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Monday, November 02, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Friday, August 07, 2009
Poker November 9...
With the World Series of Poker, Main Event on hold until November, I wrote a short summary of the 9 players at this year's final table. This is strictly my opinion, so take it for what it's worth.
So the November 9... let's see who we got here:
1. Darvin Moon - 58,930,000
Gotta route for him! He is from Maryland (my home state), he's a Logger, and is Country with a capital K!
2. Eric Buchman - 34,800,000
2. Eric Buchman - 34,800,000
A very good Internet player for the most part. He lead most of the final day until Moon knocked out the 10th place guy. I would think he has the best chance of winning it all.
3. Steven Begleiter - 29,885,000
3. Steven Begleiter - 29,885,000
I really don't know much about him.
4. Jeff Shulman - 19,580,000
4. Jeff Shulman - 19,580,000
The publisher/editor of CardPlayer magazine...and a total DICKHEAD! He has a serious ax to grind against Harrahs. He says if he wins he will "...throw the bracelet in the trash..." The rest of us would be happy to be there.
5. Joseph Cada - 13,215,000
5. Joseph Cada - 13,215,000
Joe is the youngest player and is kind of interesting to listen to. He is 21 and began playing when he was 17. When asked what advice he would give to 17 year olds listening, he said " Don't play poker. It's the hardest way to make an easy living." I thought this was rather insightful.
6. Kevin Schaffel - 12,390,000
6. Kevin Schaffel - 12,390,000
Don't know anything about him.
7. Phil Ivey - 9,765,000
7. Phil Ivey - 9,765,000
Obviously the Best Player in the World! But I don't think he will win this year. He's too far below average with a bunch of good players in front of him. I do think it will be a top 3 finish though.
8. Antoine Saout - 9,500,000
8. Antoine Saout - 9,500,000
The first non-American player. Good player, but short on chips.
9. James Akenhead - 6,800,000
9. James Akenhead - 6,800,000
Other then Ivey, he is the best player at the table. Also the only other non-American.
My prediction for the finish:
9. Shulman
8. Schaffel
7. Saout
6. Akenhead
5. Cada
4. Begleiter
3. Moon
2. Ivey
And the winner of the 2009 World Series Main Event......
Eric Buchman
There you have it!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
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Thursday, October 16, 2008
I FINALLY won!
Lately I've been putting some effort into poker. For a while I just made an effort when it was time for a game. I've got some books and videos, but really haven't used them. Also several video games. But with all of this, I've been kind of lax. Since I don't really have anyone to talk to on the train for most of the ride and don't really know anyone in the office, I have a lot of time to myself.
A couple weeks ago I updated the software on my Zune media player. With the new software came a way to listen to Podcasts a lot easier. I discovered a couple of poker related Podcasts and started listening to them on the way to work. Also with the update, there are now games. One of them being a Hold 'em game. This all sort of spurred my renewed interest. I started playing the Zune game a lot and the game on the computer.
We also played the home game on 10/4. I really didn't do well on the home game, but it did get the juices flowing. I went to the game in St. Mary's on 10/11 for the first time in a while.
Cindy backed out, so I went by myself. It turned out only 5 people showed up to play. I was hoping for more, but that's life. The players were a younger guy (Josh?), the host Bobbi, and two older guys both named Mike. That made 3 Mike's at table.
Josh bet out big to start with. Everyone folded to him and he picked up the blinds. He did this again the next hand, shoving All-In. But one of the other Mike's called his bet. Josh had Queens and Mike had Kings, Josh lost. He lost the following hand and was done after 3 hands. We offered for him to re-buy, but no, he left. This left 4. I played too loose and got trapped in a few bad hands I shouldn't have played. I was down to about 4 chips. It's not looking good. I get tight, but also get aggressive. I sent all in for my last 550, I have J-5 of hearts. The caller had A-K off suit. But I hit my flush on the turn!
