Great. Second day of work and I was late. I can't even blame the lack of an alarm clock. It's all Pauly's fault. Him and that damn crew of creative people at Truckin'. This latest issue is far too engrossing - make sure you have some time. These are good stories and should all be savoured. You guys ROCK!
(and yes, thanks again for making me feel so inadequate *grin)
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There are people in the poker blogoverse who are organized some events that will help us all incur good karma and earn the good favour of Bona Fortuna. Go. Donate. Help. Play.
Tonight:
Next Wednesday:
(and yes, thanks again for making me feel so inadequate *grin)
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There are people in the poker blogoverse who are organized some events that will help us all incur good karma and earn the good favour of Bona Fortuna. Go. Donate. Help. Play.
Tonight:
Next Wednesday:
No clue what to call this post - am far too tired to be clever, something that requires a lot of effort even on a good day.
Spent the day in meetings at school throwing about words like "curriculum" and "pedagogy" and "assessment" and "mission statement". I despise meetings - what a fabulous way to end my summer off. I look at meetings as big chunks of my time that I'm never getting back, rather like the time spent waiting for Dell customer support. It's all talk with no action; which equals, you guessed it, NOTHING. Thank god I installed the wireless network at school - now I can goof off and check email while looking like I am studiously taking notes.
So after six hours of listening to women go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on (sense a theme there?) , I was able to escape and head downtown to meet up with Guin and Astin for the Wednesday night freezeout tourney at our local underground poker room. I did ok in the tourney, and made final table for the third time out of four tries. However today I just barely made it. Just got seated when I see TT...cool! Raise all in with my paltry 3500, and chip leader quickly calls me. Great. He reveals his own pocket pair, aces no less, and the board does not give me a set so I'm out.
I join Guin and Astin at the 1/2 NLHE game. Astin's been out of the tourney for a while and when I sit down beside him I can hardly see of the fortress-like wall of chips he has amassed around him. To say he's looking a wee bit smug is an understatement.
And here the gods smile on me. Within 5 hands I've hit a set of 7's, a set of Q's and trip K's. Wheee...I'm up over $200! My love of poker has been fully restored.
I experience le morte des cartes for the next hour or so; I make a few forays into to the pot but nothing holds up post flop. I do lose a fair chunk on one hand - the Hammer.
Now it's not as bad as you think. I was in BB and no one raised so what the hell, I checked it down. Flop comes 7 2 Q rainbow, and there are 4 people in the hand. I check (because to be quite honest, I didn't see the 7 due to the glare on the cards and the fact that I was too vain to put on my glasses tonight), next guy checks, middle position goes all in for $53, buddy beside him calls, and since I've now seen the 7, I call before he's even started reaching for his chips. The other guy folds, and the two players in the pot with me are wondering what the hell I have. Both buddy and I check down the turn and river, he flips over 7Q beating my 72. The original guy who went all in doesn't even show.
In retrospect, I think I could have won this even though it's a hammer play with non-bloggers. I should have paid more attention to the flop and made sure I saw the cards before I acted (well, duh), and I think now that checking down the rest of the hand was a mistake. Buddy was visibly worried about what I had...I think if I'd bet something decent post flop he'd have folded (I had gotten a reputation as queen of three). Thoughts?
I managed to not tilt, and played another few orbits but was getting tired. Time to go. Cash out, don the leathers, say g'bye to everyone and head downstairs.
Fuck. Fuckityfuckfuck. Which if you say it with a growl sounds a lot like the bike as it's trying to turn over. Great. Bike won't start. The battery has been acting sluggish since the trip, and I kept forgetting to put it on the charger. It's this --> <-- far away from being completely dead, and since it's parked on a busy downtown street, no way am I going to try and bump start it. I put in a call to CAA, who come and hoist poor Chaos Kitty in a sling tow truck. Of course everyone on said busy thoroughfare needs to stop and take a look and/or make a comment. Sigh. So embarassing.
