Leftovers? Not So Much

Again, I apologize for the lack of interesting posts right now, but the stress of the unknown has been weighing heavily on my mind lately, and it just saps the creativity right out of me. However, all is not lost--there is a glimmer of hope and the wheels of progress are turning ever so slowly. I'll say no more until I know more, but right now, I'm cautiously optimistic.

But enough about that. Let's talk about what really brings in the crowds--food!

Yep, even though I have no creativity at the keyboard right now, I still have mad skillz in the kitchen, and man oh man, did they ever shine on Wednesday night.

It was our usual poker night, and lately, I've felt like we've been in a rut as far as munchies go. It seems that we always have either pizza, wings, little smokies, queso dip, or some combination thereof. Nobody complains, that's for sure, but I felt like we needed some variety.

Not only that, but we didn't even play poker this time around. After I taught the fellas how to play 'golf' last Wednesday, that's all they wanted to play this week. New game, new menu--it had to be done.

So I thought that I'd make something special this time around, and eventually I decided to make pulled pork bbq. Now, I don't have a smoker, but that's an easy fix. So here's what I did:

First of all, I had bacon for breakfast. This is a very important step. I cook my bacon in a huge cast-iron skillet that weighs about as much as a TV set--it's the most useful implement in the ol' kitchen toolbox as far as I'm concerned. So anyhow, after I had my bacon, I got rid of most--but not all--of the drippings, and I didn't wash the pan, either. I heated it back up, and tossed in a nice hefty $9.00 pork roast that I picked up at the grocery store. I gave it a good sear on all sides, letting some of that bacon goodness seep into the meat. Once it had a nice bacony caramelized outer shell on it, I transferred the whole thing into the crock pot.

I set it on low, at first, and doctored the meat up a bit. Into the pot went an envelope of Lipton onion soup mix, a couple of cloves of minced garlic, a little fresh cracked black pepper (no salt needed--there's plenty in the onion soup mix), about a quarter cup of water, and a quarter cup of Coca Cola.

I let that slow-cook for a couple of hours, then turned it up to 'high' for two more hours after that. That's when the house really started to smell good. After four hours, I turned the crockpot down to 'low' again, this time for another hour. After five hours in the meat sauna, it was just about ready. So I carefully transferred the pork roast to a huge Pyrex mixing bowl, and attacked it with two forks, shredding the meat. It was extremely tender, and very easy to work with--it basically fell apart with very little effort.

Once the meat was all shredded, I poured off all but about a quarter cup of the drippings in the crockpot, and whatever was left, I poured over the meat in the mixing bowl to keep it moist. Then I added an entire bottle of KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce, a generous squeeze of Sriracha hot Thai chili sauce, a few drops of liquid smoke, and another quarter cup of Coca Cola. I mixed it all up an put it back in the crockpot. Then I took the empty bottle of BBQ sauce, added a splash of water to it, put the lid back on, shook it up, and emptied the dregs into the crockpot also--a little extra moisture doesn't hurt at all, and you want all that bbq sauce goodness.

I left the crockpot on low for about another hour, when my guests started arriving, but I stirred it around every ten or fifteen minutes or so (you don't want the bbq sauce to scorch, so you kind of have to babysit it, and also, when you take the lid off, the smell is just amazing...) After about an hour, I turned it down to the 'Keep Warm' setting.

Anyhow, once people started showing up, their reaction was the same--Holy shiat it smells good in here! I had some good onion buns to make the sandies with, and they were a hit, too. And of course, one can't have good bbq without coleslaw, so earlier in the day I ran down to the KFC on East Tropicana and picked up two large containers of the good stuff. I think we also had kettle-cooked Maui Onion tater chips, plus an assortment of beer and other drinks.

Let me tell you--everyone raved about the food this time around, and they tore through my kitchen like a biblical horde of locusts. And oh by the way, they want me to make the same thing again next week. (Everyone went back for seconds and thirds until there was nothing left but an empty crockpot and a garbage can full of dirty paper plates)

I didn't think about taking any pictures at the time, but then, I wasn't thinking about writing about it, either. Hell, I had no idea that it would turn out to be such a hit, so y'all will just have to use your imagination (or Google Image Search, like I did).

Anyhow, poker night went well, and we stayed up goofing off until almost 2:00 in the morning. Once the food was gone and the game was over, we lounged about smoking cigars (well, AC and I smoked the pipes). Overall, it was a very enjoyable and fun evening, highlighted by some damn good food.

And I know what you're thinking--Why Coca Cola? I don't know, but it's one of those magical ingredients that makes pork taste better. Some hillbilly discovered it years and years ago, and now it's a staple of southern cooking. Baste a baked ham with it sometime, and you'll know what I mean.

So that's what went down on Wednesday night here at Casa de Mikey--lots of good food, plenty of beer and cocktails to drink, a great game of cards, and lots of fine tobacco was smoked. Yep, it was a pretty good Hump Day, one that I can't wait to do all over again next week.

Mikey

I Got Nuthin'

Seriously. Nothing interesting to write about. I wish I did, but the ol' brainpan is a blank slate. As far as the job goes, I think that they're quietly easing me out the door. I'm not on the schedule again after Thursday, and there hasn't been a peep about the paperwork I submitted for sticking around.

Oh well. I knew it was a temp job going in.

So I'm back to pounding the pavement. Kinda sucks that there are basically only six places to apply for jobs in this town, iffin' you want to work in a casino.

I'll be back in a couple of days.

Mikey

Another Successful Poker Night

It had been far too long. The natives were gettin' restless. I hadn't hosted my usual weekly poker night in almost a month and something had to be done.

So I sent out a mass text message to my crew on Monday, seeing who might be interested in cranking it up a notch. I got two maybes, one 'I'll be there really late', and three other definite attendees. Sounded like just enough to run a game of Chinese poker.

That meant that Wednesday was clean-the-house day. Not only did I have to make the bathroom sparkle in case any of the gals showed up, but I had to bust out with the broom, mop, and vacuum, too.

I also did a bunch of shopping beforehand, too. I made the usual spicy Rotel queso dip with hot sausage, but I also made a pot of bbq'd Little Smokies (everyone loves those things!) and then I went out on a limb and made a big bowl of homemade salsa. I mentioned it earlier--the black bean and pineapple salsa. Oh hell yeah was it ever good... Everyone raved about it. It's pretty simple--just a can of black beans (drained and rinsed), a couple cans of pineapple tidbits, a chopped red pepper, a chopped jalapeno (minus the seeds), a handful of chopped cilantro, the tops of six green onions, a quarter cup of pineapple juice, and a generous splash of zesty Italian dressing. Mix it all up and let it marinate together for a few hours, and oh holy hell--some of the best damn salsa you've ever eaten. So good!

Luckily, there was a little bit leftover, so tonight I'm gonna grill some tequila lime chicken and garnish it with the salsa.

Oh, and we had a whole mess of Pacifico, Corona, and Smirnoff blueberry lemonade. No mudslides or margaritas this time--all the gals bailed on us, so it was just the dudes last night.

We had a great time, too. James was the big winner, racking up a $35+ win. I came in second place, with a $24 profit. Dave lost about twelve bucks, and Zack got the collar, losing his entire stake and then some. After he bailed out, the three of us hung out for a bit--AC called and said he be there around 11:00, but he never made it (he was in the chair getting some elaborate ink done, and it took all evening). So James, Dave, and I cashed in our chips and then played another card game called 'golf' for a few hours, finally calling it a night sometime around 1:30 this morning.

For having an epic poker night, the kitchen and dining room were in surprisingly good shape after all was said and done--I did a quick post-party cleanup, but left a sink full of dishes to worry about sometime later this afternoon once I get some sleep. But man, there are a ton of empty bottles to get rid off. It's funny, when the gals come over to play, I have tons of leftovers, and they hardly drink anything. But when it's all dudes, it's like a swarm of locusts hit. Which is totally cool with me--I need the room in my fridge.

I'm off tonight, but since the FedEx man dropped off a bunch of books for me yesterday, I'm not going out or spending any money. I'm going to stay in, enjoy a cool beverage and the breeze of the ceiling fan, and just chill like I'm getting paid to lounge around.

You office drones have a lovely Thursday, and all you clowns up in Wisconsin try to be safe this weekend. No more hospital visits or wrecked ATVs. And try to limit the number of gunshot wounds this year, too.

