Well, my workday wasn't nearly as lucrative this time around. Almost by a factor of ten. I was right about that whole famine thing--I went in to work this morning at 6:00 am, and there wasn't a single player in the room. In fact, it's back to that crappy routine where I come in and sit on my ass for two hours, waiting for the old guys to shuffle in. It's obvious that our local players are suffering from poker burn-out. It'll probably be another three weeks before we're good and busy again.
But then, in the micro-sense, there was more feast vs. famine because the 8:00 am dealer never showed up, and I was locked down for two hours straight once the old fellers showed up. I shouldn't complain because I pretty much made my day by then. At ten I took a half-hour break when the next dealer came in, so I went back to the dining room and got some breakfast. At the bottom of the hour I did one more push, but then there were two more dealers coming in at 11:00. We didn't have enough players to get a tournament started, so at 11:00 we had four dealers and one game.
So I told the boss that I'd have no problem at all with cutting out early, which alleviated her stress because she was pretty apologetic due to having to punt me out of there at eleven anyways. The difference is that this time I was totally cool with working a short day.
My only errand for the day was to go to the bank and deposit all the scratch that I made the past two days, minus of course a little bit of walkin' around money. Then I came straight home, not tempted in the least to do any shopping or spending my hard-earned pimproll.
And here's why: When I got home on Wednesday, the first full-month electric bill was waiting for me. It was $422. Ouch. Apparently, it ain't cheap to keep this big ol' house cool during the summer months, especially this upstairs loft area where my bedroom is with it's huge floor-to-ceiling windows featuring a view of the Strip. It's a great view, but damn, it sure is pricey!
So I coughed up $211 to my roommate and gave thanks that the bill came on that day instead of earlier in the week when it might've caused a bit more stress.
But then I got the kicker. Last night I was poking around on the Nevada DMV website, and I saw that I could renew my tags online. So I grabbed a flashlight and got my VIN info off of the door pillar on my truck, then came back upstairs to pay The Man.
After inputting the required info, I got a huge case of sticker shock. Anybody wanna guess what it's gonna cost to renew my tags in our fine state? I about shiat when I saw that they want $907. Granted, for being a dork, I owe over a hundred bucks in late fees, but there are two other factors at play--1) It's ridiculously expensive to register a car in this state, even if you're a good citizen and pay on time, and 2) They *really* bend you over if you have personalized vanity plates, which I do...
Additionally, I can't change my address information online (my registration is still on record with my old address), so I have to physically go down to the DMV office and stand in line with the unwashed masses, unable to hide my shame anonymously through digital channels.
So, I couldn't renew my tags after all, but once I saw the price tag, I figured I'd just wait until the end of the month after the next round of bills get paid, anyways. Nine hundred bucks is a tough nut to swallow, so I put most of my cash in the bank. I'm also waiting for a $350 check from PokerStars, so that'll help offset the costs. But it's coming from England, and I'm sure they'll be taking their own sweet time about it.
Luckily, I'm all caught up on my expenses for the month and all my shopping was done before my big day at work. So it won't hurt too badly to give up nine Benjamins to the great state of Nevada, but given my druthers, well, I'd rather just keep it for myself.
And speaking of shopping, I'm waiting for the UPS man to start delivering many boxes of goodies to me--I've got books, clothes, and a new wallet on the way, in addition to a new set of prescription sunglasses. The sunglasses are particularly amazing because they were shipped less than 24 hours after I ordered them, and yet when I physically went to the eye doctor to get my regular prescription glasses back in February, it took over a week for them to be made. As Arsenio (and C&C Music Factory) used to say, Things that make you go hmmm...
Anyhow, that's about all that's going on around here. I've got the day off tomorrow, then I'm working a good shift on Saturday, then I'm off again on Sunday. At some point this weekend, I'm going to facilitate the final leg of The Great Booze Migration of 2008 and bring all 30+ bottles that have been sitting in boxes down in the garage for the past month-and-a-half up to my room and put them proudly on display. That, coupled with two more boxes of books, should finally make me 'officially' moved in to my new place.
Mikey
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