Spent the day in meetings at school throwing about words like "curriculum" and "pedagogy" and "assessment" and "mission statement". I despise meetings - what a fabulous way to end my summer off. I look at meetings as big chunks of my time that I'm never getting back, rather like the time spent waiting for Dell customer support. It's all talk with no action; which equals, you guessed it, NOTHING. Thank god I installed the wireless network at school - now I can goof off and check email while looking like I am studiously taking notes.
So after six hours of listening to women go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on (sense a theme there?) , I was able to escape and head downtown to meet up with Guin and Astin for the Wednesday night freezeout tourney at our local underground poker room. I did ok in the tourney, and made final table for the third time out of four tries. However today I just barely made it. Just got seated when I see TT...cool! Raise all in with my paltry 3500, and chip leader quickly calls me. Great. He reveals his own pocket pair, aces no less, and the board does not give me a set so I'm out.
I join Guin and Astin at the 1/2 NLHE game. Astin's been out of the tourney for a while and when I sit down beside him I can hardly see of the fortress-like wall of chips he has amassed around him. To say he's looking a wee bit smug is an understatement.
And here the gods smile on me. Within 5 hands I've hit a set of 7's, a set of Q's and trip K's. Wheee...I'm up over $200! My love of poker has been fully restored.
I experience le morte des cartes for the next hour or so; I make a few forays into to the pot but nothing holds up post flop. I do lose a fair chunk on one hand - the Hammer.
Now it's not as bad as you think. I was in BB and no one raised so what the hell, I checked it down. Flop comes 7 2 Q rainbow, and there are 4 people in the hand. I check (because to be quite honest, I didn't see the 7 due to the glare on the cards and the fact that I was too vain to put on my glasses tonight), next guy checks, middle position goes all in for $53, buddy beside him calls, and since I've now seen the 7, I call before he's even started reaching for his chips. The other guy folds, and the two players in the pot with me are wondering what the hell I have. Both buddy and I check down the turn and river, he flips over 7Q beating my 72. The original guy who went all in doesn't even show.
In retrospect, I think I could have won this even though it's a hammer play with non-bloggers. I should have paid more attention to the flop and made sure I saw the cards before I acted (well, duh), and I think now that checking down the rest of the hand was a mistake. Buddy was visibly worried about what I had...I think if I'd bet something decent post flop he'd have folded (I had gotten a reputation as queen of three). Thoughts?
I managed to not tilt, and played another few orbits but was getting tired. Time to go. Cash out, don the leathers, say g'bye to everyone and head downstairs.
Fuck. Fuckityfuckfuck. Which if you say it with a growl sounds a lot like the bike as it's trying to turn over. Great. Bike won't start. The battery has been acting sluggish since the trip, and I kept forgetting to put it on the charger. It's this --> <-- far away from being completely dead, and since it's parked on a busy downtown street, no way am I going to try and bump start it. I put in a call to CAA, who come and hoist poor Chaos Kitty in a sling tow truck. Of course everyone on said busy thoroughfare needs to stop and take a look and/or make a comment. Sigh. So embarassing.
today was my first day back to work.
Ugh.
I stressed so much about it last night, thinking of all the work I had to do before the kidlets swarm us next week. Computers need to be set up, software installed, my curriculum still needs to be set up.
Ugh.
Managed to get about 3 hours sleep, and got to the school to find that things were far worse than I'd stressed over...the principals had made changes to the technology and moved stuff without checking to see if there was networking cables or even power outlets in the new locations (no and no).
Ugh.
Got home tired and with a killer headache, and figured I'd grab a catnap before heading to Taylor and Tawny's for some poker, which I was looking forward to - I haven't seen them in ages! I set the alarm clock and drifted off.
Well apparently I'm more challenged than previously thought, because it seems I set the alarm for 5:30 AM, not PM. When I awoke it was waaaay too late to go play poker, and in my distress over missing the game I whacked the alarm clock. Hard. Harder than I intended to....and now I need to replace the damn thing.
