I was supposed to host a user group last night at the msft office.  Somehow the cancellation got caught in my spam filter.  I worked till 715p or so, then headed off to Derby Lane purge my soul from the club52 experience.  Went +81, ironically, the same amount I went down the night before.

 

Best part of the night was the old guy fight.  Long grey hair maniac professor gets into it it with other old guy.  OG#1: kiss my f**king a**.  OG#2: I'll beat your ass. Let's take it to the parking lot.  Supervisor: You're both outta here.  Great fun to watch.

 

Quote of the night, when a guy made a big pot playing totally crappy cards.  Persistent pattern for this guy.  From the guy he beat - "The dumber the farmer the bigger the taters".

Played poker at club52 in Melbourne the other night.  Not a good session ( +4/-81 ).  Not one of my favorite poker rooms.  First, they charge you a buck to get in.  Then they charge for coffee n sodas.  Derby Lane, The Silks, and Tampa Greyhound dont do that. Raw deal.  Then the NL is this fcked up 2/2/1 blind structure.  That's messed up.  Logically that makes it a 4/1 game.  Also the button play isn't the button.   You  need to play the SB like its the button.  Was up $100 but went down quick.  Guy named 'steve' would flop any 2 card (j-6 offsuite was my favorite destroyer of his) to the tune of a $17 raise by me with AK.  Note to self:  just put maniacs all in from now on so it plays out.

 

Anyway, favorite part of night was small stack who pushed all in to pull a pot.  He showed his cards and said "When u got no chips u got to protect ur image." Good life lesson in that statement.

Hadn't shot a gun in a while.  So to beat (or join) the obama rush I got a glock m22 .40 with the 16 round clip.  Heavy gun, but I'm a big boy. 

First day I didn't have a target so I taped up a cc slip on the bill jackson range and shot at it from 10 yd.  Did pretty good.  Shot about 50 rounds.

Then took nra basic pistol class.  One of the long ones.  Had to prove you could handle gun to get cert.  So, since 1989 I've shot, mmmm, never.  50 rounds feeling out the pistol.  Then finally put up a target and do this.  Especially happy when I looked around me and realized hardly of the any five folks surrounding me in the first range round had even hit the red.  I'd forgotten how I like shooting.  Not very PC I'm afraid.  But my pattern did give me a happy inner glow, more confidence in the weapon, and some 'strange satisfaction'.  19 of 25 in the 10pt red.

from the czech rugby association.  enjoy... http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/czech_rugby_association_footballs_for_girls 

The guy from http://www.allaboutgrills.com came out and fixed my Napoleon II today.  Gas flow just wasnt' there.  Apparently there was a stuck ?high capacity valve? in the regulator.  $128 spent, and well worth it.  Stuff he did:

 

Decouple gas line.  Wack head of regulator on concrete a few times.  Put back on gas tank.  Turn on gas _very_ slowly.

Used a small drill bit to clear gas holes in pipes.  I'd been using an old toothbruse but apparently that didn't work so well.

 

Grill is working great now.  Some lessons learned on repairing gas sutff.  Me heap big chicken when it comes to gas lines.

Went to All About Grills ( http://www.allaboutgrills.com/pages/NewestSite/CookingClass.html  ) for the Tuscany grilling class with Chef Mark Heimann of the Vinoy.  Brined Duck with ?wine infused? dried figs, beluga lentils n goat cheese, tuscany pork, and pizza on the grill. Signed up for a few more grilling classes. Good stuff. 

 

Stopped by to check out MJs ( http://mjsjazzlounge.com ) on the way home.  Actually had a gin and cucumber drink that was eerily good, as well as some pan seared scallops with bacon brittle (yes bacon brittle) as a side. Great looking insides, with a nice outdoor area too.

 

Good review of MJs here (  http://www.tampabay.com/features/food/restaurants/article831994.ece ).

 

Two good repeats here....

Ruben da cuban recommends Tabanero Cigar Bar - 4000 area of Kennedy - http://www.tabanerocigars.com - looks like a good spot for some football games.

Yet another reason to 'carpe diem' .  JoeP, ex-neighbor of mine, passed away two days ago.  RIP JoeP, and save me a beer.  http://sylvanabbey.createatribute.com/registryMain.php?i_memorialid=1219584518 

Roberts Meat Market, Sandwich Shop, BBQ Smokehouse, and Catering

 

3435 S. Westshore, Tampa, FL  33611 - 813.832.3584 - Closed Mondays (ouch)

 

Great food and salads all around, pickup some ribs to go.  Just had their sirloin steak sandwich and blue crab deviled crab.  Smoked amberjack looked good too.  Good stuff.

 

Map to Robert's

Why all you non-beer drinkers aren't at the top of the rung - http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/article694104.ece - I always knew my ability to knock down a 12 pack was good for something.

Taglin's, 6931 4th Street North, St. Petersburg, FL  33702, 727.526.7300

Map available here

 

When anne and I lived in London for a year, we became addicted to Curry.  My addiction was a progression of beer lust and not wanting to go home.  The pubs would all close at 1100p.  My local at that time was the Red Lion by Waterloo station (now a damn wine bar).  The curry house down the road was Rajdoot.  I started heading to rajdoot @ 1115p for the main reason that restaurants could keep serving beer after closing time.  I left London addicted to indian food.  Brick Lane was always fun, as it was two square blocks of nothing but Indian restaurants.

