Today was my last day at Westside. I'm actually going to miss it. It was a fun job that was the opposite of hard. My work stories will most definitely be more boring now.
Speaking of stories, I was really inspired to write when I got home today, so I sat down and started cranking out pages. I think I put three or four in my comedy journal, and then put about six pages of an essay about my hall monitor days together. I finally stopped because I ran into a problem. In case you haven't read the blog posts from the past two weeks, I've really grown to like Charlie, one of the special needs kids at Westside. However, in trying to record some of his antics, I feel like I'm just making fun of the retarded kid and it really, really bothers me. What I'm trying to convey is the jealousy I have toward Charlie. I'm very glad that I developed normally, but along with that comes a lot of bullshit that we don't need. Charlie doesn't care what others think at all, he just does what makes him happy. One of those things is pretending his hand is a walkie talkie. If I felt the same way, I would never talk into my hand because I'd be afraid that somebody would find out. I try to squash that fear in my head, but it was drilled in there for about twenty-three years. I'm either going to post a link to a rough draft when I finish it, or more likely I'll just e-mail it to some of you to workshop it for me (if you're willing, you'll get it sent to you regardless, but you aren't required to send back comments). Hopefully I can work this problem out because I have a lot of good stuff to mold into a story.
No poker since the last post, and I'm honestly not missing it right now. I'm guessing it will be Sunday before I play again, but there's always a chance that I'll play a bit tomorrow. No good poker stories either.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Elaboration, Old Men, Forgotten Dream, Poker
I finally spotted Hot English Teacher today. I now know where her desk is and have two days to formulate something clever that I will never say to her. I pretty much can't arrange a "chance" meeting, so I'm either going to have to be awkward, walk up and say "Hi, do you want to go on a date?" or just never say anything. I'd like to do the former, but history sides with the latter. I thought I spotted HET last week, but nay, I was mistaken. As I was walking toward the study areas, I saw a very professional-looking, adult dressed female walking with a stack of papers towards the English study area where the teachers' desks are located. I too quickly assumed that this must be HET and used my higher vantage point (the study areas are tiered and English is on the bottom) to watch her walk to her desk. However, she didn't walk to a teacher desk. She walked to a student desk. Where her pink backpack was sitting. I instantly felt like a pervert and avoided the English area for the rest of the day. HUG sits in the same seat every day. I wonder if she can feel my seething anger because I shoot eye daggers at her every time I walk by.
Jeff and I worked out tonight for the first time in almost a week. When I got back from Lincoln at 10pm (sorry Chelsea, I got a late start and couldn't hang out), Jeff was already asleep. This isn't the first time this happened. Both Wednesday and Thursday of last week we fell asleep on the couches at around 8pm, and Jeff has been falling asleep on the couch by 9pm every night this week. It's like we're 87. Granted, we both have to be up at around 6:30-7ish, but we should still be able to make it until 11 or 12. Pitiful.
I forgot the James/Kearney/Plague dream, although I remember that I again woke up in a cold sweat and scared poo-less. I blame my new mattress. I haven't had any bad dreams since those two consecutive nights, but I did get the death feeling again the other night. I'm pretty sure that I've blogged about it before, but a brief recap of my death feeling: I close my eyes to fall asleep and realize that one day I will die. I feel hollow when it happens, and I get scared because I don't know what happens after we die. I like to think that we get reborn or that we go to some paradise (call it what you will), but my realism kicks in and figures that we probably just die and rot; fingernails and hair continuing to grow for a few days or weeks and then nothing. In the past I couldn't sleep when I would get this feeling. Over the years, I've learned to just read a book for a bit and then I'm fine again. I'm hoping that the old box spring will spread good mojo on the bad vibe of the new mattress, but if not, I'll have my mom bring up the dream catcher I made in elementary school. I don't believe in a lot of mystic stuff, but it never hurts.
I didn't play poker today. I was tired and busy. I don't know if I'll get any in tomorrow or Friday either, but I will definitely degen it up this weekend.
Jeff and I worked out tonight for the first time in almost a week. When I got back from Lincoln at 10pm (sorry Chelsea, I got a late start and couldn't hang out), Jeff was already asleep. This isn't the first time this happened. Both Wednesday and Thursday of last week we fell asleep on the couches at around 8pm, and Jeff has been falling asleep on the couch by 9pm every night this week. It's like we're 87. Granted, we both have to be up at around 6:30-7ish, but we should still be able to make it until 11 or 12. Pitiful.
I forgot the James/Kearney/Plague dream, although I remember that I again woke up in a cold sweat and scared poo-less. I blame my new mattress. I haven't had any bad dreams since those two consecutive nights, but I did get the death feeling again the other night. I'm pretty sure that I've blogged about it before, but a brief recap of my death feeling: I close my eyes to fall asleep and realize that one day I will die. I feel hollow when it happens, and I get scared because I don't know what happens after we die. I like to think that we get reborn or that we go to some paradise (call it what you will), but my realism kicks in and figures that we probably just die and rot; fingernails and hair continuing to grow for a few days or weeks and then nothing. In the past I couldn't sleep when I would get this feeling. Over the years, I've learned to just read a book for a bit and then I'm fine again. I'm hoping that the old box spring will spread good mojo on the bad vibe of the new mattress, but if not, I'll have my mom bring up the dream catcher I made in elementary school. I don't believe in a lot of mystic stuff, but it never hurts.