Okay, now I've got a little bit. Next hand, Q-3 off. I checked, flop comes Q-Q-3. Bobbi raised it! I just called. Everyone else folded out. Both checked the turn. Bobbi raised the river, I came over the top, she didn't want that but couldn't get away from the hand at this point. She called, but was crushed. I stole a few blinds and small pots for a while. Shortly I was the chip leader! Bobbi busted out to one of the other guys, this left the Mikes.
A couple hands went by and I look down at 8's. Flop came 3-8-7. I checked it. Then one of the guys pushed all in. I had him covered and called. He didn't want to see that. He had A-K. Hit a King on the turn, but that's it. This left me and the final guy. It went back and forth a couple hands, until he shoved All In. I have A-K and called him. He had J-9 suited. Flop was 5-7-K rainbow. Turn was a 9. River was 3. I won! This is the first tourney win I have had in a LONG time! It didn't pay much, but it beats loosing.
Friday, October 10, 2008
USDA Farmers Market
Each Friday from June-October, there is a Farmers Market here at USDA. While they have the normal fruits and vegetables, they also have a Kettel Corn popcorn stand. This is a big deal! People line up nearly a block long to get this popcorn. These are some pictures from the activities today.
Monday, September 29, 2008
New gig at USDA
Here I am at another new job. Basically as I said before, it pays too much to turn down, so I took it. The first week was interesting. They placed me in a temporary office. In this office was a guy who is Milton from the movie Office Space. Below are pictures of my office-mate and Milton. But that only tells part of the story, the guy sounds just like him too.... (Milton on the left, office-mate on the right)
I don't mean to rag on him, he is a nice enough guy, but that blue shirt he is wearing, he's had it on all week. I thought maybe he had 5 of them, but there was a stain on it one day, and the same stain was there the next day.
Then there is my other office mate. Older black lady. She rides around in a scooter. I thought maybe she had a handicap, but no. She's just fat.
They both moved out on Friday (planned move), and I'm in the office by myself now.
I don't mean to rag on him, he is a nice enough guy, but that blue shirt he is wearing, he's had it on all week. I thought maybe he had 5 of them, but there was a stain on it one day, and the same stain was there the next day.
Then there is my other office mate. Older black lady. She rides around in a scooter. I thought maybe she had a handicap, but no. She's just fat.
They both moved out on Friday (planned move), and I'm in the office by myself now.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Cross traffic
Lately I've been posting over on my Facebook account. I'll try to do some cross-posting here to even things out. But with Facebook it doesn't feel so much like being in a vacuum.
Job update
When last we left our job candidate he had opportunities with 4-5 potential employers. This is what came out of the wash:
It all happened the week I went on vacation.
Andrews AFB (GDIT) – They made me an offer and raised the amount a little. But they also knocked my job title down a peg.
Library of Congress (ManTech) – They called me as I was pulling into Myrtle Beach. They really low balled me on the money. Basically they asked if I would make a lateral move. I told them to make their best offer, it wasn’t good.
USDA (Geneses10) - On the evening of 8/14 I received an offer from the company. It’s a grotesque amount of money, but may not last longer then 6 months.
Census (Convergenz) - I told them my price and they were going to try to get it.
Company in Arizona - They called me right after I received the offer letter. They were messing around trying to say I need to rework my resume to emphasize specific experience with that would apply to the job. At this point I told them to remove me from consideration.
So what happen was…
I thought of this the whole time I was on vacation and decided to go for the money. I accepted the job at USDA. When I left GAO it was really hard. I liked the people there and the job itself was pretty easy. But right now I can use the dough. So here I am at USDA.
One good thing is that a lot of people said that if my job situation changes, I would be welcome back to GAO with open arms.
It all happened the week I went on vacation.
Andrews AFB (GDIT) – They made me an offer and raised the amount a little. But they also knocked my job title down a peg.