Ugh.
Ugh.
I stressed so much about it last night, thinking of all the work I had to do before the kidlets swarm us next week. Computers need to be set up, software installed, my curriculum still needs to be set up.
Ugh.
Managed to get about 3 hours sleep, and got to the school to find that things were far worse than I'd stressed over...the principals had made changes to the technology and moved stuff without checking to see if there was networking cables or even power outlets in the new locations (no and no).
Ugh.
Got home tired and with a killer headache, and figured I'd grab a catnap before heading to Taylor and Tawny's for some poker, which I was looking forward to - I haven't seen them in ages! I set the alarm clock and drifted off.
Well apparently I'm more challenged than previously thought, because it seems I set the alarm for 5:30 AM, not PM. When I awoke it was waaaay too late to go play poker, and in my distress over missing the game I whacked the alarm clock. Hard. Harder than I intended to....and now I need to replace the damn thing.
Ugh.
I'm back. The trip was so amazing...the ride was mostly great (god I hate riding in the rain!); and Newfoundland is the most wild, desolate, fierce and stunningly beautiful place I'd ever been. Talk about unspoiled. There are great swaths of highway with nothing on it. I think there's maybe 3 McDonald's on the whole island, but plenty of family owned diners and restaurants where the cinnamon buns are home made and the seafood chowder has more seafood than potatoes in it. Yumm!
The villages for the most part are small and far between, and have names like Blow Me Down, Dildo, Little Seldom, Come By Chance, and (my favourite) Tilting. The people are just as lovely and friendly as the tourism ads say they are - this is not the place to go if you don't want to talk to new people.
Trip Highlights:
The villages for the most part are small and far between, and have names like Blow Me Down, Dildo, Little Seldom, Come By Chance, and (my favourite) Tilting. The people are just as lovely and friendly as the tourism ads say they are - this is not the place to go if you don't want to talk to new people.
Trip Highlights:
- Distance covered: 9,000+ kms
- Number of ferries taken: 9. Shortest was 7 minutes, longest was 5+ hours
- Number of days on the road: 21
- Number of days it rained at some point: 9
- Number of Newfie Speedbumps seen: 1
- Number of wrecked cars and tractor trailers seen after meeting with Newfie Speedbump: 7. Some scary wreckage there.
- Number of times I ran out of gas because we miscalculated the distance between villages: 2.
- Most amount spent on gas: $1.39 per litre in Labrador. That's $5.26 per gallon for the Americans. Now please stop whining about how much you have to pay.
- Life-Is-Good moment: eating a suberb 4 course dinner at the end of the road, while watching the sun set over the ocean
- Best road: Route 470 from Porte-aux-Basques to Rose Blanche. Some of the sweetest pavement in North America, complete with ocean views and no traffic. Bliss.
- Scariest moment: getting run off the road by a double long logging truck. Bastard.
- Angriest moment: about 7 seconds after the Scariest moment.
- Words-fail-me moment: Standing in the sunshine at the Viking Settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows. A thousand years ago, Vikings settled here for a while, then disappeared. All that's left are earth mounds that are the last remnants of their sod houses after 8 centuries of wind and rain. For the half hour until the busload of annoying fat tourists caught up with us, it was eerie and breathtaking.
- Saddest moment: realizing that the Penguin has fallen by the roadside. Every couple has their mythology, their icons of the relationship. For us it's a cat that Keith gave me on my 35th birthday and a penguin that I brought to make hime smile when he was ill and in ICU. They have travelled everywhere with us, stuck through loops on my bag. On the last day of our trip, I was accelerating and passing someone when the Penguin slipped out of the loop. Keith saw it, but there was no where to pull over safely to go back for him. I didn't find out until we stopped an hour later for coffee. I cried like I'd lost a member of my family.
I've uploaded some pictures here, if you're so inclined.
