I went to a bowling tournament last night at Ocean Lanes, in Lompoc. People I bowl with in Santa Barbara have been going up there the first and second Saturday of the month and bowling in it. They told me the lanes up there were easier and more forgiving than at Zodos, and I would average 20 pins higher there than I do here. It’s also a handicap tournament, and I established my average down here, so I would have an advantage.

Well, they were right. The tournament was four games, and you get to throw the lowest one out. I threw a 199-155-219-223, for an average about 20 pins higher than mine here. I also came in third, and won $50 (on $20 entry fee). I also put $15 into the brackets, somehow stayed in one with my 155, and won my money back on those.

Afterwards, we went to Chumash. It was not my idea, but I certainly wasn’t going to complain about it. Turns out their poker room is smoke free, and they do have 2/4 tables. I played for five hours and won a whopping $13 in that time. At least I didn’t lose any money. The table was a lot tighter than I was used to, so that made it hard to win a ton of money. Anyway, it was lots of fun.

Next week, I’m probably gonna head up there early and get in their Saturday morning hold ’em tournament, and then go to the bowling tournament that night.

Yeah, addicted. I know.

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I just can’t get enough poker. It’s really ridiculous how much I (want to) play. Unfortunately, I live an hour and a half to two hours away from the nearest 2/4 hold ’em table (Chumash is a lot closer, but has only a few tables and hold ’em is minimum 4/8).

I had to go to LA (well, Pasadena) for work Wednesday, so I went down Tuesday night instead and went to Bicycle to check it out. For the first time since I’ve been playing (really, this is just my fourth time, once a month for the previous three months), I came out ahead. I don’t think I played terribly differently than I did last month, just got luckier (or rather, didn’t get such terrible luck) with my cards. At one point, I was up $180, and I finished up about $100 even. I made a few mistakes, but every single one of them I knew as I was making (or I still don’t know it was a mistake), and did it anyway. It’s just too hard to lay down some hands, even when I know they’re beat.

Time to get some sleep.

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I’ve been meaning to start doing some reading again lately… well, for the past two years or so, I guess. I just never really find the time or have the motivation to do it, or something. I did read two books (Winning Low Limit Hold ‘Em, Hold ‘Em Poker) on my flights to and from New York in December and January, and that was good. My results in the casino don’t seem to have improved, though.

Today I started Moneyball, about how the A’s win so many games when their payroll is one of the lowest in the league. I’m about a third of the way through, and am enjoying it so far. I definitely need to make more time in my schedule for reading.

I suppose I could not watch repeats of the World Poker Tour and Showdown at the Sands that I’ve already seen. I almost wish the TiVo listings actually had correct information about which episode it was, so it wouldn’t keep recording it, but I don’t really mind watching them again. I also just got Positively Fifth Street, and will hopefully be reading that next. I also have a bunch of other books on the way. Anyone see a pattern here?

I ordered a deck of cards from Amazon (essentially free because it put me over the top for their supersaver shipping), and they accidently sent me a case (12 decks) instead of 1. I contacted them using their customer service form online, and the response makes me think they never even read what I wrote:

Thanks for writing to us at Amazon.com.

I am sorry for the inconvenience with the set of cards.You may return most items sold by Amazon.com within 30 days of delivery for a full refund.

However, we have extended our returns period for the holidays. Items shipped between November 1, 2003 and December 31, 2003 may bereturned until January 31, 2004 for a full refund, subject to theother returns restrictions outlined on our web site.

We’ll pay the return shipping cost if the return is a result ofour error.

I think at this point I have no further obligation to return them. Looks like I’m going to be giving them away, as they get virtually nothing on eBay.

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It’s been a month since I’ve written anything here. There’s no good reason for it, really. I’ve certainly had stuff that I could talk about, but just didn’t have the motivation to do it. I don’t right now either, but figured I should, and waiting for a project to build seemed as good a time as any.

I’ve been pretty obsessed with poker lately. I went to Commerce Casino again last weekend, and while I still lost as much money as I was willing to lose, I think I played much better poker this time. I got hit with some really bad luck, and I think if I keep playing like I did, I will make money most of the time. Bad luck is defined as getting pocket aces twice, pocket kings and pocket jacks once, and having them not hold up. Getting pocket 5s, flopping the set, and still losing. Getting a full house, fours over threes (with pocket fours, a pair of threes on the board), and losing when a third three comes on the river to give someone four threes. Yeah, that’s bad luck. All in one weekend. Maybe that’s normal, and I really didn’t play well, but I enjoyed myself either way. That’s why I went to https://www.boomtownbingo.com/ and tried my luck there.

I plan to go at least once a month, and have set a monthly limit on how much money I’m allowed to lose. Winnings carry over, so if I somehow win, I’ll have more to lose next time I go. Next time, I might go to Bicycle instead of Commerce, just to see what it’s like there. I’d like to get into a cheap ($50 or less) buy-in no-limit tournament, but there don’t seem to be any around that I can make it to.

