I have been playing 25nl on two tables with no HUD, and I am wondering why I ever went back to using a HUD in the first place. It is undeniable that I play better without it. I don't get into as many marginal spots, I don't force things, and am much more concentrated about what is going on at the tables. It is also very clear when my concentration lags and I need to take a break. In the absence of stats, my frustration and tilt are a lot easier too see as I have nothing to justify taking more aggressive or unconventional lines.

Before, I played two tables HUDless, was fairly successful, and started playing 3 to 4 tables with a nominal vpip/pfr HUD so I could make more money, but it seems like I have been using it as a crutch, and I think I may have to commit to a large number of hands HUDless to make the lesson sink in. Idk, maybe 20k? (That is a lot for two tables at a time, although I would think I could move up to 3 after a while). I will have to think about it.

I have been putting off doing some sweats with other micros forum members because I didn't feel much in the mood for it when things were going so bad. It is probably a leak to close yourself off from the very supportive community we have here at Leggo when things are going bad. So I will have to try and set something up with RobbyD, DougieDan, Daimonion, and now Fingerpainter (whose posts I have a lot of respect for, generally). I still prolly need another weekend or so to solidify what I have been doing on my own before I am ready, but I will be hitting them up.

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ

Another strikeout from the preschool we visited today. They said all of the right things, and they frequently do, but there was some out and out bullying by the staff going on. We were only there about 50 minutes or so, but it was easy to pick out the kid that everyone thought was the "problem" in the group. He was teased a little at snack time, and my wife said she never saw anyone laugh and play with him. At "outside time" he didn't want to wear his jacket. I was just hanging out watching how the adults interacted with the kids. He threw his jacket emphatically on the ground and went on playing. When the teacher came out and saw the jacket on the ground, she looked really pissed and knew exactly whose it was. She picked it up and marched towards him, and he headed for higher ground on the jungle gym. She stationed a parent at the bottom of the slide and started climbing up after him. When he escaped down the slide, the parent grabbed him pretty hard, and lifted him up, handing him to the teacher. I thought, omg, they are going to physically force him to wear his jacket. But instead, the teacher carried him inside to his mother (it was a co-op so the parents are around). The kid points out that some of the other kids aren't wearing jackets, but the teacher says they didn't come to school with any and he needs to decide on staying inside or playing outside with his jacket. How f*cked up is that? First of all, if you have to physically dominate a 4 year old over what is basically a minor non-compliance issue, I think you can just give up your teaching career. Maybe they were being nice because I was there watching, who knows what normally goes on. Then, he can't be outside without his jacket because it is too cold, but it is somehow not too cold for the other kids who have no jacket? I am sorry, but they are just picking on him. And his mother was right there condoning it with her silence. I feel sorry for the poor kid. What kind of future does he have if everyone already thinks he is the bad kid and treats him different from everyone else? He is only four years old, and I am already seeing a lot of self esteem obstacles for him to overcome. Super upsetting. My kid will not be attending.

Been looking over some of my hands. Here is one moderately interesting hand and one butchered hand.

BTN is 66/12 70 hands---v. spewy, calling down with second pair on very connected boards.
BB is 38/0 after 13 hands

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.25(BB) Replayer
SB ($35.05)
BB ($24.25)
UTG ($32.75)
Hero ($27.91)
BTN ($14.10)

Dealt to Hero Q T

fold, Hero raises to $0.85, BTN calls $0.85, fold, BB calls $0.60

FLOP ($2.65) T Q A

BB checks, Hero bets $2.25, BTN folds, [color=red]BB raises to $9.40,

I felt like I needed to bet the flop for value vs. BTN (I opened this hand oop vs him coz I thought he was sooooo bad), but once I get c/r on the flop by the BB, this is an easy fold. Even if you include every conceivable combination of Axdd in his range (and maybe he just c/c with a lot of them), we only have 25% equity vs villain's range of Axdd, sets, straights, and better two pair hands.

If we have top two pair, and villain doesn't make this play with QT, we have like 44% equity, if villain c/r us with QT here, we have 50% equity. I am assuming he just c/c with his pair and a gutshot type hands like AJ, QJ, KQ, KT, which I think is fairly accurate for someone playing 38/0 even if the sample size is a bit smallish.

If we have top and bottom pair, we are around 30%. So you can see the equity difference between bottom two and top two pair. I think a lot of the time, people just see 2pair and are willing to stack off (I used to be that way), but when you think about villain's range, it is much less clear.


Here is a hand that I butchered.


UTG is 22/4 over 46 hands
CO is 8/8 but only over 12 hands
BTN is 98/9 47 hands---I am not kidding



NL Holdem $0.25(BB) Replayer
SB ($37.38)
Hero ($25.46)
UTG ($40.40)
UTG+1 ($25.67)
CO ($49.17)
BTN ($23.13)

Dealt to Hero 8 7

UTG calls $0.25, fold, CO raises to $1.10, BTN calls $1.10, fold, Hero calls $0.85, UTG calls $0.85

FLOP ($4.50) 6 9 8

Hero bets $3.25, UTG folds, CO calls $3.25, BTN calls $3.25

TURN ($14.25) 6 9 8 A

Hero bets $7.75, CO raises to $21, BTN folds, Hero folds

CO wins $28.27

On the flop, I think I can just check. If the pfr doesn't cbet, and idk what he cbets into 3 other people on this board, then I just got to see a cheap turn and possibly hit my draw. The only thing a donk out here achieves, possibly, is give me some HU action vs. the huge donk on the BTN who peels this flop with an incredibly wide range. It would be better if the donk were in the CO and the pfr on the BTN, though. Once I am called by the pfr, I can just shut down unless I hit my draw. The A is probably the worst card in the deck to bet at since it hit's the CO range much stronger than mine and the BTN will never fold an Ace here, and I most likely do not have an A having donked the flop.

I have been thinking a lot about this hand and why I played it this way and I have very few answers and they are all very weak. I had played 47 hands with one of the hugest fish I have come across, and I wasn't able to make any hands against him, so I started to force things out of frustration. I also tend to play my draws very aggressively as a default, especially when I am frustrated by the session (and I mean by the results of my session which means I have some preconceived idea about how much money I should be winning when I play, which just leads me to tilt and play poorly). I almost didn't even post this hand, because I was a little ashamed of it, but it came at the end of an otherwise solid session and I am just trying to make sense of it all before I play a session and want to give myself some markers to watch for.

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ

Thanks for the support, BigLeoser and Badonk, in my previous emo blog post. I really felt like getting right to work. So I had some lunch, did some housework and settled back into it. Here is the type of post I should be making, imo:

NL Holdem $0.25(BB) Replayer

SB ($24.75)

BB ($26.21)

UTG ($25.22)

UTG+1 ($29.98)

Hero ($25)

BTN ($42.91)



Dealt to Hero A T


UTG raises to $0.85,
fold,
Hero calls $0.85,
BTN calls $0.85,
fold, fold



FLOP ($2.90) Q A 5



UTG bets $1.50, Hero calls $1.50, BTN calls $1.50



TURN ($7.40) Q A 5 3



UTG checks, Hero bets $3.75, BTN folds, UTG calls $3.75



RIVER ($14.90) Q A 5 3 Q



UTG checks, Hero bets $7.75, UTG calls $7.75



UTG shows A J
(Pre 69%, Flop 80.4%, Turn 86.4%)


Hero shows A T
(Pre 31%, Flop 19.6%, Turn 13.6%)



UTG wins $28.90

Here is a hand I played where I was a bit lost on the river.

Villain is unknown after just 7 hands. I am going to assign him a fairly tight range of:

{55+,ATs+,KQs,AJo+,KQo}

since a lot of people at this limit are limping 22-44 utg preflop. Including them doesn't change my equity that much anyway.

My equity vs. this range is 40% preflop. Right away we can see this is a marginal call. The BTN behind me is 40/8, and while I would like to see a multiway pot with a suited Ace, I think the fact that I don't have position overrides the fact that I am suited and it is multiway.

