My precious daughter Addison has been on quite a roll lately.
The other day, when the tornadoes hit, I had a couple of poker-playing friends over because we have a storm shelter and they don't.
Addie really took to both of them, but she especially liked my friend Brian. After knowing him for about 30 minutes, she ran up to him and tried to kiss him on the mouth! If that's how she's acting at two-and-a-half years old, I can't imagine what it's going to be like in a dozen years. Anyone know a good gun shop?
After the storms passed, we all decided to go to a Thai restaurant. Missy, Addie and I took one car, and the boys drove separate. On the way over there, Missy and I were talking and Addie said, "Mommy." We were in the middle of our brief discussion so we just kept talking. Again Addie said, "Mommy." Missy was on the last sentence of our talk, but Addie couldn't wait any longer. "MOMMY!!!" she screamed at the top of her voice.
"Yes honey," Missy said. To which Addie calmly replied, "Where's Brian?"
Addison loves to help Missy with watering the gardens. Yesterday, unfortunately, she decided that our laptop needed some hydration. So I'm writing this blog on the old desktop, which literally took an hour to boot up. Once it gets going, it's not a ton slower than our laptop, but it does make a loud whirring sound on occasion.
When we bought the laptop, we figured it needed some "Addie protection," so we bought the full warranty, which includes things like pouring water all over it. We're crossing our fingers that the hard drive isn't fried, but regardless it won't cost us anything to fix/replace it. We'll just have to keep Addie from watering the old desktop for the next 2-3 weeks until we get our computer back.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Loads and Loads of Fun
Spent a month in Durant, Oklahoma on a poker trip this weekend, and it was loads of fun.
It started with a mix-up at the hotel I was staying at. I booked it through hotels.com and, long story short, it looked like they double-charged me for the room. I paid cash, but there was a debit on my bank card for the same hotel on the same day. Then it looked like hotels.com charged us once and the hotel charged us once, so we called hotels.com and had a wonderful conversation with them through an interpreter. Then it turned out that the charge was for my stay the previous weekend, but it didn't show up on my e-bank deal until the same day I checked in for the second time. Fun.
On Friday, I played for about 10 hours and lost $50 without anything exciting happening at all. Fun.
On Saturday, I was down about $500 after six hours. In total, I had been playing for 16 hours and hadn't really had one decent pot to show for it. I was sick of folding and waiting for something to happen, so I called Missy to vent. I told her I was considering switching tables and she agreed that was a good idea.
So I went back in, put my name on the list for a table change, and sat down at my table. I had to post the blinds that I had missed from being on the phone, which meant I had to play a random, terrible hand. Somehow, my terrible hand connected with the board, and I had the absolute best possible hand. I couldn't make anything happen for 16 hours with good cards, and here I was about to win a monster pot with some rags.
During the hand, I was informed that my seat at a different table was open and I was asked if I still wanted it. I went all-in for $800 and decided that if I won the hand, I would stay at this table, but if I lost I would move. One by one my opponents folded, until the last one called me with two pair. I had a straight, but the final card gave him a full house. To recap, I talked to Missy for 15 minutes, decided to switch tables, played one hand and lost everything I had in front of me. Fun.
Then I switched tables, and I have to take a minute to talk about this dude that was at my second table. My poker friends are familiar with a guy known as Tuff Fish online. Tuff Fish was a middle-aged hick who used to make videos of himself playing online poker and commentate on the hands as he played them. Unfortunately he didn't handle losing very well, which made for some hilarious videos. If you're interested, you can YouTube Tuff Fish, but I must warn you that the language is incredibly offensive. I tried to find one clip to post on here as an example, and they were all way too blue. This guy can't go 15 seconds without dropping an F bomb.
Anyway, I played with a guy Saturday night who was a real life version of Tuff Fish. He was probably in his late 50's, with a muscular build and a shaved bald head. He was already losing a lot when I got there, and after another lost pot his face turned beet red, and he stood up and started pacing around. Finally he slammed his fist on a drink tray at a table behind us, sending two drinks flying into the air.