I didn't play poker today. I was tired and busy. I don't know if I'll get any in tomorrow or Friday either, but I will definitely degen it up this weekend.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Lack of Exercise, Sick, Poker
This will be a quick blog.
I haven't exercised in five days and I feel like garbage about it. Jeff and I have a "hit in the nuts" agreement if one of us tries to back out tomorrow, so it looks like I'll get back on track, but it's going to suck because my back is starting to hurt and I have to increase my weight come October. I will say that I'll squeeze in a workout on a Saturday on Sunday but that's about as likely as me giving birth to an alien baby out of my butt in the next fifteen seconds.............................nope, didn't happen.
I was sick today so I didn't administer justice in the halls of Westside High. I plan on making up the hours by working full days for the rest of the week, but if my back feels like garbage in 5.5 hours I'm only going in for the half day like I'm supposed to. I'm not looking forward to it as this is their homecoming week and my sister said that I'll get to deal with inter-class pranks daily. I can't wait. Quick scoring update: Special Needs Kids: 4, Hot Underage Girls: 1, Bret: 0. SNK scored two quick points when Charlie again stole a quarter from me when my change fell from the vending machine and a scant five minutes later Alex body blocked my first view of Hot English Teacher as she was leaving for lunch. A case of mistaken identity involving Hot English Teacher is also the cause for Hot Underage Girls getting on the board. I'll elaborate later.
Poker sucked the past two days. I was stuck about $110ish from tourneys and HU's Monday, but managed to crush a $.25/$.50 NLHE ring for about $125 to salvage the day. Yesterday (Tuesday), I ran colder than dry ice. I was card dead for several hours, and then I was flop dead. After those both ended, I kept getting cold decked. I lost a $160ish pot when my 45 flopped the ignorant end to T9 on the cruel 678 board. I lost another $75ish pot when AKss sprinted to a flush when I got 99 in on a flop of 8x 6s 3x. I also dropped about $30 the lone time I was dealt AA and had to pitch it on a final board of KJ3T9 with a flush. I'm still waiting on a $100 cashout to take a crack at FT, but my current usable roll is at $962.77, meaning I was around -$200 yesterday. Oh well, you can't win everyday. Bugsy's is having a tourney series in the middle of October, and hopefully the $330 worth of tourneys that I'm going to play will net me around $1.5k. Time to brush off my MTT game.
I haven't exercised in five days and I feel like garbage about it. Jeff and I have a "hit in the nuts" agreement if one of us tries to back out tomorrow, so it looks like I'll get back on track, but it's going to suck because my back is starting to hurt and I have to increase my weight come October. I will say that I'll squeeze in a workout on a Saturday on Sunday but that's about as likely as me giving birth to an alien baby out of my butt in the next fifteen seconds.............................nope, didn't happen.
I was sick today so I didn't administer justice in the halls of Westside High. I plan on making up the hours by working full days for the rest of the week, but if my back feels like garbage in 5.5 hours I'm only going in for the half day like I'm supposed to. I'm not looking forward to it as this is their homecoming week and my sister said that I'll get to deal with inter-class pranks daily. I can't wait. Quick scoring update: Special Needs Kids: 4, Hot Underage Girls: 1, Bret: 0. SNK scored two quick points when Charlie again stole a quarter from me when my change fell from the vending machine and a scant five minutes later Alex body blocked my first view of Hot English Teacher as she was leaving for lunch. A case of mistaken identity involving Hot English Teacher is also the cause for Hot Underage Girls getting on the board. I'll elaborate later.
Poker sucked the past two days. I was stuck about $110ish from tourneys and HU's Monday, but managed to crush a $.25/$.50 NLHE ring for about $125 to salvage the day. Yesterday (Tuesday), I ran colder than dry ice. I was card dead for several hours, and then I was flop dead. After those both ended, I kept getting cold decked. I lost a $160ish pot when my 45 flopped the ignorant end to T9 on the cruel 678 board. I lost another $75ish pot when AKss sprinted to a flush when I got 99 in on a flop of 8x 6s 3x. I also dropped about $30 the lone time I was dealt AA and had to pitch it on a final board of KJ3T9 with a flush. I'm still waiting on a $100 cashout to take a crack at FT, but my current usable roll is at $962.77, meaning I was around -$200 yesterday. Oh well, you can't win everyday. Bugsy's is having a tourney series in the middle of October, and hopefully the $330 worth of tourneys that I'm going to play will net me around $1.5k. Time to brush off my MTT game.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Reading/Listening, 1500, Zombie Children, Shaving, Poker
Reading: Still Napalm & Silly Putty by George Carlin. I'm about a third of the way through and I should finish this week.