The build is done, so that’s all you get for now. Hopefully, it won’t be another month before I write something else.

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6.5 about 150 miles north of me. First time I’ve felt an earthquake.

I’m fine.

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Maybe I don’t really need a new bowling ball. Last night, after dropping my first two shots in practice and cutting my thumb, I threw a 189-199-203-217 for an 808 series. All while my thumb was still bleeding (covered with skin protector, but coming through so I had to re-apply it every so often). I’m sure you wanted to know that. I’m going to get the new ball anyway, but I definitely felt more like I knew what I was doing, and the shots I missed were my fault, not because the ball didn’t do what I was expecting it to.

Also… it appears the inverter wasn’t the problem with my laptop screen. I got a new inverter, and it still doesn’t work. It’s out of warranty now, so I’m probably going to get a new laptop. In fact, I’ve already ordered one, but I’m reconsidering, so I may cancel that. I don’t know what I want to do anymore, but I know I want to bring a computer home with me when I go back to New York at the end of the month. Hopefully, the one I ordered from Dell will get to me in time, and I won’t have (too many) problems getting Linux going on it.

Stupid computers.

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I went to the bowling alley today (to bowl, but mainly because they have a change machine so I could get quarters to do my laundry). Turns out they had an Ebonite Demo Days thing going on there, and they had space in the last squad to go, so I decided to do that.

I got to try five or six different bowling balls, to see what worked well for me. After going through four that I didn’t really like, I picked up the V2 Strong. After an open in the first frame, I proceeded to throw nine strikes in a row, and the next shot was just a hair high and left the 4 pin, which I picked up. Finished the game with a 268, which I didn’t realize until after I got home is actually my high game (previously 264). I threw that with a ball I just picked up for the first time. My next two games with it were 210 and 198, and I wasn’t really trying to make spares when I left them. I had no choice but to order one of those bowling balls, since I’ve been thinking about getting a new one anyway. I even ended up ordering the 15lb version (instead of the normal 16lb that I use) because that’s what I used today.

Hopefully, it wasn’t just a one time thing. I don’t think it was, since I was doing really badly with the other balls I tried. I also threw my regular one so I could compare the lane conditions to a ball I was familiar with. I think I’m gonna like it.

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The Offspring’s new album is available now… in Japan and Europe. Not in the United States.
From Amazon.co.uk:

and from Amazon.com:

And they wonder why people download music with P2P.

Results from softball Tuesday: We won the first game! Unfortunately, it was because the other team didn’t show up. I think we woulda beaten them anyway. Then we got killed by the first place team, who really shouldn’t have been in that league. We finished 5-5, and in second place, for the first time. All in all, it was a good season.

I got the greatest comment posted last night: A Nigerian 419 scam. In my blog comments. It’s crazy. See it here.

Alrighty, that’s all for now.

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A lot has happened since the last time I’ve written anything here. I watched about half of 24 season 2. I went to Kentucky for Thanksgiving. I watched the World Series of Poker marathon on ESPN Thanksgiving day. The day after, I did no shopping, and instead went to Caesars Indiana and lost a bunch of money playing Hold ‘Em in a casino for the first time. I got stuck at the casino because of snow, so I ended up getting a room there, and for the most part not using it, because I played poker all night. When I got back to Santa Barbara, my laptop’s screen died. It’s now hooked up to my crappy extra 15″ monitor, and is no longer portable, for the time being. I just have no luck with electronics. Last night, I bowled like crap, and my team only took 3 outta 28 points. We only took 5 last week. Not a good way to start the second round.

I guess that’s it for now. Tonight at 6:15, my softball team goes to the playoffs. I’ll let you know how that goes.

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The G-Men went into last night’s game needing a win to make the playoffs. Winner was in, loser went home. No pressure.

The game was called after five innings with the mercy rule, because the score was so lopsided. 29-4. Somehow, we were on the winning side of that. I have no idea how we pulled it off. We’ve never come close to scoring that many runs before, and our defense was solid. We didn’t make any baserunning mistakes, for a change, and all around played a good game. We scored the winning run in the first inning.

That was fun.

Now, to completely change the subject, I’ll talk a bit more about my Treo 600. Handspring has approved and is processing my replacement unit. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I get it, and hopefully, it works. Even without being able to use it as a phone unless it’s plugged in, I love this thing. The form factor is awesome, the speed kicks ass, and it’s just overall a great little device. If I can get one that works like it’s supposed to, it’ll be just about perfect.

I’ve written KeyCaps600 which can be found on my software page. It’s a version of KeyCapsHack that runs on the Treo 600, and I can’t imagine not having it. In fact, I’m a bit surprised Handspring didn’t build this functionality into the 600. Anyway, if you’ve got one, go download it and give it a try. You’ll never want to use the Treo 600 without it again.

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