He returned to my table and got involved in another pot. He bet, another man raised, and he raised another $400 on top. When his opponent went all in and he was forced to fold, real life Tuff Fish lost it. I won't repeat any of what he said, but his face was again as red as can be and he was spouting off profanities in incomplete sentences. His opponent was nice enough to show that he had the best possible hand, but that didn't seem to help. More cussing ensued, and the dealer called over security. Tuff Fish's opponent said sheepily, "I'm sorry you're upset." And Tuff Fish said, "Yeah, I bet you're real %&^*$#%ing sorry!" I couldn't help myself -- I burst out laughing. Probably not a good idea, but I needed a laugh after the way my weekend was going.
Of course, karma bit me right in the butt later on when Tuff Fish caught a perfect card to beat my made straight with a flush draw. To recap, I laughed at this dude and then handed him $1000 ten minutes later. Fun.
The final day of my trip was a blast, too. I was down $1900 for the weekend and wanted to at least put a dent in it. I played for 13 hours -- played really good too -- and won back a whopping $125. The highlight of that session was catching a lucky 6 to make a straight and build a huge pot, only to have a middle-aged Asian woman make four-of-a-kind on the last card and stand up, clap and hoot loudly for the next 30 seconds while my profit went from $1000 to $100. She was going, "Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay" in a real high-pitch voice.
F.U.N.
It started with a mix-up at the hotel I was staying at. I booked it through hotels.com and, long story short, it looked like they double-charged me for the room. I paid cash, but there was a debit on my bank card for the same hotel on the same day. Then it looked like hotels.com charged us once and the hotel charged us once, so we called hotels.com and had a wonderful conversation with them through an interpreter. Then it turned out that the charge was for my stay the previous weekend, but it didn't show up on my e-bank deal until the same day I checked in for the second time. Fun.
On Friday, I played for about 10 hours and lost $50 without anything exciting happening at all. Fun.
On Saturday, I was down about $500 after six hours. In total, I had been playing for 16 hours and hadn't really had one decent pot to show for it. I was sick of folding and waiting for something to happen, so I called Missy to vent. I told her I was considering switching tables and she agreed that was a good idea.
So I went back in, put my name on the list for a table change, and sat down at my table. I had to post the blinds that I had missed from being on the phone, which meant I had to play a random, terrible hand. Somehow, my terrible hand connected with the board, and I had the absolute best possible hand. I couldn't make anything happen for 16 hours with good cards, and here I was about to win a monster pot with some rags.
During the hand, I was informed that my seat at a different table was open and I was asked if I still wanted it. I went all-in for $800 and decided that if I won the hand, I would stay at this table, but if I lost I would move. One by one my opponents folded, until the last one called me with two pair. I had a straight, but the final card gave him a full house. To recap, I talked to Missy for 15 minutes, decided to switch tables, played one hand and lost everything I had in front of me. Fun.
Then I switched tables, and I have to take a minute to talk about this dude that was at my second table. My poker friends are familiar with a guy known as Tuff Fish online. Tuff Fish was a middle-aged hick who used to make videos of himself playing online poker and commentate on the hands as he played them. Unfortunately he didn't handle losing very well, which made for some hilarious videos. If you're interested, you can YouTube Tuff Fish, but I must warn you that the language is incredibly offensive. I tried to find one clip to post on here as an example, and they were all way too blue. This guy can't go 15 seconds without dropping an F bomb.
Anyway, I played with a guy Saturday night who was a real life version of Tuff Fish. He was probably in his late 50's, with a muscular build and a shaved bald head. He was already losing a lot when I got there, and after another lost pot his face turned beet red, and he stood up and started pacing around. Finally he slammed his fist on a drink tray at a table behind us, sending two drinks flying into the air.
He returned to my table and got involved in another pot. He bet, another man raised, and he raised another $400 on top. When his opponent went all in and he was forced to fold, real life Tuff Fish lost it. I won't repeat any of what he said, but his face was again as red as can be and he was spouting off profanities in incomplete sentences. His opponent was nice enough to show that he had the best possible hand, but that didn't seem to help. More cussing ensued, and the dealer called over security. Tuff Fish's opponent said sheepily, "I'm sorry you're upset." And Tuff Fish said, "Yeah, I bet you're real %&^*$#%ing sorry!" I couldn't help myself -- I burst out laughing. Probably not a good idea, but I needed a laugh after the way my weekend was going.
