Faithful readers may recall Backpack Gate was when I practically zoomed to the top of the Grouse Grind, ahead of my pregnant wife. And when she reached the top I remembered she was carrying the heavy backpack. She was none too pleased. Well, friends, if you think letting my pregnant wife carrying a backpack up a mountain made me an asshole, you aint seen nothing yet.
Next week, while I gallivant about the country living the dream, my seven-months-pregnant wife will move all our earthly possessions from our Richards Street condo to our Cambie Street condo. Can't you just see her now, trying to carry the couch on her back out to the elevator? Hopefully a neighbor will take pity and grab half. I mean, she's pregnant. Have some manners, for fuck's sake.
Okay, obviously I'm being hyperbolic. The actual heavy lifting will be done by trained professionals. And we're gonna get her some help even with non-heavy non-lifting type tasks. But fact of the matter is, she still has copious amounts of work to do over the next week or so, not even counting her day job. And while she does that work, I will in fact be gallivanting. I had to give her power of attorney last week, cause I can't even be expected to sign papers myself.
In my defense, the whole thing just came together so fast there was no possible way I could have scheduled road trips around it. We knew we were going to need a bigger place soon, what with a child en route and all, but we figured we could last a while in our shoebox. But still thought we may as well look around at what was out there. If we could go from our 600 sqft to, say, 800 or so, it might be worth the effort. But the way over-list price we got on our place, combined with the under-list offer that was accepted on our new place, made a move make sense. The new spot is 1100 sqft, which is obviously going to be hugely different. It's actually imaginable that we could stay in the new place fairly permanently.
At least, it will be imaginable once we reno the place. It had been tenanted out, and it's pretty dirty. To the point of kind of gross. We're gonna do it in stages, the first of which will happen immediately after we take possession September 1. Which means when I come home from this tour it will be neither to my old home nor my new home, but rather to the furnished condo we rent for a few weeks while our place is de-grossified.
Man, there's a lot going on at home right now. In addition to all this, my mom just got home from the hospital, my dad's still there, and my parents are trying to sell their restaurant and their house. Meanwhile, I'm in a bar in Spearfish, South Dakota. Seriously, what the fuck? It's hard to imagine this is where I'm supposed to be.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
The District 9 Aliens Sound Like The Billings, MT Taco Bell Trash
It's true. When you put your taco wrapper in the garbage the little door there swings back and forth and makes this croaky noise that is a pretty good impression of the 'prawns' in District 9. A pretty inconsistent movie, but certainly not completely lacking things to recommend it. I enjoyed it more than my travel mates, I think. I though the first half was quite good, fairly brimming with original ideas. Second half got kinda boring, which is not necessarily what you would expect seeing it became an action movie. Just sort of got generic, villains and heroes, you know?
Two things bugged me in particular (besides it just getting kinda long). The mix of the documentary approach and a 'normal' style was kind of off-putting sometimes. Brought to mind those cheesy documentaries you'll see on A & E or some such channel where it'll be interviews with the real-life people interspersed with reenactments.
And maybe I'm being too PC here, but I just kind of found it weird, especially considering the filmmakers are being hailed for their clever (obvious) Apartheid metaphors, that most of the black people in the cast were in the Nigerian gangs. Though there were certainly plenty of other scoundrels, the gangs took the film's villainous cake. They would laugh heinously (and kind of inexplicably) right before doing something particularly cruel, often in the name of witchcraft. Actually most of the time it was right before 'attempting' to do something particularly cruel, because their most devious acts were often thwarted in the nick of time. The thwarting became a common occurrence amongst all races (human and otherwise) over the last reel, which was an unfortunately hackneyed development in a movie that started out as anything but.
Two things bugged me in particular (besides it just getting kinda long). The mix of the documentary approach and a 'normal' style was kind of off-putting sometimes. Brought to mind those cheesy documentaries you'll see on A & E or some such channel where it'll be interviews with the real-life people interspersed with reenactments.
And maybe I'm being too PC here, but I just kind of found it weird, especially considering the filmmakers are being hailed for their clever (obvious) Apartheid metaphors, that most of the black people in the cast were in the Nigerian gangs. Though there were certainly plenty of other scoundrels, the gangs took the film's villainous cake. They would laugh heinously (and kind of inexplicably) right before doing something particularly cruel, often in the name of witchcraft. Actually most of the time it was right before 'attempting' to do something particularly cruel, because their most devious acts were often thwarted in the nick of time. The thwarting became a common occurrence amongst all races (human and otherwise) over the last reel, which was an unfortunately hackneyed development in a movie that started out as anything but.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Unbiased Reporting?
