Brutal

Full Tilt Poker Game #6626454986: Table RIC (speed, 6 max) - $1/$2 - Limit Hold'em - 16:29:39 ET - 2008/05/30
Seat 1: txmac1 ($64.75)
Seat 2: Fillemon ($69)
Seat 3: WiredAces77 ($65.50)
Seat 4: Bils1234 ($96.50)
Seat 5: CaddieStackS ($63)
Seat 6: GDT84 ($23.25)
WiredAces77 posts the small blind of $0.50
Bils1234 is sitting out
CaddieStackS posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to WiredAces77 [Td Th]
GDT84 calls $1
Bils1234 stands up
txmac1 calls $1
Fillemon folds
WiredAces77 raises to $2
CaddieStackS raises to $3
GDT84 calls $2
txmac1 raises to $4
WiredAces77 calls $2
CaddieStackS calls $1
GDT84 calls $1
*** FLOP *** [7h Ts 5s]
WiredAces77 bets $1
CaddieStackS raises to $2
GDT84 folds
txmac1 raises to $3
WiredAces77 raises to $4
CaddieStackS has 8 seconds left to act
CaddieStackS calls $2
txmac1 calls $1
*** TURN *** [7h Ts 5s] [8h]
WiredAces77 bets $2
CaddieStackS calls $2
txmac1 raises to $4
WiredAces77 raises to $6
CaddieStackS calls $4
txmac1 calls $2
*** RIVER *** [7h Ts 5s 8h] [As]
WiredAces77 checks
CaddieStackS checks
txmac1 bets $2
WiredAces77 calls $2
CaddieStackS has 8 seconds left to act
CaddieStackS folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
txmac1 shows [Ad Ah] three of a kind, Aces
WiredAces77 mucks
txmac1 wins the pot ($49) with three of a kind, Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $50 | Rake $1
Board: [7h Ts 5s 8h As]
Seat 1: txmac1 showed [Ad Ah] and won ($49) with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 2: Fillemon (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: WiredAces77 (small blind) mucked [Td Th] - three of a kind, Tens
Seat 4: Bils1234 is sitting out
Seat 5: CaddieStackS (big blind) folded on the River
Seat 6: GDT84 folded on the Flop

The World Series of who cares.

I find myself less and less enthused about the WSOP every year. In 2003, it was Moneymaker making everything boom in our poker worlds. His classic showdown with Sammy Farha was exciting and fresh to me. In 2004, I had just begun my poker career and was excited to watch every bit of footage. 2004 featured Greg Raymer outlasting a bunch of assholes to take down the title. I was really rooting for ya there Greg. Then 2005 is where it started going downhill. ESPN turned the coverage into 1.) showing nothing but all-in hands or 2.) Showing some pasty white internet geek acting like an ass-clown in front of the camera. 2006 was unbearable especially when Jamie Gold started getting TV time. And lastly 2007 was ... well, I never watched any of the 2007 WSOP because ESPN ruined TV poker for me over the past 2 years. I couldn't told you the winner's name until several months after the TV coverage had already aired.

The 2008 WSOP kicks off today and, even though I'm back at the tables grinding, I really coudln't give a shit. The tournament has lost it's appeal to me. What was once a test for the greatest players in the world is now just a series of events where any jackoff with a computer and a credit card can gain entry and fair well just because of the sheer number of donkies in the tournaments.

The only event of the WSOP that interests me anymore is the $50K HORSE event. The cream usually rises to the top there. I do like the other non-holdem events as well such as the Razz, Stud, and especially the Omaha events. Even then, it's still not enough to arouse my interests. If I see those events on the television as I'm channel surfing, I'll stop. But otherwise, fuck the WSOP.

How can the WSOP bring back that appeal that it once had for me? Well, I got a solution. Keep all the events just as is right now. However, have a single buy-in that gets you access to all events. Let's say $150K is your buyin for all events. Cut the number of events down to no more than 10-15. No satellites. Cash money buyins only! Play each event in succession. Have a points system for each event. Individual event winners get an automatic seat in the main event. The top X players in points + event/bracelet winners get into the main event and duke it out for the top prizes.

There are just so many pros these days and so many events. There are also way too many online satellites gaining these idiots entry into the event. The WSOP has lost its luster and it will never come back without a complete overhaul.

Crate Training

Yesterday I met my Mother at the Mall (ugh) for dinner. I had to run by the pet store and pick up a crate/kennel for the puppy, so I figured we could grab a bite while there. We ate at Macados which is one of my favorite restaraunts in the area. It has an awesome atmosphere and there are always people there you know. THe food is pretty decent too. Last night was an exception. Our waitress was a retard. The food was mediocre at best.

AFter the disappointing dinner, I headed towards Petland. They should neuter anyone that buys anything from that place. I looked around a bit. I found 1 small crate. Then some scary woman come up and asked me if I needed her help. She was probably a 35-40 year old woman with long, black, greasy hair. She had like two top rows of teath or something going on. And to top it all off, she had a lazy eye. Look up crack ho in the dictionary and her photo is there. Anyway, she went through their entire invetory and no larger crates. So, off I went to Pet store #2.

Pet store #2 was a local establishment. I would have felt better giving them my money. But no go there either. This time I got redneck Jim as my helper. He refused to get off his chair long enough to be any decent help. I gave that store about 30 more seconds and left. Luckily Lowes was next door and I found exactly what I was looking for in no time at all.

When I got home, I let the puppy play around the kennel. I left some treats in there and he started going in and out without fear. Then I shut the door on him and he behaved nicely. Wow that was easy! We went out for a while and then I moved the crate to my bedroom beside the bed. At bedtime, he went right into the crate and I shut the door. HE was in good shape. Then I turned out the lights and he started whining. I kept my fingers through the cage so he could lick them and know I was still there. AFter about 5 minutes, he give up the whining and went to sleep.

This morning, we got up and I let him out to do his business. An accident free day! I played with him really good this morning. He also did some wind sprints through the house for some reason. He was probably a little tired by the time I was getting dressed for work. We went back into the bedroom and he went straight for the crate. Awesome!

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I did manage to get in a few hundred hands of poker yesterday as well. I started out horribly, but eventually brought it back and made a tiny profit.

I played very well last night. I didn't get in the 3-4 hours I had hoped for, but I was able to play through most of the 2 hour Happy Hour session on Tilt last night. Unforuntately, my results weren't any good and I lost somewhere around $30. The good ol' runner runner code was re-implemented on Full Tilt last night.

I renewed my StoxPoker account yesterday as well. I accidently sent them too much money for a 6 months renewal and they gave me 10 months and an extra point to use on free stuff. I was going to try Cardrunners out, but I figured that would be a bad choice for me. I'm playing a lot of LHE right now and Stox has some really great LHE players on the staff.

I'm really enjoying poker again. I wish there were extra hours in the day so that I could play more. I've only been able to clear about $40 of that $200 bonus given to my by Full Tilt. I only have until June 4th to clear this bad boy too. I'm going to work as hard as I can to clear this bonus before the 4th though. I have tonight that I can play for a little bit, tomorrow night where I can put in a longer session, Saturday probably will leave opportunities for a long session as well.

I think the gameplan right now is to contine playing LHE tables for the remainder of this bonus. Then I can switch over and mix in a little NLHE too. I'll also be doing some more studying as well. I have quite a few Stox videos to catch up on. I also have my Stox Limit poker book to read.

Right now my bankroll is just shy of $1200. My mini goal is $5000. $1200 gives me 300BBs at the $2/4 level. However, I'll probably avoid that level until I get closer to $2000. I still want to play things safely. I do have rakeback, so that will help get me there sooner. Once I hit that $2000 level, I'll give 2/4 a shot and then hopefully things will go well there and I can hit $5000 a lot quicker mixing it up between 2/4 and 3/6.

Sorry

Well, after that last post, I wanted to immediately delete it. I have to be more positive in life and quit bitching. I have to be pro-active and not re-active. So, for those that actually read my last post, I'm sorry. For those who haven't gotten to it yet, don't bother.

This evening, I'm raising the stakes. If I want to do anything in life, I have to put forth an effort. I can't just make goals, then half assedly work on those goals, and then forget about them. I have to push forward and, forgive me for overusing this word this week, GRIND. This evening, I will put in my poker hands. Not just the hour that I intended, but I'll go the extra mile and put in a 3-4 hour session if at all possible.

I'm really beginning to wonder if seeking therapy is a route I should take. Not any "Oh my parents don't love me and the world is against me sessions". I know I'm fucked up in the head and I don't need a doctor telling me about it. I even know why I'm fucked up in the head most times. I even know how to fix the situation. What I don't know is how to motivate myself to do so.

This blog is the best tool I have to motivate myself. Unfortunately, all my bitching an whining would probably motivate my readers to a new corner of the web. Money used to motivate me. Now, freedom seems to motivate me more than anything. I feel like I'm bound and shackled 5 days a week. That should be motivation enough for me to get off my ass and get motivated to do something better with my life. But it hasn't in the past 8 years. At least not enough to make a difference.

Maybe I'm getting close right now, becase the only thing I want to do right now is go home, fire up a bunch of poker tables and swell the bankroll to astronomical heights.

I have about $1200 in my bankroll right now (give or take $100). My baby-step goal is to hit $5000 with that very soon. My ultimate goal is $100K. That gives me approximately 2 years salary to have on the back burner. Then I can use that time to figure out what I want in life.

That's the only plan I got for now. Maybe if I work on being a better all-around person. A person that's in shape. A person that feels good about himself. A person that doesn't have a such a negative outlook on humanity. Maybe if I can be that person, life just won't suck anymore.

