Eventually, I felt like I shouldn't be so slothful, and I got busy doing little projects here around the house. I dug through a couple of storage boxes, throwing some stuff away, organizing other stuff, and gathered up a few of my favorite framed photos to hang on the wall.
I also got my closet about halfway cleaned up. Since I moved in, it's basically just been a catch-all for unused clothes, boxes, and other random junk. Now all the 'winter' clothes are at the far end, the occasional stuff is in the middle, and the more common stuff is all hung up at the other end, while all of my t-shirts have been folded and put in drawers.
I also laundered my sheets and pillowcases today--the thought of dog hair on my bed makes my skin crawl--and the critters have jumped up on my bed twice this past week. Besides, I needed to take the sheets off anyways because I had to put on my new egg-crate pad. I'm laying on it right now as I type this, and it's pretty damn comfy. I'm hoping that I sleep better tonight.
Not that I did nothing but work today, there was plenty of goofing off involved with my day off. I was feeling rather smug and superior after my online poker victories, so I decided to play in a couple of more expensive tournaments this afternoon. Of course, the poker gods decided to smite me down with furious anger, as my flopped top-set of nines got an all-in raise from some poor schmuck who had the bad luck to be holding pocket Aces at the time. So I gave him the action he was begging for, and his third Ace came on the river, knocking me out in sixth place.
Doh!
I immediately signed up for another tourney, because I felt like I was still playing very well. I was doing ok, holding my own, but observed one other player bullying the table, going all-in way too often. On my big blind, he just limped in, and I had Queen-Jack suited, so I just checked. I got a Jack and a Queen on the flop, and my opponent bet. I raised, he just called. The turn brought another Jack, giving me Jacks full of Queens. My opponent checked, I bet, and he went all-in. Of course I called--there was only one hand that could possibly beat me, and he certainly hadn't played like somebody who would limp in with pocket Queens. But that's what he had, and like Smokey said to Deebo, I got knocked the f*ck out!
And sticking with pertinent movie quotes, it's like Cheech said to Costner in Tin Cup -- You humble now, Holmes...
So my previous rush that had built my little PokerStars stake up to over a hundred bucks in two days is now over, and my account has a whopping twenty cents left in it. I guess it's about time to get back to my bread-and-butter--live tournaments down on the Strip--where every day is like Friday at the Elks Lodge. All-you-can-eat fish!
After getting my ass handed to me at the electronic poker tables and my chores were done, well, once I decided to quit working on them, I was feeling pretty hungry. I hadn't eaten anything but a handful of peanuts and a pot of coffee in over 24 hours, so I decided to go get some food. Again, because of not being home for most of the past three weeks, I have no groceries in the house, and I still haven't gone shopping. I was still feeling too lazy to do that, plus I didn't want to go grocery shopping when I was hungry, else I'd come home with a bunch of stuff I probably shouldn't be eating anyways.
However, I decided to treat myself to something tasty and I was craving some good border-style Mexican food, so I headed for Roberto's Taco Shop for one of their monster-sized carne asada burritos. (Hey, it's got a bunch of veggies in it...).
While I was waiting for my burrito to be made, I moseyed over to the 'salsa bar' and helped myself to a baggie full of pickled carrots. For those of you from places where it snows that aren't familiar with the awesome goodness that is Mexican-style pickled carrots, you are truly missing out on a culinary treat.
I don't know how they're made, but it's basically raw jalapeños, onions, and carrots mixed together in what I guess is vinegar, cilantro, and some other spices, then left to marinate together for some undetermined amount of time, until everything tastes like jalapeño. The carrots are still fresh--they still snap like fresh veggies should, but holy shiat do they taste so much better than regular carrots. I could eat them all day long, but before I filled up on them, my burrito was ready.
Again, those of you from cold places that aren't privy to the tasty goodness of the loosely confederated chain of Filiberto's, Alberto's, Roberto's, Humberto's, and Delberto's taco shops that populate the American southwest, you don't know what you are missing. I discovered them more than 20 years ago back in San Diego, and as soon as I escaped the northern latitudes of Idaho and Alaska, and moved down to Phoenix in 1992, it was my first meal after I got settled into my first apartment.
Yeah, they have great tacos and such, but the burritos are the main attraction. And my favorite is the carne asada variety. Each one is huge--easily weighing about a full pound, stuffed to the gills with grilled marinated steak, pico de gallo, and guacamole. It's not something you can eat every day, but like White Castles, once you get the craving, nothing else will satisfy you. And you can't get a burrito without getting a side of rolled tacos with guacamole, either. With all that, and the pickled carrots, it's a damn good meal. And like the chicken fried steak at the Peppermill, it's not one you're gonna finish, but you'll have a helluva good time trying.
Once I waved the white paper napkin of surrender, I made my way back to the homestead in time for the nightly coverage of the WSOP on ESPN. But waiting for me on the entry table when I got home were a few nice surprises. Actually, I'm expecting several packages this week, and the first one of course was the least-anticipated one--my black work pants. Yay. But there was also a letter for me from one of my old creditors which I'd paid off several months ago. Thinking they wanted to sell me something, I almost threw it away without opening it.
Instead, I brought it upstairs and set it on my desk and forgot about it for a few hours. But I finally opened it up awhile later and was pleasantly surprised to see a check made out to me for $55. Apparently, I'd overpaid when I retired my debt.
That kinda made my day.
Anyhow, that was about the extent of my evening. It's back to work tomorrow morning for several hours of sitting on my ass waiting for a game to start, then a couple of hours of dealing a boring limit game where the pot rarely gets over $20.
Hopefully I can make a little scratch somehow.
Mikey
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