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Now on to why I'm a liar:
In the last post I said as how I didn't miss poker as much as I thought I would. Pffft....pure denial.
I love riding; the longer you ride, the more layers of stuff peel away. You need to be in the moment on a bike; other things become far more important than how to play a poker hand right. There's the road to navigate, the scenery to take in, the man with you to connect with.
However, as you get closer to home some of those layers slide back on. And the desire to play a hand or two hit me HARD about a day away from home. More so than the need to sleep in my own bed with my own pillow or to have a full range of wardrobe to choose from other than that which can fit in the equivalent of 4 large ziplock bags.
I was fairly good though - I managed to exercise a modicum of self-discipline when we got home. I didn't rush in the door and immediately turn on the computer. It took us about an hour to put all the shit away. THEN I turned on the computer.
So far I've played four $13 6-handed SnG's (2 firsts, one second), 3 peep attempts (lost them all) and a $11 Rebuy Madness on Stars where I came in 80th of 1300-ish. I'm up $150 from yesterday, which is good, coz i spent far too much on my vacation and need way more dosh so I can get to the Bash in style. Or even just get there period.
And now life is back to normal. On with the poker.
Greetings from Newfoundland
7 Comments Published by katitude on Sunday, August 20, 2006 at 12:37 p.m..
From the ferrry between The Rock and the mainland to be exact. Satellite internet....gotta love technology.
Been a fab trip thus far; and to my great surprise, I'm not missing my DAILY dose of poker nearly as much as I thought I would. I do however miss the girlie chat thing with my pals (yes, even u waffles!). I also am surprised at how much i miss the writing of blogging - had to stop in and buy a notebook to vent. God, my hand writing is even worse than my typos.
And while i can check my emails and post, I can't get on to ANYONE'S blog as gambling references are blocked. So I still don't know who won the WSOP. Or what's going on with Pauly now that he's caught up on his sleep. Ah well.
Oooooo....just got the notice we'll be docking in a bit, so am off. Time to cruise the Cabot Trail then off to the North Shore of the St. Lawrence Seaway and into Quebec.
See y'all in a week. Ride fast, take chances!
Been a fab trip thus far; and to my great surprise, I'm not missing my DAILY dose of poker nearly as much as I thought I would. I do however miss the girlie chat thing with my pals (yes, even u waffles!). I also am surprised at how much i miss the writing of blogging - had to stop in and buy a notebook to vent. God, my hand writing is even worse than my typos.
And while i can check my emails and post, I can't get on to ANYONE'S blog as gambling references are blocked. So I still don't know who won the WSOP. Or what's going on with Pauly now that he's caught up on his sleep. Ah well.
Oooooo....just got the notice we'll be docking in a bit, so am off. Time to cruise the Cabot Trail then off to the North Shore of the St. Lawrence Seaway and into Quebec.
See y'all in a week. Ride fast, take chances!
Such a clear night. I can see the lights of the Fallsview Casino across the lake. The heat has lifted away from the city - the sky was blue this afternoon instead of the washed out grey that smog alerts are made of, and I could wear the bike leathers and be comfortable. It was just hot enough to cause a slow trickle of sweat to slide down my spine when stuck in traffic, but cool enough that the breeze felt glorious when I was moving again along the waterfront.
A good time to get out of town and head east.
It's time for the annual uber road trip. Three weeks where the only technology is the mp3 player for any long boring highway dashes we may have to do to. Three weeks of lazy conversations with Hunny Bunny around a campfire, catching up on my reading (and no, I'm not bringing any poker books!), finding the swervily back roads, exploring the coastline, dodging moose (aka Newfie speedbumps), eating seafood, swimming in the ocean. Three weeks of views like these:
Nothing is planned except I have to go here. Quel surprise, eh?
It's three weeks of re-connecting with the things that make life good to live.
And while I'm really looking forward to it, I'm getting a bit ... anxious over one aspect of leaving my wired civilization behind.