Of course, karma bit me right in the butt later on when Tuff Fish caught a perfect card to beat my made straight with a flush draw. To recap, I laughed at this dude and then handed him $1000 ten minutes later. Fun.
The final day of my trip was a blast, too. I was down $1900 for the weekend and wanted to at least put a dent in it. I played for 13 hours -- played really good too -- and won back a whopping $125. The highlight of that session was catching a lucky 6 to make a straight and build a huge pot, only to have a middle-aged Asian woman make four-of-a-kind on the last card and stand up, clap and hoot loudly for the next 30 seconds while my profit went from $1000 to $100. She was going, "Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay" in a real high-pitch voice.
F.U.N.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Another Great IHOP Experience
The last time I went to IHOP, it was such a ridiculous experience that I blogged about it.
http://luckylifeblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-last-possibly-forever-visit-to-ihop.html
If you looked at the comments on the aforementioned blog, my friend Chad suggested that future visits to IHOP be made only in the middle of the night.
Well, I took his advice. The result was yet another epic fail.
This time, I went a step further than just altering my appearance time. I didn't order anything but a glass of water.
It was a post-poker session IHOP visit with my friends Brian and Rychy at about 4:30 a.m. I wasn't hungry, I was just there to chill.
We waited the standard 5 minutes in a nearly-empty restaurant just to get someone to look at us and seat us. Then the waiter came by and asked what we wanted to drink. We all wanted water, but Rychy also wanted an orange juice.
The drinks actually came out in a timely manner. This was the beginning and the end of what IHOP did right during our visit. The drinks were timely but not entirely correct. The waiter brought two waters and an orange juice, and Rychy politely asked again for a water to go with his juice.
In the time between when our drinks came and when he took our orders, our waiter could have driven across town to his local drug dealer, conducted a seamless transaction, and returned to our table. I'm not saying that's what happened, just that it theoretically could have happened within that amount of time.
When he came back, he still didn't have Rychy's water, so Rychy asked for it again. Then the waiter took their orders. (I have to point out the irony of Rychy's order. He got the "Slim-N-Fit Egg Breakfast" but asked to substitute pancakes for the wheat toast. He should have just said, "I'll have the Slim-N-Fit Egg Breakfast, hold the Slim and the Fit.")
In the time between taking their orders and bringing their food, our waiter could have handed out the drugs he just bought to every employee in the restaurant, enjoyed them to the fullest, and made out with one of the waitresses. I'm not saying that's what happened, just that it theoretically could have happened within that amount of time.
Finally our waiter arrived with the food. He still does not have Rychy's water. Rychy asked yet again for a glass of ice water. The boys are now ready to eat, except for one problem -- we have no silverware on the table. Instead of waiting for this drooler of a waiter to get the silverware, Brian marches right up to the hostess station and grabs a couple of sets. Problem solved.
Now there is another problem. While waiting for silverware, Rychy realizes that his meal was supposed to come with a fruit bowl. This wasn't really too hard to notice, since his entire meal consisted of some eggs, the substituted pancakes, and a fruit bowl.
In the time between the waiter came brought the food and when he came back with Rychy's water, he could have been arrested on charges of possession and distribution of drugs, hired a good lawyer, gotten out of jail and come back to finish his shift. I'm not saying that's what happened, just that it theoretically could have happened within that amount of time.
When he came back with his half-baked -- I mean half-closed -- eyes and said, "How's everrrthang, gentulllmunn?" Rychy said, "I think my meal was supposed to come with a fruit bowl." Instead of giving any kind of fake thoughtful gesture, the waiter just said, "No. It doesn't."
Rychy said, "Well, could you check on it or something, because if I'm not mistaken it was supposed to come with a fruit bowl." The waiter said, "I don't think so, but I'll check on it."
In the time between when the waiter went to check on the fruit bowl status and when he returned, he could have entered and successfully completed a 12-week drug rehabilitation program. And then relapsed. I'm not saying that's what happened, just that it theoretically could have happened within that amount of time.