How to make life not suck

I get so damn depressed from time to time. Most of the time it's because of my job. I love every aspect of my life except this God Damned job. There are only a few aspects of this job that I hate though. But they are huge aspects such as:

- I hate dealing with these asshole customers
- I hate dealing with my asshole boss
- I hate not having anything in common with any other co-workers and therefore no the social aspect of this place sucks.

I caught myself typing "How to make life not suck" in a Google search a minute ago. Partly because I'm having a shitty day. Partly because I'm bored and have nothing better to browse on the internet. Then I started thinking "How bad does my life have to suck to ask Google for answers?"

It seems like every day that I wake up with a bright and chipper attitude ready to face a nice Spring/Summer day. Then about 8:15 a.m., I'm ready to say fuck it all and quit. All the life has been sucked out of me by these heartless fucks who think my sole purpose on this planet is to fix their fuck ups. I'm tired of it and need change.

But then it's back to the same dilemma I've fought with for the past 5-6 years. Where do I go? It's not like another job in the IT market will do me any good. Unless it's with good people that I can call friends and just have a blast, I'm not interested. Computers fucking suck to work with for a living. That's where my skills are though.

I'm pretty sure it's not the job and more the fact that I HAVE to do certain things for certain people or my welfare is in jeopardy. I hate being told what to do. I guess I could go off on my own and do the self-employment thing, but only certain aspects of that interest me. The rest is just more work. However, I could choose my co-workers and my hours more easily than I can now. I'm also in a bad area for this line of work. But I love this area.

This whole rant is the reason why I want to see if I can be disciplined enough to grind out hundreds of thousands of hands a year. Sitting on my ass, taking bad beats, and wondering if I'm giong to make enough money to cover the rent sounds way more appealing than sitting on my ass wondering which dick head customer is going to call with a crisis today.

Well, at least I'm trying

Not off to a good start with my operation grinding. I did get my poker hands in. I did get to the grocery store and avoided all the fast food and take out places. What I did not do, though was remember to bring my lunch and my breakfast with me this morning. So I'm here at work, having a hard day, no breakfast in my stomach, and my lunch sitting on the kitchen counter. Fuckin awesome.

Evolution of a grinder

I had a big post typed up and it was going in 30 different directions. I was losing focus as I typed the post. Then as I started going back through it, I noticed the clusterfuck it had become and I just deleted it. The post was about me wanting to become a grinder. Not just at poker, but in life in general. I'll try to stick with the poker side of things in this 2nd draft.

I really envy the people that can sit down at a computer and just grind out poker for hours upon hours. These people seem to be the ones with the larger bankrolls. How do I become this person? Is it something you are born with? Or do you have to work at becoming a "worker"? I don't know. I sure as hell ain't born with it, so I'm going to pursue the "working at it" approach.

Summertime is dead for me as far as poker is concerned. I hardly ever play because I'm mostl likely burnt out from the prior winter. I do play most of my poker over the winter when the weather is bad outside. This summer, I want it to be different. This summer will be my "training camp" for a winter grind. Hopefully I can train myself to become one of those grinders that can sit for hours upon hours and grind out larger profits.

The only time I ever put in marathon sessions is when I'm down. When I'm winning, I don't feel the need. "I've made my nut for the day. Time to quit" is what my brain keeps telling me when I have a winning session. If I'm in the midst of a downswing and finally have a winning day, the brain switches it over to "Quit while you're ahead. Don't risk losing your profit". Either way, it's not a healthy way to play poker.

Here's the gameplan. I'm going to work my way into a "grinding mode". I'm going to start out slow and then gradually work my way up. Starting today, I'll sit down at the tables for 1 hour and play poker for that hour. No IMs, no phones, no web browsing. Nothing but poker grinding.

Next week, I bump it up to 2 hours a night. I'll probably continue this regimen for a few weeks because the ultimate goal is to get 3 hours a night, but I want to work my way up to that.

I get to take 2 days off a week, but one of them cannot be the weekend. My reason for this is that I want to take 1 of my weekend days and double my normal time. For example, this week I'm doing 1 hour/night, but on the weekend (Friday night, Saturday, Sunday), I'll play a 2 hour session. When I'm up to 2 hours/night, I'll play a 4 hour session on the weekend day. 3-6, etc etc etc.

Since this week is a shortened week, Monday counts as my off day. I'll probably also take off Friday or Saturday as well. But if I put in my 1 hour for the next few days and 2 hours on the weekend, that will be 5 hours this week. Nothing major, but an improvement over the past 2 months or so.

Next week, however, will be when I jump up to 2 hours. 4 regular days x 2 hours = 8 hours + 1 day @ 4 hours = 12 hours total. That gets me to my winter level. Then when I bump up to 3 hours a week in the next few weeks, we are at 18 hours/week and starting to seriously grind then.

During this whole process of working my way into grinding shape, I'll need to do whatever I can to stay focused. This will include eating healthier, getting more sleep, using an app such as Tiltblocker to prevent results oriented thoughts, and probably some other stuff I can't think of right now.

I hope to accomplish a few things here. The most important thing is to establish a work ethic. I want to be able to set some goals and actually accomplish them. I also want to be rewarded financially for my new found work ethic. But most of all, I want to be able to sit down at the tables when winter time rolls around and just crank out an in-human amount of hands. I want to be that guy that grinds out 100K hands/month.

This will also be a test of my will and love for the game of poker. If I work my way up to playing way more hands than before, will I get burnt out quicker? Is this something I could do on a full time basis (35-40 hours /week)?

There just seems to be so many positive aspects to being a grinder. Hit a 30-50K hand dowswing or breakeven stretch? You'll be out of it in way less days whereas before that stretch could last 3-4 months.

I'm excited to see how it all goes and how I do with it. Let's just got those first 5 hours in and see how things go.

I wish I was a grinder

I wish I was one of those guys that could sit for hours and 24 table a certain limit. That dude doing the 2+2 $10K in a month challenge has played 50K+ hands in 2 days. Fucking wow. Leatherass over at Stoxpoker will play 7-8K hands day in and day out. Is this something you have to be born with?

Starting to grind a bit

I've started to grind a little bit lately. Nothing major, but I have put in a couple hundred hands the past few nights. I'm very pleased with my results thus far too. Especially since I'm playing LHE. I started off slowly and then finally started hitting some flops. I wouldn't call what I've been experiencing a heater, but more of a "retribution" for the several thousands of hands prior.

Here's to hoping I didn't jinx my positive results by blogging about it!

LOL

I actually LOL'd in the middle of the office when I read this one. This is an excerpt from Government Cheese.

"I can beat Chan heads up, that ain't so tough,
Do pushups till sunup, but that's not eeeeeenoughhhhhhhhhhhhh

Sit down, relax, shut up, and be still,
Cuz now you're about to meet the real Phillllllll:

Phil likes his poptarts toasted ever so lightly,
Likes to spank the chimp to Miley Cyrus nightly.

In his mind Phil has run twelve Ironman races,
NL would be better without any raises.

Winner online, Durrrr had the suckout of his life,
His tens beat Phil's aces, Durrrr made Phil his wife.

When Phil plays online, he bends over and they ream,
Thank God and Allah for passive revenue streams.

But I can handle the beats, do you all hear me?
Someday I'll be graceful, at least that's my theory.

My game's like a gem, eleven bracelets I've rocked,
A bracelet for each finger, each thumb, and my cock."

Well, in 8 long hours it will be Memorial Weekend. I love Memorial Weekend because it's like a little mini-vaction just before the real vacation that happens a few weeks later.

I don't have any real plans for this weekend. I do plan on playing some golf. I haven't hit a single golf ball this year, so that should be a hoot. I'm not sure where we are going yet or who all is going, I just know we're going.

Also on the agenda will be some flower planting at the homestead. I'm going to build one of my flower boxes up and get it looking pretty. I have plenty of other yard work that can be done as well.

The main thing for me this weekend though is to catch up on sleep. I haven't been in the bed before midnight a single day this week. Last night, it was close to 2:00 a.m. before I was able to fall asleep. Insomnia has stricken hardcore this week and I feel like a zombie today. Draggin' ass.

The pup did good yesterday. He went the entire day without making a mess. I took him outside and he insta-peed. I walked him around for a bit, then he took that dump I've been waiting for. We played around for a bit. When we went back inside, he was all excited and of course peed right in the kitchen floor. I didn't catch him in the act. I just saw the resulting puddle.

I went out to Wal-Mart (that place gets more God Forsaken everyday) and come home with some supplies. I got one of those retractable leashes which he does much better with. I also bought a big pillow bed for the puppy which he loves. I got some Milk bone treats for when he does his business outside. Then I bought some food as well. He seems to be eating this brand that my friends gave me, so I stuck with that brand. I did forget to pick up some pet shampoo and a bowl though, so I gotta get that stuff sometime today or tomorrow.

When I got home from Wal-Mart, I was going to let the puppy out again, but he decided to let himself out. Before I could get the leash on him, he was out the door. Wide open he went about half way down the yard. I yelled for him and he ignored me at first. Then I gave a more stern yell and he came right back. Thankfully I didn't have to take my fat ass racing through the neighborhood chasing the skinny, fast dog.

We're starting to get a routine going. I want to get him a kennel so he can stay outside when it's pretty. Lowe's has a 10' x 10' kennel for $50. I'm going to check that bad boy out this weekend. That plus a little dog house would be great!

