where I'm positioned in the hallway, so much so that I haven't even made a point of picking on them here in the blog... :) However, I was amused over the weekend when a girl approached me rapidly with her right arm fully exteneded, license in hand, asking me, "did you see it?" She never stopped as she rushed on by on her way up to the roof, like my brain was equipped with some..., TOLL TAG READER, Terminator-style technology, processing her age-verification as she sped on by... :)
I hope that you have a great day, and I will see you again tomorrow with an actual poker post!!! (That's a message to all of the blog writers whose links you see on the right side of this page)... ;)
Monday, May 27, 2013
I'm A Training Doorguy...
"Grrrrr....... I charge the Kindle after it's been laying there for days so I can read, only to get it and it's dead again!!! Really kids!?! I'm hiding the cereal, toaster, milk, granola bars, bananas! And whatever else they want for breakfast..." -Alma Medrano- (via facebook)
"It's hard to say no to Yoo-hoo - the name literally beckons..."
-Sheldon- (The Big Bang Theory)
"I don't believe in fate - you make your own opportunities..." -Don Draper- (Mad Men)
Good evening everyone. I'm sorry about the late post, but I took part in an impromptu poker tournament last night (very early this morning) after work, and I ended up staying out until 8:15 a.m. The good news for you poker people is that I will be doing an actual poker post on Wednesday, which is coincidentally (not really a coincidence) the first day of this year's World Series of Poker. That will give you at least a fourth post this week (Tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday). Let me get started since I'm going to try to publish this by 7:00 p.m. CST, which is coincidentally (not really a coincidence) when tonight's hockey game will faceoff (Chicago @ Detroit - Game Six - NBC Sports Network). I honestly think that this is the most playoff hockey that I've watched in a season since I was in high school and living up in New Hampshire.
It only seems fair to warn my coworkers that there is a high level of interest in the "gatekeeper" position that I will be leaving shortly at Harper's (actually it's in the hallway on the way up to the Veranda, but you get the idea)... My friend Verissimo (you can't go five minutes here without reading about a Chi-O) came by this weekend, and as many of the happy people who have been celebrating at our establishment seem increasingly inclined to do, she notified me that she was a "training doorguy..." Of course my immediate thought was, "OH... JOY..." :P Verissimo is harmless enough, so I indulged her for a few minutes, and let her interact with some of the many customers that we saw over this Memorial Day Weekend (I hope that you're enjoying yours). The highlight (and end) of Verissimo's training occurred when a male customer approached us by himself. When the customer reached us, Verissimo asked him to stop and to tell us his name, to make sure that it was "cool enough" to allow him to continue up to the roof... :) Of course we let him proceed to the Veranda... And then there's Angelica... :) Angelica stopped by my little checkpoint on her way out and "raised" Verissimo (sorry, I played poker last night)... Angelica actually wanted to utilize the "clicker" that we use to track how many customers we have upstairs (for capacity purposes). Angelica not only kept an accurate count during her training, but she is also a very good listener evidently, as she echoed MANY of the remarks that I routinely make to customers as they're leaving our place for the night... :)
The mayor of San Marcos, America shared a very interesting fact on facebook late last week that I'll share with you now... It seems that San Marcos, America is the fastest-growing large city in the United States according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Of course Mayor Guerrero was very quick to give my blog the credit for this growth and to start plans on a future awards ceremony to honor this achievement... Okay, everything in that last sentence was totally fabricated, but San Marcos, Texas REALLY IS the fastest-growing large city in the U.S., and that's definitely newsworthy. I want to congratulate my friend for overseeing this growth (and our mayor is EVERYWHERE)... :) I also have to point out that this growth is the reason that I'm moving back north to a quiet little place like Austin - San Marcos is just TOO BIG... :P
Another big deal (to many of my friends anyway) is the invasion of Whataburger Ketchup to the shelves of H.E.B. (a big South Texas grocery store chain). I would have NEVER believed that I would have seen SO MANY facebook statuses about a condiment if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes during the last week... :) Whataburger is a very popular fast-food burger chain in Texas if that's a mystery to you. Actually, it's unfair to call Whataburger "fast-food" in that they cook everything to order, which does seem to improve the quallity of their food. Back to the ketchup, it may not be as big a deal to me because I tend to eat french fries with almost everything but ketchup if given the opportunity (chicken fried steak gravy, ranch dressing, McDonald's hot mustard sauce, etc...). I know at this very moment you're thinking, "NO WONDER Coach is in such great shape...." The shape that we're referring to of course is ROUND, but I'm working on it... ;)
Okay, it looks like it's time to give you my weekly fantasy baseball standings due to the fast-approaching hockey game, but I'm posting at least three more times this week, so I'll try not to feel guilty...