Listening: Wonderful Night by Fatboy Slim, featuring Lateef. It's ridiculously catchy. All around good, clean, poppy fun. I'm a pretty big fan of Fatboy Slim, and I have all of his major releases (I think). This particular gem came off of the Palookaville release, which is worth an iTunes preview.
The blog hit 1500 visitors today. Hooray! I guess I'm not certain where I eventually want it to go. On one hand, it would be cool if 1,000 people a day stopped by to check out what I'm up to. On the other hand, the only real benefit would be advertising money. I'm glad that I have regulars that care what I'm up to and what I have to say about things, and I appreciate you still stopping by.
The Zombie Children Dream: I was in a cabin in a spooky ass forest. It was night, go figure. I was sleeping in a bed that was in a room in the middle of the cabin. It wasn't a bedroom, this big bed was just in the middle of the living room. I don't know who I was there with, but they came in from another room and woke me up saying they couldn't sleep because of noises they kept hearing. I told them they were an idiot and needed to go back to bed, but just then this freaky little Asian zombie child in a coolie hat rose up from below the bed and tried to grab my leg. I kicked it in the face. Then there were more. And more. The person and I kicked our way outside and ran to the Jeep that was parked outside, but of course the keys were in my jacket which was inside. As we were outside, more zombie children started pouring out of the woods and the cabin. I started back inside, beating children out of my path, but then I woke up. It was scary but not. The zombie children didn't move that fast, and they were easily puntable, but I was terrified when I woke up. I think it was just the image. They were like something out of a Gorillaz video; cartoonishly dead looking and stereotypically Vietnamese. When I was moving I discovered that I had purchased a Dream Dictionary off of the bargain rack in Barnes and Noble. It says nothing about zombies or zombie children.
So shaving every day sucks. My face was raw all last week, and I have definitely decided that when I start at the bank next week, I will not be shaving on my days off. Ever. I might shave for my wedding day, but I make no guarantees. My dad, who usually harps on me to shave, was glad when he saw me being scraggly this weekend. He told me one of the great things about getting older is not having to shave on weekends. This is why my dad and I get along better now.
Poker is still going very well. My bankroll is at $1,231.77, so it's time for another shot at the $.50/$1 HU NLHE tables at Full Tilt. I got up to this level by winning a $30 HU match by displaying great patience, waiting to get in with QQ vs 44 on a JT7 flop. After that it was merely waiting to flop a pair on the guy because he only had 1.5k chips and limp every pot and move in on the flop. I also played some $.25/.50 NLHE ring and cleaned up for over $100 profit. I was on a sick rush when I first sat down and quickly got up $40. I then proceeded to play some of the most selectively aggressive poker of my life. This cause me to get paid off big on two flushes that I hit (I hit flushes like mad), and my last big pot was with AA. I also won a small amount at $.10/.25 PL 7-Stud split. I saw Matt getting bullied by a guy that uses it as his strategy. He buys into the table for $100 plus and then just bets pot, pot, pot, pot, bullying people who buy in for normal amounts. I only bought in for $25, but with the guy being sandwiched it shut him down. I dropped three buy ins getting my money in with four to a low and either a straight or flush draw by fifth street and missing each time. Matt left and U2Knapp started bullying again. I rebought for $150 to cover his $140. I got all of my money back when I made a hero call to win a $169.10 pot. I had 632 with two diamonds to start a hand. On fourth, I picked up another 3, fifth brought an 8, sixth a Q, and seventh a 3, leaving me with only 6633. I knew that U2Knapp had started with air because he had an A up and he always raised if he was unpaired, limped if he was paired. He had been betting pot the whole way, and when he corked out the +$50 bet on the river, I thought for about fifteen seconds and called. Scoop! We played for a bit longer as he rebought for $300 and I really wanted to double again, but I realized how dumb that move is for me right now and decided to leave with my $15 profit. I can see that guy giving me $500 in the near future, but I'll wait for the risk to my bankroll to be smaller. $100 HU matches and the ring game at Full Tilt begin today. Hopefully I can keep my HU winning streak up, along with my cash game profit streak. Wish me luck.
Listening: Wonderful Night by Fatboy Slim, featuring Lateef. It's ridiculously catchy. All around good, clean, poppy fun. I'm a pretty big fan of Fatboy Slim, and I have all of his major releases (I think). This particular gem came off of the Palookaville release, which is worth an iTunes preview.
The blog hit 1500 visitors today. Hooray! I guess I'm not certain where I eventually want it to go. On one hand, it would be cool if 1,000 people a day stopped by to check out what I'm up to. On the other hand, the only real benefit would be advertising money. I'm glad that I have regulars that care what I'm up to and what I have to say about things, and I appreciate you still stopping by.