Mikey

The REAL Cruise Week

Y'all remember back a couple of years ago when I did my own 'Cruise Week' post? I think, at the time, I was a year away from the next planned cruise with the family. Well, due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to go on that one--my sisters went without me.

However... That won't be the case this year.

In less than three months, I'm eastbound and down! Yep, it's creeping up on me--the regularly scheduled Sibling Revelry cruise is just around the corner. I can't wait. We planned this thing a year ago, and I paid it off a few months back, and not only that, I also got my plane ticket as soon as Southwest opened up the dates. All I have left to do is gather a little spending money and rent my James Bond tuxedo and I'm good to go.

This time, we're doing it right. No more piling four of us into one interior cabin down in steerage with the goats, chickens, and Irishmen. Instead, we've got four cabins in a row, all with balconies. And Sherry and her husband Steve have a mack-daddy suite on the stern of the ship, with a huge balcony.

It's gonna be a good time.

Of course, now that it's getting close, the emails and chatter have started to increase in volume. Lots of 'what should we do in this port?' and 'who's gonna sneak which booze onboard?' type of stuff.

Since I live so frickin' far away from our departure port in Florida, I'm heading out a day early--already have the hotel room paid for, too! There are just no flights leaving Vegas early enough in the day to get me to the ship on time for embarkation, not to mention any extra time for delays, so I'm just gonna go ahead and get out there a day ahead of everyone and then just meet up with them once we board.

Man--I can't wait. I haven't been on a cruise since 2004, and I'm good and ready to go. It's been far too long. Hopefully, at one of our stops, I'll be able to get some daysailing done. I really miss that. If not, I'll be content to plant my ass on the beach somewhere--toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand--and just enjoy the view and the tropical breeze.

Three months, baby. That's all. It'll be here before I know it.

Mikey

Long Nights, Impossible Odds

Well, at least I think I'll be able to sleep tonight.

I was running on about three hours of quality snooze time when I went to work yesterday afternoon, and I was beat. Although I didn't sign the Early Out list when I got there, I think in the back of my mind I was totally cool with getting the quick hook.

And once I clocked in, I thought for sure it would happen. We only had two games going and five dealers. But we managed to scrounge up enough players to start a sit-n-go type tournament, and before I knew it, it was 11:30 at night and I was looking at completing a full 'hard eight'.

That was nice, since I only had two days this week. But I'm back to the grind with plenty of hours next week, and I've already got a few days on the schedule in August, so things are looking good.

Another side effect of that rut I've been talking about is that I haven't been eating anything either. Too unmotivated to go grocery shopping, much less cook, I've been back to living on granola bars and Gatorade lately. So when I got out of work last night, I was starving. Casa di Amore is closed on Tuesday nights, so that was out of the question. Instead, I just made a midnight run to Del Taco. I haven't had that in months, maybe years. Hell, I don't remember the last time I went to Del Taco. But it was damn good. Waaaay better than Taco Bell (although the Bell has it's place too). So I enjoyed my two Big Fat Steak Tacos and a nice watery fountain Coke while surfing the net and trying to come up with a to-do list for when I wake up.

Oh, I've got to run to the post office and the alterations shop (six weeks of double shifs beat the hell out of several pairs of those sexy black polyester work pants, so they need to go in for a tune-up), and then I'm gonna hit the grocery store to get a few more munchies for poker night. I'm gonna go ahead and make my spicy Ro-Tel dip, but Mamasan turned me on to a black-bean pineapple salsa dip recipe that everyone raved about this weekend, so I'll probably do that, too.

But I've got to get all that stuff done early--the FedEx man in bringing me all kinds of goodies from Amazon, and they never knock on the door. They just throw the boxes into my camp chair out on the patio and keep on truckin'. At least UPS has the courtesy to knock and wake my ass up, which I appreciate, but it also kinda sucks because the damn UPS man has seen my lucky Elvis boxers a whole helluva lot more lately than any of my lady friends have.

Oh well. That's all there is from this corner of the neon playground. Y'all have a wonderful hump day.

Mikey

Bored, Can't Sleep, Unmotivated...

Man, I am in a severe funk this week. I just can't seem to move on all eight cylinders.

Remember how I was so tired for so long because of work? Well now, I cannot sleep at all. I have the worst insomnia every night and end up lurking around the house doing not a damn thing, but then I eventually pass out around 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning. Usually I get about two hours of sleep, but without fail, the phone rings, somebody knocks at the door, or there's enough noise outside to wake me up. So I get up, drag ass around for several hours, then lay in bed all night trying to sleep. It's been an endless cycle for a couple of weeks now.

That would explain the dearth of interesting posts. Seriously, I've gone back and read everything for the past month or so and I must apologize. I'm ashamed of my lack of effort. But right now, I'm just not feelin' it--in a big way. It's not like I don't have the time to do it, either. It's just that my brain feels like a cold cup of coffee, forgotten on the nightstand.

I suppose that most of it has to do with being up in the air about the job situation. I'm highly confident that I'll have a permanent spot, but damn, I just wish they'd tell me already--one way or the other. It seems that most of my decisions--even little piddly ones, hang in the balance waiting to find out. I mean, I'm not gonna go to Costco and shell out a couple hundred bucks on economy-sized laundry soap and other non-perishables if I find out that I'm out of a job next week. So I don't do that. Same with going to the regular grocery store--do I stock up, like I usually want to do, or do I sit and wait, because there's an off-chance that I'd bail out of Vegas completely if I'm unemployed again. And who the hell wants to pack up a pantry full of canned goods?

I have a little money stashed away to survive on for awhile, but even so, the economy out here still sucks, and if it doesn't improve soon, well, I'm not gonna be out contributing to it, either. I'm kind of in 'bunker' mode right now. I haven't gone out and done anything fun in awhile, and part of the reason is that I just don't want to spend the money.

Oh well. That's the way it goes. Maybe I'll know something this week. Believe me, if I find out that I *am* going to be kept on permanently, well, it'll be like the weight of the world off my shoulders and I'm guessing that the floodgates of creativity and productivity will come crashing open.

Other than that, right now I'm working my way through a couple of less-than-stellar books that have been sitting on my shelf for awhile. On the other hand, we have a full crew confirmed for poker night tomorrow night, so that'll be a lot of fun. AC still has softball, so he won't be around spilling drinks or burning holes in the green felt this week, but we'll somehow manage to still have a good time. I still have plenty of mudslide and margarita mix on hand, and a case of Mexican beer in the fridge, so I guess all we need is some munchies and we'll be good to go.

Later kiddies...

Mikey

So Why Don't Ya Kill Me...

Yep. I'm a loser, baby!

Just let me tell you how much...

I set my alarm, showered, shaved, got dressed in my black & whites, sat in Saturday night strip gridlock, and showed up to work. All good, right?

Except that when I got there I found out that I wasn't even scheduled to work. I just went out of habit. I work every other Saturday night--I have all summer long. But apparently, I can't read a schedule, and I was actually off. In fact, I only had two days scheduled this week--I don't work again until Tuesday.

First, I was a little irritated because weekends are usually a good chance to make some great money, but then I stepped back and took a look at the big picture. We're down to just a handful of temps now, and another one is leaving on Sunday. I figured, if they were gonna dump me, they wouldn't keep me on the schedule for just two days, especially when it's kinda slow. So I'm liking my chances. Besides, before I turned around and split, I saw that next week's schedule was already up, and I've got four days on it, plus another on-call day. That's more like it!

But still, no official word yet.

I know things are gonna pick up again in September when football season starts, and I can survive on two or three days a week until then. But I'd just like to know that I've got a permanent job. This long-term temp stuff, I think, is directly responsible for the fact that I just can't sleep at night anymore.

Normally I'd be out looking for another job, but I'm not gonna make the mistake of having schedule conflicts if I can possibly keep this job--it's by far the best I could hope for in this economy, and anything they want from me is top priority. Besides, if I get a permanent gig, I won't need a second job. I lived quite comfortably on the peanuts I was making at Sunset Station for the past two years, and this new gig is a cash cow compared to that job.

Speaking of Sunset, I had drinks with AC last week and he told me some interesting stuff. They fired another dealer for some sketchy-sounding reason. (It seems to be a well-known trade practice there that they'd much rather fire people for the slightest thing so that they don't have to pay severance that comes with doing proper layoffs). Second of all, they also booted four full-time dealers back to the extra board, taking away benefits and such and making them part-time, on-call. Truly that place is circling the bowl, and I'm guessing that a year from now there won't even be a poker room--probably two tables at the end of the pit, Terrible's style.

