Committal

Outbound: Atlanta, GA (ATL) to Las Vegas, NV (LAS) on Thu, 25 Jun 2009
9:15pm ATL
10:33pm LAS
Nonstop Delta 1095

Return: Las Vegas, NV (LAS) to Atlanta, GA (ATL) on Mon, 29 Jun 2009
9:55am LAS
4:57pm ATL
Nonstop Delta 124

Now I just need to update my IP reservation, and I will be all set to head west - aside from other budgetary items, of course.

Of course, if I play in the WSOP on that Saturday as planned, then I hope I will need to push my flight back a bit - I'd rather make a final table than make a flight!

See you there.

Workouts

I would hope that by the time I get off the plane, I am able to handle slightly more activity than this:

Are You in Poker Shape? from Brandon Muller on Vimeo.

H/T Pokerati.

Detox

I always joke that being sick is great for my health because I get to drop a few pounds.

Well, hopefully it's true this time around.

I've had a bad sore throat and sinus congestion for about a week, and on Thursday we got a diagnosis of one of the kids for strep - which means, in all certainty, that is what I have had as well. Thankfully, this weekend didn't involve a long road trip - the furthest away we went was Ikea. Yesterday was spent at home not doing a damn thing, aside from reading, playing with kids, and playing terribly in Riverchasers, again.

One result of being sick, and being away from work, is a forced removal from coffee. I couldn't have any at the end of last week, and I never drink any while out of the office. I'm trying to continue the trend this week, since I drink so much during the day and all the sugar and caffeine has been bad for me - just ask my waistline.

Hopefully, I can be a bit healthier while also managing to avoid killing the first idiot that comes my way.

I still have my own doctor's appointment this afternoon - after trying to go all weekend with mucinex and Nyquil I need something a bit heavier to clear it all up.

Beyond that, I am taking the rest of the week off from poker. I played a little bit over the weekend, and I could tell that my mind wasn't really in it, so rather than toss away any money the rest of this week, I will probably stay away - that includes the remaining bloggerments of the BBT4. Perhaps a break will help me re-focus to win a decent package in a couple of weeks, because the last few times out I've played with no focus or concentration and it shows.

Besides, if I can get a little more healthy, then perhaps getting off my ass every so often might be a good thing. It'll take more than just abstaining from coffee to get back into decent shape.

Zombiefied

The whole house has been feeling lousy all week. Alex has had a bad cough for about a week now, but on Sunday both kids and myself started feeling really, really bad.

Alex was actually diagnosed with "secondary pneumonia" at the doctor on Monday, and Sammie and I have been trying every medicine in the book to avoid deteriorating as well. Sammie's been trying Zycam and Delsym along with baby tylenol, which seems to be helping a bit.

Alex went to the doctor a week ago, and they didn't think his cough was a big concern. Guess they were a bit off, which is why I've been giving Sammie more types of medicine so she doesn't have the same end result. The Zycam especially seemed to help, and she didn't fight us too much on taking it which also helps, I'm sure.

I was taking Dayquil pills, Aleve, and Zycam before finally buckling under last night and downing Nyquil (in the original green death flavor).

Good news: I got to teach Alex that even medicine for adults is going to taste like crap.

Bad news: Normally I don't pass out from Nyquil, but last night was different. I had been very tired throughout the day (dozing off TWICE) so I completely passed out just after 8:00.

Yes, I was so out of it that I passed out while Adam Lambert was screeching on the television during American Idol.

At least I got a decent amount of sleep, even if it was somewhat restless.

Alex's pre-K graduation is tonight, which he is extremely excited about. After today, he'll stay at home for the rest of the week, then start summer care on Tuesday. Hopefully the time off will help him get back to 100%.

I feel a little better today, but my throat is still killing me. Some of the congestion is starting to clear out for Alex and myself and Sammie is coughing less, so hopefully by the weekend we'll all be getting back to normal health. Good thing we have time off so we can rest up.

Rue Britannia

At the beginning of the BBT, I said that the BritBloggerment would probably be the easiest chance to win a seat to the final for a WSOP Main Event seat, at least until May.

Well, March and April went by, and no seat. Three cashes, but no seat.

A couple of cashes this month, but no seat yet. 18th on the leaderboard for May, but nothing big.

Today...



BOOM!!!!

I think the secret was having one child cuddling on me for the first two hours, and the other cuddling on me for the last hour.

Good, long heads-up match with $mokkee for the seat. It was fun throughout. Enjoyed the tournament, and enjoyed the result:

Dear APOSEC72,
You finished the tournament in 1st place.There has been $86.00
added to your account.

Relaxed movie night

Well, we had a nice movie night, for two reasons.