League 1 - (25 entry fee - 1st place 125, 2nd place 25)
1) Neshanic 73.50 (doesn't leading all the time get old?)
2) DraftDodgers 64.00 (clinging to 2nd place...)
3) Pappys Boyz 60.00
3) Rocky Roto 60.00
9) The View From Bikini Hill 44.00 (I'm NOT in last place this week!!!)
League 2 - (50 entry fee - 40 w/discount - 1st place 300, 2nd place 50)
1) Breaking Bats 80.50 (still over 80 points...)
2) 4troublemakers 74.00 (also clinging to 2nd place...)
3) Loons XXIV 72.50
League 3 - (50 entry fee - 40 w/discount - 1st place 300, 2nd place 50)
1) Nappy Heads 74.00 (again, leading all the time - BORING...)
2) Mad Men 65.50 (again, clinging to 2nd place...)
3) Fishing For Trout 62.00
4) The Bikini Hill Nine 57.00
A couple of interesting facts from the baseball diamond this week... The View From Bikini Hill had ANOTHER player go to the DL last week, so I now have six players on that list again... #shocking Also, The Bikini Hill Nine got NINE pitching victories for me last week, which is A QUARTER of the 36 total wins the team has accumulated for me (in 2 months).
As I leave, let me give a shoutout to Miletus, hoping that she had a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY on Saturday. Miletus is one of the ORIGINAL followers of this little blog... :) I also hope that all of you enjoy your NHL and NBA playoff games tonight (GO SPURS GO!!!), and I'll see you again tomorrow!
"It's hard to say no to Yoo-hoo - the name literally beckons..."
-Sheldon- (The Big Bang Theory)
"I don't believe in fate - you make your own opportunities..." -Don Draper- (Mad Men)
Good evening everyone. I'm sorry about the late post, but I took part in an impromptu poker tournament last night (very early this morning) after work, and I ended up staying out until 8:15 a.m. The good news for you poker people is that I will be doing an actual poker post on Wednesday, which is coincidentally (not really a coincidence) the first day of this year's World Series of Poker. That will give you at least a fourth post this week (Tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday). Let me get started since I'm going to try to publish this by 7:00 p.m. CST, which is coincidentally (not really a coincidence) when tonight's hockey game will faceoff (Chicago @ Detroit - Game Six - NBC Sports Network). I honestly think that this is the most playoff hockey that I've watched in a season since I was in high school and living up in New Hampshire.
It only seems fair to warn my coworkers that there is a high level of interest in the "gatekeeper" position that I will be leaving shortly at Harper's (actually it's in the hallway on the way up to the Veranda, but you get the idea)... My friend Verissimo (you can't go five minutes here without reading about a Chi-O) came by this weekend, and as many of the happy people who have been celebrating at our establishment seem increasingly inclined to do, she notified me that she was a "training doorguy..." Of course my immediate thought was, "OH... JOY..." :P Verissimo is harmless enough, so I indulged her for a few minutes, and let her interact with some of the many customers that we saw over this Memorial Day Weekend (I hope that you're enjoying yours). The highlight (and end) of Verissimo's training occurred when a male customer approached us by himself. When the customer reached us, Verissimo asked him to stop and to tell us his name, to make sure that it was "cool enough" to allow him to continue up to the roof... :) Of course we let him proceed to the Veranda... And then there's Angelica... :) Angelica stopped by my little checkpoint on her way out and "raised" Verissimo (sorry, I played poker last night)... Angelica actually wanted to utilize the "clicker" that we use to track how many customers we have upstairs (for capacity purposes). Angelica not only kept an accurate count during her training, but she is also a very good listener evidently, as she echoed MANY of the remarks that I routinely make to customers as they're leaving our place for the night... :)
The mayor of San Marcos, America shared a very interesting fact on facebook late last week that I'll share with you now... It seems that San Marcos, America is the fastest-growing large city in the United States according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Of course Mayor Guerrero was very quick to give my blog the credit for this growth and to start plans on a future awards ceremony to honor this achievement... Okay, everything in that last sentence was totally fabricated, but San Marcos, Texas REALLY IS the fastest-growing large city in the U.S., and that's definitely newsworthy. I want to congratulate my friend for overseeing this growth (and our mayor is EVERYWHERE)... :) I also have to point out that this growth is the reason that I'm moving back north to a quiet little place like Austin - San Marcos is just TOO BIG... :P
Another big deal (to many of my friends anyway) is the invasion of Whataburger Ketchup to the shelves of H.E.B. (a big South Texas grocery store chain). I would have NEVER believed that I would have seen SO MANY facebook statuses about a condiment if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes during the last week... :) Whataburger is a very popular fast-food burger chain in Texas if that's a mystery to you. Actually, it's unfair to call Whataburger "fast-food" in that they cook everything to order, which does seem to improve the quallity of their food. Back to the ketchup, it may not be as big a deal to me because I tend to eat french fries with almost everything but ketchup if given the opportunity (chicken fried steak gravy, ranch dressing, McDonald's hot mustard sauce, etc...). I know at this very moment you're thinking, "NO WONDER Coach is in such great shape...." The shape that we're referring to of course is ROUND, but I'm working on it... ;)
Okay, it looks like it's time to give you my weekly fantasy baseball standings due to the fast-approaching hockey game, but I'm posting at least three more times this week, so I'll try not to feel guilty...