 

So I was happy to find a new current house on 69th in St. Pete ( I live off 89th).  Take-out counter style with six tables.  Basic indian curry's with a variety of extra sauces suh as green, tikha, kormal available.  Basic naan (no garlic naan!), mulligatawny soup, and more.  They also have pita pizzas.

 

Very clean, pleasant resturant.

 

No website noted....

Returned from spring break.  Power is out to the dock, the shower is leaking into the hall, I lost my pocket knife, my workload is huge, and the bar bill from the cruise is spectacular.

 

Oh, and today I had to put down my 14 year old dog.  RIP bocky.  1994-2008.  One damn good dog.  I held him while the vet did it.  It was hard to do, but I owed it to him.  I'll get his ashes and bury him where he used to like to lay in the sun. The vet allowed me to stay with him as long as I liked.  I cleaned the piss and stuff off him before I left.  Leaving him on the table was horrible.  For those of you who think I'm an ornery s.o.b with a nasty gruff exterior, this is how you get me to cry.  I miss him.

 

Bocky, say hi to chopper/spike/penelope/uffy/sport/oprah and krewe for me. We have big dog party when I get wherever. 

 

 

stuff about Bocky to remember - when we went to friends of strays to pick out the puppy he was the one who jumped at the fence and barked at us the most - puking in my jeep when he got carsick on the way home from FoS - the vet going "hey, he's got some nice pit bull in him" and my wife looking at me funny - us leaving his sister behind, i still regret that - biting through a beer can to get the beer - jerry feeding him cookies at the fence - catching a fruit rat and playing flippy with it in the living room while anne screamed - catching a snake and playing flippy with it in the living room while anne screamed - catching baby duck and baby racoon, ugly - long walks with grumpy sullivan - hauling him in the wrangler to st george island - being able to snatch a sandwich off the dining room table without moving the plate - stealing morgan's sandwiches all the time - morgan saying "bock was max's best friend and he misses him", max is one of her stuffed dogs - cookies in the morning - laying in the sun - sunshine puppy - biting any of my rugby friends who so much as shook anne's hand - me turning down a permanent transfer to london w AA becaue I couldn't bring bocky due to stupid pet laws - will add more as i remember them...

 

I hope I don't outlive my children.

Great area restaurant listing from st. pete times foodie blogger :: http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/1407106841.html?dids=1407106841:1407106841&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jan+3%2C+2008&author=LAURA+REILEY&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=20.W&desc=100+THINGS+TO+SAVOR 

ryans first soccer game she ran off the field crying and wouldnt go back

the second she cried twice but finished

the third, i taught her to kick the ball out of bounds to piss the big boys off when they were going for goal

she liked pissing them off

one boy (from the other team) bitched at her and told her she shouldnt kick the ball out of bounds cause it slowed down the game

(the other team was kicking our teams butts - they had some 6 yr old draftees for man-u)

ryan said "you should  have been faster, then you could have scored"

the other kid got really pissed

 

today is her first game or practice she missed

this morning she called me up and told me if i didnt go the game she wouldnt play

she said she liked to play when i watched

i told her i was disappointed

 

she called me back and told me she had decided to play

i told her i was proud of her

 

she called me at 1200p and left me a voice ail

"daddy, i scored my first goal today.  i stole the ball from a boy and scored"

"then i ran off the field and hugged mommy"

 

she actually got two goals

 

i'm very proud of her

 

yes, i do make some personal sacrifices for my job

 

this was a tough one

new ar-ism from the AR hisself

 

The Meek shall inheret the Earth..
after the agressive have totally F'ed it up...

Rugby banquet (30th anniversatry) was last saturday.

Saw lots of 'ghosts' there, familiar faces that i sweated and bled with.

A few missing ghosts too, including my old roommate bear who died last year.

His wife was there.

 

I was in a few of the action photos from the past.  Also nice vid of 'puffy' mowing butch's lawn in lingerie.

 

 

philosophy and life and $2 poker, raising with just a pair is often a bad idea.  Try and have two pair before you raise. 

down day from cc today - snuck out to d-lane for some poker - 60 player $100 buy-in deep stack tourney - lots of fun - made the final table - paid out $180 on $100 - didn't have many chips left when i hit final table - got 9th - 4 tourneys played, final table in 2

 

derby lane - 60 person / $100 deep stack - 9th place - paid $180 (-51)
derby lane - 50 person / $60 deep stack - out 2nd hand KK to 67 straight - eeek (-131)
beau rivage - $100 / bust out (-71)
derby lane - 120 person / $60 - paid out $89 when i got 8th (+29)

 

i seem to come out on top in the straight 2 and the 2/4 at d-lane.  one guy was a pro fishing guide from bradenton.  very cool.  another guy was overly wealthy type from miami with diamond crusted rolex and 71' hatteras.  always an interesting mix there.

 

poker tip: wash your hands - alot - when playing poker in casino.  think of the dirty chips and cards and how many folks you don't see wash their hands in the restroom

poker tip: dont touch your eyes in the casino when playing poker.  see tip above

poker tip: dealers play overly agressive.  nine dealers from hard rock and tampa downs in 60 player game today.  only one made final table. i sat back and waited for cards and took a couple of them.  one guy was 'mr raise'.  played to the end and raised everything.  they were good at reading people but not so good at folding when appropriate. 

high school reunion folks (not attending sadly) wanted a biography.  here's what i submitted: