Checking In

It feels as though I haven't posted in a while and this will be the last entry for a few days. I'm headed out of town for a cottage weekend.

It's been a very interesting week. Things have been quite busy at work. We've been working hard to get the series, Hockey: A People's History, finished. When we have a big series like that to work on, we usually pick away at it in our spare time and on weekends. During a typical day, there is usually a lot of regular work to do that will keep us from concentrating on ongoing series. But with the deadline of 3:00 yesterday, I decided that I should head in early. Work doesn't arrive until the mid to late afternoon, and so going in 9:00 would give me 5 hours of uninterupted time.

So, I went in early on Wednesday and Thursday. It meant that I had to seriously adjust my sleep cycle. When you're accustomed to sleeping until 11:30, getting up at 7:30 can be tricky. The problem that I've been having this week is that I've had a lot of trouble sleeping. I only really got 4 hours of sleep on Tuesday and 5 hours on Wednesday.

So yesterday, I woke up at 6:05 and decided that I would go for a run. I'm not sure exactly why I thought that was a good idea, but I headed out. It was cool and quiet and peaceful. I ran to Yonge and Lawrence and arrived back to my apartment a sweaty mess at 7:35. It was showertime and then off to work.

I managed to get the final episode finished with 30 minutes to spare.

After work, I barbequed and then decided to play free poker. On the first hand, I was dealt 9-4 of spades in the big blind ($50) and I called a $200 raise for some reason. The flop came 6s-4d-4c, and I'm luvin' it. The turn was an Ace of spades, and so I was looking at a set and a flush draw. There was some very heavy betting, and then the river came 2s. I hit my longshot flush so I was confident that I was all right. My opponent had pocket aces and the full house and so I gave up about 75% of my chips.

I managed to hang around until the break and then after the add-on, I had $1,700 in chips. It was very sad considering you start with 5,000 and then add 1,000 after the break. So I was very short, and had to play carefully. I managed to hang around and doubled up a few times. By the time we hit the final table, I had 36,000 in chips.

I bled out a few chips at final table while player knocked themselves out. I couldn't get any action on my pocket aces, and then again with my A-K suited. I was forced all-in when I had my second AK. I was dominating preflop as he had K-J. The flop came 6-J-Q. I quickly became the underdog and had to hope to hit my Ace. The turn was a 4 and helped nothing, but I caught a 10 on the river to hit my straight. I was the chip leader at that point as I had taken a big dent out of Mr. Bigstacks. I got heads up as the chip leader and played what I thought was perfect heads-up poker. I had drained him of a few chips when I had hands and then folded my 7-2 and 10-3. I was dealt Q-6 in the big blind and checked. The flop came Q-4-6. I forced him all-in. He called quickly and flipped Q-4. What a beauty. I avoided the 4 and won the tournament. It was my second win on "the tour" but my first at that location. I earned a whopping $15 gift certificate.

So poker people might have enjoyed that, but my guess is that most of you just skipped ahead. Poker players have an annoying habit of talking about their exploits. I don't mind it, but will try not to make a habit of it.

I'm heading downstairs to pack and get ready. My coworker asked if he could arrive and leave early today, and I said all right. I've left him to work the evening shift two days in a row week and as much as I would have liked to have made it three, and I couldn't say no to his request. Guilt is a terrible thing, but much worse when it is completely unnecessary. I want to get packed and ready so that I can just stop at home load the car and go. It should be a fun weekend. See you on Tuesday!