CSP

so i've already achieved one of my new years resolutions. yesterday i took a 4 and half hour long test in order to qualify me as a Certified Safety Professional. the certification is basically to the safety profession what a certified professional accountant (CPA) is to the accounting industry. needless to say, i'm kind of a big deal now. the test was grueling though. 10 questions into it i had the sinking feeling that is associated with all of my confidence being flushed down the toilet. alas, i pressed on and, ultimately, pervailed. i believe it was the great philospher kant who described it best when he said "boo yah".

now i'm just sitting on my bed on saturday morning (i can never really sleep in anymore), listening to my dogs play, making sounds like chewbacca (the dogs, not me). our new dog, amelia, is coming along nicely. she's rather well behaved for a pup and very sweet. isabelle, our other dog, just adores her. so that's going nicely.

today, we have another day of working on the house in store for us. we are rapidly approaching the day when we can start painting, which will be oh so nice and really make this place seem like our own. i also expect to hear on my tax return soon. hopefully we just get oodles and oodles of money that we can put into the house and maybe we'll have this thing in shape faster than the biggest loser.

in other news: i'm addicted to rock band. and i miss dexter.

if you're excited for the watchmen coming out in one week, raise your hand. *hand up*

things that poker has given me

I always talk about how bad I'm doing in poker but I rarely share what my poker winnings have allowed me to purchase over the tenure of my poker playing life. So, without further adieu, here's a short list of the things that I can remember that poker has bought for me:

• My dog Amelia and possibly Isabelle, although I can't remember for sure.
  
• All of my tattoos that I've paid for (the two on the back of my arm I got for free while on tour).
• All of Catherine's tattoos.
  
• Rock Band 2 (just got it yesterday).
• Quite a few bottles of whiskey.
• We've used our poker bankroll to get us out of some financial binds before. Can't remember specifics.
• Numerous articles of clothing for my lovely wife.

That's all I can remember, although there's probably more. If I had to guess I'd say that I've bought upwards of $5k worth of things using my poker money. So, when I complain about losing a few hundred here and there (like I did yesterday), its good to keep in perspective.

vegas days 3, 4, and home

So I didn't get a chance to blog about the other days in Vegas, which is fine I think because not too much happened. I didn't run very well this trip and I also didn't play my "A" game a lot, but Catherine did well and more than made up for it, so we left up $300. Last night, we decided to have our Valentines dinner at BLT Burgers at the Mirage, which has some great food and these spiked milkshakes which are, um, fucking amazing. Afterwards we just decided to gamble up a little and play some casino games. I played literally two hands of blackjack before I lost my portion of the money. Catherine was able to turn $40 into $100 in video poker after getting dealt quad 3's on a quarter machine, which was sweet.

Overall, it was a fun trip. The interesting thing about this trip that we'll remember is the people we met. First, Jared, Aaron, and the Doc, in addition to Puke Green Sweater, the guy I talked about on the day 1 blog. Then the next day we sat next to Crack Head McGee. Day 3 we were introduced to this bald real estate appraiser who was very nice, terrible at poker, and very, very annoying. Plus he ran like god and couldn't lose, which was terribly annoying. Finally on the last day I sat at a table at the Rio and noticed that the gentleman in seat was the actor who plays Angel Batista from the show Dexter. He was a really cool guy, but didn't stay long, as he had to play in the daily tournament (or he was just freaked out by me and found and excuse to leave). Its ok though because we were left with this vindictive bitch of a lady who sat next to us who called me a "fucker" when I beat her out of a pot, and then sat out to miss her big blind just so Catherine and I couldn't play one more hand before we left. All this after I stood up for her earlier when another player started berating her. Its ok, she was obviously an idiot, studying scientology at the table, talking with another player about how she will get tax breaks because the FBI and CIA know that Scientology are true and how she prefers MSNBC because they support Obama and that makes them not biased. Brilliant.

Anyways, its good to be home. Our dogs are oh so tired after a fun time with the crazy bulldog winifred. Now we're all just relaxing, watching the NBA All Star game, and waiting for our yummy pizza to arrive.

vegas day 2

Our second day in vegas started with me heading sleepily to my seminar. Nothing really interesting to report on that. Its basically just a review of the same material, although a little more in depth, that I learned studying for my last certification. After the class I headed back to see my lovely lady and we went down to have a burger dinner at a restaurant in the Rio. Afterwards we headed to the poker room to play some cards and crush some donkeys. Started off good, taking a donkey to value town with ak vs kq on a king high board. He gave me all of his chips. Then just kind of chipped up until I hit kind of a rough hand that I probably shouldn't have been in. Left the night down slightly. However Catherine hit the boom switch and left way up, so we're up quite a bit on the trip, which is nice.

We had fun playing though because we were both a little more relaxed than we normally are. I don't normally drink when I play, but we decided to partake, just to relax a bit. Interestingly enough, Vegas has cut way down on the liquor they provide. The best bourbon they would get us was Wild Turkey. The next best was Jim Beam. Kind of depressing. Alas, Wild Turkey makes some good bourbon and ginger ales, so our thirst did not go unquenched.