League 1 - (25 entry fee - 1st place 125, 2nd place 25)
1) Neshanic 73.50 (doesn't leading all the time get old?)
2) DraftDodgers 64.00 (clinging to 2nd place...)
3) Pappys Boyz 60.00
3) Rocky Roto 60.00
9) The View From Bikini Hill 44.00 (I'm NOT in last place this week!!!)
League 2 - (50 entry fee - 40 w/discount - 1st place 300, 2nd place 50)
1) Breaking Bats 80.50 (still over 80 points...)
2) 4troublemakers 74.00 (also clinging to 2nd place...)
3) Loons XXIV 72.50
League 3 - (50 entry fee - 40 w/discount - 1st place 300, 2nd place 50)
1) Nappy Heads 74.00 (again, leading all the time - BORING...)
2) Mad Men 65.50 (again, clinging to 2nd place...)
3) Fishing For Trout 62.00
4) The Bikini Hill Nine 57.00
A couple of interesting facts from the baseball diamond this week... The View From Bikini Hill had ANOTHER player go to the DL last week, so I now have six players on that list again... #shocking Also, The Bikini Hill Nine got NINE pitching victories for me last week, which is A QUARTER of the 36 total wins the team has accumulated for me (in 2 months).
As I leave, let me give a shoutout to Miletus, hoping that she had a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY on Saturday. Miletus is one of the ORIGINAL followers of this little blog... :) I also hope that all of you enjoy your NHL and NBA playoff games tonight (GO SPURS GO!!!), and I'll see you again tomorrow!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
I Remember The First Time (18)
"'I came here to win championships and win football games,' Reggie Bush told Free Press of signing with Detroit Lions, clearly unaware of history..." -@benmaller- (via twitter)
"Sometimes what hurts the most is exactly what you needed to slap some sense into you..." -@KrissiBex- (via twitter)
"About ten times a day I run into a dilemma that could be fixed easier if I had a flamethrower..." -@Bearslietoo- (via twitter)
"We're not broken, just bent. We can learn to love again..." -@youngtaala- (via twitter)
"Isn't it sad when bad things happen to good sentences?..." -Mercedes Ruehl- (Frasier)
I remember the first time that I found another candidate for "motto of the blog" (see quote directly above)...
I remember the first time that I said, "it's way too early..." I stopped by work when I went walking a few days ago, and one of the t.v.'s was tuned to ESPN's 'NFL 32' - I cannot listen to football chatter when the season is so far away...
I remember the first time that I was really confused... I was watching Game 4 of the Penguins/Senators playoff series last night when Ottawa scored first and the commentator said, "and that's their first lead of the series..." My immediate thought was, "well, they WON Game 3, sooooo???" To their credit, the announcers did clarify this later in the period...
I remember the first time that something hasn't happened yet... I believe that some of the customers at my workplace are truly going to freak out when I'm not in the hallway (yes, of..., THE MAZE...) on the way up to the Veranda when I move back to Austin in the near future. Last night when I was working the front door, no fewer than a half-dozen times I heard comments like, "you're down here tonight" or "you got promoted..." :)
I remember the first time that I understood a comment that didn't make any sense at all... In reference to my last epiphany, last night a couple of customers walked up to me, and one of them made the comment, "this guy's cool, he's always counting people..." :)
I remember the first time that the NHL messed with me again... First, I don't know when my next post will be, because the NHL might start another playoff series before Monday if things break a certain way... Second, a few nights ago, there was one hockey game on t.v. I am working tonight, so of course there are THREE games being played... Third (and I forgot to mention this a few days ago), I was working when Pittsburgh and Ottawa went to double overtime a few nights ago. Work was slow early in the second overtime of the Pens/Sens contest, and I walked up to the bartenders and mentioned to them how I LOVE multiple overtime games, how it's a battle of attrition, etc... OBVIOUSLY, the game-winning goal was scored SECONDS LATER... :P
I remember the first time that the Texas Longhorns football team didn't plan a "Welcome Back To Austin" party for me... On September 25th, 2010, during the time that I was working for the University of Texas, I attended my first (and only so far) Longhorns football game. Texas was 3-0 and ranked #7 in the nation, and the Horns were hosting a 1-2 UCLA squad (I bet you can already see where this is going, can't you?...) The final score on that Saturday afternoon was: UCLA 34 Texas 12...