1) We watched Devil Wears Prada. Yes, I found it funny. It had some amusing parts. Stanley Tucci really enjoyed doing this movie. Kim really liked it. I found it funny and tolerable. Not sure I'd watch it again, but fairly decent on celluloid.

2) Oh, yeah, I also started turning things around on Full Tilt. Yay for forum events! Even if it is a small buyin, it's nice to win SOMETHING after bombing in tournaments and bloggerments all week.

Full Tilt Poker Tournament #89421371
HoldemPokerChat NL Hold'em
Buy-In: $3.00 + $0.50
26 players
Total Prize Pool: $103.00

Dear APOSEC72,
You finished the tournament in 1st place.

So, between this, winning a HORSE tournament with 260 people, and winning 3 buyins on Stars NLHE tables, this has actually been a pretty good week.

Maybe it has to do with less stress and more time. I actually managed to knock out a BIG work item just after putting the kids to bed. I still have work stuff to do tomorrow with launching a new app at work, so tomorrow is when I activate a lot of the features, but the fact that I have only work to worry about is a lot more...relaxing?

I am going to the local country club on Friday, as a couple of us are being taken to lunch there by upper management for completing MBA's. It'll be a nice way to head into the holiday weekend.

I need to watch out - I'm in danger of being in a good mood for more than a couple of days. This just can...not...happen....under normal circumstances.

Then again, after three years of constant tumult, perhaps I forgot what normal circumstances are actually supposed to be.

Evidence that I made it

More pictures and story to come, but I wanted to throw up a picture from Saturday.

See, I made it!

This is my advisor and I at the pre-ceremony brunch which recognized the MBA recipients, held at the Georgia World Congress Center.

Over and Out

The grades are in for the Spring Semester. With everything else that has happened this term - the attempted carjack, Kim's foot injury and surgery, the kids having to change schools twice, two rounds of layoffs and a restructuring at work, trying to get Alex into St. Joseph's for school in the Fall, continuing work problems with Kim, potentially moving back to New York, and ending up at the hospital - I'm glad the term is over with.

MBA Capstone Class: B. Once I got back my second exam with an 87 I pretty much knew I had a B in the class. Considering how off-the-wall the teacher was, I'm fine with it.

MGS 8460, Consulting Practices: A minus. My online poker analysis shot me up from a B to an A-. Nicely done.

FI 8000, Valuation: B minus. I needed a 90 on the final to get to a B. I got an 80. Hence, a B minus, which means some trouble down the line with regards to reimbursements.

CS 8100, I/S Mgmt: B. I had a horrible mid-term where I completely whiffed on a big portion of the test thanks to basically answering the wrong question, but a phenomenal paper and final exam to bring the grade back to normal levels. Thank you, BofA, for supplying a lot of experience in making the paper phenomenal - and I mean that in the kindest way.

Overall GPA for the term was a bit low, at 3.1, but again considering all the other drama of the term, I will take an A minus, two B's, and a B minus.

Graduation pics and stories to be posted later tonight, probably while I am playing Riverchasers.

Indulging Dorkiness

OK, I'll admit that I'm a tad interested in going to the movies to see Star Trek. I was thinking a little bit about even taking Alex, but some parts of the movie might be a bit too confusing or, um, advanced for his age.

Fine.

I've got three hangups, though.

1) How well it might fit in to other known qualities - kind of the same reservations I had about Batman Begins, I guess, what with the current trend of "rebooting" a bunch of past series.



2) Shaun of the Dead as Scotty?






3) Harold (as in Harold and Kumar) as Sulu?



Lastly, if weed is introduced in the movie, will the new Kirk start singing Rocket Man?

Check up

NO, I did not fall off the face of the earth.

It sure seemed that way, though.

I finished up my final final exam on Thursday night, but couldn't really relax yet because I was not sure if I did well enough on my last two finale exams.

On Friday, I had a long talk with some folks at work, where it became readily apparent that I needed to get some things done which had been pending for too long. Mostly, this was due to my own actions, not anything else. I'd focused much more on studying and papers and not so much on projects that needed to get done at work.

As a result, this weekend was spent much like the past fifteen weekend have been spent - lots of work, up late, stressed, rushing to meet a deadline.

Thankfully, I've gotten my main project back on track, and as of tomorrow I will hopefully be cleared to move ahead with rollout in the next phase.

So, finally, I have begun to feel somewhat calmer and relaxed. It's been good to be home to read to the kids and tuck them into bed, and it's been good to be able to not have to run around, completely batshit crazy.

Heck, I've even gotten to play a little poker with a clear mind. I'd planned on playing more blogger events when classes were over, and on Monday I got to play Riverchasers, cashing in 7th place and putting me 11th on the leaderboard after three events.

Tonight, I get to play the Mookie for the first time all year. Let's see if I can start punching a ticket for Vegas with a win tonight.