Then the waiter returned with a bowl of fruit. Instead of quickly retreating back to the smoke room like he had on every other visit, this time the waiter just kind of loomed over the table. Rychy said thanks, but this guy stood around the area without saying or doing anything. To an amateur like me, it seemed like he was waiting for Rychy to take a bite so he could go back and report to his co-workers that the sucker just took a bite of the special fruit bowl.
After Rychy ate the obviously-spat-upon fruit bowl, they paid the check and we left.
I'm not sure who's running these IHOPs, but they're a gold mine for bloggable material. Keep up the good work, IHOP.
http://luckylifeblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-last-possibly-forever-visit-to-ihop.html
If you looked at the comments on the aforementioned blog, my friend Chad suggested that future visits to IHOP be made only in the middle of the night.
Well, I took his advice. The result was yet another epic fail.
This time, I went a step further than just altering my appearance time. I didn't order anything but a glass of water.
It was a post-poker session IHOP visit with my friends Brian and Rychy at about 4:30 a.m. I wasn't hungry, I was just there to chill.
We waited the standard 5 minutes in a nearly-empty restaurant just to get someone to look at us and seat us. Then the waiter came by and asked what we wanted to drink. We all wanted water, but Rychy also wanted an orange juice.
The drinks actually came out in a timely manner. This was the beginning and the end of what IHOP did right during our visit. The drinks were timely but not entirely correct. The waiter brought two waters and an orange juice, and Rychy politely asked again for a water to go with his juice.
In the time between when our drinks came and when he took our orders, our waiter could have driven across town to his local drug dealer, conducted a seamless transaction, and returned to our table. I'm not saying that's what happened, just that it theoretically could have happened within that amount of time.
When he came back, he still didn't have Rychy's water, so Rychy asked for it again. Then the waiter took their orders. (I have to point out the irony of Rychy's order. He got the "Slim-N-Fit Egg Breakfast" but asked to substitute pancakes for the wheat toast. He should have just said, "I'll have the Slim-N-Fit Egg Breakfast, hold the Slim and the Fit.")
In the time between taking their orders and bringing their food, our waiter could have handed out the drugs he just bought to every employee in the restaurant, enjoyed them to the fullest, and made out with one of the waitresses. I'm not saying that's what happened, just that it theoretically could have happened within that amount of time.
Finally our waiter arrived with the food. He still does not have Rychy's water. Rychy asked yet again for a glass of ice water. The boys are now ready to eat, except for one problem -- we have no silverware on the table. Instead of waiting for this drooler of a waiter to get the silverware, Brian marches right up to the hostess station and grabs a couple of sets. Problem solved.
Now there is another problem. While waiting for silverware, Rychy realizes that his meal was supposed to come with a fruit bowl. This wasn't really too hard to notice, since his entire meal consisted of some eggs, the substituted pancakes, and a fruit bowl.
In the time between the waiter came brought the food and when he came back with Rychy's water, he could have been arrested on charges of possession and distribution of drugs, hired a good lawyer, gotten out of jail and come back to finish his shift. I'm not saying that's what happened, just that it theoretically could have happened within that amount of time.
When he came back with his half-baked -- I mean half-closed -- eyes and said, "How's everrrthang, gentulllmunn?" Rychy said, "I think my meal was supposed to come with a fruit bowl." Instead of giving any kind of fake thoughtful gesture, the waiter just said, "No. It doesn't."
Rychy said, "Well, could you check on it or something, because if I'm not mistaken it was supposed to come with a fruit bowl." The waiter said, "I don't think so, but I'll check on it."
In the time between when the waiter went to check on the fruit bowl status and when he returned, he could have entered and successfully completed a 12-week drug rehabilitation program. And then relapsed. I'm not saying that's what happened, just that it theoretically could have happened within that amount of time.
Then the waiter returned with a bowl of fruit. Instead of quickly retreating back to the smoke room like he had on every other visit, this time the waiter just kind of loomed over the table. Rychy said thanks, but this guy stood around the area without saying or doing anything. To an amateur like me, it seemed like he was waiting for Rychy to take a bite so he could go back and report to his co-workers that the sucker just took a bite of the special fruit bowl.
After Rychy ate the obviously-spat-upon fruit bowl, they paid the check and we left.
I'm not sure who's running these IHOPs, but they're a gold mine for bloggable material. Keep up the good work, IHOP.
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