The Zombie Children Dream: I was in a cabin in a spooky ass forest. It was night, go figure. I was sleeping in a bed that was in a room in the middle of the cabin. It wasn't a bedroom, this big bed was just in the middle of the living room. I don't know who I was there with, but they came in from another room and woke me up saying they couldn't sleep because of noises they kept hearing. I told them they were an idiot and needed to go back to bed, but just then this freaky little Asian zombie child in a coolie hat rose up from below the bed and tried to grab my leg. I kicked it in the face. Then there were more. And more. The person and I kicked our way outside and ran to the Jeep that was parked outside, but of course the keys were in my jacket which was inside. As we were outside, more zombie children started pouring out of the woods and the cabin. I started back inside, beating children out of my path, but then I woke up. It was scary but not. The zombie children didn't move that fast, and they were easily puntable, but I was terrified when I woke up. I think it was just the image. They were like something out of a Gorillaz video; cartoonishly dead looking and stereotypically Vietnamese. When I was moving I discovered that I had purchased a Dream Dictionary off of the bargain rack in Barnes and Noble. It says nothing about zombies or zombie children.
So shaving every day sucks. My face was raw all last week, and I have definitely decided that when I start at the bank next week, I will not be shaving on my days off. Ever. I might shave for my wedding day, but I make no guarantees. My dad, who usually harps on me to shave, was glad when he saw me being scraggly this weekend. He told me one of the great things about getting older is not having to shave on weekends. This is why my dad and I get along better now.
Poker is still going very well. My bankroll is at $1,231.77, so it's time for another shot at the $.50/$1 HU NLHE tables at Full Tilt. I got up to this level by winning a $30 HU match by displaying great patience, waiting to get in with QQ vs 44 on a JT7 flop. After that it was merely waiting to flop a pair on the guy because he only had 1.5k chips and limp every pot and move in on the flop. I also played some $.25/.50 NLHE ring and cleaned up for over $100 profit. I was on a sick rush when I first sat down and quickly got up $40. I then proceeded to play some of the most selectively aggressive poker of my life. This cause me to get paid off big on two flushes that I hit (I hit flushes like mad), and my last big pot was with AA. I also won a small amount at $.10/.25 PL 7-Stud split. I saw Matt getting bullied by a guy that uses it as his strategy. He buys into the table for $100 plus and then just bets pot, pot, pot, pot, bullying people who buy in for normal amounts. I only bought in for $25, but with the guy being sandwiched it shut him down. I dropped three buy ins getting my money in with four to a low and either a straight or flush draw by fifth street and missing each time. Matt left and U2Knapp started bullying again. I rebought for $150 to cover his $140. I got all of my money back when I made a hero call to win a $169.10 pot. I had 632 with two diamonds to start a hand. On fourth, I picked up another 3, fifth brought an 8, sixth a Q, and seventh a 3, leaving me with only 6633. I knew that U2Knapp had started with air because he had an A up and he always raised if he was unpaired, limped if he was paired. He had been betting pot the whole way, and when he corked out the +$50 bet on the river, I thought for about fifteen seconds and called. Scoop! We played for a bit longer as he rebought for $300 and I really wanted to double again, but I realized how dumb that move is for me right now and decided to leave with my $15 profit. I can see that guy giving me $500 in the near future, but I'll wait for the risk to my bankroll to be smaller. $100 HU matches and the ring game at Full Tilt begin today. Hopefully I can keep my HU winning streak up, along with my cash game profit streak. Wish me luck.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Blog Topics, Desk, Poker
There are several things that I've wanted to write about, but my posts have been so long that I've left them out. This is a list of things that will be coming soon to tease your imagination.
Zombie Children Dream
Lost in Kearney with James Dream/Plagues
Hot Teacher/Hot Student Mistaken Identity (Like we didn't see this one coming)
Jeff and I Being Old Men/Early Bed Time
Lack of Exercise
The last few are somewhat self explanatory, but I think your mind can wander around "Zombie Children Dream."
I was going to write about at least one of those quickly this morning, but I broke my desk and my keyboard now resides too high on the top of the desk or too low on my lap, so typing isn't comfortable. The irony here is that while I was on the phone with my parents last night my desk was referred to as "a piece of shit." I defended the desk, and this is how it repays me. Ungrateful bastard.
No poker yesterday, but I did get in two HU matches and a little NLHE ring the day before. I won both HU matches, which puts me on a little five or six game winning streak, which is nice. They were both $50, and they were both really quick. In the first, the guy was ridiculously aggressive but I still got out to a small lead when I got stubborn with top pair. Then, with K3, we took a K22 flop. I led and he raised. The turn was a 7, I bet again and he overbet all in. I put him on A7 after quite a bit of thought and called. He showed A9 and missed his three outer. The next match I was down slightly when I picked up AA. The flop was 7x 6x 2h and the turn was a 4h. I bet the whole way and he shoved over me on the turn. I called pretty quickly and he showed the spooky Q7hh for fourteen outs, all of which I faded to cripple him to 1.5k in chips. A few hands later my J8 beat his KT and that was that. The ring game was pretty boring except for me making a flush in a six handed pot and really thinking that I was outflushed. I won like $10 in the quick session, leaving my bankroll at $1067.37. It's 6:46am, time to get ready for work.