I remember the first time that I spoke of moving... When I was going through my things a few days ago, I found the schematic that I used to pack my belongings for my move to Las Vegas last summer. YES, there was a SCHEMATIC... My vehicle was PACKED!!! This was a timely find, since the trusty old Montero Sport is currently sitting at the 149,952 mark. Please don't worry, I'll make sure to let you know when we hit 150,000 miles, and 155,000, and 160,000..., okay, I probably won't (by far, the best news that you've had all day)... ;)
I remember the first time that I should have been there at the end of overtime... The Pacers played the Heat SO TOUGH last night, only to let James walk to the basket and lay the ball in with only seconds left on the clock when the inbound play began. I COULD HAVE let James walk to the basket... I thought that Indiana would play Miami tough (picking the Heat to win in seven), but the Pacers have to win games like that one...
I hope that you have a great day, and I'll see you again on Monday (or sooner)... ;)
"Sometimes what hurts the most is exactly what you needed to slap some sense into you..." -@KrissiBex- (via twitter)
"About ten times a day I run into a dilemma that could be fixed easier if I had a flamethrower..." -@Bearslietoo- (via twitter)
"We're not broken, just bent. We can learn to love again..." -@youngtaala- (via twitter)
"Isn't it sad when bad things happen to good sentences?..." -Mercedes Ruehl- (Frasier)
I remember the first time that I found another candidate for "motto of the blog" (see quote directly above)...
I remember the first time that I said, "it's way too early..." I stopped by work when I went walking a few days ago, and one of the t.v.'s was tuned to ESPN's 'NFL 32' - I cannot listen to football chatter when the season is so far away...
I remember the first time that I was really confused... I was watching Game 4 of the Penguins/Senators playoff series last night when Ottawa scored first and the commentator said, "and that's their first lead of the series..." My immediate thought was, "well, they WON Game 3, sooooo???" To their credit, the announcers did clarify this later in the period...
I remember the first time that something hasn't happened yet... I believe that some of the customers at my workplace are truly going to freak out when I'm not in the hallway (yes, of..., THE MAZE...) on the way up to the Veranda when I move back to Austin in the near future. Last night when I was working the front door, no fewer than a half-dozen times I heard comments like, "you're down here tonight" or "you got promoted..." :)
I remember the first time that I understood a comment that didn't make any sense at all... In reference to my last epiphany, last night a couple of customers walked up to me, and one of them made the comment, "this guy's cool, he's always counting people..." :)
I remember the first time that the NHL messed with me again... First, I don't know when my next post will be, because the NHL might start another playoff series before Monday if things break a certain way... Second, a few nights ago, there was one hockey game on t.v. I am working tonight, so of course there are THREE games being played... Third (and I forgot to mention this a few days ago), I was working when Pittsburgh and Ottawa went to double overtime a few nights ago. Work was slow early in the second overtime of the Pens/Sens contest, and I walked up to the bartenders and mentioned to them how I LOVE multiple overtime games, how it's a battle of attrition, etc... OBVIOUSLY, the game-winning goal was scored SECONDS LATER... :P
I remember the first time that the Texas Longhorns football team didn't plan a "Welcome Back To Austin" party for me... On September 25th, 2010, during the time that I was working for the University of Texas, I attended my first (and only so far) Longhorns football game. Texas was 3-0 and ranked #7 in the nation, and the Horns were hosting a 1-2 UCLA squad (I bet you can already see where this is going, can't you?...) The final score on that Saturday afternoon was: UCLA 34 Texas 12...
I remember the first time that I spoke of moving... When I was going through my things a few days ago, I found the schematic that I used to pack my belongings for my move to Las Vegas last summer. YES, there was a SCHEMATIC... My vehicle was PACKED!!! This was a timely find, since the trusty old Montero Sport is currently sitting at the 149,952 mark. Please don't worry, I'll make sure to let you know when we hit 150,000 miles, and 155,000, and 160,000..., okay, I probably won't (by far, the best news that you've had all day)... ;)
I remember the first time that I should have been there at the end of overtime... The Pacers played the Heat SO TOUGH last night, only to let James walk to the basket and lay the ball in with only seconds left on the clock when the inbound play began. I COULD HAVE let James walk to the basket... I thought that Indiana would play Miami tough (picking the Heat to win in seven), but the Pacers have to win games like that one...
I hope that you have a great day, and I'll see you again on Monday (or sooner)... ;)
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