Library of Congress (ManTech) – They called me as I was pulling into Myrtle Beach. They really low balled me on the money. Basically they asked if I would make a lateral move. I told them to make their best offer, it wasn’t good.
USDA (Geneses10) - On the evening of 8/14 I received an offer from the company. It’s a grotesque amount of money, but may not last longer then 6 months.
Census (Convergenz) - I told them my price and they were going to try to get it.
Company in Arizona - They called me right after I received the offer letter. They were messing around trying to say I need to rework my resume to emphasize specific experience with that would apply to the job. At this point I told them to remove me from consideration.
So what happen was…
I thought of this the whole time I was on vacation and decided to go for the money. I accepted the job at USDA. When I left GAO it was really hard. I liked the people there and the job itself was pretty easy. But right now I can use the dough. So here I am at USDA.
One good thing is that a lot of people said that if my job situation changes, I would be welcome back to GAO with open arms.
Finally an update...vacation
So I haven't posted on here in over a month, sorry. I'll bring you up to speed on some of the various things that I had discussed before and new stuff.
So last we left our adventure...
I was getting ready for a road trip with the family in Myrtle Beach.
I should start this with the cast of characters:
Me - Your host
Teri - Wife of host
Rebecca (Becca, Bec) - Daughter and The cutest little girl in the world!
Cindy - Sister, wife of Kurt Jr, mother of Candice, Kurt III, and JR
Candice - Niece, mother of Tabitha
Kurt Jr. - Brother-in-Law, father of Kurt III
Kurt III - Nephew
Tabitha (Tabby) - Great Niece
C&C is the whole group with Cindy and Candice.
Chris - Friend
Thursday evening: On the way home from the train station I stopped by Cindy's house to get some of her luggage, golf clubs, and beer and potato chips for JR and Mary (my sister).
Teri, Becca, and I FINALLY got on the road after I harvested the garden. I was hoping to leave around 4:00, but we ended up leaving around 6:00. We head to Roanoke Rapids (RR) and spend the night.
Friday: C&C meet us in RR, kind of early actually. The plan was to take a quick visit of Teri's kin. But they blew us off. This really irked Teri (and me). But on the road to MB.
Once in MB we got to the hotel, but couldn't check in until 3:00. So I went and got some pizza from Hungry Howies, one of the better pizza's I've had. Well, C&C didn't think much of it, but I didn't know this as I went and got drinks, but they eat a lot of it anyway. But then we were hanging around, and LK was playing with Bec. He was raising her up over his head, and hit her into the ceiling fan. And I yelled at him! Cindy didn't like me yelling at him. But ya hurt my kid, and I'm gonna yell at ya (at least). I think this set a bad tone for the evening. Anyway I wanted to go to dinner at my favorite restaurant down there (Drunken Jacks). We went, but it was crowded, C&C couldn't take waiting 2 hours. I tried to explain that it wasn't that big of a deal, but no. So we went to the restaurant next door, which we had an hour wait. Kurt Jr was felling pretty sick. He could barely eat anything. Teri and I felt kind of bad for him. Other then Kurt feeling sick, it went fine, and back to the hotel.
Saturday: My birthday! BFD. Baby gets up by 6:30 no matter what. We know this. So we got up and went to breakfast. I wasn't keen about the hotel's breakfast, so we went out. On the way back, we stopped for golf. But when we went out on the course, no babies allowed due to bad golfers. We went back to the hotel. On the way we picked up breakfast for Cindy. Teri offered to make soup for Kurt Jr. Cindy told us he and III went to the Go-Kart track. He wasn't real sick, he took cold pills and drank 3 beers on an empty stomach. Cindy said she would watch Bec while we golfed.
Back to golf. We started at the driving range. I made sure we stretched out before playing. But I threw my back out while on the driving range. I didn't think it was too bad, so we went ahead and played 9 holes of Par 3. Wrong! It was a mess! I rested up the rest of the day until we went to Charleston for the Springsteen concert (remember, that's the whole point of this trip). The show was really good! And the venue was nice.