The more I think about it, the more I'm glad I got out of there when I did. If I were still there these past few months, I'd probably have been booted a couple weeks ago when they did their latest housecleaning; and right now, two weeks after the World Series, is *not* the time to be out of a job if you're a poker dealer in Las Vegas.

Hell, I went down there on Wednesday night to play a little bit, but it downright sucked. At 9:30 at night, they only had two 4-8 games going, and both of them were shorthanded. Not even a half hour later, our table broke, so there was only one game. And it was pathetic. I don't think I've ever been so bored in my life at the poker table. After a couple of orbits, I just said the hell with this lame-ass casino and colored up. I don't think I'll be going back.

Green Valley isn't much better, and as much as I love The M, it's still 15 miles away--downtown is closer, and I'm only seven-and-a-half miles from the Strip. I'm gonna have to find another 'home' poker room soon. Until then, I signed up with Full Tilt, but I still haven't funded my account yet. I'm debating whether or not to do it at all. I think I'd rather find a good live Omaha High game, but the nearest one at Boulder Station is a smoking room, and their regulars make the crowd that hangs out at the trailer park laundry mat look like a bunch of blue-bloods at a country club.

So what else is new?

Well, I've gotten some more reading done. Normally I'm not a fiction fan at all, but based on recommendations, I've gotten extremely lucky. I've already mentioned how much I enjoyed the Dewey Lambdin books, and my dad told me about a good one that he liked a lot: Scorpion in the Sea, by P.T. Deutermann. So I ordered it last week and it arrived Thursday afternoon. I stayed up all night reading it--another one I couldn't put down--and finished it around eight o'clock the next morning. Yes, that good. So good, in fact, that I ordered four more books by the same author. They'll be here on Wednesday, which sucks, because that's when my new work-week starts. I've got nothing to do for the next two days, so I think I may hit up the local Barnes & Noble in the morning.

Since I'm so bored and there's only so much housecleaning and reading I can do (still too damn hot to play outside), I'll probably host another poker night on Wednesday. It's been a few weeks and I think the natives are getting restless. And permanent job or no, I'm getting to the point where I want to bust out that big-assed 2000 piece puzzle and start putting it together.

Maybe tomorrow night I'll get adventurous in the kitchen, too.

Mikey

It's Hump Day... Again

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I hope all you working stiffs are enjoying the midweek grind, while I, well, I'm not doing much of anything.

I had a lot of grandiose plans for getting things done yesterday, but I'll admit. It just never happened. I swear, I had zero motivation all day long. On the other hand, I've gotten a lot of reading done, something I really enjoy. Especially since it's too damn hot to sit out in the sun by the pool in the afternoon. I mean, 114 degrees--fark that. There is no shade until early evening out there, so it's just too damn hot, no matter how many contraband bottles of beer I haul out there with me. 'Tis much better to lounge around in the air-conditioned comfort of my living room while basking in the pleasant breeze of the ceiling fan.

What was I reading, you ask? Well, on Monday night and into Tuesday, I was reading Check Raising the Devil, the autobiography of Mike 'The Mouth' Matusow. It's actually a very good book--much much better than I expected. And you get a whole new perspective on him, the side the ESPN cameras never seem to show. Well worth reading, if you get the chance. But you can't borrow mine--it's a personally signed copy, and the inscription in the front says: To Mikey -- If you suck out on me again, I'll kick your ass!

Yes, I met Mike Matusow a few weeks back and had a very interesting conversation with him. And to tell you the truth, he's actually one of the nicer poker players I've ever met. All that stuff you've seen on TV is highly edited, and he's definitely the not the same person he was five years ago. Same thing for Phil Hellmuth--I've talked to him a couple of times this summer and he is 180 degrees different when there are no cameras around. People have told me that his whole 'poker brat' shtick is just an act, and I'm a believer. He's actually a pretty nice guy. The only pro I've seen act like kind of a dickhead lately is Phil Ivey. I wasn't impressed with him very much at all. But I only saw him for a few minutes, so it wasn't like I was at the table with him for hours.

I could go on and on (Jerry Yang--also extremely nice, as is Dennis Phillips), but I won't--lets just say that my jobs this summer have afforded me some pretty interesting opportunities...

But back to the books. I actually finished Matusow's book, cover-to-cover, in just over four hours. I literally couldn't put it down. Last night, I was looking for something else to read, and I picked up The Requiem Shark, by Nicholas Griffin. I think I bought it about five years ago, and it's been on the bookshelf ever since. So far, I'll give it a five on the one-to-ten scale. It's ok, and I think most people that are into seafaring adventure fiction would probably like it, but having digested 16 volumes of the Alan Lewrie series in the past couple of months, well, the bar was set pretty high, and this book falls a little short, at least to me. The premise is good; a young and educated fiddler is pressed onto a merchant ship in the early 18th century, but the ship is then captured by the pirate 'Black Bart', and the protagonist is taken aboard in the employ of the pirate captain as a biographer/historian of all of their seafaring adventures and misdeeds.

Like I said, it's ok, but it doesn't feel nearly as 'authentic' as some of the better books I've read in the genre. I'm about two-thirds of the way through it right now, and will probably finish it off sometime this morning.

As far as the rest of my day goes, I'm still looking for inspiration. Wednesdays, this summer, have been my busy errand-running and housecleaning day, as it's usually poker night, and it was generally the only day off I got every week. But today, I don't think I'm gonna do much. There are no plans for poker tonight, and frankly, I don't feel like cleaning, shopping, or cooking, so I'll probably spend another well-deserved quiet evening at home with a good book and a bottle of something tasty. I might even fire up my ol' briarwood pipe and do my thing as an armchair sea captain.

Mikey

This Has Been A Typical Monday...

Yeah, it's been sucking so far...

Like I said, I've had a very busy week, but that came to an end last night. I've worked 11 out of the past 12 days, and now I'm not on the schedule again until at least Friday. Woot!

I haven't had two days off in a row in the last two months, so right now, I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do with myself. But of course, the fickle hand of fate raised it's middle finger at me this morning, and I've been dealing with the fallout for a good portion of the day.

T-Rev was in town for the past few days, and came by the casino to play some hold-em last night. When I got the boot at 1:00 o'clock in the morning, we took off to get some dinner. We hit Casa di Amore (again) and had another helluva feast. I don't recall what he had, but I know we had toasted ravioli and a bottle of damn good wine (half price after midnight on Sunday and Monday nights!). For my dinner I had fettucini alfredo with shrimp and scallops. It was soooo good. The chef really knocked it out of the park with that one.

Anyhow, once I dropped him off back at his hotel, I headed back home to the East Side to try and get some sleep. When I emptied my pockets, I saw that my new replacement phone was jacked up again. It looked like somebody had taken a hammer to the touch screen. No, the glass wasn't broken, but the display looked like a tv test pattern on some really good acid. Of course, it was useless. I managed to make a couple of calls this morning before it completely died, but I figured another trip out to the AT&T warranty center on Decatur and Sahara would be on the top of the to-do list this afternoon.

So I tried to sleep, but then, text messages and stuff started coming in, and I was not only unable to retrieve them, but also unable to see where they were sent from. Even after I popped the SIM card out of the LG and into the spare G0-Phone I have, it didn't show any messages. So if any of you have tried to contact me today before 4:00 pm, I have no way of getting the messages. Sorry.

I managed to get a couple hours worth of sleep, finally, but got up around two in the afternoon, gathered my deposits, paid my bills, got dressed, and headed out. First stop was the bank to deposit a stack of hundies, then over to Costco to fill up the tank (it's $2.75 out here, if anyone is interested).

Then I said Fark it, it has to be done, so I saddled up and made my way over to the west side--a place that I hate to go. And there is absolutely no good way to get from my neighborhood to the corner of Decatur and Sahara, so I mentally prepared myself for eight miles of stoplights in the 114-degree heat as I made my way down Boulder Highway. Stupid traffic all the way, and nobody refusing to come within five miles-per-hour of the speed limit. Not only that, but once I turned onto Sahara, there were dead cars blocking the road everywhere. This heat just kills batteries and radiators out here, and usually, it's taxicabs that break down. It may be 114 in the shade, but in the direct sunlight it's a good 130+, and I hate driving in that, especially in stop-n-go traffic, but it had to be done.

