So Close...

Ok, so my college picks were down to the usual standard that I've set this season, both tickets being good for nothing but being used as a coaster on the coffee table by about 1:00 in the afternoon on Saturday. But I had a real chance to cash in on Sunday until the Redskins stunk up the joint and got three lousy field goals against the equally lousy Rams. Don't you just love it when a ten-point favorite--at home--only scores nine points for the entire game, especially against what is arguably the worst team in the league? And I blame myself for this one. Last weekend, I bet on the Rams to cover against the Seachickens, and they lost by 28 points. So I bet against them to lose by ten or more against the Redskins this week, and well, they let me down again, losing by only two. It's double sucky when your team breaks your heart and costs you money.

I guess it wouldn't have mattered anyways, seeing how the Steelers' kicker went all Scott Norwoody--twice--against the Bears, putting an end to all of my if onlys that I was muttering yesterday afternoon. Oh well, what can ya do? It was still a damn fine weekend of football, no matter what. I was highly entertained, and thankfully the networks chose not to make me sit through the Rams/Redskins debacle first thing in the morning.

I may have mentioned it before, but I picked up an extra shift again on Sunday. I had mixed feelings about it. Here I was enjoying the weekends off for most of the past year, and now that football season is here, I've been scheduled the first two Sundays. I hate that. But, I think it's probably not gonna happen again--We've had a big freeroll tournament going on these past two weekends, the preliminary rounds were last weekend, and the final three tables took place yesterday. No more freeroll tourneys, no more Sunday shifts for Mikey.

I got called in two hours earlier than scheduled, but it worked out perfectly--I got some time in at a couple of juicy cash games, then dealt one single tournament 'down'. The final three tables ended in less than two hours, so I didn't have to stay the entire shift. But the beauty of it is when it got down to the final nine players, they decided to chop up the prize money, since it was a freeroll. And the players were kind enough to take several hundred dollars out of the prize pool and give it to the dealers before they chopped up the money--so for my leisurely half-hour I spent dealing in the tourney, my share was eighty bucks. Gotta love that, because I also did really well for myself at the cash tables. So even though I missed out on a full afternoon of sitting on the couch watching football, I had a damn fine day at work.

The night game was still going on once I got done, so I headed over to the sports book to watch from there. And during the games, they have a hot dog and beer cart set up in the back of the book, with nothing on the menu costing more than a dollar. I spent four bucks on two dogs and two Buds, and enjoyed myself thoroughly for a couple of hours, which was even better because the Cowboys got beat. Who doesn't love that?

Today, I don't have too much on the agenda except to get my dining room completely cleared out. It's been kind of a dead zone since I moved into this place back in May. The only thing I have there a big six-foot long indoor-outdoor utility table, kinda like the ones they use at church socials, pushed up against the wall with a checkered tablecloth covering it. And I've been using it as a catch-all for tools, boxes, junk mail, etc. And there are a couple of storage totes underneath it, too. But I've got to take it down and get everything stowed properly because my new booze cabinet is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, and it goes in the exact spot where the table is now.

I anticipate that the assembly of the cabinet will be an all-afternoon affair, probably being even more involved than my TV stand was, so I've got to get everything else done before I tackle that job. Yesterday morning, while I was watching the early games, I put together the nightstand and the lamp, and also hung my wire baskets in the kitchen. I would've done all that last week, but this whole working-five-days-a-week thing really puts a crimp in my outside activities. Well, that, and having five or six books delivered from Amazon doesn't help, either.

So I guess I better get after it--the coffee pot is down to the last half-cup or so and the FedEx guy may surprise me and show up today (word around the campfire is that the cabinet left Nashville three days ago, so it might be here in Henderson as we speak). I may take a break and post again later, but like a 38-yard chip shot at Soldier Field, don't count on it...

Mikey