When the flop comes:

Q A 5

things are looking good as my equity vs. his opening range shoots up to 58.3%, however, we need to refine his range by his actions, and when he bets oop into two other people, I think villain's range looks more like this:

{QQ+,55,ATs+,KQs,AJo+,KQo}

and my equity is now 37%, mostly because I am beating out KQ. Also, I haven't taken into account the BTN range here, and he didn't make it to showdown so I am not sure what he had, but let's give him a range, too, to see how drastically my equity drops. If we give him a preflop range of: {TT-22,AQs-A2s,K8s+,Q9s+,J9s+,T8s+,97s+,87s,76s,65s,AQo-A2o,K9o+,Q9o+,J9o+,T9o,98o,87o}, then he calls the flop with:

{AcTc} 31%
{QQ+,55,ATs+,KQs,AJo+,KQo} 52.6%
{TT-66,AJs-A6s,A4s-A2s,KTs+,Kh9h,Kh8h,Q9s+,J9s+,Th9h,Th8h,9h8h,9h7h,8h7h,7h6h,6h5h,AJo-A6o,A4o-A2o,KTo+,Q9o+,JTo} 16.4%

It doesn't take a huge equity dip since BTN range is so weak and he calls with a lot of worse aces and gutshots and fd type hands. I am assuming he raises sets and two pair here. All the same, I am definitely a dog in this scenario.

When the turn comes: Q A 5 3

and villain checks, we can alter his range a little bit and take out AQ and 55 as well as AK and 2 hearts.

{KK,AcJc,AdJd,AsJs,AcTc,AdTd,AsTs,KcQc,KdQd,KsQs,AJo,KQo}
My equity shoots up to 54%, so I bet here, IP and likely with the best hand.

Perhaps this is not the best play though. First of all, what does villain call that bet with? The only thing left in his range are Aces that beat me or KQ with no hearts. I think he probably folds KQ and that leaves hands that beat me. At this point, maybe I am trying to get value from the call station behind me, but if I just check the turn, he probably checks almost all of his range here, which I am way ahead of. If I do bet, and I want to fold out something better, I would have to bet more than half pot.

On the river, I have 43% equity if I include Kings, but maybe they fold too. Really the only option is to check behind. My river bet can be read in so many ways: A busted FD, a worse Ace and very rarely a Q. I almost checked, but figured I could fold out AJ or AK in this spot, but it would take more than a half pot bet to do that considering how villain likely sees my range.

This all adds up to me not being able to defend ATs vs. an UTG opener. Against villains known to open wider utg, and I mean with hands like A5s+, this could be alright. But if we assume a relatively tight UTG opening range (which I think I should with no reads), then this is a fold preflop, especially with a call station behind me.

Super emo post. I almost deleted the whole thing. But whatever, maybe it will help other people with the same issues.

I am hugely disappointed to be dropping down to 25nl, and yet, I know that is really the root of the problem. My dissatisfaction over how much money I make or what level I play at is affecting my play disastrously. My head is in such a bad place, I am sure I would bust if I was to continue playing 50nl, so I dropped down. When you start to take every lost pot as a personal affront, well, you just shouldn't be playing.

I watched the latest Boywonder video (like everyone else I am sure) and was impressed with what he had to say about stats, tilt, our natural instinct to call. The last time I played consistently well was when I played 25nl without a HUD, and so that is what I am doing now. Even though I have been playing with a very basic HUD set up, I still catch myself making sweeping generalizations about players based on their VPIP and PFR. I just played a short session, and it was super uncomfortable, which means I think I should be doing just that.

I have thought a lot over the last few days about how to manage the importance I place on money. It is so hard, a lot harder than I thought it would be. As soon as I started depending on poker for a monthly income, I started losing or breaking even at best. What a head trip. My family is just making it with me as the sole financial support, and when I have a slow couple of weeks at the restaurant, the pressure is ratcheted up quite a few notches. I start to feel more like a gambler than a poker player, focusing on how bad I have run or how many coolers I have had and just lacking the self control needed to play as well as I know I am capable of. The changes at my work go into affect next week, so I think I will be making a little bit more money which will help my general state of mind. Also, I think I really need to pound out the homework (oh yeah, that) if I am going to be playing HUDless and just go for a total retrain of my brain and how I think at the table.

The thing is, I know I am capable of playing well. I know I can beat 50nl and, eventually, 100nl. I am not delivering my best at the tables though. Drives me crazy. And then I think "don't get crazy, just relax and everything will be ok." But it is a promise I have been making for a while now and things are definitely not ok. Sigh.

February really sucked money wise. I made a huge adjustment in my game (for the better, imo) halfway through the month but still managed to drop a BI every session I played. I do know that I played much better, though, and have decided that Aejones is right, you have to worry about the things you can control in poker. I went over a lot of hands in the last week of Feb and didn't play nearly as much. My biggest leak, I think, was playing every draw aggressively and indiscriminately of who I was in the hand with. I probably could have saved a lot of money and avoided some variance swing. Also, and this seems very evident, but I lost the most money playing in sessions that were longer than I had wanted to play and playing hands that were weaker than I had wanted to play when I first sat down at the table. What is never so evident at the time is how I found myself in those situations (can you guess? It starts with a "t"). I was also just playing too loose. I don't have HEM on the computer I am using right now, but I would have to guess that I went from playing 27/22 to 22/18. I will also spare everyone the graph because I haven't brought myself to look at it for fear of tilting off BIs unnecessarily.

Work has been very stressful as well the last week or so. Some serious BS going on and just outright betrayal of trust. I don't really want to get into specifics because I never think that is a good idea with a blog that is open to the public (though I am reasonably sure no one from work even knows about this blog), but I will say that we are headed for a lot of changes in our staffing behind the bar, and it will probably end up better in the long run for me since I will probably be working an extra shift per week, maybe two, and I can always use the extra money. I will have some new bartenders to break in though, and that will most likely be some extra stress even though I want them to be very successful.

I feel a little beaten by poker this month as I really diverged from my goals and objectives I set for myself in terms of study habits and the things I know I need to do to play optimally before and during a session. I will have to be a lot tougher mentally if this is really going to work out for me. I will have losing months or weeks in the future, too, and if it takes me completely out of my work habits, then I am letting the game get the better of me. And mostly it is due to my preconceived notions about what my results should be getting in the way of me paying attention to my opponents while I am playing or my play during my review sessions. I know that was a mouthful and didn't make a lot of sense, but it is late and I am tired.

March is a new month, though, and I feel very confident.

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ

I spent part of Monday night going to a keynote speech by a early childhood education specialist, Sharron Krull. She said a lot of things that reinforced what we were already looking for in a preschool, but also gave me some hope for poker. The speech was paid by a co-op preschool network in the area and it was free to attend. One of her biggest points was that children (and adults) develop connections between the hemispheres of their brains by certain types of movement. Pretty much anything that gets your body parts to cross your median line. She taught us this song, "Tony Chestnut Knows I Love You," that had a lot of those movements in it. You can watch these kids singing it on YouTube if you want. Basically, it is more important for kids to be doing these types of activities than trying to write their name (their hands aren't even developed well enough to hold a pencil properly, but they can develop them by playing with playdoh or in the sand box). She said adults can make these connections, too, by doing these activities.

I don't think I will be singing "Tony Chestnut" anytime soon between sessions, but it makes me think I am on track with breaking up my 50 minute sessions with a physical activity, because cross-lateral movements like that really help to wake up your brain. I will sing "Tony Chestnut" with my kids, however.

Poker wise, I had a huge crisis in confidence on Saturday, doubting whether I had a future with poker or not. I shared this with my wife (mistake?) and she pretty much told me to stop being a baby and reminded me of all the things I had said in the past. She is right. I have been playing much better since Valentine's day, but have been overly concerned with results and that has definitely led to some tilt. I also departed a bit from my whole business plan that I wrote out, which is not so smart since I really do believe doing those things will lead me, ultimately, to success. I have pretty much come to grips with the fact I won't be cashing out at the end of the month, but I did ship myself 2.3k in tax refunds, so it is not so dire for the family. I also figured out that I have been way overestimating my FE when playing my draws against certain opponents, and that has led to some unnecessary variance. I had to play one really ugly hand to figure that out.

Today I answered some HH and played a bit while waiting for my car to be serviced. This thread has been bothering me: http://www.leggopoker.com/forums/mic...-qq-10028.html

Here is the original post (not mine) to make things easier:

Just sat down No reads.

Full Tilt, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP: $88.31
CO: $49.25
BTN: $40.91
SB: $48.37
Hero (BB): $25
UTG: $15.46

Pre-Flop: Q Q dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, MP raises to $0.75, 3 folds, Hero raises to $3, MP calls $2.25

Flop: ($6.10) J A T (2 Players)
Hero bets $3.75, MP calls $3.75

Turn: ($13.60) 3 (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP checks

River: ($13.60) Q (2 Players)
Hero bets $7.50, MP raises to $36.40, Hero folds


I am not sure I cbet that flop. What are we ahead of that we get value from that calls our 3bet? We don't have any reads at all, so, 88 or 99? Bet/folding the river seems like a mistake too, for the same reasons. C/c river for value against two pair? I don't think they really bet, tbh. Seems kind of weak, too. I think you just have to c/f and hope to win at showdown.