Luckily, I made it to the service center without incident, but of course the toad behind the counter took one look at my phone and said Sorry--this is 'physical damage', and that voids your warranty--nothing we can do. Next! or something to that effect. So they wouldn't do a damn thing for me. The lesson here kids, is NEVER buy an LG phone. Hell, after this whole experience, I wouldn't purchase any electronics made by LG. Seriously, their stuff is such pieces of shiat that I wouldn't use a toothbrush that they manufactured.

So I was there for about, oh, three minutes or so, and then turned around and headed back out into the heat to make my way back over to Henderson. What a waste of time. So once I got home, I dug out the old cheap-ass Samsung Go-Phone, charged it up, and now I'll be using it for the next six months until I'm eligible for an 'upgrade'. At first I'd thought I'd lost all of my contacts, but everything I had up until May (the original breakdown) was saved on my SIM card, so I only lost a few numbers. It doesn't have a full keyboard or all the normal capabilities of a regular 'smart' phone, so those of you who like to send me a lot of texts and pictures and such, please try to curtail it until after the holidays.

But that's not the only thing that's been pissing me off today--I was excited that the Phillies/Cardinals game was on ESPN, so I sat down to watch it. But the past few days, the picture has been disappearing for a few seconds (or minutes) at a time, and wouldn't you know it, in the Cardinals half of the inning where they got three home runs, I missed every single one of them because the picture kept blanking out. (Of course it works fine during the commercials!) So I've been on the phone with the Cox-suckers for the past 20 minutes trying to get that ironed out. I don't know why I even bother to call them--their answer to everything is the same as Microsoft's--just reboot it!

They're also sending some sort of magic signal to my cable box, and they said it'll take a half hour before it diagnoses and cycles through everything, so even though my team is on, I'm unable to watch the game (but thank god for gamecast on ESPN.com!)

Anyhow, that's enough negative vibes for one day. As far as good news goes, I found out today that they will be for sure hiring a few permanent dealers at my casino (formerly known as Job #2, but shall from this point forward be known as The Good Job, or probably just 'the job'). So I spent some time this afternoon doing all the paperwork that they wanted me to do, so now I just have to sit and wait and hope that I'm one of the people that they are keeping. I like my chances though--my co-workers all want me to stay, and my supervisor told me that he'd give me an enthusiastic recommendation, so I hope hope hope that it all works out.

On the other hand, I have absolutely no idea what the time frame is. But as soon as I know--you'll know.

So what else is new? Not a damn thing, to be honest with ya. I've been working so much that I haven't had much of a life, although I did manage to squeeze in a few hours of fun here and there when random friends have come to town. But now that life is somewhat back to normal, I should be able to get back into a routine. Hell, we haven't even been able to do a poker night in almost three weeks!

Once I find out that I have a permanent job, however, it'll be a little bit easier on me and I'm sure I'll sleep better at night, and I'll be able to make plans and such. I've already decided that once I get 'permanent' status (fingers crossed), I'm gonna start on another puzzle and get it framed, buy a poker table, and also maybe get a hookah (the kind you smoke, not the kind that tries to crawl in your car window when you're sitting at a stoplight--get your minds out of the gutter!).

Anyhow, that's the news for now. I'm gonna relax tonight, but tomorrow is full-on housecleaning and laundry day. Now that I've got a bit of time on my hands, I'm gonna get this place organized and stop living out of the basket and the dryer. Oh, I might have a rum drink and spend some time at the pool, too, now that I think about it...

Mikey

Until We Close Our Eyes For Good...

Hey gang.

Sorry for the protracted absence from the keyboard, but damn, I've been a busy little free agent lately. But as of today, I have--count 'em, folks--four full days off in a row!!! That hasn't happened since sometime in late May, and let me tell you, I am good and ready to enjoy them.

So once I get some sleep and get a few errands run, I promise to sit down at the keyboard and pen a few thoughts and maybe get back into my regular writing routine. I've got a 'to do' list that's long and distinguished, so I have to address that stuff first. But then, I'm back to having too much time on my hands, so maybe you re-clickers out there will reap the benefits.

Until then, have a wonderful Monday!

Mikey

Dinner with Steve & Edie, Frank, Sammy, Dino...

... Mayor Oscar, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini, Natalie Cole, and a host of others...

Yep, I have found a new place to hang out.

Back in the day, my favorite after-work joint was Chilly Palmer's over in Henderson. But when I left the pit for the poker room and all of my friends moved on to other jobs or other shifts, we stopped going there. Once I made a bunch of new drinking buddies in the poker room, we started hanging out at Sierra Gold. But James went to day shift, A.C. took a new job, and me, well, I got kicked to the curb. Besides, Sierra Gold is just a little too proud of their prices, I think, and every time I go there, I end up feeling like I got shaken down Mandalay Bay style. (You Vegas veterans know what I'm talking about!)

Anyhow, now that I spend most of my time on The Strip (it only took five years!), I decided that I need a new place to go after work. All the joints out in Henderson are kind of depressing, seeing how the local economy is still in the shiatter, so I felt like I wanted to go somewhere a little more Vegas-y. And I certainly wasn't going to loiter around in my own casino after work, either.

Anyhow, after a month of commuting, I've discovered that the easiest and quickest way back to Hendertucky in the middle of the night is to make my way to Tropicana and take it east until the neon glow in the rear-view mirror disappears below the horizon. At that point, a few twists and turns aside, I am back home in the comfort of my occasionally gated community. And since the employee dining rooms I've been subject to have been less-than-stellar, I'm always starving when my shift finally ends. Besides, one can only live on Gatorade and granola bars so long... So I've been looking for a restaurant/coffee shop/bar/pub to visit a couple of times a week where I can take care of my hunger and my thirst.

Well, I need to look no longer--we have a winner. Ladies and Gentleman, a big round of applause for Casa di Amore on East Tropicana.

Oh, I've been there before. Angy and I talked about going a few times, but we never made it. I think Linda Lou and I had our pre-Thanksgiving dinner there last November. I remember it being pretty good, but I hadn't been there since.

But what got me in the door this time was the fact that somebody last week was sitting in the poker room eating some sort of damn-good-smelling Italian food from somewhere, and ever since then, I've been craving it. For days now, I've been thinking about fettucini alfredo and veal marsala, garlic bread and red wine... And every night I drive by Casa di Amore and I see that blue neon 'OPEN' sign beckoning me, yet I never stopped.

Until last night.

I had a long and busy 7-hour shift before getting cut loose, and yeah, besides being thirsty, I was pretty hungry, too. My first order of business was to stop and get a bottle of Gatorade and damn near shotgun the thing (I swear it's 110 degrees in our poker room every night, so we go through bottled water by the 55-gallon drums on swing shift), but then after that, I told myself that no matter what, I was stopping for a bite to eat at Casa di Amore on my way home.

I pulled in and parked in back (can't use the front door after midnight), and was surprised to see that they were pretty busy once I got inside. I took a seat at the bar (the exact same one the dude in the white t-shirt is sitting in in the picture) and ordered myself a Captain and Coke, with lime, of course.

For those of you that have never been there, the place just oozes that Old Vegas vibe. If it were in Jersey, you'd swear it was mobbed up. Seriously, the first time I had dinner there, I halfway expected Michael Corleone to come out of the bathroom and put a few bullets in Sollozo and McClusky at the next table. It's dark, it's got brick walls, red furniture, and lots of photos of old Vegas celebrities and casinos adorn the walls. You can almost feel the ghosts of good times past lurking around.

The bartender told me that the entire late-night bar menu was half-price from midnight until closing time at 5:00 am, so that's where I looked first--lots of appies, a selection of five or six sandwiches, and any pizza. Of course, the entire menu was available all night long, but at regular prices.

So I settled on some fried ravioli as an appetizer (and I should've stopped there). Of course, they ask you what else you want while you're sitting there hungry, so I ordered some veal parmigiana with a side of fettucini alfredo. Oh, and a glass of that MacMurray Ranch Pinot while you're at it...

The ravioli was excellent, and it came with a mild red sauce for dipping. And just as I was finishing off the last piece, thinking Man, I shouldn't have ordered dinner..., my dinner arrived. Sitting before me were three pieces of thin-pounded, breaded, pan-fried veal, covered in browned and bubbling mozzarella and a ladle full of that same house red sauce, accompanied by a too-large-by-half bowl of creamy pasta.

Of course I dove right in.