Jump #18

This post was written by my buddy Mike. He's gotten "into" skydiving the past year or 2 and here is a blog he wrote about his latest jump:

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My First Off Landing (Jump 18, May 18th)

I'm writing this mostly to remind myself not to be an idiot under canopy ever again (yes I'm a selfish bastard). I made 3 fairly uneventful jumps on Saturday and I think I got a little bit cocky. Jump 1 on Sunday, first and only jump of the day (for reasons you will learn later). Winds were somewhere between 10 to 15mph (gusting a little). Normal 10,000 foot exit, pulled at 4,500 and had a nice soft opening. After playing around a bit I started the first leg of a standard left handed landing pattern at 1000 feet. This is when everything went to shit! Instead of paying attention to where I was at I was practicing front riser controls and lost track of how far I had traveled downwind. My brain finally turned back on and I checked my altitude. This was the "OH SHIT!" moment. I'm way low and make an immediate 180 turn to try to fly back to the landing area. No way in hell that was going to happen with the wind conditions.

So now its Plan B time. Where do I land that will hurt the least? I'm over a farm house. Power lines here and there. Really tall pine trees..... Etc. Well I spot a nice little field over to my left and decide that's my only semi-safe option. I landed barely clearing a barbed wire fence (I forgot that's what they use to contain cattle). Speaking of cattle.... I was also lucky enough to land in the biggest pile of cow shit that mankind has ever laid eyes upon! I'm exaggerating a bit but it was a pretty impressive deposit! Luckily the 2000 pound beast that left the cushion for me to land in was nowhere around.

Well of course the landowner comes out the back door of his house (luckily without his shotgun). The empty stare on his face was beyond priceless! I'm still not sure if it was a look of concern for my safety, if he thought I was an alien, or if he was simply still absorbing the fact that a human just fell out of the sky and landed in his backyard! So I gather up my gear, apologize to him for landing on his property, and explain to him why I had no other option. He was very understanding and just smiled. I start walking........

Moral of the story. Don't be a dumbass like me or you may end up walking back to the DZ with a bruised ego smelling like cow shit!

P.S. If you are reading this Woolly, thanks again for hopping in your car to come and make sure I was ok. VERY much appreciated!

Operation: Puppy (Day 1)

Yesterday was a big day for me. I left work and eagerly changed clothes and headed across town to Bluefield. I pulled up to my friends' house and immediately wondered "How the hell am I going to get this dog home?" I had not seen the puppy in person yet, only the pic I showed yesterday. When I knocked on the door he came running. No shyness in this dog at all. He let me pet him and play with him. He never barked and even though excited wasn't too wild. Nice!

I chatted with Leslie a little bit and played with my buddy (her baby) Spencer. The dog and the child did well together. Everytime the dog would get in sight of the baby, he would start laughing. It was so cute. She has another video of him doing it and cackling too, but she hasn't uploaded it yet.

She also gave me some supplies to get me started. I got 2 leashes, a half bag of dog food, and some toys. I took the walking leash and put it on him without any problems. We walked around outside for a while. The pup wants to play tractor pull when he's on a leash. He kept wanting to drag me around.

Les helped me load everything in to the truck. I tapped on the seat a few times adn the dog jumped right in. That was easy! Next came trying to drive with the dog in the truck. I was worried at first because he seemed to only want to be in my face the whole time. I couldn't concentrate like that, so I tapped the seat a few more times and asked him to sit. He did! Wow. You could tell he was a bit un-easy about the ride, but I sang some Pink Floyd, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Godsmack tunes to him to help settle him down :)

I had to stop by my Mom's house. I took him out and let him run around her yard for a while (still on a leash). He did his business and we took him inside while we eat. Mom wasn't too thrilled with having the dog run wild through the house while we were eating. All he wanted to do was sniff out the situation anyway. I shut him in the bathroom just in case there were any "accidents".

I left Mom's house "accident" free. We hopped back in the truck. This time the ride was much easier for him. He was more at ease. He even stood up in the seat to stick his head out the window to check out what was giong on. But then he wanted to come to my side again. He just wanted some petting I guess. It wasn't like he was trying to climb over me. His footing wasn't so awesome on the console though and I was afraid of him slipping and breaking a leg or something if I had to stop suddenly. So with a few more taps on the passenger seat, back over there he went until we got home.

His first sight as we pulled up was the neighbor's German Shepherd. He really wanted to check that dog out. Once we got inside, I let him roam the house and check out the situation. He pretty much scanned the perimeter of every room with his nose and then it was all good. He seemed more fascinated with downstairs than upstairs (which is good for me with tile floors and all).

Once I got everything settled in, I took him outside. I have a big yard, but it's not fenced in or anything. I was afraid to let him roam around without a leash. I wasn't sure if he would run off or anything. So I had one of those in-ground leashes that lets them roam pretty far. He checked out a little bit of everything and did his business too which I was happy to see. He kept wanting to crawl underneath my porch though. I'm not sure what fascinated him so much down there, but something interested him a lot.

We played for a while and went back inside. He roamed around a little bit more and he chilled out with me for a while. When it was time for bed, I took him out for another walk. He peed almost instantly. I was hoping for a nice steaming poop, but no luck there. We went back inside and I took him into my bedroom. A couple taps on the bed and he hopped right up there. My bed is pretty high off the ground, so it's a decent leap and I was surpised he could do it. He didn't want to cooperate at first. He wanted to roll around and hide his head under the pillows. I showed him that the head of the bed was my side.

When I finally laid down, he wanted to play a bit. So I petted him and got all that out of his system. Finally he tuckered out and laid down at teh foot of the bed. He stayed there for most of the night and didn't interrupt my sleep one bit. Until 5:00 a.m. A dog barked outside and then he jumped up barking and ran into the kitchen. This went on for about 30 seconds and I incoherantly hollared at him to get back in the room. He did just that. He ran back into the bedroom, jumped back on the bed and resumed the sleeping like nothing happened.

When the alarm clock rang. I played with teh puppy for a bit and took him outside. I left him out there on the long leash while I showered and got ready for work. Then I let him back in and played with him for a few more minutes before I left for work. I made him a bed and put some toys in the downstairs bathrooom. It has tile floors and is pretty open so he'll have a place to hang out during the day while I'm gone. If there are any accidents, then they will be easy to clean up.

I decided to call the pup "Smoltzie" after Braves pitcher John Smoltz (ie) :)

Smoltzie (The new pup)

New Member of the Family

So I'm minding my own business yesterday when I received a text message from my good buddy Jim.

"Want a dog?" was all the text said. I knew what dog he spoke about and most likely knew the reason why they wanted to get rid of the dog. What I didn't know was anything about the dog itself.

Jim and his wife Les just had a baby late last year. They just bought a new house around the same time. I dont know the whole story, but the dog just showed up. They put up signs and everything looking for the owners, but had no luck.

Both of them work and with the baby, they just aren't ready to have a dog. So, they asked me. I hesitated at first. I've never in my life owned a dog. I love dogs though. I get a lot of enjoyment out of playing with others' dogs. But one of my own that I have to feed and bathe and all that jazz? Whew...sounds like responsibility.

I had pretty much avoided adopting the dog last night by not giving a definitive answer. Do I want a dog? Yes. Am I ready for a dog though? That's a different question. I wasn't so sure.

I was talking to Leslie today on the IM and she sent me a pic of the dog:



How can you say no to that? I'll be dropping by this evening to sign the adoption papers and welcome him into my home :)

My good friend Bobby Bird

"Ted...Ted... I miss you!"

What a disgrace Robert Byrd is to the country and West Virginia. I can't believe people vote for this retarded racist prick. The only reason he has had a job this long is because he caters to the coal miners. They are too backwards to figure out he's just a disgusting human being.

The one thing I hate about this state is the racism. We don't have a diverse population here in WV. This leads to some nasty racism that you deal with on a daily basis. It's ugly. We have elected a Grand Wizard of the KKK into office for like 100 straight years. Also, when the Presidential Primary came through, the most common phrase you would hear is "I ain't voting for that nigger!". Nice.

And then the same people wonder why we are in the dark ages when compared to the rest of the country.

Gadget-ry

I've always been fascinated with gadgets through the course of my life. I've had Gameboys, Palm Pilots, Cell Phones, Walkmans, Discmans, iPods, you name it and I've probably had a variation of it. Now we can add a Blackberry to the list. After a long, excrutiating wait at AT&T yesterday, I now have another gadget I'll probably never use to the fullest extent.

I left work yesterday with one goal in mind: Get a new phone/Blackberry. I got home and changed clothes. I donked around on the fantasy league a little bit to allow traffic to die down some. Then I headed towards the store.

The store is in the same shopping center as a Wal-Mart, so it's painful just getting into the parking lot. I finally got the mouth-breathers to part the seas and let me into the parking lot. Then as I walked up to the AT&T store, I saw the line. Ugh. I came to this store, so I wouldn't have to wait in the line at the mall. If I wait and they are out of Blackberrys or come up with some chicken shit excuse for not migrating me over, I'm going to explode!

As I stood in line, I took notice to the setup. They had 2 women working at 2 terminals and nobody else in the store. However, there were 3 other terminals available, but no workers to man those terminals. Efficiency! The front lady was dealing with someone's fucked up bill. The 2nd work dealt with one of the Wal-Mart immigrant mouth-breathers who bought a GPS Enabled phone and was too dumb to RTFM. So, she wasted everyone in the stores time giving out a tutorial on how to find out where you are. It wasn't getting through and that same session was going on, even after I left the store.