Back to MB. C&C had taken Bec to the Dixie Stampede, and both really had a good time! Rebecca really enjoyed all the stuff that was going on!
Sunday: Back wasn't any better, Teri got the phone book and called Chiropractors until she found one that would see us. And we found one. It helped a good bit. JR (Sam Jr) arrived and got his beer and your crap. We did get out to the beach, but Bec didn't think much of it, or the pool.
We did have dinner at Drunken Jacks, but Cindy was in a mood where nothing was good, tough shit, it's some of the best food around! Back to the hotel to pack.
Monday: Ride back. The decided that they wanted to have breakfast at IHOP. It took us north, and they kept going north. This was a stupid way to go, but we finally got to 40, then 95. We gave passed the kid off in Petersburgh, VA. We had the Tom-Tom and meet a friend of mine, Chris, at the Richmond train station. We stopped off for dinner.
When we left the TomTom told us to make a turn. The first turn was for 95 south, I knew we didn't want to go in that direction, so I took the north exit. This is where Teri had a mini-meltdown. "Why don't you listen to it! You are so stupid! Why do we even have it if you aren't going to listen to it!!" Well when it showed that we were going the right direction, she apologized. I got a kick out of her meltdown.
When we got to the train station, Chris had met some dude on the train going to the show. The guy had flown in from California and needed a ride from the train station to the arena. We gave him a ride.
The show in Richmond was phenomenal! One of the best of the tour to that time! In hind sight, I should have taken the whole week off and followed the tour to the end in KC. These were just AWESOME shows. We got home late early Tuesday morning without incident.
Tuesday: I went to my normal chiropractor. He worked on me and I'm feeling fine now. Teri did bail out of going to the Hershey show and I ended up selling her ticket. The show in Hershey was also excellent, but not quite as good as the other two. But it's splitting hairs with the difference too.
Wednesday: Dropped the van off to have some work done, and went back to work myself. End of vacation.
So last we left our adventure...
I was getting ready for a road trip with the family in Myrtle Beach.
I should start this with the cast of characters:
Me - Your host
Teri - Wife of host
Rebecca (Becca, Bec) - Daughter and The cutest little girl in the world!
Cindy - Sister, wife of Kurt Jr, mother of Candice, Kurt III, and JR
Candice - Niece, mother of Tabitha
Kurt Jr. - Brother-in-Law, father of Kurt III
Kurt III - Nephew
Tabitha (Tabby) - Great NieceC&C is the whole group with Cindy and Candice.
Chris - Friend
Thursday evening: On the way home from the train station I stopped by Cindy's house to get some of her luggage, golf clubs, and beer and potato chips for JR and Mary (my sister).
Teri, Becca, and I FINALLY got on the road after I harvested the garden. I was hoping to leave around 4:00, but we ended up leaving around 6:00. We head to Roanoke Rapids (RR) and spend the night.
Friday: C&C meet us in RR, kind of early actually. The plan was to take a quick visit of Teri's kin. But they blew us off. This really irked Teri (and me). But on the road to MB.
 |
| From 2008-08-18 |
Once in MB we got to the hotel, but couldn't check in until 3:00. So I went and got some pizza from Hungry Howies, one of the better pizza's I've had. Well, C&C didn't think much of it, but I didn't know this as I went and got drinks, but they eat a lot of it anyway. But then we were hanging around, and LK was playing with Bec. He was raising her up over his head, and hit her into the ceiling fan. And I yelled at him! Cindy didn't like me yelling at him. But ya hurt my kid, and I'm gonna yell at ya (at least). I think this set a bad tone for the evening. Anyway I wanted to go to dinner at my favorite restaurant down there (Drunken Jacks). We went, but it was crowded, C&C couldn't take waiting 2 hours. I tried to explain that it wasn't that big of a deal, but no. So we went to the restaurant next door, which we had an hour wait. Kurt Jr was felling pretty sick. He could barely eat anything. Teri and I felt kind of bad for him. Other then Kurt feeling sick, it went fine, and back to the hotel.