How the hell am I going to know who won the WSOP??????
So good luck, and may the full pantheon of poker gods smile at your endeavors. See y'all after the 27th.
À bientôt, mes amis!
woman on machine
perfect harmonious blend
of looks and power
~ teemd
A good time to get out of town and head east.
It's time for the annual uber road trip. Three weeks where the only technology is the mp3 player for any long boring highway dashes we may have to do to. Three weeks of lazy conversations with Hunny Bunny around a campfire, catching up on my reading (and no, I'm not bringing any poker books!), finding the swervily back roads, exploring the coastline, dodging moose (aka Newfie speedbumps), eating seafood, swimming in the ocean. Three weeks of views like these:
Nothing is planned except I have to go here. Quel surprise, eh?
It's three weeks of re-connecting with the things that make life good to live.
And while I'm really looking forward to it, I'm getting a bit ... anxious over one aspect of leaving my wired civilization behind.
How the hell am I going to know who won the WSOP??????
So good luck, and may the full pantheon of poker gods smile at your endeavors. See y'all after the 27th.
À bientôt, mes amis!
It's 2:40 am, and I'm sipping on yet another celebratory glass of Maudite (it's pronounced moe-dzie, and means the damned one en francais), a lovely red ale that at 8% acl. will set you on your ass if you're not careful. I'm a bit wired and feeling a little bit like a kid who's all ready to go, but nobody can come out to play. Of course they can't...it's almost three of a Friday morning. All the sane people have gone to bed because they have to work tomorrow morning. I'm almost ready for school again, if only to get back to regular hours. Almost.
I'm celebrating because it has been a very good day, poker-wise. I placed well in a couple of SnG's, but better yet I placed second in the WWdN:Not tonight. Many thanks again to Darval for setting it up!
And it's not just the second that is cause for celebration in my mind - I'm really very happy with how I played. I waited for the cards, I played my postion (mostly) and ran some very successful bluffs. I held my own against some pretty kick ass players, and managed to survive having Iakaris' pal Rav seated to my left. Holy cats, that guy is good....fearlessly aggressive but not stupidly aggressive. I need to watch him play, and take notes.
I ended up HU with slb having a serious chip lead. I made some headways, but in the end pocket fives did not hold against trip Q's. Duh. So out second, which means that next Thursday is WWdN Not: Katitude Invitational. Would that I could be there *grin.
I'm celebrating because it has been a very good day, poker-wise. I placed well in a couple of SnG's, but better yet I placed second in the WWdN:Not tonight. Many thanks again to Darval for setting it up!
And it's not just the second that is cause for celebration in my mind - I'm really very happy with how I played. I waited for the cards, I played my postion (mostly) and ran some very successful bluffs. I held my own against some pretty kick ass players, and managed to survive having Iakaris' pal Rav seated to my left. Holy cats, that guy is good....fearlessly aggressive but not stupidly aggressive. I need to watch him play, and take notes.
I ended up HU with slb having a serious chip lead. I made some headways, but in the end pocket fives did not hold against trip Q's. Duh. So out second, which means that next Thursday is WWdN Not: Katitude Invitational. Would that I could be there *grin.
I know it's going to be a good night when I'm just sitting at the poker club, flipping through an old copy of Canadian Poker Player waiting for the action to start, and this cute guy walks up to me and says "Hey, you must be Kat".
Yes. Yes I am. PurrrRRRRrrRRRRrrRRrrr.
As soon as I saw him, I knew I'd met Astin before at one of the Dyslexicon meetups - it's pretty cool to reconnect with someone and catch up after a few years have gone by.
Guin and his pals showed up, and the tourney started shortly after. I got put on a table with a major distraction - seated to my immediate left is the kind of guy that makes my hormones spike (insert sly smile and shiver here). Adding to the layout is a guy so cool and confident he's reading a magazine in between hands, an uber-aggressive Asian, and a few other tight aggressive guys. It was 3 orbits before we even saw a river; apparently it was the Blind Stealing tournament. Wish I'd have known.