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ

...since I tightened up after Valentine's Day. I am playing closer to 22/17 and feel really good about it. If only I could just stop getting sucked out on. Ahem--promised myself I wouldn't get caught up in all that. I am sure that I was playing much too loose before to be a winner at 50nl. Everyone disregard my forum posts before Valentine's Day as I currently view that period of my life with great suspicion, especially my teenage years.

Now that I am fully recovered from last week, I will be getting back into the swing of things. More Hmwk assignments and stuff like that. Also, I just decided to start commenting on the small stakes/micro stakes forums as the posts happen and not worry about "catching up." I really do like opening up the forums and seeing a row of check marks, but the idea of catching up with what I missed is daunting, and it kept me from answering the small stakes stuff. And the small stakes stuff is much harder.

I am now comfortably installed in my garage for playing poker instead of going out to my "office," that was a coffee shop with spotty internet connection on the weekends. Lots less distractions. I put up a pull-up bar and can do five clean pull-ups, almost. Almost clean and almost five. My brother can do 20, and I have vowed (not to him, but privately to myself and to everyone reading this blog) to match him. He can probably do more, tbh, since he is a Marine and he did 20 a few years ago, but w/e, I will get there. I think it will take me 10-12 weeks. Gives me something to do on my breaks. I would also like a speed-bag to feel totally bad-ass. Anyway, I am much happier out here, and I long to post pictures of my set up, but I fear I would be laughed at after all the pics of sick set ups people have posted. I still might do it for kicks, and try and get all of the clutter around me in the shot.

In all seriousness, I feel like I am at some kind of turning point/breaking point with poker. I have been breaking even for a while now with rb, and I would like to see some improvement results wise if I am to seriously consider pursuing this for the rest of the year. I think tightening up is the first step that has long eluded me.

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ

I spoke with Probability the other day and he thinks I am playing too loose. I think he is right. I would like to play tighter preflop, but continue with improving my postflop game. I am much better at putting people on hands now, and I am always pleased to see my reads are accurate at showdown. I think I am pushing marginal situations though and getting involved with a lot of flips. I don't put in a lot of volume every month, so it takes me a while to ride out the variance and if the results are not in my favor, it affects my play for the worse. I will play much tighter (and more profitably, hopefully) until the end of the month and see how it goes.

Here are two examples of hands that I think I would just like to avoid.

NL Holdem $0.50(BB) Replayer
Hero ($50.25)
BB ($106)
UTG ($58.20)
CO ($50)
BTN ($49.75)-----Playing around 24/16 opening a ton of BTNs

Dealt to Hero Q K

fold, fold, BTN raises to $1.50, Hero raises to $5, fold, BTN calls $3.50

FLOP ($10.50) 2 8 7

Hero bets $7, BTN calls $7
------------I can tell by my bet sizing here that I was unsure of what to do. I think he calls with a pretty wide range preflop, and I bet this flop thinking I am folding out a lot of unpaired overs and Ax hands that have decent equity against me. All the same, I don't expect him to fold 99-JJ, and when he calls the flop, that is what I put him on. AKdd gets it in preflop, Axdd raises here, a set raises here on the flop, too.

TURN ($24.50) 2 8 7 4

Hero bets $18, BTN raises to $37.75 (AI), Hero calls $19.75

I decide to bet call with two overs that I think are good if I hit and a Q high FD which I think is good if I hit. I bet slightly less than I think I should, again, but I am just getting odds to call it off against what I think his range is.