We also sat next to Crack Head McGee for a while. This guy was a total freak, moving erratically, speaking non-sense. And of course he sat next to me, which scared the bejunky out of me because I just knew I'd crack his aces or some stupid hand and he'd freak out on me and in the ensuing melee I'd end up with the AIDS for something like that. Luckily though Catherine busted him and he left without incident.

We didn't stay extremely long, just about 3 or 4 hours, as I was pretty tired. So we grabbed some waters and a small ice cream to share and went up for an early night. Not a bad second day.

vegas day 1

Or, I guess, technically it was Night 1, not Day 1. Anyways, yesterday, after teaching a difficult class in the afternoon, Catherine and I hopped on an evening flight to Las Vegas. The main reason for going is that I'm taking a class in order to prep me for a certification test, the Certified Safety Professional certification. Its kind of a big deal in the safety world, so, it stands to reason, that once I finish this class and take and pass the subsequent test I will be kind of a big deal...in the safety world.

Anyways, the travel experience was super easy and fast. The airports were both very slow so we got on our plane quickly, landed early, got our luggage fast, and didn't even have to wait in line for a cab. We got to the Rio, checked in and then went up to our room for a bit to drop off the luggage and freshen up before going out. My poker coach, randomly, scheduled a trip to Vegas with a couple of his friends, so we decided to hook up after we got in. We got a hold of them and decided to head to the Bellagio to go play some poker. Luckily we all were able to get a table together (5 people) all in a row at the same 1/2 no limit game. It was a lot of fun just drinking, laughing, playing cards, playing the 7-2 game (well, only Catherine played the 7-2 game, the rest of us just paid her for it), and picking on the drunk guy at the table. They even invited me to come out and stay at their house that they are renting during the World Series of Poker for a weekend, which was really cool and an honor.

So the night was a lot of fun, but as a result we ended up staying up a little bit too late, which I'm paying the price for this morning, as I am working on only 4 hours of sleep at this point. Which isn't too bad I guess, but I'm still pretty darn tired. Tonight, once I get out of the class, Catherine and I plan on having a burger dinner and then playing some cards. Our bankroll is really short, so we're going to have to avoid some bad luck in order to not go broke. But I'm not too worried about that. We're definitely big favorites not to go broke, and, even if we do, we can just relax together and have fun and what not. I'm excited to be with her regardless.

all god's children

Another morning starts and I'm sitting here listening to the girls (my dogs) growl and flail in mortal, loving combat with each other while my true love sleeps by my side. So much has happened over the last two weeks, I don't even think I could recount it all in one sitting. Some good, some bad. Some profound, some relatively meaningless.

First off, my grandma passed a week ago. We knew it was coming, but I don't imagine its something that could ever be routine or expected enough to not affect you. To be honest, I knew her, but I didn't know her. We hadn't spoken in a few years, and that's unfortunate. But there's nothing I can do about that now.

We had the funeral service on Wednesday, which was fine. I really dislike funerals. Except for the obvious reasons, I don't like the obligatory nature. People do things because that's what you're supposed to do. Everyone becomes so emotional and instinctual. We come together and pretend to be close to family members that we haven't seen since the last funeral. And we all love each other dearly. Why? Because that is what is expected of family members. Then we must stand a certain way, dress a certain way, and talk a certain way. Why? Because that's what one does at funerals. I wish people would set aside useless traditions, including loving people because it is expected that you will. I wish we would react thoughtfully and deliberately in these situations, to find our truth of our relationships with the departed and those who gather to mourn their passing and celebrate their lives. And when I take over the world I'm going to mandate that this be the case.

We went and saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last night. It was a charming and compelling movie that really teaches you to check your perspective and try to see what's important. I definitely recommend it. Its a shame that a movie is needed to remind us (me) of truths that we (I) believe to be almost common sense, but, alas, that is what is and I can only make do.

more later.

how great

I'm pretty tired of government bullshit. Listening to how messed up the California state budget is, all this craziness in the Federal government with the stimulus and what not, its frustrating. I understand, I think better than most, that our government was specifically designed to not be efficient, because efficient governments tend to be tyrannical governments. Its just so interesting watching the news while at the same time reading a biography of John Adams. Learning about his vision for our country and the ideals of the other founders, I wonder what he'd say about the state of our government today. And this isn't to suggest that he would necessarily be disgusted, but I just wonder if he'd say that it is our circumstances bearing down on us, or our own foolishness and greed. I just don't understand why everyone, including me, has such a myopic view of life. All we see is our problems, or desires, and we don't see how we all need to sacrifice for the common good. Liberty doesn't work when the free, whether due to malice or misunderstanding, fail to see the greater good of country because of their own immediate needs. I have no solutions, unfortunately, so I suppose that I can't voice my objections too loudly. I just hope that we see some John Adams and Thomas Jeffersons soon otherwise their sacrifice for this great experiment may have been in vain.

Now, one thing I will say is that if my personal policy, the legalization and regulation of online poker, were enacted not only would it not be a negative for the country, it would be a positive. Studies have shown that a regulated and taxed online poker would put billions into the federal coffers every year. Why isn't this happening? Support this.

Probably have more to say but I have to go now.