Thankfully I made it to the counter without wanting to initiate mass genocide. One thing I hate about these underpaid cell phone jockeys is the negativity.

Me: "I want the Blackberry Curve special, I'm a cell one subscriber and need to be migrated"

Girl: "You do know that we have to move ALL of your paperwork over to AT&T?"

Me: "Isn't that going to have to happen eventually?"

Girl: "Yes...but all we have are red Blackberrys"

Me: "That's the color I want, write it up".

Girl: "It burns when I pee"

I wasn't let the bitch swindle her way out of this one. After a full 5 minutes of work on the girl's end, I had my new Blackberry. Surprisingly everything seemed to work when I got home to play with it. I've spent a bunch of time tweaking, installing, and learning. It's a cool gadget. So cool that I forgout that my new camera was being delivered today...Another gadget to play with tonight!

Wanna know the truth about Iraq?

Sometimes you just have to ignore the politicians and get the info directly from people that are actually there. This is one of the best blog entries I've ever read and it actually almost moved me. And I'm a big boy. This is one of Otis' friends.

Kickin it Old School

Limit poker has been my bread and butter over the years. Sure there was this neat ALL IN donkfest going on around the no limit tables, but limit poker always seemed more poetic to me. To give a baseball analogy, limit poker to me is like Grady Sizemore whereas No Limit is like Ryan Howard. Grady is consistent, fast paced, and exciting to watch. Howard on the other hand is slow and only provides that excitement every once in a while when he blasts a 420+ foot HR. The appeal is that any at bat can be that big blast. I'll take Grady over Howard any day.

Back in 2004, I started banging away at the .50/1 games and crushed them from the outset. I had no sense of variance or bankroll management and kept moving up as I got a standard buyin for the next level. Needless to say, many times this didn't work out. Fortunately, I'm still a nit at heart and any decent win, went straight into my checking account, not the next level up.

Then I started learning bankroll managment and abiding by the 300BB rule. I have since adjusted that to the 1000BB rule. It's sad, but I feel so much more comfortable losing 300BBs (and I do often) when I have another 700 to back it up. I can keep my composure and play good poker.

Sure limit poker can be a variance nightmare. I bet you were the same as me back in the Party Poker haydays raping every table for a bunch of money. Then that first big downswing hits. Then you become gunshy? Then it's a downward spiral and your game starts to suffer. All of the sudden, you are are the unluckiest player alive. Or maybe you just suck now? Who knows? All I know is that limit poker can do that to you.

So why play? Easy answer: The Action. Limit poker is loose/fast, and more fun in my opinion. It's about pushing those fine edges and hoping for the best. Also, with all the downswings that can be thrown your way as a limit player, the upswings are just as good. Ever had a -300BB day? What about a +300BB day? I feel when I hit an upswing, I can rape the limit tables for way more than the No Limit tables.

Limit poker is the ultimate grind, yet I still continue to play it because it's fun.

Yard-ersize

I had a weekend filled with food. I almost feel hungover today because of all the food I had this weekend. It was all good too, but the gluttony ends today. I'm going to grind out a healthy week this week. No fast food, healthy food only for me please. This week, I also want to incorporate at least a little exercise into my program.

I get my new camera tomorrow and there are tons of subjects I want to take pictures of. I'd like to take some photos of the yard, the house, and just the beautiful scenery around me as Spring tries to kick into full gear. One thing I plan on doing with my new camera is taking some hikes into the countryside and just taking pics of the beautiful community I live and work in. The walks/hikes will be good exercise and the photography will make it fun.

Also on my agenda will be landscaping. Saturday evening, I did break out the weedeater and went over the yard with a semi-fine-tooth comb. I used an entire tank of fuel in the weedeater and even hit some spots so thick with weeds, that the trimmer bogged down. When I was done, my tennis elbow had kicked back in and I could barely move my arm. My Mom came by to show me some pictures and when I held a picture, my hands shook like a dope fiend looking for a fix.

Now that the weeds are cleared, the next step is the prep work. I've decided to start with the flower bed that I already have built. It's beside the house and right now, it has a couple of little bushes, some stumps, and a bunch of dandelions that pop up on a daily basis. I want to take a little time each day this week to work on the flower bed. I think this evening I'll work on tilling up some dirt. I have no tools to do this, so I'll have to go shopping in my Dad's utility shed :)

I figure all this yard work is good exercise since it all involves shoveling, picking, raking, etc. I know every time I get into heavy yard work, I'm sore as hell the next day. It's not hard to make a fat man sore though.

Limit Poker is the gayest

I've been trying to clear some of that Full Tilt $300 bonus they gave me for fucking up my cashout. It's coming along slowly at the $1/2 tables. It doesn't help that I can't win a hand either.

I only played a couple hundred hands today because I was so disgusted. I wanted to grind a bit during happy hour so I would get double points towards the bonus, but by the time happy hour come around, I was tired of poker.

I also spent a good part of the day playing GTA:IV. I love the game, but it's definitely got flaws and really doesn't deserve the 10/10 ratings it got from many reviewers. It's still an awesome game though and I'm addicted.

I tried to get a new cell phone today. AT&T has a Blackberry Curve for $99, so I think I'm going to go with it. I went to the store which was bought out by AT&T. My current phone is with the old service (pre-buyout) and I would need to migrate over. I walk up to the counter and told the guy exactly what I needed.

He babbled something about sunspots, navigation sectors, and cold sores before telling me "They weren't allowed to do any migrations today". What the fuck? He offered me his card and I could come back tomorrow and see him and he would take care of me. I crumpled the card and discarded it into the trash as I left. I hate the mall, but made a special trip and came up empty. I'll try again tomorrow, but in a different place.

Insomnia

I didn't accomplish many of the things on my agenda yesterday. My night went more like this:

- Get home
- Check Fantasy Scores
- Watch Arrested Development
- Shit, Shower, Shave
- Hit up Leos
- See nobody is there that I know, but just a few people
- The place is tiny
- Hit up the slots and win big
- Put said winnings back into other slots
- Put $20 of my own back into said slots
- Get frustrated and leave by 11:00 p.m.
- Finally eat dinner
- More Arrested Development
- Sleep

I suck at sleeping, so I only got a couple hours before I was back up again. I had to be up fairly early anyway, so I just stayed up instead of going back for that extra couple hours. I played online poker to pass the time. Full Tilt hates me. I lost $24 because of 2 river gutshots hit against me in huge pots.

I'm off to Roanoke in a minute. Then when I get back, I have to work on my yard a bit. I have 3 fantasy pitchers going today and I'd like to be able to see some of them pitch. Ervin Santana is going at 4:00, Tim Hudson at 7:00, and Eric Bedard at 10:00. Surely I will catch some of the action.

Probable Agenda

- Go home, shit, shower, shave, shampoo

- Fire up GTA:IV and some dinner

- Possibly hit the liquor store for Grey Goose and Jagermeister

- Hit Leos Pub and rock out with my cock out (I'll probably keep it in so the females won't laugh)

- Walk/bum ride home

- Puke multiple times

- Try to remember where I parked my truck the next day.

Woohoo! It's Friday night and I got plans. My favorite local band is playing at the bar just below my house. I'm within walking distance to the place. I'm also in a celbratory mood with the home refi and house remodel being a success. Things might get a little hairy. Then again, I have plans tomorrow morning as well.

Yesterday was my mother's birthday. She turned the big 60. She refused a big party like the one we threw for my Dad year before last. But we gave her a week long celebration with Mother's Day and all thrown in for good measure. We had already done the dinner with the family thing on Tuesday because my Dad works out of town and would not be in town on Mom's B-day. So I took Mom out last night, just the 2 of us. We went to my favorite Mexican restaurant, El Mariachi's. I like the restaurant more for the people than the food. The food is decent and all, but I have grown to know few of the hombres that run the restaurant over the past few years and they are good people. So I frequent their establishment more than most. We both had the fried beef Chimichanga's and they were excellent.

After dinner, my aunt was making dessert pizzas for Mom's b-day. I hate dessert pizzas. I went and conversed with the family a bit and got to see my new cousin again. She's 6 weeks old now. In addition to the dessert pizza, we had vegggie pizzas which stunk like ass if you ask me. I can't stand teh smell of brocoli.

After dessert, I wasn't ready to go home yet. So I headed to my buddy Spook's house to watch the band practice. They sounded pretty tight and I'm pumped to hear them play tonight. I'm hoping the weather shapes up so they can play outside, but it looks like mother nature is gonna be the fickle cunt she always is and make it rain all damn day.

Tomorrow, I'm heading to Roanoke...victory shopping. I am going to replenish my wardrobe, then going to get a nice big meal and go home stuffed. Gluttony baby!

Funny Conversation from Yesterday

Woman: "They make a Dog I.D. kit now!"

Husband: "Huh?"

Woman: "Yeah, an I.D. kit to test how smart the dogs are!"

Husband: "You mean IQ?"

Me: "Failure! Do they make an owner I.D. kit?"

Me and Husband laugh until we cry.

Tweet Tweet

Follow me on Twitter. My username is Predator314. Twitter is actually fun when you start following people.

Gotta Grind

I'm going to put my head down and grind through this Full Tilt bonus. I don't really have any urge to play online poker right now, especially on Full Tilt which took exactly 1 month to get my latest bank wire cashout to me. However, I could use the extra $300 they are giving me for their screwups.

I know I'm glutton for punishment, but I'm going to try clearing this bonus at the limit tables. This will at least help me grind more. I love limit poker when compared to NL. I just need to tighten it up and play more ABC'ish than I normally do so I can reduce the variance a bit.