It was excellent, as expected, and a few minutes later the chef brought me out a basket of their straight-from-the-oven Italian bread, gratis, with butter.

I got about halfway through the meal when I realized that there was no way I'd ever finish. Seriously, I felt like that dude on Man Vs. Food, minus the camera crew and stupid jokes.

I gave it the ol' college effort, but gave up soon thereafter. I was so full that the idea of taking the rest home in a to-go box almost put me over the edge. So I just asked for my tab, instead. It came to almost fifty bucks (wine, plus ordering off the regular menu), but it was well worth it. And the crowd in there was a lot of fun, too. Lots of nice, friendly people sitting about the bar (not like that sketch crowd over at the Double Down), who also work the swing shift on the Strip, so it was nice to have a good conversation with strangers I could relate to.

So yeah, I'll be back. I'll stick to the late-night happy hour menu from now on (but I had to address my craving this time), and maybe have a drink or two while listening to some Rat Pack music and imagining, just for a second, that maybe Frank, Dino, and Sammy will come strolling in for a nightcap, fresh off the late show in the Copa Room.

Mikey

Same As It Ever Was

Well, I thought that life was gonna get a lot less busy and that I'd have a bunch more free time on my hands now that Job #1 is history. But that's just not the case. Job #2 (the *good* job) is working my ass off.

I just got home from another lucrative night at the casino, and checking the schedule, I have to work six nights this upcoming week--I don't have another day off until next Wednesday. I'll take it, but man, it sure doesn't agree with my innate laziness. And two years of barely working 20 hours a week didn't help prepare me for this. Oh, believe me, I'm very happy to be working right now. The economy out here stills sucks like you wouldn't believe, and a lot of my contemporaries would kill to be in my position, because I've stumbled into a little gold mine this summer. I'm going to enjoy this feast as long as it lasts.

So basically, now that I'm down to just one job, I've been spending all my free time catching up on all the sleep I lost these past six or seven weeks. Usually I have Mondays and Wednesdays off (no consecutive off days for me), and my Mondays are spent in bed until late afternoon, coming off of five very hectic days of work. Wednesdays are my busy days where I'm running errands and doing my shopping and stuff like that. The rest of the time, I'm either working or trying to sleep.

So that's why I haven't been posting anything interesting lately.

Hell, even poker night this week got canceled at the last minute--all of my friends were hungover or sick, so we took the night off. It was because of Tuesday night--my phone started blowing up at work--it was all the buffoons from Job #1 telling me that there was an 'End of the Grind' party on tap for that night, and that I was to ask for an Early Out and get my ass out to Chinatown, post haste.

Apparently, some of my former co-workers had reserved a 'VIP' room in a karaoke lounge in a seedy strip mall that had three massage parlors and four different karaoke lounges as tenants. Anyhow, I found my way over there at like 2:00 in the morning and the party was going strong. There was bottle service and everything, and we had our own private 'studio' to party in. It was kind of funny, because it was some serious Asian karaoke--nothing like the stuff you're used to seeing. And instead of just words on the screen, the best part was the home-made videos they featured with every song.

Anyhow, I lasted about two hours and two drinks, then made my way home once we found out that there was no Neil Diamond or Robert Earl Keen to be had. But some of my compadres made a full night and day of it and didn't come crawling home until sometime after noon. So yeah, poker night got canceled as everyone was pretty much still in bed at 7:00 pm on Wednesday.

I didn't do much--I wandered down to Sunset and had a drink with a couple of friends for an hour or two, but then I came home and stayed up all night futzing with my iPod. My old iTunes bypass software decided to take a dump, so I downloaded another thing called 'CopyTrans Manager' and man, it worked like a charm. So I messed around with that for several hours, making playlists and editing my music and such. Then I went to bed around 7:00 in the morning, but I spent another couple of hours listening to newly-loaded music before falling asleep. That was pretty much it for Thursday--I slept all day and then had to work.

Today (Friday), I'm gonna try and get up early in the afternoon and run down to Job #1 and pick up the last of my tournament tokes--they owe me about $80 or so for my last day on the job. After that, I'm pretty sure that's the last I'll hear from them.

Other than that, I still need to get down to Costco and renew my membership and do some shopping--I haven't had any of that good Mexican Coke in months, and I'm out of cashews, too. Once those errands are run, I'm gonna just relax for a bit before another crazy night in the casino gets underway.

Peace out, y'all!

Mikey

And on the Seventh Week, He Rested

Finally. The worst is over. I have been burning my candle at both ends for over a month now, and I can finally relax a little bit. Job #1, such as it was, is thankfully over. I'm kinda bummed out because I had such high hopes for it, but on the other hand, it was such a grind that I was glad when it finally wound down.

I don't think that they'll be keeping me--I've heard nothing one way or the other, but that's the vibe I'm getting. I guess I'll find out for sure on Thursday when I go in and pick up my last bit of tokes. Of course I'll post my final thoughts about the experience then, too.

On the other hand, things are cooking right along at Job #2--it has exceeded all expectations, and I hope I get to stay on once the circus leaves town in a couple of weeks. I swear, I've made more money there in the last ten days than I did in the past month at Job #1, or the last two months I was at Sunset Station. It helps, also, that I've had no time to spend any of it, either. Not only that, the people I work with are top-notch, and that helps more than anything to make a job more enjoyable. I actually look forward to going to work there every night.

Anyhow--I finally have today, Monday, off. I'm so excited about being able to rest and not having to worry about making sure I have enough clean work clothes on deck to get me through a seemingly endless parade of double shifts that I barely know what to do with myself. Seriously--it feels like my life has revolved around the washing machine for the past six weeks, doing one load of blacks followed by another load of whites every other day, and getting my shirts ironed, when I had but maybe seven or eight hours a day that I was home. It really cut into my sleep time.

But all that is behind me. I'm down to one job now, and luckily, it's the good one. I can relax and do nothing. I think my plan for the day, once I go to bed (I just got home, so it's only 3:30 in the morning right now), is to just lay in bed all day like that dude in Office Space and ignore the clock and the phone. Oh, I may go do some grocery shopping and run some errands, but then again, I might not.

Of course, I'm not getting measured for the baby-blue leisure suit just yet--I'm still working my ass off at Job #2 and I only have the one day off--I'm back at it again on Tuesday. In fact, I'm on the schedule five days this week, and the other two days 'off' (not consecutive, mind you), I'm on call. So yeah, I am the casino's bitch, but at least they're paying me for it and treating me well. Back when I was the casino's bitch at Sunset, all I ever saw was their pimp-hand--I never got any of that sweet sweet lovin'.

That's all for now, kiddies. I'm tired and my bottle of Gatorade is empty. Time for a shower and about 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Y'all have a lovely Monday!

Mikey

This One's for Thomas C, Josie, Jamie,

... and the rest of you re-clickers out there who still surf your way over here!

Yes, I am still alive. And yes, I actually have some time off. I worked both jobs yesterday, but got an Early Out from both of them, and I have all of today off. In fact, I don't go back to work until 8:00 Thursday night. Woot!

So I'm sitting here at the desk, enjoying a cup of coffee, even though it's 106 degrees outside, and I thought I'd post a little update. Yeah, I should be doing laundry and housework, but this is as good an excuse as any for procrastinating my chores.

A few thoughts about the work situation. As much as I thought I'd like Job #1, it kinda sucks. The money is terrible, I've worked less than half of the hours I've been scheduled, and I don't think they'll be hiring 10 dealers permanently like we'd been led to believe. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt, but with each passing day, it looks like it was just blowing smoke to keep everyone around until the bitter end. Besides, they've already hired two of the Asian 'lookers'--they showed up last week in full-on official casino uniforms, while the rest of us white-shirted temps just had to sit there and toil away looking like newbies. It was kind of a rude thing to see, and several snide comments have been heard since then. As high of hopes as I may have had, well, I think the reality is not quite what I expected. I'll know more by Monday.

On the other hand, Job #2, which I had no expectations for at all, which just kinda fell into my lap and I said What the hell--I could use the money, has turned out to be an extremely positive experience. The money is good, the people I work with are great, the casino treats me well, and there's an over-all 'we've got our shiat together' vibe about the entire place. And I found out last night that there is a fair chance that they're gonna keep me around permanently. I would love that. I won't know anything about that for a few more weeks, but until then, I'm just gonna keep plugging away at it.