I did not do well...I do believe I was out first. I hate that. Out kicked. Let's just chalk it up to too much caffeine and not enough sense. So what else is new.
So I chilled and joined the cash game when it started. It was nicely shorthanded (which I love), and when my Queen paired on the board I pushed. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Out kicked AGAIN dammit! Waffles, you don't have to say a word..I know, I know.
Fuck. So off I went to the bank machine on the corned, stomping off the tilt and muttering to myself so loudly that even the transients in the park got out of my way. By the time I got back to the club I was in the state I should have been when I first got there - focussed and calm.
And I kicked some ass. I collected several decent pots from Guin's friends, and finished one off when he went all in when his flush rivered. Unfortunately for him, my full house had been made on the turn.
There was another full house episode that took a big chunk of change from in front of me - Crossword Puzzle guy made a boat with 9's over 5's to my boat of 8's over 9's. Sigh.
It was a very successful night; I got to meet Astin, hang with Guin (who WON the tourney btw...congrats man!!), walk out of the place up $80 on the night, and drink some very good beer with friends after. Even the ride home with the WORST cabbie in Toronto (wrong way down a one-way street, and that was just the beginning) couldn't take the edge off.
Of course I'm too wired to sleep and too drunk to play poker (learned my expensive lesson on that one already tyvm), so what's a girl to do at 1am?
Bug her friends on the girlie chat thing of course *grin. Thanks to Iggy and Iakaris for reading and replying to my rambling. And congrats to the Supermodel for again placing very well in the FT 20k guaranteed!!!
À bientôt, mes amis!
Yes. Yes I am. PurrrRRRRrrRRRRrrRRrrr.
As soon as I saw him, I knew I'd met Astin before at one of the Dyslexicon meetups - it's pretty cool to reconnect with someone and catch up after a few years have gone by.
Guin and his pals showed up, and the tourney started shortly after. I got put on a table with a major distraction - seated to my immediate left is the kind of guy that makes my hormones spike (insert sly smile and shiver here). Adding to the layout is a guy so cool and confident he's reading a magazine in between hands, an uber-aggressive Asian, and a few other tight aggressive guys. It was 3 orbits before we even saw a river; apparently it was the Blind Stealing tournament. Wish I'd have known.
I did not do well...I do believe I was out first. I hate that. Out kicked. Let's just chalk it up to too much caffeine and not enough sense. So what else is new.
So I chilled and joined the cash game when it started. It was nicely shorthanded (which I love), and when my Queen paired on the board I pushed. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Out kicked AGAIN dammit! Waffles, you don't have to say a word..I know, I know.
Fuck. So off I went to the bank machine on the corned, stomping off the tilt and muttering to myself so loudly that even the transients in the park got out of my way. By the time I got back to the club I was in the state I should have been when I first got there - focussed and calm.
And I kicked some ass. I collected several decent pots from Guin's friends, and finished one off when he went all in when his flush rivered. Unfortunately for him, my full house had been made on the turn.
There was another full house episode that took a big chunk of change from in front of me - Crossword Puzzle guy made a boat with 9's over 5's to my boat of 8's over 9's. Sigh.
It was a very successful night; I got to meet Astin, hang with Guin (who WON the tourney btw...congrats man!!), walk out of the place up $80 on the night, and drink some very good beer with friends after. Even the ride home with the WORST cabbie in Toronto (wrong way down a one-way street, and that was just the beginning) couldn't take the edge off.
Of course I'm too wired to sleep and too drunk to play poker (learned my expensive lesson on that one already tyvm), so what's a girl to do at 1am?
Bug her friends on the girlie chat thing of course *grin. Thanks to Iggy and Iakaris for reading and replying to my rambling. And congrats to the Supermodel for again placing very well in the FT 20k guaranteed!!!
À bientôt, mes amis!
... since I saw one of these:
