Oh boy! Talk about random hits...

Out of curiousity, I went to statcounter today for the first time in months to see if there's anyone out there that's even reading the crap I put up. It seems that there is.... but how some of these people get here is mind blowing. Check out this person's path to my door. This blog's the second entry on the page. It's not even time for Mardi Gras yet...

It makes me wonder about Canadians when two people found my page with this. I only made the second page of the search with this one and fifth page with this.

Wow... maybe if I throw in more references to boobs, sex, puking, ugly chicks and the like, I can boost up my numbers even higher! I guess I'd have to actually start posting pictures then. I'll leave that up to Al.

Ugh

I just spent my day off from work in the last way I thought I would... sitting at work in a lab, hacking at a 10+ year old server that should've been running just fine but wasn't. It wasn't running properly because some not-so-bright individual or individuals decided to take apart this server and move it halfway across the lab. Nevermind the fact that with an old server like this, once those drives spin down (i.e. are powered off and stop), many times they won't spin up again and need service. You could probably overlook the fact that they never even notified anyone that this work was going to be done, so when I went in to find the server, I had to hunt for 10 minutes before I found it. Let's focus on the fact that these individuals decided to do this work on the LAST WORKDAY BEFORE A LONG 4-DAY HOLIDAY WEEKEND, and when they moved it and the server didn't come back up, they LEFT IT TO ROT JUST AS IT WAS.

Heads are gonna roll when I get into work on Tuesday. Not only am I upset because I worked a full day plus some today - with a raging hangover since Danielle and I went out last night - but it's affecting Development's time schedule for a new project they're rolling out. If they think I'm bad, just wait until the development group gets their two cents in. I've already told the development guy I get first crack at the nitwits... I get to vent some of my aggressions, then they can come in for the kill. Yes, mayhem is on my mind today...

You would think this would be a bad time for poker. Not really. I jumped onto Full Tilt Poker and started playing some .10/.25 NL. I doubled up on two tables in less than half an hour. I won one hand with a lucky J (I had the flush draw on the flop and 2 overs to his pair of 7s) and had a beautiful set of Ks that nobody believed. After a few well-played hands where I won with good cards, I could get out my aggressions at the table (selectively, of course) and take down some good-sized pots with garbage or bottom pair. Just because.

There's nothing better in poker than taking down pots when you don't have the cards. Anyone can take down big pots with sets, flushes or full houses (or the wheel, depending on your game). I love the sense of victory that I get from knowing I outplayed my opponents. Fishy though they may be. I'm sure they're thinking the same thing about me though.

This pot isn't going to give the kettle too much grief though. My bankroll is growing slowly. Ever so slowly, but still going up.

A little late for Vegas...

I never did share any of the stories about Vegas. I had some poker related stories (like how I lost $200 on my first hand of poker at Mandalay Bay, and won it back from the same guy 3 hands later) and some general all-around-fun stories with some of my favorite bloggers. Most of those stories should stay where they are... hidden away in the nooks and crannies of my brain. I'm sure some of the better stories will come up in future posts.

Christmas is finally done. Between the holidays and the house, I've been stressed beyond belief. I haven't even been able to think in coherent sentences, much less write anything. With the stress of Christmas over now, I'm hoping to get back into the swing of writing again.

I've already gotten back to playing some online poker. I was doing pretty good for a while... started playing over at PokerStars for the first time. I had a few good nights initially and was up about $50, then it seemed like I wasn't able to win a hand since. All my hands were second-best, regardless of what I had. Of course, when I'd get pocket As and the like, everyone would fold pre-flop to a raise that was smaller than most. Not much better playing NL at Full Tilt. I've since switched over to limit Razz for a while... Razz is good. lol

I've also taken up baking. Cookies mostly, but I have stuff for cakes and other baked products. I don't know what the heck has happened to me, but I can't help myself. I went to the store with my sister yesterday and bought a basketful of stuff just to make goodies that I won't even end up eating. I have 4 dozen cookies sitting in my kitchen right now that will end up going to work with Al tomorrow (and would've gone today, but I promised some of them to my sister). If anyone wants cookies, feel free to stop by... :-)

Better late than never...

