I thought that the deadness at work would last longer than a week, but apparently I was wrong. Not only did I get that dreaded middle-of-the-night phone call from the poker room again this morning, but I also had to stay and work overtime today, too.
What truly sucked is that I was wide awake again until around 2:30 or so this morning, got maybe an hour's worth of sleep, and then the call came -- Get here as soon as you can!
I thought it would be a juicy no-limit game, but instead, it was five drunks playing 4/8. Ugh. And after 45 minutes or so, it got down to three-handed. The three remaining guys made it about another half-hour before the game broke down completely.
Luckily I'd made about $50 off of those guys because then I sat dead doing nothing for the next three hours.
When the 8:00 am dealer got there, we still didn't have enough of the old guys in attendance to get a game started, and the ones that were there were telling me to hop in the game on my break and help 'em get the game going. Finally around 9:00 am, there were four of them sitting around the table, myself, and the other dealer. The card room manager was in working the floor/cashier duties today, and of course she *always* wants to get a game going, so I volunteered to play on the clock. Yep, the house was payin' me my whopping hourly wage, but I had to use my own bankroll to play. Not a bad deal--getting paid to play poker--but the only downside is that we're not allowed to check-raise the other players when we're on the clock. (The object is to help the game get going, not beat the hell out of them and make them go broke).
So I ditched my work shirt, stripping down to my black t-shirt, and bought in for $60. The funny thing is, all the old guys always hassle me, telling me to get in their game all the time, but I *rarely* play limit poker anymore. And I've dealt to them often enough to know how to play 'em. I know when they've got the goods and I know when they're on a draw.
Not that I'm a poker-master, but honestly, I felt a little bit like Mike McD sitting in on the Judge's game--it was that easy. And in the half-hour I was sitting in, I made another fifty bucks, and I wasn't even playing aggressively. By then, the table had filled up, so the rule is that the 'prop' players have to get up once the game gets ten players, so as to leave the 'Elijah seat' open for any player that happens to come by the poker room. So I cashed out, put my shirt back on, and a few minutes later, I was back in the box dealing to 'em instead of playing with them.
I was hope hope hoping that I'd be able to get out at eleven, when the fourth dealer came in, but no, it was not to be. The third dealer came in at ten, and since we only had the one game going, I got sent on a double break--my boss said I was likely to go home at eleven, but she had to keep me around to see how many people signed up for the daily tournament.
So I headed back to the dining room, and then got a seat in the corner of the 'quiet room' for an hour. I had brought the ear-buds for my cellphone with me, so I popped those in and used my phone as an iPod--I put a random playlist on the memory card last week--and sat in one of the massage chairs and promptly fell asleep for about 45 minutes.
I woke up, not quite refreshed, and stumbled back across the casino to the card room. I had my fingers crossed that I'd get sent home, but nope, not only did we have enough players for a tournament, but we also had eight more players on the waiting list for the cash games. Guess who opened a new table as soon as he got back from break... Yep. That'd be me. That's when the boss came by and gave me the bad news--not only was I not going home early, but I'd likely have to stay a couple hours overtime.
Of course, I'd rather work than not work, so I didn't complain, but damn was I tired. I think it was worse because it was so unexpected. I showed up at work this morning thinking it would be a cake-walk day with bad money and an early exit. But I was wrong. I made great money, plus another fifty as a prop player, and picked up some overtime.
When I finally got cut loose at 2 pm, I was one tuckered out little trooper. I was so beat. And to make matters worse, in my haste to get to the casino in a hurry earlier in the morning, I'd forgotten to bring my sunglasses, so not only was I fatigued beyond normal, I couldn't see shiat when I was driving--it was so frickin' bright that I had to squint all the way home. And seriously, I almost rear-ended two different people in the span of about five minutes.
I didn't come straight home though--being a more responsible grown-up type nowadays, I stopped at the bank to deposit most of my cash, and I also picked up a cold drink to sip on. When I finally got back to the house, there were three boxes waiting for me on the porch.
I picked them all up and came upstairs to my room. Armed with a box-cutter, I set about opening my goodies. I got a couple of sailing books (Yay!), my new Rams fleece pullover and ASU t-shirt, and finally, my prescription sunglasses had also arrived. I was really apprehensive about the sunglasses--I took a huge risk ordering them online, but damn, I was really impressed. They fit perfectly, they look great, and they are by far the best pair of sunglasses I've ever owned. (and I've paid big $$$ in the past for designer glasses by Nike and Claiborne that weren't nearly as well made). Talk about a pleasant surprise! If I hadn't been so tired, I would've gone out driving around just to try them out. I got the bronze polarized lenses in them, and coupled with my prescription, everything looks amazingly clear when I wear them. Experience has taught me that the best sunglasses are the ones designed for snow-skiers or fishermen, and that's what I got--glasses designed specifically for sportsmen--so not only are the lenses top-quality, but the frames feel damn near bulletproof.
So between my toys arriving and the big day at the office, it's been a pretty damn good day so far.
I managed to get a cat-nap for a couple of hours, but between the phone ringing and the dogs seeking attention, a real catch-up nap was out of the question. I'm on-call the next two days, but word is that I'll very likely be working on Friday. I also have to work the whole weekend, and I'm actually scheduled for a full 40 hours next week plus the other two days I'm on-call--I don't have one day I can call my own.
It appears that the feast may have begun again...
Mikey
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