Zombie Children Dream
Lost in Kearney with James Dream/Plagues
Hot Teacher/Hot Student Mistaken Identity (Like we didn't see this one coming)
Jeff and I Being Old Men/Early Bed Time
Lack of Exercise
The last few are somewhat self explanatory, but I think your mind can wander around "Zombie Children Dream."
I was going to write about at least one of those quickly this morning, but I broke my desk and my keyboard now resides too high on the top of the desk or too low on my lap, so typing isn't comfortable. The irony here is that while I was on the phone with my parents last night my desk was referred to as "a piece of shit." I defended the desk, and this is how it repays me. Ungrateful bastard.
No poker yesterday, but I did get in two HU matches and a little NLHE ring the day before. I won both HU matches, which puts me on a little five or six game winning streak, which is nice. They were both $50, and they were both really quick. In the first, the guy was ridiculously aggressive but I still got out to a small lead when I got stubborn with top pair. Then, with K3, we took a K22 flop. I led and he raised. The turn was a 7, I bet again and he overbet all in. I put him on A7 after quite a bit of thought and called. He showed A9 and missed his three outer. The next match I was down slightly when I picked up AA. The flop was 7x 6x 2h and the turn was a 4h. I bet the whole way and he shoved over me on the turn. I called pretty quickly and he showed the spooky Q7hh for fourteen outs, all of which I faded to cripple him to 1.5k in chips. A few hands later my J8 beat his KT and that was that. The ring game was pretty boring except for me making a flush in a six handed pot and really thinking that I was outflushed. I won like $10 in the quick session, leaving my bankroll at $1067.37. It's 6:46am, time to get ready for work.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
School Stories, Job, Poker
Two stories of note today. Story One: Since I have a lot of time to just walk around, I find things to keep me amused. Usually, I pick up a random object that I find on the carpet and play with it. Yesterday, it was a big paper clip. Today, it was a quarter. I was acting like Two Face for the short while I had the quarter, but then it was taken from me. By a Special Needs student. Here's our conversation verbatim:
Charlie: "What you got there?"
Me: "A quarter." (holds out quarter in palm for admiration)
Charlie: (takes quarter and walks off)
Me: (stands with empty palm upturned and watches Charlie walk off)
I passed him in the hall later and he thanked me for the quarter.
Story Two: I was stationed at a door to make sure kids don't sneak out during class. This is fruitless as we are only stationed at two of the ten or so doors that lead outside, but that is a different conversation. Students have a schedule on the back of their ID cards that shows when they can come and go from the building, so they are supposed to show their card to me before leaving. One student walked right past me and when I yelled for him to stop and show me his ID card he responded by screaming "Don't touch my chicken wings!" over and over and over until he was finally outside. I didn't follow. I later learned that there was a Special Needs classroom located right near the door that I was watching. Special Needs Kids: 2, Bret: 0.
As hilarious as the Bouncer position will be for the blog, I will only be doing it for another couple of weeks. I was offered a big boy job with Bank of the West today and I accepted it. Even though I'm starting as the Assistant Customer Services Manager I hope to one day achieve a high enough status to be in the banker's pen in a WaMu commercial. Or to have my official job description be Guy Who Lights Cigars With Hundo's. But that's like two or three months from now, so no point getting ahead of myself. If some of you (Katie) thought that the 25 year old hall monitor was hilarious, picture me going to work in a suit every day. Knee slapper!
I didn't play poker yesterday, but I spent a lengthy amount of time at work thinking about a poker conversation that I had online a few days ago. I was slumming it at a $.10/.25 NLHE ring game because I was bored and there were these two tools getting into it. One guy was pretty Hellmuthian (user name GJ and then a bunch of numbers I don't remember), and another guy was ragging on him pretty hard. Other guy bad beat GJ in a pot for all of GJ's money ($10), so GJ bought into the table for what was likely his entire $315 bankroll. This incited further verbal jabs, and somehow I got in the mix by saying something to the effect of "You are too worked up over $10." GJ then questioned whether I would care about a $10 loss, so I brought MY entire bankroll to the table. He shut up, but then started asking about the games I usually play, and the turned to conversations about pots won and lost. The biggest pot that I've ever won was right around $850. The biggest one I've lost was right around $1600. Most of the younger poker players that I know are the same way; their biggest win isn't even close to their biggest loss. GJ claimed to have won a pot for $1775, but to have never lost a pot larger than $250. I told him that I didn't believe that at all and asked about what size of games each pot had occurred in, but he got quiet and left shortly thereafter. My thoughts all day circled around how many people have actually won a pot bigger than their biggest loss. Obviously numerous people have had to rake in pots bigger than ones that they've shipped away, but how big is the typical discrepancy? Does it mark a turning point in your poker career when you win a pot bigger than your biggest loss? I couldn't answer any of these. Hopefully somebody will provide some insight.