There was a recent thread on 2+2 about how poker bloggers are only active when they are on upswings. And of course there was all kinds of discussions about that, examples of when guys did in fact blog their downswings (hello? Sample size?). It did give me cause for reflection. I would like to think that you could count on me for, not necessarily a thorough, but at least a truly random account of my poker exploits; that I would blog the ups and downs equally. But notice that my last poker entry was just over a week ago, when I was in the final stages of one of my more memorable upswings. And since then, I’ve had some miserable results, and lo and behold no blog entry.
Of course my opinions on this topic are inherently flawed, but it is my belief that is just a coincidence. I think I have blogged more about downswings than upswings, in fact. That’s an assertion that could easily be substantiated with a little effort, but I’m too lazy/not really that interested. I’ll just go by my best recollection. And also admit, based on the most recent evidence, that my best recollection may be flawed.
Actually I’ve continue to book mainly winners over the last week, it’s just that three particular sessions were monumental losers and all the winners were of the marginal variety. So I’m a big loser for the whole period. The good news is I think I have handled this downswing better than any other significant one I’ve ever had. I do not believe my play has been affected by negative results, and whether that belief is delusional or not, is the first time I can say it with a straight face. As I’ve probably said before, I think handling downswings is at least as important as any other factor in having a somewhat successful poker career. So this particular downswing kinda feels like good news. Though good news doesn’t normally suck quite as hard.
Of course my opinions on this topic are inherently flawed, but it is my belief that is just a coincidence. I think I have blogged more about downswings than upswings, in fact. That’s an assertion that could easily be substantiated with a little effort, but I’m too lazy/not really that interested. I’ll just go by my best recollection. And also admit, based on the most recent evidence, that my best recollection may be flawed.
Actually I’ve continue to book mainly winners over the last week, it’s just that three particular sessions were monumental losers and all the winners were of the marginal variety. So I’m a big loser for the whole period. The good news is I think I have handled this downswing better than any other significant one I’ve ever had. I do not believe my play has been affected by negative results, and whether that belief is delusional or not, is the first time I can say it with a straight face. As I’ve probably said before, I think handling downswings is at least as important as any other factor in having a somewhat successful poker career. So this particular downswing kinda feels like good news. Though good news doesn’t normally suck quite as hard.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Outlet Pass
I have a recurring waking dream, where I'm playing floor hockey. I pick up a loose ball deep in my own end and there's a teammate sneaking behind the opposing defense in the opposite corner of the gym, and I hit him with a tape to tape pass. Most of the time that's where it stops, although occasionally my teammate is allowed to finish the play (he always scores, top shelf). The scene often pops into my head when I'm trying to sleep, and also just during general daydreaming. Probably average about 10 viewings a day. It's like getting a song stuck in your head, only not quite as maddening. Not pleasant either, just kind of whatever. I guess I find it kind of peculiar, when i reflect on it.
Also, the number 52,463 pops in my head all the time. Normally with a dollar sign.
Also, the number 52,463 pops in my head all the time. Normally with a dollar sign.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
A Dirty One
Wanted to post one hand, but decided to leave my CD-eulogizing blog alone. So here, two blogs in the span of mere minutes.
I like posting hands where I suck out terribly because it makes me remember them all the more clearly, which in turn helps me to tilt less when it happens to me. This guy must have kicked his cat. He had a 3bet number through the roof and I decided to flat and then check/shove innocuous flops. I didn't think it through at all, and in retrospect it's not a good plan for myriad reasons (not just ROT). Bit of a brain cramp, really. But regardless, that was my determined strategy, however foolish it may have been. Here's what happened.
Poker Stars $100.00 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/218156
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
CO: $100.00
BTN: $100.20
SB: $129.05
BB: $124.50
Hero (UTG): $101.50
Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG with 5d 5h
Hero raises to $3.50, CO raises to $12, 3 folds, Hero calls $8.50
Flop: ($25.50) 9s 4d 2c (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $18.00, Hero raises to $89.50, CO calls $70 all in
Turn: 2h
River: 5c
Final Pot: $201.50
CO shows Ah Ad
Hero shows 5d 5h
Hero wins $199.50
(Rake: $2.00)
Anyway, it kick started what had been a sluggish session, and the PokerStars upswing continues. I've been playing a little bit at FT just to clear a bonus, and it's been going as bad there as it is good at Stars. Man, those bonuses are marketing genius, cause there's no way I'm not clearing it, even though I'm down more than it's worth.
I like posting hands where I suck out terribly because it makes me remember them all the more clearly, which in turn helps me to tilt less when it happens to me. This guy must have kicked his cat. He had a 3bet number through the roof and I decided to flat and then check/shove innocuous flops. I didn't think it through at all, and in retrospect it's not a good plan for myriad reasons (not just ROT). Bit of a brain cramp, really. But regardless, that was my determined strategy, however foolish it may have been. Here's what happened.