Saturday: My birthday! BFD. Baby gets up by 6:30 no matter what. We know this. So we got up and went to breakfast. I wasn't keen about the hotel's breakfast, so we went out. On the way back, we stopped for golf. But when we went out on the course, no babies allowed due to bad golfers. We went back to the hotel. On the way we picked up breakfast for Cindy. Teri offered to make soup for Kurt Jr. Cindy told us he and III went to the Go-Kart track. He wasn't real sick, he took cold pills and drank 3 beers on an empty stomach. Cindy said she would watch Bec while we golfed.
Back to golf. We started at the driving range. I made sure we stretched out before playing. But I threw my back out while on the driving range. I didn't think it was too bad, so we went ahead and played 9 holes of Par 3. Wrong! It was a mess! I rested up the rest of the day until we went to Charleston for the Springsteen concert (remember, that's the whole point of this trip). The show was really good! And the venue was nice.
Back to MB. C&C had taken Bec to the Dixie Stampede, and both really had a good time! Rebecca really enjoyed all the stuff that was going on!
Sunday: Back wasn't any better, Teri got the phone book and called Chiropractors until she found one that would see us. And we found one. It helped a good bit. JR (Sam Jr) arrived and got his beer and your crap. We did get out to the beach, but Bec didn't think much of it, or the pool.
 |
| From 2008-08-18 |
We did have dinner at Drunken Jacks, but Cindy was in a mood where nothing was good, tough shit, it's some of the best food around! Back to the hotel to pack.
 |
| From 2008-08-18 |
Monday: Ride back. The decided that they wanted to have breakfast at IHOP. It took us north, and they kept going north. This was a stupid way to go, but we finally got to 40, then 95. We gave passed the kid off in Petersburgh, VA. We had the Tom-Tom and meet a friend of mine, Chris, at the Richmond train station. We stopped off for dinner.
When we left the TomTom told us to make a turn. The first turn was for 95 south, I knew we didn't want to go in that direction, so I took the north exit. This is where Teri had a mini-meltdown. "Why don't you listen to it! You are so stupid! Why do we even have it if you aren't going to listen to it!!" Well when it showed that we were going the right direction, she apologized. I got a kick out of her meltdown.
When we got to the train station, Chris had met some dude on the train going to the show. The guy had flown in from California and needed a ride from the train station to the arena. We gave him a ride.
 |
| From 2008-08-18 |
The show in Richmond was phenomenal! One of the best of the tour to that time! In hind sight, I should have taken the whole week off and followed the tour to the end in KC. These were just AWESOME shows. We got home late early Tuesday morning without incident.
Tuesday: I went to my normal chiropractor. He worked on me and I'm feeling fine now. Teri did bail out of going to the Hershey show and I ended up selling her ticket. The show in Hershey was also excellent, but not quite as good as the other two. But it's splitting hairs with the difference too.
Wednesday: Dropped the van off to have some work done, and went back to work myself. End of vacation.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Virgin Fest 2008, wrap up!
I left for the show a little later then expected, but made it. I hung around the entrance of the race track trying to buy a ticket. Last year it only took like 10 minutes to get into the show. This year it was a bit longer, about 45 minutes. And I paid $50, which was still about half price. That's life. I missed KT Tunstel, the opening act I wanted to see. I did catch the next group Gogol Bordello. I was surprised how good these guys were! They were very energetic and kept the place rockin!
This year I found a spot by the VIP area and stayed there. It had kind of a seat, so I could sit down or stand on the seat to see over the crowd. This gave me a great view to take some pictures. I think the pictures this year came out a lot better then last. Also unlike most concerts, the sun was right onto the stage, which made things very bright and clear.