Charlie: "What you got there?"
Me: "A quarter." (holds out quarter in palm for admiration)
Charlie: (takes quarter and walks off)
Me: (stands with empty palm upturned and watches Charlie walk off)
I passed him in the hall later and he thanked me for the quarter.
Story Two: I was stationed at a door to make sure kids don't sneak out during class. This is fruitless as we are only stationed at two of the ten or so doors that lead outside, but that is a different conversation. Students have a schedule on the back of their ID cards that shows when they can come and go from the building, so they are supposed to show their card to me before leaving. One student walked right past me and when I yelled for him to stop and show me his ID card he responded by screaming "Don't touch my chicken wings!" over and over and over until he was finally outside. I didn't follow. I later learned that there was a Special Needs classroom located right near the door that I was watching. Special Needs Kids: 2, Bret: 0.
As hilarious as the Bouncer position will be for the blog, I will only be doing it for another couple of weeks. I was offered a big boy job with Bank of the West today and I accepted it. Even though I'm starting as the Assistant Customer Services Manager I hope to one day achieve a high enough status to be in the banker's pen in a WaMu commercial. Or to have my official job description be Guy Who Lights Cigars With Hundo's. But that's like two or three months from now, so no point getting ahead of myself. If some of you (Katie) thought that the 25 year old hall monitor was hilarious, picture me going to work in a suit every day. Knee slapper!
I didn't play poker yesterday, but I spent a lengthy amount of time at work thinking about a poker conversation that I had online a few days ago. I was slumming it at a $.10/.25 NLHE ring game because I was bored and there were these two tools getting into it. One guy was pretty Hellmuthian (user name GJ and then a bunch of numbers I don't remember), and another guy was ragging on him pretty hard. Other guy bad beat GJ in a pot for all of GJ's money ($10), so GJ bought into the table for what was likely his entire $315 bankroll. This incited further verbal jabs, and somehow I got in the mix by saying something to the effect of "You are too worked up over $10." GJ then questioned whether I would care about a $10 loss, so I brought MY entire bankroll to the table. He shut up, but then started asking about the games I usually play, and the turned to conversations about pots won and lost. The biggest pot that I've ever won was right around $850. The biggest one I've lost was right around $1600. Most of the younger poker players that I know are the same way; their biggest win isn't even close to their biggest loss. GJ claimed to have won a pot for $1775, but to have never lost a pot larger than $250. I told him that I didn't believe that at all and asked about what size of games each pot had occurred in, but he got quiet and left shortly thereafter. My thoughts all day circled around how many people have actually won a pot bigger than their biggest loss. Obviously numerous people have had to rake in pots bigger than ones that they've shipped away, but how big is the typical discrepancy? Does it mark a turning point in your poker career when you win a pot bigger than your biggest loss? I couldn't answer any of these. Hopefully somebody will provide some insight.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Reading/Listening, Novakovich, Bouncer, Poker
Reading: Napalm & Silly Putty by George Carlin. I'm not very far in, but I can somewhat tell that if you have seen or heard most of Carlin's live stand-up, the book is just a written record of those jokes. It lacks something without his voice and delivery.
Listening: I'm finding it harder to obsess over songs with a regular workout routine because I skip through so many in the half hour that I spend on the exercise bike that I hate to search all the way back to find a song. However, I did listen to I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By by Method Man and Mary J. Blige several times one day (first link for lyrics, second is Amazon for additional info). I really like the song because it is all around solid. It blends Method Man's neat voice and great lyrics with Mary J. Blige's beautiful voice. Stir that in with a beat that is simple but will be stuck in your head for a day or two and you have a great song. And it's an actual love song with only minimal hip-hop stereotypes of love. Check it out on iTunes even if you don't really like rap because you just might like it.
I finished the Novakovich book after another short bout with Sudoku. I think I cheated on all but one "tough" puzzle, but I blew through the first two "diabolical" puzzles in ten minutes without cheating. Go figure. I'm somewhat torn on the Novakovich book because I was fortunate enough to get to meet and spend some time with him in Lincoln and he is an awesome guy. That aside, I can only really give the book one thumb up. I absolutely loved some stories like 59th Parallel, Spleen, Ribs, and Night Guests. I found the bulk of the stories confusing at points, which turned me off to them. I think I really could've gotten into The Bridge Under the Danube, but I lost the story after the first section break. It goes back to tell some history, but then it seemingly brings the reader back to the present. Then, there's a section break that brings us back to the present, so I didn't know where to file the previous information that I thought was in the present. Also, I think there were a lot of things that I simply can't culturally understand because I don't have the experience background. I'll use The Bridge as an example again. The Zivkovic's walk back into their prayer circle caked with dust and blood, probably with a dazed expression on their faces, and nobody lifts a finger to help them. It seems like the people don't even notice them. Maybe this type of sight was so common during the war that the lack of reaction is true, but I just can't imagine it. My brain thinks that even in wartime, if you see somebody staggering toward you with blood caked on them, you react by helping them or running away or screaming or something. I just don't think people could go about their business as normal. That particular story had a fantastic ending, as all of the stories had moments of brilliance, but they just didn't feel finished to me. Maybe I'll reread it in a couple of years and view it differently, but I don't see it right now. I still encourage the read, as I will be picking up April Fool's Day and reading it soon. If you agree with me on the review, at least you will have a new understanding of what it was like in the former Yugoslavia after it broke apart, which is something that we should all know a bit about so we can avoid something like it in the future. Are you listening politicians? Politicians should read my blog. Write your senator.