Poker Stars $100.00 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/218156
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
CO: $100.00
BTN: $100.20
SB: $129.05
BB: $124.50
Hero (UTG): $101.50
Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG with 5d 5h
Hero raises to $3.50, CO raises to $12, 3 folds, Hero calls $8.50
Flop: ($25.50) 9s 4d 2c (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $18.00, Hero raises to $89.50, CO calls $70 all in
Turn: 2h
River: 5c
Final Pot: $201.50
CO shows Ah Ad
Hero shows 5d 5h
Hero wins $199.50
(Rake: $2.00)
Anyway, it kick started what had been a sluggish session, and the PokerStars upswing continues. I've been playing a little bit at FT just to clear a bonus, and it's been going as bad there as it is good at Stars. Man, those bonuses are marketing genius, cause there's no way I'm not clearing it, even though I'm down more than it's worth.
Gone But Not Forgotten
Sold my entire CD collection to a rank stranger from Craig's List for less than a buck a CD today. If you have told me a few years ago that was going to happen, I would have laughed in your face. "Ha!", I would have said.
But things have changed. I've taken a (quite possibly permanent) shine to condo living, and massive CD collections take up more space than you might think. And my iPod, which fits in my pocket, can hold every last song that I chose to retain from said collection. Sure, the sounds a little bit worse on the iPod, but I'm no audiophile (as opposed to Evan Fraser, who is, in fact, a Celtophile, but that's a different story). I don't mind the iPod sound at all. And sure, it's fun to look at CD covers and read through booklets. Hell, I used to pore over those booklets with a fine tooth comb (it's a metaphor). But fact is, they've all been sitting in storage for a few years now.
I want to get rid of my storage space, and in general I just want to have less things to keep track of, so I sold 'em. Besides, the value of CD's gets less and less every year, I was probably lucky to get the price I did. Guy owns a used CD store in Maple Ridge, so my discs will get scared all over the Ridge/Meadows area.
I'm definitely a little sad about it. CD's used to be my main currency. One of the most terrible days of my life came years ago when Cameron Thomson and I were roommates in New Westminster, and our place got broken into, and all my CD"s were stolen. I had a big collection then, but my current collection eventually came to dwarf the original. I used to go into CD stores and if I had a vague sense something was supposed to be good, I just bought it. Found a lot of my favorite music through random purchases, and also ended up owning CD's that I never ever listened to.
It hasn't been an obsession in quite some time, and ultimately the passion was for music, not for shiny discs, and I still have the music. Plus, it was such a monumental task to organize the CD's, make sure discs and cases and booklets matched, and load anything into the computer that I wanted and wasn't already there, that I was almost relieved to see 'em go. Still feel obligated to be at least vaguely wistful and reflective for a day or two. Maybe I'll walk down to the seawall tomorrow and stare out at the ocean with the hint of a tear in my eye. After Subway, of course.
But things have changed. I've taken a (quite possibly permanent) shine to condo living, and massive CD collections take up more space than you might think. And my iPod, which fits in my pocket, can hold every last song that I chose to retain from said collection. Sure, the sounds a little bit worse on the iPod, but I'm no audiophile (as opposed to Evan Fraser, who is, in fact, a Celtophile, but that's a different story). I don't mind the iPod sound at all. And sure, it's fun to look at CD covers and read through booklets. Hell, I used to pore over those booklets with a fine tooth comb (it's a metaphor). But fact is, they've all been sitting in storage for a few years now.
I want to get rid of my storage space, and in general I just want to have less things to keep track of, so I sold 'em. Besides, the value of CD's gets less and less every year, I was probably lucky to get the price I did. Guy owns a used CD store in Maple Ridge, so my discs will get scared all over the Ridge/Meadows area.
I'm definitely a little sad about it. CD's used to be my main currency. One of the most terrible days of my life came years ago when Cameron Thomson and I were roommates in New Westminster, and our place got broken into, and all my CD"s were stolen. I had a big collection then, but my current collection eventually came to dwarf the original. I used to go into CD stores and if I had a vague sense something was supposed to be good, I just bought it. Found a lot of my favorite music through random purchases, and also ended up owning CD's that I never ever listened to.
It hasn't been an obsession in quite some time, and ultimately the passion was for music, not for shiny discs, and I still have the music. Plus, it was such a monumental task to organize the CD's, make sure discs and cases and booklets matched, and load anything into the computer that I wanted and wasn't already there, that I was almost relieved to see 'em go. Still feel obligated to be at least vaguely wistful and reflective for a day or two. Maybe I'll walk down to the seawall tomorrow and stare out at the ocean with the hint of a tear in my eye. After Subway, of course.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Probably Moving
You might say definitely moving, on account of we accepted an offer to buy our place. But you know, never say never and all that. Of course, by that logic you could kind of put yourself in a spot where you could literally never say anything was about to happen, no matter how certain it seemed. I don't think that would be all that terrible a spot to be in. But conversationally, at least, we are definitely moving.