RIVER ($100) 2 8 7 4 3

BTN shows T T
(Pre 56%, Flop 72.4%, Turn 68.2%)

Hero shows Q K
(Pre 44%, Flop 27.6%, Turn 31.8%)

BTN wins $96.50






NL Holdem $0.50(BB) Replayer
SB ($79.67)
Hero ($64.90)
UTG ($30.60)
CO ($86.08)-----75/2 65 hands, fairly aggro
BTN ($49)



Dealt to Hero 6 A

fold, CO calls $0.50, BTN raises to $2, SB calls $1.75, Hero calls $1.50, CO calls $1.50

FLOP ($8) J 7 3

SB checks, Hero checks, CO bets $4, BTN folds, SB calls $4, Hero raises to $21.50, CO calls $17.50, SB folds

TURN ($55) J 7 3 2

Hero bets $41.40 (AI), CO calls $41.40

RIVER ($137) J 7 3 2 A

CO shows J Q
(Pre 42%, Flop 54.1%, Turn 72.7%)

Hero shows 6 A
(Pre 58%, Flop 45.9%, Turn 27.3%)

Hero wins $134

Preflop I make the call because I know the huge donk/limper just can't fold preflop once he has limped in. On the flop, because of where my head is at, I sigh and think "another high variance spot." When the donk donks half pot, I put him on a weak Jack or 88-TT. I felt really confident about this, and when the SB calls, I think he doesn't have anything strong. I think I should have raised a little bigger on the flop because then it would have given me better odds to ship the turn when I miss. I think I have a decent amount of FE, too. He tanks, calls, and I am good on the river.

It wasn't as much like a war as I thought it would be. I wrote a little bit each night.

Friday, the Opening Salvo

Valentine's day weekend begins today, as far as I am concerned. This morning I went to a couple of preschools before running some Valentine's day errands. My wife's chief critique so far has been that I have been somewhat last minute in my plans and gifts and lacking in imagination. She is probably right. This year I vowed to at least put some thought into my gifts. So last week I bought a few plain brown papier-mache boxes and I painted them pink and red and purple. Today I went to the local chocolate shop to put a few of my wife and kids' favorite chocolates in them. I guess a lot of people had the same idea because the parking lot was packed. I took one step in the door and was confronted with long, disneyland-esque lines. The only reason I stayed was because my wife liked a particular type of chocolate they made, otherwise I would have walked right back out the door. I opted to stay, counting 24 people ahead of me in my line. How long could it take? After 10 minutes and not a lot of movement, a lady who was paying at the counter looked at her cell phone and announced to the room that it had taken her one hour and twenty three minutes to make her purchase. I decided to stick it out for my wife and kids. Someone came around with samples. I waited. Someone had a violent sneezing attack. I waited. We were urged to move forward to make room for people who couldn't quite get in the door. I waited. 30 minutes in a large, sweaty man complained loudly and to no one in particular how his girlfriend always was on his case about how much time he spent at the gym, and he would be sure to let her know how much time he spent standing in line for her chocolate. (Nothing says "I love you," like a little bit of guilt with your heart shaped box of chocolate, I guess). Eventually he started talking with a bus driver next to him. We were all standing so close, no one had a choice but to listen to them. The bus driver used to be a truck driver, and so did the sweaty man, so they had a lot to talk about. I noticed the bus driver wore a black corduroy baseball hat (the kind with a little peak in the center you used to see in the early seventies and late eighties) and it said "Jack Daniels Old No.7 Field Tester" on it. It did not instill a lot of confidence in me as far as public transportation goes. One interesting fact I learned was that California was pretty high strung when it comes to requiring chains for cars and trucks, seemingly requiring them at the first threat of snow. The ex-driver said he never put them on himself because it was too hard (and he was a good 100 pounds overweight, too). Instead, he would hire a "chain monkey" to do it for him.

I spent the next 15 minutes imagining just what someone who worked as a chain monkey looked like. Probably a fairly swarthy guy with stooped posture and big forearms covered in coarse black hair. I imagined him draped in chains, like Marley's ghost in "A Christmas Carol," and smudged with truck grease. He would wear a baseball cap with a Marlboro logo on it, the cheap kind with vinyl backing, the kind the company gives away when you send in empty cigarette boxes to prove your loyalty to them. 3 days growth of whiskers on his face and maybe missing a tooth when he gave you his big, primate-like, smile.

I reached the front of the line. I bought a few more pieces than I had intended to just because I had waited so long (holiday spew, obviously). One of the flourescent lights was flickering above the counter, and it was seriously annoying, but must have been absolutely maddening for the employees, who were mostly older women. I overheard one say to another that a specialist from the local hospital had been in yesterday and said that it could have serious health consequences and asked her if she got headaches. I did not envy these women. The company was taking money in hand over fist today and all week, but they couldn't even replace a flourescent bulb. This is how companies just chew up and spit out their workforce, I guess. And these ladies don't get paid more when they are busy, they are all probably just sticking it out for minimum wage because they don't have enough money to retire yet. All the same, I recognized a little bit of myself in them and their working conditions, because I would be behind a counter facing untold masses of people for the rest of the weekend.