I have 20 days remaining to get this done. Wish me luck.

Finally

My Full Tilt withdrawal finally hit my bank account today... on the one month anniversary of the cashout :)

Now I get to put the money right back in there so I can try to clear that $300 bonus.

The long journey has been completed

Back in June of 2000, I took this job. It paid way more than I had ever made in my entire life and I was so happy. I celebrated by going out and splurging for the 1st time on a vehicle. I bought a brand new 2000 Model Pontiac Grand Prix GTP. It was black with heated leather seats, sunroof, and Supercharged! This thing would fly. I didn't pay that much for the car, but considering what all I had been driving in the past, it was like rolling in a Bentley. But also with it come my first car loan and a $444 payment.

I loved that car, but when winter time rolled around, it sucked. Foolishly I tired of that and about a year later, I traded the car in for a brand new 2002 Chevy Silverado. The price was a bit more than the car I bought, but the payment was a reasonable $521...not much more than what I was paying before. Cool enough. I drove that truck for a while and it went great in the snow and all, but wasn't exactly what I wanted. I really wanted a crew cab truck so I'd have room for passengers and to carry my crap around. As I passed a car lot one day, I saw the truck I wanted.

Within a day, I had traded my blue 2002 Silverado for my Red 2001 F-150 Supercrew. I loved the truck. It had leather seats, 4 doors, looked pretty stylish and plenty of power. It also came with a brand new loan and a $525 payment. I had found the vehicle I liked and decided to quit trading.

During this time frame, there were some other things I bought and charged. I paid $8000+ for an ATV and all the bells and whistles. Then I traded it for another ATV. I also bought another car to go along with my truck. I bought countless other things that run my loans up (I can't even recall what all I owed on now). Then I started to look at houses. I found a brilliant deal on a house in an upscale neighborhood for a low budget price (Divorcee special). I was approved for yet another loan because I was making all my payments on time, but I took notice of my finances at that same time. When you list your assets vs. your liabilities, I noticed I was WAY in the hole there. I owed nearly $50K and had nothing to show for it. This was around spring of 2004 when I made this realization.

I vowed at that time that I was done making these random purchases and getting myself further and further into debt. Hell, I was still living with my parents and there was no way I could make it on my own at this point. I had a payment for this and a payment for that. If was going to buy a house, I'd have to sit in it all day long and not do anything. Because there would be no money left over after payign the bills and all my loans.

That year, I found Party Poker. Thank goodness I found that awesome site. This would be my source of toys. I needed a new laptop and this would be my brilliant idea for owning one. Why get another loan when I can just play poker and use my winnings? I did so much better than I ever dreamed possible, making enough money for that laptop, but also paying off my car, truck, ATVs and many other toys that I've bought over the years.

All of the sudden, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I could move out of my parents house and be on my own. I opted to go with the mobile home/trailer route to begin with since I found a good deal in a good trailer park (not infested with pill poppers and pushers). However, when I moved out there were many necessities that I didn't own yet like a good bed. I also needed yet another computer because I gave my parents the old one when I left. Slowly, I felt the debts start to rise up again.

I then bought my house in the summer of last year. The remodeling took a toll on my finances. I exhausted most of my HELOC as well as ran up a credit card in the process. I then would have hard time stretching out a paycheck from period to period, so the bank gave me a "roaming" credit line for those occasions. I almost exhausted that in the process. So I was deeper into debt, but not as bad as before. Plus most of this money was going to an investment and not to toys or vehicles. I was putting this money into my house.

Finally, I got the call today. After being dicked around for several weeks on my refi at the bank, the loan officer called me today and made everything official. Credit Card balance = $0, Roaming line of credit balance = $0, Car/Truck payment $0, Appliances $0. The only debt I owe in this world now is my mortgage payment. I owe $92,000 on a house that just appraised for $128,000. $36,000 in equity and growing is awesome.

I have no bad debts to my name. No annoying $150-$200 payments every week or so. No $500+ vehicle payments. No $100 autodrafts out of my checking account. Nothing but that house payment. Let me tell you what. It feels fucking awesome. This is one goal I set out to accomplish 4 years ago and I followed it through to the end. The house was my 2004 Party Poker. I knew it was a good investment at the beginning when I bought the house. You always hear that money is made in real estate when you buy, not when you sell. That house was living proof of that. I paid 54% of after repair values. With the renovations I put in, I ended up investing 70% of the after repair value. Just like Robert Kiyosaki said I should do!

I am celebrating my financial freedom this weekend with a shopping trip. Not for toys, guitars, computers, vehicles, or whatever. I'm buying some clothes! My wardrobe has suffered over the past 3-4 years. Clothes were one expense that I cut out almost completely. If I didn't get it as a present for birthday or Christmas, I didn't get it. My wardrobe is full of tattered clothes right now and then I have just a few outfits that are suitable for public :) This will change this weekend when I replenish the wardrobe. This is my prize. Well, that and a bottle of Grey Goose. You heard it right folks. This boy might very well be getting drunk...another expense that I have avoided that past 3 years or so.

Landscaping with MS Paint

I hurried home to work on my yard yesterday. I got it about 90% mowed before the sun ran out of juice and I was mowing in the dark. I had no time to weedeat or anything else. I'll try to finish it up this evening if it doesn't rain.

In the meantime, I've been thinking about landscaping and coming up with a gameplan of where I want the flowers/shrubs/etc to be. Here are my thoughts on where those should go:



The squiggly circles are trees. They are marked "M" for Maple, "P" for pine, and "A" for apple. The brown area is my house and the lighter brown surrounding it is my porch/deck/patio thingy. The red areas are areas where I want to focus my landscaping first.

I'm going to start with the area between the 2 apple trees. I plan on building a flowerbox in between the 2 trees and having a few flowers there. Nothing fancy...just landscaping timbers, some dirt, and flowers.

The red area between the sidewalk, porch and driveway is an already built flower box that houses nothing but turbo growing dandelions. I cut them down one day, the next day, they bring a bunch of their buddies along and laugh at me. I need to do some digging to and get some good dirt and weed mat in there so I can grow flowers and not weeeds. There is also a section across the sidewalk from that box which is on an incline. This section already has some flowers and shrubbery that looks fantastic right now. I just need to clean it up a bit.

The next thing is the big red square in front of the privacy fence. I'm not sure what I want here. I'd like to build a nice flower box, but I have a lot of room to play around. I was thinking maybe even a small pond or something like that would look nice here.

Once that part is out of the way, all I have are some areas surround the perimiter of the house. These are already marked off, but with some PVC tubing instead of something proper like bricks or landscape timbers. I have some ideas for this, but I want to bring in my greenhouse running buddies for a 2nd opinion.

Cameras

A few years back, I got a Canon SD400 camera for Christmas. It was a pretty neat little deal that would take pictures and videos. Much better than the big clunky 1 megapixel camera I had bought years earlier...back before everyone had a digital camera.

I took that little camera everywhere. It was convenient and easy to transport in my pocket. Then one day I lost it. I looked everywhere. I finally gave up. I resumed my search one day before I was scheduled to work in Parkersburg. The PBA was in town and I wanted to get some photos of the pros. I finally gave up and bought a Canon SD600 from the store the day before I left. That same day, as I was packing my bag, I found the SD400... in the bag I was packing. It all came back to me then. I had taken the camera to the river with me and put it in the side compartment of my bag. This was probably the only place I hadn't looked. Awesome...now I have 2 cameras.

Fast forward a bit more. I no longer have that SD600 camera. I took it fishing with me one day and I know I had it with me the entire time. In my front pocket. I remember taking some pics of the fish I caught. I even remember putting it back in my pocket when I left. I haven't seen that camera since that day last summer. Luckily I had my SD400 as backup. It still worked awesome and took just as good pictures.

A couple weeks ago, I was going to take some pics around the house of various improvements and also some of my food creations. I picked up the orginal SD400 that started this whole ordeal, turned it on, and noticed the LCD screen was solid white with a black streak running down the center. No display, nothing but white and that black streak. I'm assuming someone has knocked the camera off a table and bounced it off my ceramic tile. Taking pictures with that camera sucks now because you actually have to use the peephole instead of the LCD screen. It's hard to get the exact Pic you want that way.

So now, I have a broken camera and no backup.... until today. I just bought a Canon A590 camera. It's cheap and got decent reviews. I'm not picky about my pictures. I just want a decent photo and little aggravation. The A590 seemed to fit that bill. Buy.com had it for $159 shipped. I'm sure as soon as it gets delivered, I'll find my SD600 that I lost fishing.

Are you kidding me Full Tilt?

Geez... longest cashout...ever.

I made the cashout on 4/16/08.

Dear XXX,

We are writing to further clarify and apologize for the significant delay which has affected your recent bank transfer withdrawal:

Date: 16-Apr-08
Amount: $XXXXXXXX.00
Transaction: XXXXXXX

These delays, while outside of our control, are also outside acceptable norms.

We have been working to expedite these delayed transactions using every means at our disposal, including constant communication with our third-party payment processing services.

We are now satisfied that all delayed transfers will be fully processed and all delayed funds deposited in your account within the next 7 days and by Friday May 23rd at the absolute latest.

Once again, we apologize sincerely for any inconvenience caused.

Full Tilt Poker

Oil Companies Profits and Poker

Here's an analogy that maybe some of the readers of this blog will understand when it comes to profits, profit margins, and the oil companies. SO much hoopla is made about the oil companies record "Profits" these days while we, the little people are stuck paying $4/gallon for gas.

