Back In My Cage

Howdy, strangers!

I've had a wonderful break from the computer for several days, and I wish I could have a few more. But, no, here I am making sure you have a way to waste a few minutes on hump day. Last week, I just didn't have anything interesting to write about. Then a small cadre of buffoons came to town for March Madness.

This year was easily the most mellow and least drunken of the seven-plus years I've been participating. First of all, we had a few no-shows. And none of my original Phoenix gang came up, either. So attendance was way down. On the other hand, I had a wonderful visit with Angy, CoolP also came to town, and I cashed in the T2V Poker Tourney, which is especially impressive because when the thing kicked off at 1:00 pm on Saturday, I'd been up for 25 hours straight.

I think the highlight of the weekend, for me, was late on Saturday night after Angy's party wound down, CoolP, Bill Gates, and I took over a $25 Pai Gow table at the MGM Grand and laid waste to it for several hours, coloring up with several purple chips. After that, the lovely Erica joined us and we had a late dinner at Wolfgang Puck. And for those of you who don't have nearly enough cholesterol in your diet, I heartily recommend the 'Croque Madame'--seriously, I felt like I'd eaten a full bucket of bacon grease when I finished that thing. Basically it's a triple-decker grilled ham and gruyere sandwich, covered with melted cheese, Bechamel sauce, and then, if your arteries aren't already hard enough, they top it with a fried egg. Oh, it's tasty and all, but damn, I think each time you eat one you lose six months at the end of your life. I ordered it on CoolP's recommendation, but I think I'm one-and-done on that particular treat.

As far as the rest of the weekend went, it could be more easily summed up in the things I didn't do. I didn't play craps or blackjack at all, I didn't make a single bet on basketball, and I didn't play one hand of poker outside of the tournament. I didn't even take any pictures this time around, either. I did, however, play quite a bit of Pai Gow with CoolP, and there were a couple of group dinners that were a lot of fun (Maggiano's and PF Chang's). I also pulled an all-nighter with Angy on Friday, and by the time I finally got to bed, I'd been up for 30 hours straight. Even then, I only took a two-hour power nap, then got up, slammed two bottles of Five Hour Energy, and got back in the game.

The bummer of the whole thing was that I had to work on Sunday night, and I've worked every night since then. Like the song says, ain't no rest for the wicked.

But the weekend is over, my bracket is in tatters, and the buffoons have all returned home. We're back to our normal programming now.

If anything interesting happens, you'll be the first to know.

Mikey