As it turned out, Friday night was not very bad at all. The management had added a bunch of small tables the night before to handle all of the extra business we will get from tables for two, and we are well staffed for the weekend, 20 servers and 4 bartenders, which helped relieve the glut of people milling around waiting for their table to be ready. I volunteered to handle the cocktail tables in the lounge and let my fellow bartenders handle the bar top and the service well. Cocktailing is usually the toughest job in the bar, and I wanted to set the tone for the weekend by jumping on the first grenade, so to speak. It was relatively easy though as there were fewer people having full dinners and more people just having a few appetizers. That also means less money, though, but I am sure the money will come tomorrow and the next day. The restaurant ends up serving a little over 400 entrees. Saturday we have 800+ people coming in, and Sunday we have reservations for 1200.

Saturday, the first wave

This morning I wake up to the sound of my kids pleading to my wife for candy. Yesterday my daughter came home with a bag full of Valentines and candy and they ate quite a bit. It is not even 9am and my wife is steadfast in her refusal. I am glad I went reasonably light at the candy store yesterday, but remember that I bought more than I should have all the same. I have breakfast with my wife, do the dishes, and get out to finish running my Valentines day errands. First I go to the drugstore to fill a prescription. While I am waiting I look for a few Valentine's day cards. They are outrageously expensive, and I need three. I opt for a 10 pack of blank cards with hearts on them in the Thank You card section a few aisles over for $4.95. When I pick up my perscription, the pharmacist asks me if I have heard about the game of life? It is an odd question to open with, but I answer, honestly, "no." She then launches into this 60 second spiel about a promotion they are running involving game pieces and scratchers and how I can win prizes and save money. I think it is kind of like McDonald's does a whole "Monopoly" themed contest to encourage us to eat more empty calories. "Would you like to start playing today?" she chirps. I say no thank you, pay, and leave, wondering if she thought she would be doing that sort of thing while she was in school studying to be a pharmacist.

Next I go to a Dim-sum restaurant called Imperial Seafood Restaurant. We tried it as a family a few weeks ago, and it was better than what we thought we would find out here in the suburbs. It has all the hallmarks of a good ethnic restaurant. Lots of Chinese people eating there, a Chinese language newspaper sold out front, and most of the ladies who push the...

I put in a total of about 100 hands today due to internet connectivity problems. I am not quite sure what is up, but I lost my motivation to fix it after about 20 minutes when I was fairly tilted and decided not to play any more. It has also been difficult to answer HH, so I will be a bit behind on those. Sick winrate for the session, though.

My wife finished putting together my Father-in-law's website a while ago and wants me to help spread the word. He has been painting for 40 years, but never really promotes himself. We have a lot of his stuff hanging in the house. I am glad I like it so much. Check it out here. If that didn't work it is because I am a technological donk and not because your comp is malfunctioning.

We are trying to find a preschools for my son who will start in the fall. The best one we have seen so far (pretty much a perfect fit) is the one that my daughter went to for the past two years, but that is now a 25 minute drive from us since we moved, and we are searching for something comparable. I visited one yesterday which was supposedly play-based, but they do evaluations and sometimes hold kids back from going on to the second year of preschool which is pretty screwed up if you ask me (on what grounds do you hold back a 3 year old?) They also separate the three and four year olds and I thought that was a bit strange at first, but after looking around, it seems to be the norm. A lot of preschools say one thing but actually do another thing. Supposedly the one I looked at yesterday had "healthy" snacks, but that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, I guess, because they had sandwiches with overly processed lunch meat and cheese "singles," which I find to be unhealthy in so many ways it isn't funny.

I am going to look at another couple of preschools on Friday, but I have a feeling that we will be making the commute three days per week because I don't want to skimp on my kids education.

Valentine's day is coming up and I am dreading it. It must have been really traumatic for me at the restaurant last year because I keep feeling compelled to write about it in my blog. I will take a little time next week and write something decent about it.

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