Of course the oil companies are going to have record profits. When costs go up, so do profits assuming you are using the same markup. If you sell an item for $100 and it costs you $50, you have 100% markup and a 50% margin. Now let's say that item starts costing you $100 instead of $50. If you keep the same 100% markup, you need to sell the item at $200. Boom, you've just doubled your profits. HOWEVER!!! Your margin is still at 50%.

Let's take a look at a similar scenario in poker. Let's say you are crushing the $3/6 games for 2 BB/100. So you are making $12 every 100 hands. Ok, so you've been a good little poker player and your bankroll has grown and now you are ready to play some $5/10. Let's assume you still win at a 2 BB/100 rate. Now you are making $20 every 100 hands. That's $8 in extra profit every hundred hands! Yet your winrate is exactly the same.

Business is similar to poker in this way. When costs go up, it's like the stakes going up in a poker game. What's the point in moving up in stakes if that extra $8 per 100 hands is just going to get taken away by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, or even John McCain? There is none. You can risk less and win the same amount of money at $3/6.

Now let's turn to the oil companies. Contrary to some statements I've heard from some very ignorant fucks recently, the oil companies don't make the oil. They buy the oil, process it, then sell it. Oil is a natural resource. The rising cost of crude oil is like forcing a poker player to move up in stakes whether they want to or not. However, when they raise the stakes, so many politicians expect their profits to the same as if they were still playing lower stakes.

So you're a poker player. You've been winning $12 per 100 hands. Then let's say that all of the sudden, the lowest stakes online are $10/20. Ok, you deal with it, work on your game a bit and now you are making $40 per 100 hands. Nice! Now a senator steps in and calls you evil for making so much money per 100 hands and vows to take $32 per 100 and let you continue to have your $8 per 100. Does that seem fair to you?

It's all basic economics folks. Simple supply and demand. Is any of this getting through?

I smell hippies

I've been thinking about my lifestyle lately. Honest to goodness, I think I'm turning into a hippie. More and more, I just want to roam around and enjoy the beauty of this planet. I want to be free and without boundaries. Fuck, I even let my hair get long over the winter. The problem is that I don't want to do it alone. This is where I hit that speed bump in the road.

The average hippie that's care free and willing to take such a quest has no ties. Not to a job, nor family. They can just pick up and take off at the drop of a hat. If there's a concert 2 states over on a Wednesday night, no job is going to stop them from going. Now this is where it gets good.

I actually know some of these types of people. Southern WV is no Southern CA, so the free spirits are few and far between. Most of these southern WV hippies have one thing in common though... they are scumbags and not anyone I'd want to hang out with on a regular basis.

I don't have any hippie friends. All of my friends are slaves to their jobs just like me. The problem is that most of them don't even realize it. They get up at the butt crack of dawn every day, put on their ties and shovel off without a care in the world. They get their paycheck and are happy to go home and repeat the same process for the rest of their lives. They don't mind living payment to payment and paycheck to paycheck.

Who am I to spoil this for them? If they like it, then awesome. I don't though. And sometimes I just get the urge to drop everything and start over in a new place. If I had a partner in crime to back me up, I'd have probably done this long ago. But I don't. I could go up to my best friend and ask him to drop everything and pack up his shit and let's move to California or Vegas or wherever. If I did something like that, he'd probably ask me what kind of drugs I've been taking.

So, I'm not really a hippie. I don't think it's even possible for me to be one because I voted for Bush twice. However, I'm envious of some of them. Not the dirty hippies that wreak of B/O, cheap booze, and bad pot, but the free spirits that roam this planet doing what they love to do and doing well at it. Most of all though, I'm just tired of being a slave to society.

Brainstorming...the next step

Now that I'm feeling more financially secure, I want to get back into the investing/finance game and work on getting out of the rat race of the 8-5 job. I don't have a good gameplan yet, but that's my next step. I have some side business ideas, but they require some startup inventory to get going. This is actually a business I've done in the past and did decent, but the profit margins are fairly low and volume is key. I'm more interested in generating some passive income though.

I had a proposition the other day to invest in a business. The business is actually a decent idea and would probably do well. The problem was the guy that would be running the business is a loser and will eventually run it into the ground. Calling him a loser might be a little harsh because he is the nicest guy. The problem is that he's too loose to run a decent business. Also, since I've known him, I've seen him get evicted for not paying rent in 2 places. So that's enough for me to say no. I've been to the man's house and it's a total wreck with dog shit in the floors and just plain fucking nasty. No way I could invest in someone that lives like that.

I know there is one thing that consistently makes a ton of money in my area. It's alcohol. You put up a decent club and you make money. The problem is that the clubs in my area run great for a year or so and then get run into the ground. There are usually different reasons for their demise. The most common is that the owners are usually young and dumb. Then next most common is that the riff raff take over and pretty soon people stop going. We had one club that was becoming the new place to be. However, he made no efforts to make the place secure. A few months ago, someone was shot in the head on the dance floor. Now the club is no more. Probably the most successful club in the area was run down by the investors all getting caught up in a huge drug traffic ring. Most of these guys were docs cranking out pharmies. They had their own chain of distributors. Then one of the distributors got busted and turned undercover narc. When he was found out, he turned into a blood stain on the sidewalk of his own tattoo parlor. Then the whole enterprise crumbled from there. If you can run the place properly like a business though, then you can do well. I will be really checking hard into this option. This would be an investment because there is no way I'd spend every night in a smoke filled bar with a bunch of drunken douchebags.

There's also the real estate/rental property route as well. The Pisgah house really wore me out over the past year and I'm not really enthused about buying a 2nd house. However, if I could find something that requires minimal work and will cash flow, I'm not going to pass it up. I just don't have the energy right now to work on a 2nd house, but that might change by summer's end.

I'm not opposed to hanging out in the "S" quadrant of Kiyosaki's model either. Again, I got the idea of reinstating the business I ran before. But before doing that I will look at seeing if I can find other products to peddle..ones that will bring in a higher profit margin and require less volume sells. I sure as hell ain't no salesman.

On the same corner of the quadrant, I'm really interested in the affiliate/SEO side of the net. The problem is that I am really dumb in that area of things (hell I only have a couple loyal readers on this blog). I know the poker affiliate side is way over-saturated, but there might be other avenues that aren't so crowded.

I'm just going to spend the next week or so trying to brainstorm ideas. I am going to call up some folks and brainstorm ideas. If I keep poking, maybe one day I'll find a winner and can kiss this job goodbye.

Summertime

Summertime is rapidly approaching and my schedule is rapidly filling up. I don't want this summer to pass me by without enjoying it. The way things are shaping up right now, that's looking like what could happen if I'm not careful. I need to set up some summertime goals. Something to work and look forward to.

- First of all I would like to lose 30 lbs or more by Fall. I need to lose more than that, but I think that's a sensible goal for the amount of time. I've been eating out less, but still I'm eating out and that kills any progress I make. My main reason for eating out is convenience though. When I run out of food in the house, it's more time effective to run to McDonalds than to the grocery store and then cook something when I get back. I think Saturday mornings will be my weekly store trip and if I can keep to that schedule, then I should be able to do OK in the weight loss department.

- Play 20 rounds of golf (at least). I love golf and haven't played much at all the past few years. I've had some physical problems that have prevented me in the past. Mostly it was back pain, but that has since subsided and rarely do I feel "down in my back". I've also struggled with elbow tendonitis this past year, but I don't think that will affect my golf game. And of course, there are my terrible knees. Goal #1 will help with this problem, but I do need at least one knee replaced if not both. Years of supporting my big ass has taken a toll on them. But I can cope right now because I'm only 30 years old, but in 10 years who knows. Since I can cope, I've never let my knees be an excuse for not playing golf and the exercise will be good for me anyway. There used to be a time when I played 20 rounds a month.

- Have the best looking yard in the neighborhood. Right now it's the worst looking yard. But that's just because every day I've been home with time to mow and trim, it has rained. But I'm going to work a lot on the landscaping around the yard and then with the hugeness of the yard, it will look awesome.

- Be tan. I spend so much time inside these days, I feel like a hermit. When I'm at work, I'm couped up at a desk with only a window to see the outside world and all its activities. When I get home, I usually prop up in front of the computer with MLB.tv and watch a ball game. I have an awesome place to entertain friends. I have a grill, a huge patio/deck/porch thingy, plenty of parking, just outside of town limits, and only a handful of houses within noise pollution range of my house. It's an awesome place to hang out. Now that it's all semi-fixed up, I have no problem with my friends coming over and hanging out. I plan on having some cookouts, some chillouts, maybe a bonfire or something. I just need to be outside more. These outdoor activities along with the yard work and the golf should make me a nice crispy brown by July/August.

- Attend many many baseball/softball games. I will be buying Princeton Rays season tix this summer and attending most home games. I love baseball and I didn't get to catch many games last year. My friends also play a fair amount of softball tournaments. Although not as good as baseball, it's fun to watch. I really would love to play, but I'm in no physical condition at this point to do that. I used to play baseball from the time I was 5 until I was 16. I made the all-star team from age 9 through age 16 every year. I was good. Then I became a teenager and gave it all up. I haven't hit a baseball since. Now that I'm old, I see what a mistake that was and really regret that decision. This year, I will just watch, but who knows? Maybe next year I can play again.

I guess overall I just want to do what people are supposed to do during summer...enjoy it.

Economic Stimu-Less

I wanted to update on the state of financial affairs. My refinance is almost complete. I got dicked around for a bit, but I think everything is back on track (knocking on wood). All of this happened towards the tail end of a potential fiscal disaster for me (read: Completely fuckin' broke). Luckily that all worked out and I'm hopefully back on track today.