I started working today at Westside High School as a Hall Supervisor. Read hall monitor. Read bouncer. That's what all of the students call me. "Are you the new bouncer?" It's amazing how much high schools are like prisons. Small changes are instantly noticed and word spreads fast. My job as bouncer consists of the following: walking around getting delinquents for administrators and then going to the main thoroughfare of the school every forty minutes and yelling at students to stop loitering and get to their class. If there are no delinquents to be retrieved and it isn't a passing period I walk around and try to figure out which teachers are single. Sometimes I go bug my sister who is a counselor at the school, whose job consists of not being in her office despite having only two "classes" to oversee each day (a homeroom and a group guidance class, which still seems oxymoronic to me). It's not awful, and it pays fairly well, but it reinforces my desperation to find an actual career-type job. I already have funny stories, but I know that I will have plenty and this blog is dragging on so I'll save them for now. I did find $10 on the floor today though. Pay raise on my first day! Yes, you bet your sweet ass I kept it.
I didn't play any poker today, but I played 2 HU matches on Monday as well as some $.25/$.50 NLHE ring. I played a $50 and a $30 HU match and won both of them fairly easily. In the $50 I had to be patient because I was playing a guy that was easily trappable. In the $30 it was the opposite because the guy was weak-tight. I trapped the guy in the $50 with a cooler; QJ vs my 22 on a QJ2 flop. All in on the flop and he bricked out. In the $30 I led top and bottom pair and the guy finally took a stand with middle pair. He bricked, I won. In the ring game I played alpha male power poker and just bet and raised everything after probably an hour of super tight play. I basically got sick of waiting for hands, knew that I had locked up a $30 profit and was willing to piss off my $50 buy-in. I went from $35 to $75, dwindled down to $60, got back to $70 and then most of the money left so I did too. I raised every unopened pot from middle and late positions and cranked out pot bets on the flop as well and just kept taking them down. One player at the table was fairly good, but I had his number. We got wrapped in a pot when I was around $40 where I raised preflop with a 97dd and he called out of position. The flop brought AQ8, which was actually good for me. Since I had been so active, I was likely being called with a weak suited ace or some connectors. I bet pot on the flop and he called. Here's what that told me: he didn't buy that I had an ace, but he didn't either. He was calling to take the pot away from me if I checked the turn. There's a slim chance that he has 88, but I think he would've led hoping I had an A and would raise (he is a pretty decent player). I disappointed him with a big ol' pot bet on the turn and he reluctantly folded something likely along the lines of QJ or QT suited. Go me. I was really seeing situations like this and wanted to keep playing, but there was just no significant stack at the table. I have grown to hate the minimum buy-in asshole because they are taking over and they are impossible to "play" against. What I mean is that if they raise a pot, they are pretty much playing all-in or fold on the flop. And their standards loosen up. AK is an all-in hand regardless of the flop. If the flop comes unders, they're betting/calling all-in. If they hit, they're betting/calling all-in. It doesn't allow me to take down small pots and trap them for big ones. Also, it really complicates multi-hand pots because they're like a fucking land mine waiting to blow your foot off when you try to push another stack off of their hand. Then, you have to call the all-in for the additional $1 over your bet and have to show off your bluff. It's just not worth it. Bankroll at $961.97.
I'm considering spinning the poker blog off on its own because I'm playing enough right now that I have considerable material. I'm hesitant because I'm not working full-time, and I imagine that I will scale my poker time back when such a thing happens. Thoughts?
Listening: I'm finding it harder to obsess over songs with a regular workout routine because I skip through so many in the half hour that I spend on the exercise bike that I hate to search all the way back to find a song. However, I did listen to I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By by Method Man and Mary J. Blige several times one day (first link for lyrics, second is Amazon for additional info). I really like the song because it is all around solid. It blends Method Man's neat voice and great lyrics with Mary J. Blige's beautiful voice. Stir that in with a beat that is simple but will be stuck in your head for a day or two and you have a great song. And it's an actual love song with only minimal hip-hop stereotypes of love. Check it out on iTunes even if you don't really like rap because you just might like it.