Anyhow... That's what's going on here. I've been working my chubby little ass off, and for the last couple of weeks, every dime I've made has gone into the bank (minus a little gas and grocery money). Speaking of groceries, late last night I went to the WalMart Supercenter and spent about $130 stocking up again. For the past three weeks I've been living on Power bars, granola, oranges, Gatorade, and Five-Hour Energy shots (the employee dining rooms at both jobs just plain SUCK, so I don't eat at work), so I felt the need to get some proper grub in the pantry and fridge. Tomorrow I may actually grill some chicken and make a salad, maybe even uncork a bottle of wine and have a proper meal.

A good chunk of that grocery money I spent last night went to entertaining the troops tonight--Yep, it's poker night at Casa de Mikey, so I bought a case of Corona, another case of 'alka-pops', chips and salsa, little smokeys, fresh sourdough loaves, and the fixin's to make hot ham-and-Swiss dip in the crock pot. To paraphrase Ron White, It's gonna be a good night, Tater!

In the meantime, I have to get this house cleaned up. The 'troops' tonight consist of two of my buddies and a couple of chicks, one of which I met a few weeks back and I kinda dig on. She's not been to the Batch Pad yet, and I must make a good impression. The toilet seat is already down, and all difficult-to-explain items have been removed from the medicine cabinet. Hell, I've even swept the cobwebs from the ceiling just in case things go really well and she spends some time looking in that direction later on, if you know what I mean...

Once I get all my chores done, I think I'm gonna get a couple of hour's worth of quality pool-time in this afternoon, too. Lord knows I ain't seen the sun since sometime in early May, and my pasty hide could use the exposure.

I'll bounce in again next week and let you know the latest. Until then, have a great rest of the week and a fun weekend!

Mikey

Sorry, Gang

As much as I'd like to write interesting stories and tell you all about my many Vegas adventures, I'm just too damn busy these days.

I'm either working or sleeping all the time, although tonight I'm having people over for Chinese poker. Hell, I'm over a month behind on emails, too. And after my one night off this week, it's back to four days of doubles again. So I'm shuttin' it down until sometime after the Fourth of July or thereabouts.

See ya on the other side!

Mikey

Lots of Stories...

Just no time to tell 'em, unfortunately.

I've had a great weekend, though. Anyhow, it's 2:15 in the morning, and I just got home from another long and productive night at Job #2, and I'm a little tired, so I'm off to bed. Gotta do a long day at Job #1 tomorrow, so I need to get a little rest.

I'm off tomorrow night, so if I'm not dead on my feet when I get home, I'll try and post something for Tuesday morning. No promises, but that is my intention.

Hope y'all have a great Monday.

Mikey

More Of the Same

I suppose I could paint my face blue and white and run around yelling They can't take away our FREEDOM!!!, but I don't think it would help very much. My summer of indentured servitude continues apace.

Of course, I knew what I was gettin' in to when I signed the dotted line(s).

I just got off the phone with the boss at Job #2, and apparently, they really really like the work I'm doing for them. Not enough to make me any kind of a formal offer just yet, but enough that they put me on the schedule for five days this coming week--where the rest of the temps are just getting three. Oh, and Job #1 has me down for all seven.

Remember, kids, what's the mantra of dealing poker in Vegas? That's right--feast or famine.

So today was my last day of blessed freedom for awhile. Of course I wasted it. But all is not bad as it seems. The boss at Job #1 just said to plan on coming in every day, but if I need a day off, just take it. So yeah, I'll be working that to my advantage somehow. And also, if I'm not stuck in mixed games or a big tournament at Job #1, I can always take a guilt-free Early Out. So it's not like I'll actually work 96 hours this coming week, but it'll be close.

And just what have I been doing with my sparse time off? Playing poker, of course (gotta supplement the income, I tell myself!) I've played in two of the Binion's Poker Classic events. Last week I did really well--I played nine hours and busted out eight places away from the money. Grrr... (Yep, lost with Ace-Queen again) And today (it's Thursday night as I write this), I busted out 89th out of 148 players. I was stuck in the mud all day--never got any decent cards and the tournament chip leader was directly on my left. Oh, one time I got pocket Tens and got crippled by pocket Queens when we both flopped a set. And then a few hands later I over-raised the pot pre-flop, hoping to pick up the antes and blinds with my pocket Jacks, and got one caller. Of course the flop came out Ace-King-Queen; my cunning plan failed miserably.

So I only lasted a couple hours in that one, which didn't sting nearly as much as last week when I had nothing to show for nine hours of work. I guess it's like the ladies tell me--If you can't be good, be quick!

Anyhow...

I don't see any more tournaments in the near future for me--at least any that I'll be playing in. Oh, I'll be dealing a few, I'm sure.

I won't have a day off again, until next Wednesday, it looks like, and I'm doing doubles all weekend, so I won't be anywhere near a computer for awhile. You'll have to find your online entertainment elsewhere, I suppose. As soon as I get some free time where I'm not sleeping, I'll work on one of those epic posts that y'all love so much. I don't quite know just yet what I'll write about, but I can feel one percolating all the same.

I'm off to bed.

Mikey

I Am So Fried...

I'm beat.

I won't say that it was a day from hell, because it wasn't--it was actually a pretty good day. It's just that I spent it dealing Pot-Limit Omaha for nine hours straight. And now I'm spent. I just got home about a half-hour ago, hungry, but too tired to make dinner. All I've done so far is take a quick shower and check my email.

But I thought I'd pop in here and say hello before falling into bed and going into a coma for a good ten hours or so...

For those of you unfamiliar with the world of pot-limit Omaha, let's just say that it's a big ol' pain in the ass to deal. It seems overly complicated to the uninformed, but it's not, once you get used to it. But still--it's not like going on auto-pilot and dealing no-limit Hold-em all day. You actually have to work and pay attention the whole time, in addition to just running the cards out, gathering the bets, and keeping the game going. There's bit of math involved, and it never stops until the showdown.

And nine straight hours of it was more than enough for me.

Of course, volunteering to do it put me in the good graces of the bosses there at Job #1, as nobody, and I mean nobody, ever signs up to deal PLO in the morning when we all roll in--they're always asking for volunteers. The problem is, once you get in that game, you ain't gettin' out. It's like a street gang--blood in, blood out. And as overstaffed as they are, there still aren't nearly enough PLO dealers lurking around in the morning. Those that know how--they make themselves scarce--you make much better tips dealing Hold-em, and the 'get off my lawn' crowd that gravitates towards Omaha is not always the most fun to deal to (or with).

Anyhow, I paid my dues today. But old-school poker dealers all say, if you can deal PLO, you can deal anything.

So, Today I Am A Man.

But I feel like a car wreck right about now.

I'll write more tomorrow. Right now, I just wanna go to bed and spoon with my pillow.

Mikey

Have You Seen Me?

Yep--I'm about this close to seeing my picture on the side of a milk carton, but I'm here to tell you that I'm still around, just too busy to spend much time at the keyboard.

Right now I've got a few free minutes before I head down to Job #2 for the evening--I had to take an early out from Job #1 because a waitress spilled a cup of coffee down my back while I was sitting at the table dealing a Razz game. That'll wake you up faster than drinking it, that's for sure! Anyhow, I have just enough time to make a quick update, then I'm taking a shower and getting a fresh white shirt before heading back down to the Strip.

Oh, as far as rolling in the bucks goes--it ain't like that at all. I may be busy, but the bucks, well, they aren't that great. Job #1 is almost a joke--I deal almost all tournaments, but the downs are pretty sucky. Better than that free-roll crap at Texas Station I was always bitching about, but not much better. And they overstaffed a bit, too--some days I spend half my day on break, so I ain't gonna get rich there. And I've tempered my enthusiasm as far as being made permanent. First of all, I found out that those dealers they keep won't be getting on full-time. And second of all, it's obvious that the bosses are just gonna hire the attractive Asian chicks. It's been made pretty clear, I think. So I'm gonna have to keep looking for a permanent gig.

Job #2, on the other hand, is usually very good as far as money goes. But I have to be there on the right nights. Last night I only worked an hour before getting sent home, but on the weekends, I make bank. Unfortunately, after tonight, I'm not on the schedule again until Friday. And as much as I didn't think I'd like working there at first, I really enjoy it. If they offered me a permanent gig--even a peon at the bottom of the extra-board like I was at Sunset, I'd take it in a heartbeat.

Anyhow, that's all that's about all I have time for right now--I've gotta hit the road and get back to work.

Peace!

Mikey

P.S. Here's a little something to enjoy while you wait for me to come back--it's Robert Earl Keen performing one of my favorites, For Love :

Can't Talk Now, Must Sleep

Hey gang--I'd love to put up an interesting post for y'all to read, but I just don't have the time. It's almost 3:00 in the morning on Saturday, and I just rolled in from a busy-as-hell night at job #2. And I have to be back at Job #1 at 11:00 this morning for a very long day of tournament and no-limit dealing (will probably be doing overtime today).

I honestly don't know when my next day off will be. Today is going to be a long one, and I'm doing another double on Sunday, so I'm gonna be pretty scarce for awhile.

I'll see you when I see you...

Mikey

Not Now, I'm Busy

Hey gang--I just have a couple of minutes before I'm off to another long day of work, so I thought I'd check in. I know that folks are expecting some stories, but I just don't have the time at present. Monday and Tuesday have been long days for me, but luckily I've only got to work at one job today, then I'm off tomorrow. It's about damn time--I'm worn out.

However, I may be playing in a big tourney over at Binion's tomorrow--not sure yet, we'll know more in the morning. It depends on how I feel and if I'm willing to cough up the $150 or so to play. (I just spent a few bucks on a plane ticket yesterday, so I'm feeling kinda tight today).

Anyhow, I'll write more later, because right now I have to jump in the shower and then hit the road. I've got a long day of dealing ahead of me, but I'm looking forward to having the night off.

More soon...

Mikey


**Update**

Not so fast, my friends... I was just leaving the house and saw my truck 'playing on tilt' in the parking lot. Apparently I ran over something last night and I have two flat tires on one side this morning. So instead of working today, I'm waiting for the tow truck and I get to cough up a couple hundred bucks getting towed and getting the tires fixed. Great.

About Those 16-Hour Days I Was Worried About

Yeah--Not so much...

While it looked scary on paper, the reality has fallen a bit short so far. And I'm totally ok with that!

I did a ridiculously long day at Job #1 on Saturday (my first day), and again, I went the entire shift without getting a break. Yep, we were that busy. It really sucked because I had those first-day jitters the night before, and I couldn't sleep at all. I was awake from 2:00 am, just lying in bed trying to sleep, but it never came. And that really sucks, knowing that you have a 16-hour day ahead of you.

So I was tired when I got to the first job, and working my ass off the entire day didn't help at all. And then, later that evening when I hustled my way down the Strip to get to job #2, I was thinking, Man, there ain't no way I'm gonna make it until 3:00 o'clock in the morning...

Luckily for me, they'd over-scheduled on Saturday night, so they asked for volunteers as to who wanted to go home, and I couldn't raise my hand fast enough. At first I thought I'd work an hour, but then after a few minutes, the last of the tournament tables started breaking down and suddenly there were two more extra dealers. So I got sent home after about ten minutes. Woot! Normally I'd be pissed, because not dealing those cash games means at least $200 in tips I'm giving up, but I was dead man walkin' and would've gladly paid a Benjamin out of my pocket for a cold bottle of Gatorade and three hours of quality time with my pillow.

So I scurried out of there before they could change their minds and I was home in bed by 9:30--out like a light. And I must've been really passed out, because the next morning I saw that I'd missed a call at 10:00 o'clock--one of my gals lookin' for some of that special Mikey attention... Either that, or she just wanted somebody to go drinkin' and pokerin' with on a Saturday night. Anyhow, I was down for the count, and I slept for ten hours straight. It was wonderful.

I made it back down to Job #1 early on Sunday morning, and I found out a couple of interesting things. First of all, out of all the extra dealers they hired, the vast majority of them were straight out of dealing school--no experience whatsoever. That really helps my chances of getting one of those full-time slots when all this madness is over next month. Besides, every table I pushed in to, the players were lovin' me and complimenting me because I was "the first dealer that knows what the f*ck you're doing", as I was told a few times. Every time I heard that, I told the person who said that Yeah, you see that dude up there at the desk in the brown suit? Yeah--go tell him that... One or two of them did, and I got some good feedback from the boss later in the day. So I'm off to a good start.

Also, at job #1, we've got so many games going, that we can actually sign up for which ones we want to deal when we first come in. I dealt a metric ass-load of 'not hold-em' on my first day, so on my second day I took a little brain break and went with No-Limit Hold-em for my entire shift. I used to say that I could deal 4-8 in my sleep, but after a few days of Omaha split, PLO, Hi-Low Stud, and various other whacked-out games, dealing No-Limit is like a walk in the park, Kazansky.

Anyhow, I'm really diggin' Job #1, and although they're working me like a mule, I don't mind at all. I'll sign up and volunteer for all of the complicated games, and let all the rookies deal the simple ones. The bosses will remember me once decision time comes around. Also, on Sunday, they were a bit overstaffed, too, and started asking for volunteers to go home early after a few hours. I offered to make it easier on them and said that I'll bounce after the next table breaks, killing two birds with one stone--making it easier on them, and giving myself time for a nap before my swing shift at Job #2.

I don't care if it costs me a few bucks up front, because one, I could use the extra rest, and two, I want them to remember who was the most flexible and willing to work with them once they decide who to keep around. I'm not gonna be one of these rookies complaining that they're not getting enough downs or saying that they're getting screwed. There's a method to my madness, that's for sure.

So anyhow, I was worried to death that I'd be worked to death this weekend, and that's not the case. Besides, the next couple of nights I'm sure that they'll be sending us temps packing after four hours or so at Job #2, so I doubt that I'll have to do even one 16-hour shift this week, even though I was scheduled for four of them.

It all seems to be working out, at least as far as I can tell.

I wish I had more to talk about, but right now, all I do is work and sleep--I've got no good stories to tell. Except for this--Gus Hansen is a lot taller than I thought he was, and Phil Helmuth is about ten times less of a dickhead when there are no TV cameras around.

Time to charge the batteries, though--I've got another '16-hour' day ahead of me...

Peace!

Mikey

I'm Gettin' Too Old For This Stuff

This is gonna be the last post for awhile--I'm looking down the barrel at five days of hell, so I won't be sitting at the keyboard again anytime soon. Job #1 actually starts tomorrow, and I'm doing doubles for four straight days.

I'm gonna be a busy dude. Tired too. But maybe I'll make a few bucks while I'm at it. It's kind of amazing--a month ago I couldn't find a damn thing to do, but now I've got all the work I can handle. Let's just hope that I can handle it.

Today, I've got nothing planned beyond preparing myself mentally and logistically for the next week. I'm doing the rest of my laundry, making sure that I have plenty of white shirts and black pants ready to go at a moments notice, and I've got all the t-shirts, socks, and underwear I'll need stacked up and waiting to be used. I bought a couple of cases of Gatorade, and all I can fit is already in the fridge, along with a big bag of oranges and a case of granola bars is sitting on the counter. I'm gonna hold off on the Five Hour Energy shots for a few days, if I can help it.

I'm gonna spend an hour or two practicing all the mixed games I'll need at Job #1, but otherwise, I think I'm ready to go. The time has come--my life of leisure has ended in a big way.

I'm glad I've had the last couple of nights off from Job #2--even though the money is great, I know that I needed the rest. I didn't take advantage of it fully, however. On Wednesday, we had poker night over here, and I've got to tell you, we had an absolute blast. It was the most fun we've ever had playing cards.

I had a few friends over, and provided a small spread of snacks--chips, dip, a crockpot full of BBQ'd Little Smokies, a humidor full of cigars, a well-stocked liquor cabinet, and a fridge full of beer and mixers. Of course we played our usual game of Chinese Poker, but since most of us had Thursday off, we got pretty hammered. We started with Pacificos, but then we moved on to margaritas, and then after that we made several pitchers of mudslides. They were a huge hit, and we stayed up till around 2:00 am drinking, smoking, playing cards, and laughing our asses off. It was a great night all-around.

Finally, after everyone left, I was in bed reading, and my phone started going off. One of my gals was texting me, asking if I was still up.

Yep.

Can I come over?

Yep. (Booty call--Woot!)

Ok, lemme finish watching Poker After Dark and I'll be there in about an hour. I'll text you when I leave.

Cool.

So I finished the chapter I was reading, took a quick shower, lit a candle or two, and unlocked the front door.