I got my Income tax refund back. I also have the Eco-Stimulus check to add to that soon. I've gotten everything worked out so that all of that money can go back into my depleted savings. I had put a hurting on my savings the past few months buying necessities that any home-owner should have.

Now that things are starting to get straightened out, I can now get an update on my state of affairs:

- Credit Card balance = $0. This was the most important thing for me. I hate paying interest and credit cards are the worst. I'm saving myself maybe $50-75/month in interest by paying this card off.

- Appliances = $0 balance. I'm pretty sure this balance is close to $0. If not, I'll pay it off at the beginning of next month. This was the 1 year same as cash deal I took when I bought my appliances for my kitchen.

- Bank Line of credit = $0 balance. This is a floating line of credit I have with my bank that had about an $1700 balance. That is now $0.

- Lawn Mower = $3200 balance. I have 1 year same as cash on this thing and then it goes into a 1.9% APR loan. So I'm in no hurry here. I'll still pay off as much as I can during this same as cash period.

That's basically all of my debt. So I have a mortgage payment and a lawn mower payment along with my standard bills. I feel like a man getting ready to be paroled from prison after a 10 year sentence.

The best part of all of this is that it frees up some cash so I can invest it instead of spend it. I'm going to set aside a bit for later. I'm also going to set aside a small percentage for a side business and the expenses that go along with that.

I feel like I'm at the stage in my life where I can start building wealth. It's like step 2 in this process has finally come. Now what?

Just when I thought I was out...

I am still waiting on my money from Full Tilt to hit my bank account. I'm getting a little concerned now. Due to the error on their part though, Full Tilt has offered me a $300 bonus. Nice. I will probably try to clear it because free money rules. But I'm a bit weary of Full Tilt at this point.

Who is Mike D'Antoni?

Saturday, my Uncle in Mullens had a cookout for his daughter and step-daughter's college graduations. My mother was also having a birthday, so it was sort of a birthday cookout, mother's day cookout for all the mom's in attendance. I don't look forward to these events because the only thing that makes some of my family happy is sitting around talking shit about other family members. That's why I'm not a big family guy. My parents are good people as well as some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins, but the rest I can do without.

So we did our thing and had hamburgers and hotdogs. The highlight of my day was playing Cornhole (a game similar to horshoes, but instead of a peg and horseshoes, you use bean bags a little larger than your hand and try to throw them into a hole in a wooden box. It's a very old school, carny'ish type game, but fun for the competition aspect. You'd think I was the only person in my family to ever place a wager though. I couldn't get anyone to play for money despite the fact that I sucked major donkey balls at the game.

As the sun went down, some of the family was leaving, but others were preparing for the big Dogwood festival in Mullens. I was not pumped up for this. Mullens is a dead coal mining town with maybe a couple hundred people in it. It was almost completely wiped out several years back by flooding, yet these few hundred people refused to listen to mother nature's warnings and rebuilt their homes. I pretty much despise the town because I despise the ethics and politics involved with coal mining. This is a coal mining town. But it's where my parents and such grew up, so it's home to them. I can respect that.

The Dogwood festival is where they close off a few streets, put up some crappy rides and sell overpriced food every 50 feet. There was a concert which had a crappy band singing cover songs of other crappy bands.

So, we're walking around and this one dude seems to be getting a lot of attention. He is really chummy with my drunk uncle. The family gathers around and talks to him. I have no earthly clue who the guy is. He's probably in his 50's, and very clean looking. Then I heard this come out of his mouth:

"I took the job with the Knicks."

When I heard that my ears perked up. What kind of job was he talking about? I get interested whenever I hear anyone talk about jobs in sports because I'm looking to get my feet in the door with the MLB. So, after a little more eaves dropping, I figured out that this guy was Mike D'Antoni... former Phoenix Suns and new New York Knicks head coach. Hah! I had no clue he was from small town WV.

D'Antoni was at the festival with his father. They had evidently walked down to the festival. However, my (drunk) uncle ended up giving them a ride home from the festival in his WVU themed battery powered golf cart.

I want to get back into poker

I want to get back into poker, but my heart just isn't into playing online anymore. I love the game and all, but online poker has basically turned into a video game that I've played to death and will never get the high score on. The games get tougher and tougher and the sites get shadier and shadier and I really just don't want anything to do with it anymore.

I have cashed out most of my bankroll and it's slowly making it's way into my "rainy day" checking account. I originally cashed this money out to have on hand week before last when I was going to Cleveland but had no cash on hand. Fortunately, I didn't have to spend a penny of that money. So, now I have a small live poker bankroll. Hrmmm.

I need to get back with the program on which poker games are running these days though. I'm pretty sure there is a Wednesday night game in B-field still running. These guys are annoying pricks with too much money, so that would be my most logical place to start. There are also some games run at the Fraternal places spread throughout town. Most of these are tournaments though. I'm not opposed to tournaments, but cash games are far better for me. Then there's the place where I got cleaned out before Christmas last year.... pretty sure they still run games there too. I think there's just as many games running in this area as in G-Vegas during it's prime. It's still illegal here, but the cops don't come busting down the doors with their Bible's drawn willing to shoot any offender down with the power of prayer. Our cops are more interested in harassing teenagers with quarter bags of weed.

I'm awaiting details on when all the games are running, but I think this Live poker thing might be good for me. It gets me out of the house. I socialize (ugh). Doesn't cause too much boredom, etc. Oh yeah, and if I ever learn how to play this game again, I'll make some money.

I'm bored

I'm so bored right now. I need something to do. I've fell into this rut of coming home and crashing in front of a computer screen watching baseball games until I pass out. But it's Friday and I'm ready for a little excitement. I really can't think of much to do though.

Option 22 are playing at the Villa (my friends' band's drummer's place). I've never heard them before, but I hear they are pretty good. They are a basically a hippie jam band much like Government Mule or Widespread Panic. I kind of want to see that show. The show starts at 8:00 p.m., so I'll have plenty of time to get there and if they suck, plenty of time to go do something else.

Other than being a groupie for these local bands, I need a hobby though. Golf just doesn't seem to cut it for me anymore as it's expensive and the only time I can really play is on the weekend and my friends usually can't play.

I want something a little more exciting than golf or fishing. Something new and fresh. Something constructive, yet fun. My life has become so monotonous lately. Same thing day in and day out. I'd like to find something that my friends would enjoy as well. I really have no clue what to do though.

I thought about buying a disc golf set and trying that out. I have a decent place in the back yard and my buddy Rog's place has all the real estate we'd need as he has acres upon acres of land. I found some starter sets on Amazon fairly cheap. Seems like fun too.

Any ideas on a fun, preferably outdoor activity that a bunch of overgrown kids would enjoy?

Wannabe Redneck Businessmen

I really hate it when rednecks think they are businessmen. This is the main reason I despise the coal industry. Coal is WV's main business, yet I learned at an early age to just stay way clear of that industry. It's dangerous and the coal companies are never stable. The main reason why is because they are all run by rednecks.

The worst part is when the rednecks buy a computer system (from us) and then expect it to magically solve all their problems. Problems not solved? No problem we'll try to push around the nerds in tech support.

We have this one customer that is just a mile or 2 away from us. Honestly if I ever see that man in person again, I'll probably punch him. He's a dickhead. He's dirty, and he's and idiot. He threated to sue me personally and I told him to have at it.

Here's the scenario. The companies will do anything to cheat the system. They use FIFO costing on their inventory, yet they don't truly use FIFO costing. They have some consignment inventory that they transfer to their main warehouse. This consignment inventory has an inflated cost (because it's not theirs and they don't care), but after they transfer it over, they sell it at a different cost (they can't have that overinflated cost showing on their books). I see why they do it, but here's the problem. Say widget XYZ is in consingment at $200, and it's transferred to the main warehouse. You transfer 1 widget at $200 which results in a credit to the consigment warehouses inventory for $200 and a debit to the main warehouse inventory at $200. Dandy. However, now when they sell the item, they use a $100 cost. Do you see the problem here? You have 1 widget valued at $200 on your books. You sell that 1 widget at $100, leaving you with a quantity of 0, but you still have $100 leftover showing in your inventory general ledger? Hello! Common sense anyone?

Well, this would be common sense to any businessman but a redneck one. Redneck refuses to listen to this as being a problem. Then he calls at tax time saying his inventory is way overstated. No fucking shit. Well, Mr. Redneck businessman gets irrate because of course it ain't his fault for not having any common sense. Seriously the douchebag has been inhaling methane and coal dust for 20 years, why shouldn't his brain be in top notch form? The worst part is that Redneck businessman finds out he's fucked up and resorts to threats and lawsuits.

Well, Mr. Redneck businessman, I say "FUCK YOU!"

Rain Rain stay for a while

I hate rain, but I've had little opportunity to get in some GTA:IV time. Every evening something is going on. We had a b-day dinner for my aunt last night. The night before, I got a little bit of time to play, but I was sick and not feeling it at all. I spent about an hour tossing molotov cocktails into the biggest groups of people I could find. The game is theraputic that way.

Tonight is shaping up to be a GTA night. There are a couple decent pitching matchups on the baseball front that I'd like to watch too. I might end up doing a little of both.

GTA:IV is about the most fun game I've played since GTA: Vice City. Sure, many other games are fun like Oblivion and Bioshock, but GTA is more my type of game. I love just driving around the city looking for cool places to wreck my ride. It's also a fun as hell to just mow people down in the streets for no good reason.