After opening our home to the public (and the public's realtors) this weekend for a couple two hour stints, we met down at our particular realtor's office (a mere two blocks from the homestead) this morning to consider offers. I misunderstood what this entailed. I thought we would sit around there and she would show us what offers had come in, and we would leisurely discuss our next course of action. But as it turns out, the real estate agents for prospective buyers actually turn up in person and make their pitch.
I didn't realize this until the first such agent was well into his presentation. I assumed, until a light slowly went on somewhere in the deep recesses of my brain, that he was an assistant to our agent. In my defense, he was very young and kind of nervous. And, also in my defense, nobody told me who the hell he was one way or the other, so how was I to know? Anyway, I was kind of embarrassed cause I was kicking back with my supersize McDonald's beverage and fruit and yogurt parfait (I had, naturally, risen at the last possible minute for this meeting so this was breakfast). I would have gone for at least a slightly more serious vibe, had I realized how it was all meant to play out. Oh well, hopefully my casualness encouraged them to try harder.
We accepted one of the numerous offers, with a possession date of September 1, which leaves us less than a month to find a new place to live or hit the streets. It's further complicated by me being out of town the whole last half of the month. But it'll work out. It's very likely we'll buy something new in time (we do have an offer out on a place right now, tho they turned us down once before and we didn't make the offer that much sweeter, so I'm not counting on a 'yes'), and if not we'll just have to decide whether to put our stuff in storage and infringe on parents while we look, or go ahead and rent something decent, putting off buying till next year. I'm loathe to be out of the market, especially as it soars right now, but that's better than buying a place we're so so about.
In poker I only got in about 75 minutes, but I collected about 600 VPP's (which I know means nothing to most people, but it's my blog so whatever). That bodes well for the Elite pursuit (because I'm still only playing 100NL and probably only about 60% of the tables I'll play when I get my new computer set up, so that rate of accrual is encouraging), but what does not bode well is the fact that I could only get in 75 minutes. It does seem like extreme times around here this week, in terms of not being able to get the hours in, but next year I'm going to have to find a way to get them in even when life is crazy. It was a tremendously neutral session. I would have booked a semi-decent win except on the very last hand my nut flush got it in on the turn against my opponent's set of tens, and he filled up on the river. I ended the 1500 hand session up exactly 60 cents.
After opening our home to the public (and the public's realtors) this weekend for a couple two hour stints, we met down at our particular realtor's office (a mere two blocks from the homestead) this morning to consider offers. I misunderstood what this entailed. I thought we would sit around there and she would show us what offers had come in, and we would leisurely discuss our next course of action. But as it turns out, the real estate agents for prospective buyers actually turn up in person and make their pitch.
I didn't realize this until the first such agent was well into his presentation. I assumed, until a light slowly went on somewhere in the deep recesses of my brain, that he was an assistant to our agent. In my defense, he was very young and kind of nervous. And, also in my defense, nobody told me who the hell he was one way or the other, so how was I to know? Anyway, I was kind of embarrassed cause I was kicking back with my supersize McDonald's beverage and fruit and yogurt parfait (I had, naturally, risen at the last possible minute for this meeting so this was breakfast). I would have gone for at least a slightly more serious vibe, had I realized how it was all meant to play out. Oh well, hopefully my casualness encouraged them to try harder.
We accepted one of the numerous offers, with a possession date of September 1, which leaves us less than a month to find a new place to live or hit the streets. It's further complicated by me being out of town the whole last half of the month. But it'll work out. It's very likely we'll buy something new in time (we do have an offer out on a place right now, tho they turned us down once before and we didn't make the offer that much sweeter, so I'm not counting on a 'yes'), and if not we'll just have to decide whether to put our stuff in storage and infringe on parents while we look, or go ahead and rent something decent, putting off buying till next year. I'm loathe to be out of the market, especially as it soars right now, but that's better than buying a place we're so so about.
In poker I only got in about 75 minutes, but I collected about 600 VPP's (which I know means nothing to most people, but it's my blog so whatever). That bodes well for the Elite pursuit (because I'm still only playing 100NL and probably only about 60% of the tables I'll play when I get my new computer set up, so that rate of accrual is encouraging), but what does not bode well is the fact that I could only get in 75 minutes. It does seem like extreme times around here this week, in terms of not being able to get the hours in, but next year I'm going to have to find a way to get them in even when life is crazy. It was a tremendously neutral session. I would have booked a semi-decent win except on the very last hand my nut flush got it in on the turn against my opponent's set of tens, and he filled up on the river. I ended the 1500 hand session up exactly 60 cents.
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