I laid back down in bed, and fell asleep about ten minutes later. I woke up about an hour and a half later, alone, and slightly confused. So I got up, blew out the candles, locked the door, and went back to sleep.

When I woke up several hours later, there was a message waiting for me on my phone. Sorry--I fell asleep!

No problemo--so did I.

Ah well, no biggie. So I spent the rest of the day on Thursday just kicking around the house, recovering, and doing not much of anything except clearing stuff from the DVR and reading. Amy and Scottie turned me on to the Alan Lewrie Naval Adventure Series by Dewey Lambdin, and I'm already on volume #7, A King's Commander. Of course I loved the CS Forester and Patrick O'Brien novels, but these are much more enjoyable (except for all of the pidgin French conversation in volume six--god, what a pain in the ass that was to read!). O'Brien's works are pretty highbrow, but this series is the exact opposite--lots more wenching and scheming, and a whole lot less political backstory. If you're a fan of Napoleonic-era adventure fiction, I give this stuff two thumbs up.

Anyhow, that's the story here--I've got one full day of 'freedom' ahead of me, and then I'm gonna be a slave to The Man for the next several days. So I'm gonna log off and enjoy the rest of my day.

I'll see ya sometime later next week.

Mikey

If This Is Foreplay, I'm a Dead Man

It was nice to finally be able to get some sleep last night--I really needed it. I'd called down to Job #2 to get my new schedule yesterday afternoon, with the secondary purpose of trying to weasel my way out of being On Call last night, too. Well, the schedule wasn't ready, but I was told that if I wanted to work that I should call in around 5:30 or so and let them know, otherwise, if I didn't get a phone call by around 6:00 o'clock, I'd be free for the night.

I sure as hell didn't want to work--after all of my running around yesterday--so there was no way I was gonna call in. I did, however, set my alarm for 5:30, just in case, but the phone never rang. I ended up sleeping from about 4:00 pm yesterday afternoon until almost 2:00 o'clock this morning. It was wonderful.

I was so tired because of all the running around I did yesterday--I was up early and down at Job #1 getting all my gaming registration squared away. That only took about a half an hour, and then I headed over to the AT&T Device Support Center on the west side to get my phone replaced. It was actually very quick, easy, and painless. It's like they knew that LG Xenon phones were total pieces of shiat, and I was in and out of there in less than fifteen minutes, with a brand new replacement phone in hand. It didn't cost me a dime, either. Oh, and they were able to retrieve my contacts and such from the old phone, although I was told that LG was the one kind of phone that they can't hook up to their magic machine and pull data from. They had to do it manually, which included prying the touch-screen face off of the old phone and using push-pins on the interface like a voodoo doll, but they managed to get everything copied onto my sim card and transferred over. Whew!

So even though I thought that my old LG was a piece of shiat, my new one seems to work a whole lot better (probably has something to do with the fact that there isn't an air bubble in the middle of the touch screen), so I'm glad to have it. And if it breaks, it's still under warranty until December.

Once that little chore got done, I took a drive up the Strip to Job #2a. Yes, I had to go to the HR department at a completely different casino--different than the one I applied at, different than the one I auditioned at, different than the one I work at--to get my employee ID badge that will allow me to swipe in and out and have access to all the locked doors and such. But once I found my way through the labyrinth of their back offices, it only took a couple of minutes to take care of business.

I never made it out to NY Pizza and Pasta for lunch--the AT&T store was at Decatur and Sahara, and the restaurant was further west, on Jones and Sahara, and I didn't feel like venturing further out into the frontier yesterday, so I just did all my errands first. I ended up having an overpriced ham & cheese panini at Sierra Gold, which, oh by the way, doesn't come with sides, so my fruit salad cost me extra. Rat bastards.

After lunch, I stopped at the bank to put a grand in my checking account and I got lucky and found an extra hundred bucks! I'd just grabbed the wad of bills from the coffee can, certain that there was exactly a thousand dollars there, and I filled out the deposit slip before I left the house. I folded it all up together, and when I got to the teller window, I just pulled the whole mess out of my wallet and laid it on the counter.

Of course I got the old teller that I hate, because she's so slow, and she proceeded to count all the money. Twice. And then she did it again... Then she handed me back a hundred bucks and said Sir, you've got too much here--your deposit slip says a thousand dollars but you gave me $1100.

What? Score!

She then counted it out again for me to see, out loud this time, and yep, I had an extra hundred bucks. Talk about found money--Besides the free phone replacement, that made my whole day!

So as tired as I was, I was in a much better mood when I made it back here to the apartment complex and wrote out the rent check for June. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to straighten up the house and do laundry, but I gave up and fell asleep on the couch not too long after that.

That brings us to this morning--I'm wide awake and well-rested, but I have about four loads of laundry to fold and put away, plus a few white shirts to iron. Then I've got to scrub the bathroom and vacuum the apartment in preparation for tonight. I'm on call, but I'm betting that I don't get called in, so the gang is coming over tonight for cocktails and Chinese poker. I need to come up with some sort of suitable snacks to serve, and I'm also out of ice and tequila, so trip to the grocery store is in order, too.

Oh, and when I got up this morning, there was an email from Job #2 waiting for me in my inbox. If I manage to avoid the call-in tonight, I'm off until Saturday night. But then, I'm gonna get worked like a ten-dollar hooker during Fleet Week. I have four days in a row where I'm doing doubles, working eight-hour shifts at both jobs, then on Wednesday I only have to work at Job #1, and next Thursday I'm off completely from both places. Then it's back to doing doubles again.

I'm gonna be a zombie by then, and I'll probably spend my entire time off--40 hours (7:00 pm Wednesday until 11:00 am Friday)--in bed, alone, with nothing but a bottle of Gatorade to keep me company. But that's ok--I wouldn't have the strength to do much of anything else...

Mikey

So Tired That I Couldn't Even Sleep...

My apologies to Soul Asylum, but that's how I'm feeling this morning. No, not quite exhausted, but kind of worn out with my conscience gnawing at me that I should be asleep right now. I have an appointment at 10:00 am that I can't miss (gotta go down to Job #1 and update my Gaming Registration, and I can't do it remotely), and I'm on call tonight at Job #2, so there is an outside chance that I'll have to work again, too.

I should be in bed, but no, here I am at the keyboard trying to provide entertainment for all of you people. Because I'm a giver, that's why. Just ask the ladies.

Yeah, I worked again last night, and although we weren't crazy busy like we were over the weekend, it was still a pretty full house in the poker room, if you'll pardon the expression. And believe it or not, I actually made more money last night than I did on Sunday, and last night I got cut loose 45 minutes early. Yay me!

I also got my first indecent proposal last night, too. One of the gals in town for the weekend, who I'd dealt to several times over the past few days, kept reminding me that her girlfriend was gone and that she was flying solo for the evening. And she stayed in there playing all night long. Just before I left for the night, I got the pitch. Normally I would've jumped on it, but I'm not quite sure of the policy on shagging the players on property. (I'm guessing it's a no-no). And it's not something you can discreetly bring up and ask the boss, either, so instead of an elaborate excuse, I just said that I have an early appointment, (which I do) and found something to keep myself busy with until I hit the exit.

I told one of the other permanent dealers about it, and he laughed and said That's gonna happen a lot in here--trust me.

Ok! Just another day working on The Strip.

On the other hand, I finally found out where the employee dining room is at Job #2--I went there for the first time last night. Oh yeah, it's huge and all, but I got there so late that they'd closed down the hot food line, so all I did was make myself an Arnold Palmer and watched Spanish SportsCenter for about ten minutes before shuffling my way back to the poker room. (Los Cardenales ganar--Rojos pierden!).

So besides my appointment at Job #1 this morning, I also have to go down to the HR department at Job #2 and get my swipey-badge employee ID card. I didn't start working until Friday night, too late to get one for the weekend, but I got a message yesterday that I had to go in today and take care of that little chore right away or else bad things would happen. Bad things, man--bad things! (RIP Mr. Hopper.)

Once those chores are all done, I have to make my way over to the AT&T warranty replacement center out on west Sahara and see if I can't get another POS phone to replace my current POS phone that's deader than roadkill. Yeah, it's under warranty, but I'm guessing they'll try and come up with some way of getting into my pocket for a few more bucks before giving me a replacement. Since I'll be out on that side of town anyways, I may take a visit to NY Pizza & Pasta while I'm out there. It's been far too long since I've had the second-best pizza in Vegas, and I'm in the mood.

Mikey