I think it was the 19th of December...Yeah, not much going on around here today. I'm just killin' time until the Cowboys/Saints game comes on in an hour, and then I'll find myself firmly planted on the couch for the balance of the evening.
Last night, I went out and played some poker again, and had some wild swings. At one point, I was up a hundred bucks, and had an offer to cash out and go to Buffalo Wild Wings with some friends. I should've done it, but I was in a game with three of the biggest fish on the planet, and I didn't want to leave. Of course, you know what happened next--I took a couple of amazingly bad 2-outer beats and it crippled my stack, just a few minutes after my friends had left.
That sucked. It seemed like that's where the wheels came off and an hour later, instead of being up a hundred bucks, I was down seventy. Talk about a crappy swing in momentum. It took me almost three hours to build my stack back up, but when the game broke, I was still stuck almost thirty bucks. That pissed me off, but there's not much I can do about it. Just once I'd like to hit all of my draws like my opponents do...
Anyhow, enough kvetching about that. Overall, I still kick ass at the poker table, and my wins this year have far exceeding any losses, but once you get used to winning all the time, a few losses really sting. On the other hand, while I was sitting there in the poker room, one of my favorite gals I hadn't seen in months came strolling in, so I bailed on the game and sat and talked with her for a bit. (And her perfume rubbed off on me and I could still smell it on my pillow this morning when I woke up. Kinda like the morning after going to the strip club with your buddies, but without the glitter or the shame of an empty wallet). So I guess that was the highlight of my night.
Today started off with a whimper, but my phone was ringing bright and early. It turns out that now that I've got this new contract with unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling and unlimited calling to five other numbers, everyone back in Tennessee wants to chat every day. Especially when they're out driving (I'm lookin' at you, Possum!). Amy is especially bad about it, as I don't think she knows how to drive unless she's got an earphone plugged into her head and somebody on the line. And she lives 30 miles from civilization, out in Columbia, so whenever she's on the road to town, my phone rings.
Anyhow, the fam was getting together for a big cookie exchange, brunch, and party for Mamasan--her birfday is on Sunday. Now, it would be ungentlemanly of me to reveal her true age, so we'll just say that Pearl Harbor was still a smoldering wreck when she arrived on the scene... Speaking of Mamasan, she was kind enough to send along another batch of peanut butter balls, along with some ginger cookies. They arrived today, and when I answered the door, the mailman was standing there with a package in hand. I got a laugh when he deadpanned "Here Mikey, I think your mom sent you some Christmas goodies..."
Besides that, the brown-suited Santa Claus made another appearance. Dave P hooked a brotha up with a Coast Guard navigation book (very useful when Eddie and I go sailing this summer, since I've pretty much forgotten all the 'rules of the road' I learned back in 2001). He also sent along a WWII aviation book, which everyone knows that I dig the military history stuff, and also in the box was the board game 'Sequence'. I love that game. I don't know how many of you are familiar with it, but back when I lived in Nashville, my sister Cyndi introduced me to it, and we'd play it a lot at her house. But because everyone else had jobs at the time, early on in my time there, Mamasan and I would play it for hours on end during the day when I was doing my initial job search. And then once my employment ended and I had two months with nothing to do before I moved to Vegas, we played it pretty much every day, wearing the board out almost to the point where it was bleached white. So if you're in the market for a board game, you can't go wrong with Othello or Sequence. They're waaaay more fun than Monopoly, but then again, they're strategy-based, so it's good for the brain, which I like.
Also, a couple more people hit the PayPal tip jar this week, and I appreciate that very much. And I want to give a shout-out of thanks to a reader who wishes to remain anonymous, but I was given the gift of a free year of Amazon Prime membership, which basically means free 2-day shipping on anything I buy--no need to build up to $25 worth of eligible stuff and then waiting ten days to get it. That's quite a deal, and for that, and everything else, I am most thankful to you folks.
I escaped the house for a bit today, and went down and picked up all my work pants from the alterations shop. Just $48 later and I've got four new-to-me trendy black polyester poker pants. Yay. If any of you locals need alterations or repair done to you clothes, I can't recommend 'Alterations By George' highly enough! He's in that plaza on the corner of Sunset and Eastern, over by the airport, directly across the parking lot from the McDonald's. I've been using his services for years, and he does excellent work at a fair price.
Anyhow, once I fetched my clothes, I headed over to Albertson's to use my 'Christmas Bonus'. Every year the casino gives us a $25 gift card. It's not much, especially when I remember back in the day working at other places when the Christmas bonus was a hundred-dollar American Express gift card and a thousand dollars cash... But hey, it's something. The company I work for is bankrupt and likely to be taken over (if you believe the local news), so anything is a nice gesture.
And, every year, the Alberston's on Sunset and Green Valley Parkway gets hit the day after payday by hoards of employees from the four local casinos in the neighborhood, and the liquor section looks like it had been attacked by a hoard of locusts. All that's left on the shelves is Sambuca a few bottles of off-brand gin. But they'd restocked by the time I got there, so I picked up some Bailey's. I was gonna get some more Captain Morgan, but Bailey's had an in-store promo going, with the girls in the tight outfits pouring samples, and the bottles were five bucks off the regular price today. They also gave me a coupon for another three bucks off after I took a sample. Not bad! With the money I saved, I picked up another bottle of Peppermint Schnapps, because I'm suddenly runnin' low. I grabbed a few other things, like Vernor's Ginger Ale (Albertson's is the only place that carries it), and headed on back here to the house. Most of my afternoon since then has been spent cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry.
Although besides household chores, I took some time out for a few hours to finish off one of the books I received last week--I'll do a full-on book report later. But that's pretty much it for my weekend. I don't anticipate going out tonight. After the football games are over, I've got plenty of diversions here at the house to keep me busy.
Mikey
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