Poker stuffs

So, I was rummaging through my junk mail today and noticed a message about Party affiliates crediting my account. The credit was for $0.60, but on a hunch I decided to just take a look to see what my account balance was for my Party Affiliate. It took a while to figure out the whole username/password situation, but when I finally got all that figured out, I noticed a nice fat $150 balance on my Party Affiliate account. Ship it! Lord knows how long it has been there. Long enough that I can't find anything in the transaction log. I'm betting pre-UIGEA. Oh well, I've cashed that money out and stashed it away for a rainy day.

I've also been playing a little poker the past couple days. I've been fluctating my Poker Stars balance up and down playing LHE. I haven't been practicing decent bankroll management or anything. I just been playing for fun, not caring if I win or lose. LHE is so much more fun than NLHE for me. Even when I'm losing at LHE, I'd rather play it than NLHE. I feel so much more confident.

While I'm still on Poker, I got my cashout from Eurolinx to my bank account (12 days total). However, I'm still waiting on my Full Tilt cashout to arrive. I just received an email saying that it was processed on 5/5. So it should be in my account in the next day or 2. I made that cashout on 4/16... 19 days ago. Geez.

We need to bring back the noose

Well, how sweet the Supreme Court upheld the lethal injection as not being too cruel a punishment. No shit. My thought is that lethal injection is for pussies. Dammit, if you're gonna put someone to death, at least make them suffer a bit. This one douchebag has been waiting 17 years for the lethal shot. 17 years of us paying for his 3 hots and cot. What did he do? He only shot his girlfriend in the face 3 times with a shotgun. Nothing too cruel.

What the fuck happened to our country? When did you all turn into such pussies? What happened to an eye for an eye? Jesus Christ folks, wake up and smell the roses. This country is going to hell in a hand basket. And we are allowing it to get that way.

One by one, you let the government take control of your rights as a citizen. Pretty soon you'll have to rely on the government for everything. I don't know about you, but I think the government is way too big and out of control right now. I'd be happy as can be if they just let me be and let me make my own way. Too bad 1/2 of America is too damn caught up in scamming the system for more handouts to see that. Kids all around me are seeing their parents work the system and when they grow up they will think that's just how things are. Fuck that.

I'm tired of seeing this country turn into a big smelly vagina that is always looking for the next hand out.

Cold

Nothing is worse than the day before you get a cold. You can feel it coming on and there's nothing you can do about it. Fluids, Zicam, Tylenol...they are all helpless against the common cold. Of course my immune system is retarded and I wait until summer time to get my first cold of the year. Awesome. I blame George Bush and Global Warming.

Yesterday was a lazy day for me. I went to work, went to my parents, and went home and watched baseball until I fell asleep. Typical exciting day in my life. I had intended to work on the yard a bit, but I just wasn't feeling well enough. Today is no exception. I feel like sleep would be the greatest thing in the world right now.

Now that I'm sick, I'm all pumped up to get back on a healthy eating kick. I'm out of groceries again so now is as good of a time as any. One kick I've been on lately is sandwiches on a bagel. Mom bought me some awesome cheese bagels from Panera Bread and I've been toasting those with some deli cut roast beef and a few banana peppers. Awesomeness. I think that will be my lunch of choice for a while.

Tonight, I don't have much planned. I just want to rest. I figure a night of relaxing in front of GTA:IV is in order. I'll be all hopped up on Nyquil and Tylenol Cold/Sinus.

I can hold it in no longer

Barack Obama is a douchebag just like every other candidate running for president. Him and Hilary are spewing a bunch of buzzwords and regurgitating a bunch of B.S. on how they are going to fix the high gas prices. I've listened to their suggestions and my conclusion is that they have no clue what they are talking about. They are just feeding you morons a bunch of crap you want to hear.

Let's start with the oil companies. For those of you that graduated from public schools, "profit" is a dollar amount that you earned above your costs. "Profit Margins" are a percentage based on the amount of "profit" you earned divided by the price. For example, let's say you sell dildos. A deluxe model dildo costs you $85. You sell the deluxe dildo for $100. You have made $15 in "profit" and your profit margin is 15% ($15/100 = 0.15 or 15%). Now let's take a look at the average retailer. Most of them are working on 30-50% profit margins. Some products we sold are earning the sellers upwards of 100-200% in profit margins. Now, let's look at the oil industry. They are working at below a 10% profit margin (usually 8-9% from the research I've done).

Obama had a nice little ad on TV the other day that said he was going to take the oil companies' Windfall profits. What is a windfall profit? You ask the average American and they are going to look at you with a blank stare. Basically a windfall profit is when your profits rise based on factors that you don't control. The oil companies are showing record multi-billion dollar profits these days due to the high cost of oil. However, their profit margins are the same. Higher costs will result in higher profits if you keep the margins the same. So blaming the oil companies is nothing but placing the blame where it doesn't really belong.

Also, Obama spewed a bunch of crap about spending extra on exploring alternative sources of energy. That's all well and good, but it doesn't fix our immediate problem. Do you honestly believe that in 4 years, our cars will be running on water, bananas, or even used tampons? In my opinion, our best case scenario for that kind of discovery is 20-50 years. What will we be paying for a gallon of gas then? It doesn't help our immediate problem.

The solution to this entire clusterfuck is a simple fix. It's basic economics. As your supply lowers, the demand rises resulting in higher prices. So we need to raise the supply of oil. That is easily fixed by drilling in ANWR or aquiring oil from the Iraqis as payment for fixing their shitty ass country. Even at that, it's not going to completely help gas prices. If our cars ran on crude oil, then that would be it. However, the oil needs to be refined. We have to build more refineries. This is something that Obama, Clinton, and many other politicians are going to oppose because the oil companies are evil and all powerful and out to crush the little man.

Wake up you dumb fucks. You let these people say all of this nonsense without any reprocussion. What they say might make you feel all warm and cozy inside, but it's nowhere near the truth. The problem with Americans these days is the fact that nobody possesses the capability of coming up with their own ideas. Too many people see Obama or Clinton telling them this crap on the television and take them for their word. These people are just salesman for their party...that's all. Do you honestly think they give a shit about you and me? It's kind of like the car salesman trying to sell you a shiny new sports car. You might be apprehensive at first, but he keeps hinting about all the pussy you're gonna get as a result of that car. So you take the bait, buy the car, and find out you're a fag with a tiny dick and the car doesn't help at all.

GTA:IV and Cleveland

I'm finally home from Cleveland. The trip itself wasn't that bad. Fortunately I was in a suburb of Cleveland called Solon which is a pretty nice town by the way. The Cavs were playing the Wiz and the Indians were playing the Yanks one day and Mariners the next two days. I wanted to go to a game, but the evening temps were in the upper 30's to lower 40's and I didn't even pack a coat for the trip. I watched the games on TV instead.

Tuesday was GTA:IV launch day. I had pre-ordered it from my local Gamestop, not knowing at the time I would be out of town. I had my mother pick it up for me since she was going to be out that way anyway. I was glad she went and not me too. I hate the mall. Add in a bunch of console gamer/nerd/brats to the mix and you have a recipe for me to lose my cool. Mom got the game without a hitch. So I just had to wait.

During my trip to Cleveland, the weather was so shitty and the Rock N' Roll HOF closes at 5:30 p.m. (what the fuck is up with that?), so I stayed couped up in my motel room with cable TV and wireless internet for 3 solid days. By the time I got home, I really wanted to play GTA:IV but I also didn't want to spend my entire evening inside again. Especially since I was back in sweet home WV where the weather was nice.

I drove over to my Mom's house to eat dinner and pick up the game. She wasn't home from work yet, so I fired up the lawn mower and mowed her grass for her. I'm such a good son. She almost feinted when she come home to a freshly mowed lawn. We had some tortellini and I grabbed my game.

I had to drive by the bowling alley to pick up my league earnings for the year. I got a fat gangsta roll with $117 in it (mostly singles too so it looked like a lot). I also picked up my buddy Jim's money since I'll see him tonight. Then I figured since I was on the other end of town, why not stop by Spook's house and watch the band get ready for tomorrow's show? So that's what I did. I got there before they started practicing, so I hung with Mr. and Mrs. Spook (and Snoop Doggie Spook otherwise known as 'Layla'). I stayed there for a couple hours listening to the band practice their set lists.

My ears finally had enough. I couldn't hear shit anymore. Even when I talked, it had a hard time hearing myself. So I went home. It was already 10:00 p.m. and really was my bedtime, but I had yet to check my fantasy scores. I hopped online and checked my scores, set my lineup for the next day, and made a couple trade proposals. I had already written off GTA:IV at this point. However, the box kept looking at me...begging me to play. So I did.

I only played about 1.5 hours and most of that was just dicking around getting used to the controls and exploring. I had never played GTA on the XBox 360 before, so it took a little getting used to. The game is FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC! The opening scene had me mesmerized. The only complaint I have with the game is the camera angles while driving are a little difficult.

Rockstar really has a brilliant marketing strategy too. Step 1, make the game. Step 2, set a release date. Step 3, let every media outlet in the country give you free publicity while they debate violence/sex in video games. All I heard the entire week on the radio was GTA this, GTA that. You would have thought that the presidential election didn't exist anymore. Fuckin' brilliant! If I didn't know what GTA:IV was, I'd have to pick it up just to see what the fuss is all about. That's marketing folks!

I plan on getting plenty of time with it tonight after work. I'm going over to some friends' house to hang out a little later, but I'll have plenty of time before that to go on some rampages and such.