...And I'm coming to the tail-end of it.I've been up since about 10 pm last night, and I am just flat worn out. I'm about to crash like Eldrick after a full day eatin' turkey and sparring with the wife.
First of all, I worked last night. Unfortunately, a couple of the short-stacks went broke early and that has a tendency to kill the game. So once I closed my table and helped the floorman shut the room down, I headed for the exit, just a little too early for my liking. Oh well--I can't complain too much--I'm having a much better week than I was last week.
Once I left work, I headed over to WallyWorld to pick up a couple of things I'd forgotten earlier in the week--paper towels and dishwasher soap tablets. Of course, then I remembered to get a couple of gallons of oil for the deep fryer, wing sauce, and chicken wings. And since they still weren't selling Mexican Coke at Costco the last time I was there, I had to break down and get the crummy stuff in the plastic bottles (as much as I love rum, I don't drink it straight). Anyhow, my quick trip to the store to get a couple of things turned into a full-on shopping trip that cost me damn near seventy bucks.
My phone had been ringing all evening before I went to work--a friend of mine was under a deadline and needed my mad writing skillz. So he showed up at 3:30 in the morning, and we stayed up all night writing, drafting, editing, and formatting his particular project. I have to admit--even though we killed an entire cartridge of printer ink and several pots of coffee, the manuscript in question turned out pretty damn nice. (It's a double-secret probation type of project, so I'm not at liberty to discuss any further details). I'm just glad it's over. I'd been involved in a very minor capacity for some time, but yesterday I was neck-deep. Maybe now I can get back to concentrating on my own stories.
Anyhow, he rolled out around 9:00 o'clock this morning, and I tried to go to bed, but sleep wouldn't come after all that coffee. So I got on the phone and begged Mamasan to send me another batch of peanut butter balls. Not that the first batch are all gone, but damn, there are still ten days until Christmas and I'm not sure they're gonna last. It only took about a half-hour or so of arm-twisting, begging, and deal-making, but I think I might get some more. Happy Holidays to me!
Speaking of happy holidays, I have to give a few more shout-outs. Apparently, I've been a very good boy this year, as my readers have gone crazy with the Amazon wish list! Thank you all so very much! It really means a lot to me because, one, it takes my mind off the fact that I'm not back in Tennessee spending Christmas the way I'd prefer, and two, it makes me feel like all that scribbling I do on this website is appreciated. So for that, I thank you all.
But more specifically, I want to thank T-Rev for the book and the DVDs. He managed to score a direct hit with almost all my interests--poker, WWII, and irreverent comedy. And I've also got to say thanks to Chris the Habanaman. Not only did he send along a great board game (Othello--it's so addictive), but he added some finery to my new coffee table with a large-format book with lots of pictures of tall ships. Love it! I also want to thank Mandy in Arizona for the book about working on the cruise ships. Several people have asked me why I don't go that route and deal on the love boat until the economy in Vegas turns around. The truth is, I don't have a really good answer to that question, but I think this new book might give me some more insight. I also want to give a shout out to the person who sent along the earbuds. They came anonymously, so I don't have a name to recognize here on the blog, but whoever you are, thank you very much. The more time I spend at the poker table, the more times I take my iPod on and off and I've ordered replacement earbuds twice already. Now I've got a year's supply.
So yeah, I'm feeling very fortunate and grateful this week--thank you all again! I'll try and keep the stories coming.
Once I finished begging for peanut butter balls and opening the packages left on my front porch, I had some errands to run. I took a big laundry bag full of clothes to the alterations guy. I had four pairs of those trendy black work pants in need of repair, and a few other things that needed to be taken in. Not that I'm doing anything proactively, but I've gone down a size in the past couple of months and some of my clothes just won't stay on. I even had to bust out the power drill the other day and add new holes to a couple of belts that were just too loose, so I got that goin' for me, which is nice.
After I finished my business at the alterations shop, I headed over to Costco. While doing my surfing this morning, I saw that the local warehouse just started selling the Mexican Coke again yesterday, and I wanted to pick up a case. I also wanted to see if I could get some peanut oil. I bought regular vegetable oil at WallyWorld several hours before, but I'd prefer to use peanut oil in the deep fryer. So off to Costco I went.
First thing--yep, Coke is back on the shelves, so I happily put a case of Mexican Red in my cart. As far as the peanut oil goes, they only sold it in 35-lb. 'Jerry cans'. No thanks. But while I was there, I couldn't help myself--I had to stop by the wireless booth and look at the phones. Just this morning while out driving around, I was talking to Dougie, and my dependable old blue KRZR literally fell apart in my hand. It had a long and dutiful life, but I've just beat the hell out of that thing over the past two years and it was getting close to the time where I have to take it to the cell phone hospice.
For a long time, I thought of upgrading to an Droid and changing to Verizon, but honestly, I've had very good luck with AT&T. They are soooo much better than Sprint, who I vowed would never get a dime of my business ever again. I thought about getting an iPhone, but that whole iTunes restriction on ringtones was a huge stumbling block. Also, I don't feel like I need to have internet access on my phone right now, either, but may want to in the future, and if I got a Droid or an iPhone, I'd be forced to have internet service, padding my bill to an unacceptably high level.
So I've been looking at the LG Xenon every time I went in there, and decided that it was the phone for me. Unfortunately, it was never on sale. All the rest of the ugly phones were always free with a new contract, but never the cool-looking Xenon. So I waited. Finally, the time was right and they offered a huge instant rebate on the thing so I finally decided to do some business (I got it for less than thirty bucks!).
However, since I was no longer on a contract with AT&T and was grandfathered on one of the old Cingular plans that hasn't existed in years, I wasn't able to keep my old phone number--in order to upgrade, I had to change it. Apparently, all those old Cingular numbers have to go extinct at some point.
No biggie. I'd asked about that at other outlets, and they all told me the same thing. So I was prepared. But since I was able to choose my new number, I managed to get a very easy-to-remember one, or as a few people have pointed out already, It sounds like it should be a 900- sex line! Heh.
Maybe it is, depending on who's calling. Know what I'm sayin'?
Once that little chore was done, I hit the bank, made a deposit, dropped off some mail, and came on home. I grabbed a quick bite to eat and started digesting the instruction manual for the new phone, but I'm just too damn tired now. It's been a very long day, and I have to work tonight. So I'm off to bed.
Catch y'all later!
Mikey
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