The next group that came up was Lupe Fiasco. Some of the people around me told me they were good. They weren't very good. They did some kind of hip-hop/R&B thing that really wasn't good. And they kept messing with the stage monitors, which destroyed any pacing that they may have had.
Then came Bloc Party. These guys were okay, if you like shitty music. They were professional and all, but I just didn't like their music.
Finally, The Offspring! I was afraid that they would load up the set list with their new album or the one right before it, NOPE! They played all the classics a couple off of 'Conspiracy of One' that I really liked, and ended with Low Self Esteem!
A mushpit broke out, and all in all, the best time I've had at a show in a while, just rockin' out!
After The Offspring left, the place cleared out, FAST! I guess the kids weren't keen about seeing Chuck Berry. Well, I should have went with them. This is what happen:
The Silver Beats came out first. When I read this on the program, I thought this was Chuck's backing band, but no. This was a Japanese, Beatles tribute band. I guess they played cheap. The music was fine, but it was just the wrong venue for this group.
So Chuck finally came out. I know he's old, and he looked every day of his age. But I was hopeful. Well, it went bad. He started every song like it was Johnny B Goode, and then sing a different song, but destroy the lyrics. This went on for all the songs he did. I was just hoping he would wrap it up and get off the stage. Then it got worse. He said something like, "For the last number I want to let some girls up here on stage! Four on the left, four on the right, and four in the center. Security, help them up here!" Well, it was actually creepier then it sounds. And none of the girls wanted anything to do with it. Finally the rounded up a bunch of them. The song went on, and he left the stage while the band was still playing. What a mess!
Then waited around for the Foo Fighters! They were good. The crowd was into it, the whole bit. I'm just not a big Foo Fan. I watched them for about half an hour and rolled out.
I wanted to beat traffic. So that was my show. The weather was great! And I can't wait until next year!
This year I found a spot by the VIP area and stayed there. It had kind of a seat, so I could sit down or stand on the seat to see over the crowd. This gave me a great view to take some pictures. I think the pictures this year came out a lot better then last. Also unlike most concerts, the sun was right onto the stage, which made things very bright and clear.
The next group that came up was Lupe Fiasco. Some of the people around me told me they were good. They weren't very good. They did some kind of hip-hop/R&B thing that really wasn't good. And they kept messing with the stage monitors, which destroyed any pacing that they may have had.
Then came Bloc Party. These guys were okay, if you like shitty music. They were professional and all, but I just didn't like their music.
Finally, The Offspring! I was afraid that they would load up the set list with their new album or the one right before it, NOPE! They played all the classics a couple off of 'Conspiracy of One' that I really liked, and ended with Low Self Esteem!
A mushpit broke out, and all in all, the best time I've had at a show in a while, just rockin' out!
After The Offspring left, the place cleared out, FAST! I guess the kids weren't keen about seeing Chuck Berry. Well, I should have went with them. This is what happen:
The Silver Beats came out first. When I read this on the program, I thought this was Chuck's backing band, but no. This was a Japanese, Beatles tribute band. I guess they played cheap. The music was fine, but it was just the wrong venue for this group.
So Chuck finally came out. I know he's old, and he looked every day of his age. But I was hopeful. Well, it went bad. He started every song like it was Johnny B Goode, and then sing a different song, but destroy the lyrics. This went on for all the songs he did. I was just hoping he would wrap it up and get off the stage. Then it got worse. He said something like, "For the last number I want to let some girls up here on stage! Four on the left, four on the right, and four in the center. Security, help them up here!" Well, it was actually creepier then it sounds. And none of the girls wanted anything to do with it. Finally the rounded up a bunch of them. The song went on, and he left the stage while the band was still playing. What a mess!
Then waited around for the Foo Fighters! They were good. The crowd was into it, the whole bit. I'm just not a big Foo Fan. I watched them for about half an hour and rolled out.
I wanted to beat traffic. So that was my show. The weather was great! And I can't wait until next year!
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