I finished the Novakovich book after another short bout with Sudoku. I think I cheated on all but one "tough" puzzle, but I blew through the first two "diabolical" puzzles in ten minutes without cheating. Go figure. I'm somewhat torn on the Novakovich book because I was fortunate enough to get to meet and spend some time with him in Lincoln and he is an awesome guy. That aside, I can only really give the book one thumb up. I absolutely loved some stories like 59th Parallel, Spleen, Ribs, and Night Guests. I found the bulk of the stories confusing at points, which turned me off to them. I think I really could've gotten into The Bridge Under the Danube, but I lost the story after the first section break. It goes back to tell some history, but then it seemingly brings the reader back to the present. Then, there's a section break that brings us back to the present, so I didn't know where to file the previous information that I thought was in the present. Also, I think there were a lot of things that I simply can't culturally understand because I don't have the experience background. I'll use The Bridge as an example again. The Zivkovic's walk back into their prayer circle caked with dust and blood, probably with a dazed expression on their faces, and nobody lifts a finger to help them. It seems like the people don't even notice them. Maybe this type of sight was so common during the war that the lack of reaction is true, but I just can't imagine it. My brain thinks that even in wartime, if you see somebody staggering toward you with blood caked on them, you react by helping them or running away or screaming or something. I just don't think people could go about their business as normal. That particular story had a fantastic ending, as all of the stories had moments of brilliance, but they just didn't feel finished to me. Maybe I'll reread it in a couple of years and view it differently, but I don't see it right now. I still encourage the read, as I will be picking up April Fool's Day and reading it soon. If you agree with me on the review, at least you will have a new understanding of what it was like in the former Yugoslavia after it broke apart, which is something that we should all know a bit about so we can avoid something like it in the future. Are you listening politicians? Politicians should read my blog. Write your senator.
I started working today at Westside High School as a Hall Supervisor. Read hall monitor. Read bouncer. That's what all of the students call me. "Are you the new bouncer?" It's amazing how much high schools are like prisons. Small changes are instantly noticed and word spreads fast. My job as bouncer consists of the following: walking around getting delinquents for administrators and then going to the main thoroughfare of the school every forty minutes and yelling at students to stop loitering and get to their class. If there are no delinquents to be retrieved and it isn't a passing period I walk around and try to figure out which teachers are single. Sometimes I go bug my sister who is a counselor at the school, whose job consists of not being in her office despite having only two "classes" to oversee each day (a homeroom and a group guidance class, which still seems oxymoronic to me). It's not awful, and it pays fairly well, but it reinforces my desperation to find an actual career-type job. I already have funny stories, but I know that I will have plenty and this blog is dragging on so I'll save them for now. I did find $10 on the floor today though. Pay raise on my first day! Yes, you bet your sweet ass I kept it.
I didn't play any poker today, but I played 2 HU matches on Monday as well as some $.25/$.50 NLHE ring. I played a $50 and a $30 HU match and won both of them fairly easily. In the $50 I had to be patient because I was playing a guy that was easily trappable. In the $30 it was the opposite because the guy was weak-tight. I trapped the guy in the $50 with a cooler; QJ vs my 22 on a QJ2 flop. All in on the flop and he bricked out. In the $30 I led top and bottom pair and the guy finally took a stand with middle pair. He bricked, I won. In the ring game I played alpha male power poker and just bet and raised everything after probably an hour of super tight play. I basically got sick of waiting for hands, knew that I had locked up a $30 profit and was willing to piss off my $50 buy-in. I went from $35 to $75, dwindled down to $60, got back to $70 and then most of the money left so I did too. I raised every unopened pot from middle and late positions and cranked out pot bets on the flop as well and just kept taking them down. One player at the table was fairly good, but I had his number. We got wrapped in a pot when I was around $40 where I raised preflop with a 97dd and he called out of position. The flop brought AQ8, which was actually good for me. Since I had been so active, I was likely being called with a weak suited ace or some connectors. I bet pot on the flop and he called. Here's what that told me: he didn't buy that I had an ace, but he didn't either. He was calling to take the pot away from me if I checked the turn. There's a slim chance that he has 88, but I think he would've led hoping I had an A and would raise (he is a pretty decent player). I disappointed him with a big ol' pot bet on the turn and he reluctantly folded something likely along the lines of QJ or QT suited. Go me. I was really seeing situations like this and wanted to keep playing, but there was just no significant stack at the table. I have grown to hate the minimum buy-in asshole because they are taking over and they are impossible to "play" against. What I mean is that if they raise a pot, they are pretty much playing all-in or fold on the flop. And their standards loosen up. AK is an all-in hand regardless of the flop. If the flop comes unders, they're betting/calling all-in. If they hit, they're betting/calling all-in. It doesn't allow me to take down small pots and trap them for big ones. Also, it really complicates multi-hand pots because they're like a fucking land mine waiting to blow your foot off when you try to push another stack off of their hand. Then, you have to call the all-in for the additional $1 over your bet and have to show off your bluff. It's just not worth it. Bankroll at $961.97.
I'm considering spinning the poker blog off on its own because I'm playing enough right now that I have considerable material. I'm hesitant because I'm not working full-time, and I imagine that I will scale my poker time back when such a thing happens. Thoughts?
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