I'm about 3 days late for a post. Vegas kicked my butt! Then I came back to two days of disaster recovery at work... another whine for another time.

First things first. I may have to take Al's last name - CantHang. Ugh. I want to know what the heck happened to my tolerance! I could use the excuse that I was sick and having problems with my wisdom teeth, but any good drinker would never resort to that. All I know is that Red Bull and Strawberry Stoli tastes WONDERFUL, but a person must remember to eat before drinking large quantities of them. Or a person will pass out even though there's a roomfull of people in the suite. And a person will have a hangover so bad the next day that they will feel like puking the entire plane ride home. Yeah, I must remember that.

On to more fun things... I had a blast! I got to catch up with some of my favorite blogging friends... damn, I miss them. I wish everyone lived closer, but it's probably a bad idea since I'd never do anything but play poker, goof off and drink. It's a great vacation, but I need to earn a living somehow... and my poker playing abilities are not going to "do it" for me.

Plenty of stories coming, I swear. I have followup from the last two days of work and I need to get that done before I can start goofing off at work again. And I plan to do plenty of that tomorrow or Monday. Until then...

Vegas, here we come!

It's the day before we leave for Vegas... I've been looking forward to this all week. I've finished my work early for the day and I'm just counting down the minutes until I can escape. Woo-hoo!

In an attempt to boost my tolerance back up a little bit, I went out with Danielle last night. The night started off great when I got carded to buy cigarettes. At 32, I take that as a HUGE compliment. We went on to the social club and proceeded to drink many beers... and I swear, I was still sober after all of that. The drive is less than a half mile and I can always get a ride, but I ended up having to bring another friend home because he was in no condition to drive. A good warm up.... and we have a vendor happy hour tonight after work. Always good to be prepared.

Along with happy hour, it will be packing and preparing for tomorrow. We get in before 3 PM Vegas time, so there will still be plenty of time for drinking and carousing tomorrow. I just want to make sure I get plenty of sleep... since I won't be seeing much of the inside of my eyelids in Vegas.

I know a lot of people have published info and advice on the upcoming trip, but make sure you check out the writeup by Otis at Up for Poker.... he refers back to Pauly's great advice and adds a bit of his own. Even with this advice, you still won't believe the trip until you actually complete one. Just be prepared to go with the flow and enjoy yourself. It's worth it to keep an open mind... especially when it comes to shots of Tequila. Mmmm...

Here's to seeing old friends again and meeting up with new ones. There are plenty of people that I've talked to that I can't wait to meet... and here's to Girl's Night Out! If we make it back without an arrest, it's a good night. Remember the buddy system though... NEVER LEAVE YOUR WING(WO)MAN!

See you all soon in Vegas!

The days approaching Vegas

I haven't had much to write about, or time to write about it. No poker has been played since Mom was visiting. It also meant that all my free time was spent with her and my sister, since Mom doesn't get to visit that often. We went shopping mostly, but with Christmas right around the corner and a new house, there was always shopping to be done.

I also took Mom down to the Boathouse for the Tuesday night freeroll. She was going in with low expectations since she didn't think she'd even won a single hand last time she'd played there. Her luck seemed better since she won the first hand, but she didn't get much for a while after that. I was doing ok - going up and down - but I wasn't feeling well (thanks to my sick officemate - jerk) and ended up just playing hands to get rid of my chips. After I left, Mom doubled up a few times and made it much farther than the rest of us. Al and BigMike were out before I left... Maybe she should be the one to come play in the Vegas tourney this coming weekend.

Speaking of... I hope I'm ready for Vegas. I haven't been practicing my drinking exercises this past week, so I'm a little out of shape on the alcohol side of things. Also, since I haven't been playing poker, I might not do so well in that arena either. Oh well... like any of this has ever stopped me before. I'm going to enjoy the company of everyone there... and that's the most important part of this trip.

Oh, the stories and pictures... that will never go anywhere since what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Right? Not with the bloggers... hehehehe Stay tuned.