Today is my birthday……my 30th birthday.  30 is extremely old in the world of online poker, but hey….30 is the new 20, right?
It has been a good birthday.  I got a set of golf clubs, golf shoes, and other golf stuff….now I just need to get a golf swing.

I also went and got a new phone since I was up for a new contract with my cellphone carrier.  I got the new Droid 2 phone, and I am pretty excited about it.

I went out to eat tonight with my family, then we went back to my house for cake and ice cream.  Saturday, the last part of my birthday present will take place; a round of golf with 3 friends so I can try out my new golf stuff.

I don’t really play golf, hardly ever in the past couple years.  But I have been meaning to take it up.  Also, if I plan to do some things in the near future, I have a feeling playing golf will be a good release.  I need a hobby since poker has become more like a job for me (though I still enjoy it as though it was a hobby).  So it was about time.

Tonight, I am going to take the night off from the tables unless a juicy table pops up.  I am mostly just going to relax, have a couple beers, and play with my new phone.

I know my pace is creeping up on my total to 60k, but hey…..you only turn 30 once, right?

Sorry I haven’t updated in a few days.  I decided to head 5 hours south to Myrtle Beach, SC to have some good ole family fun.  It was a great time.  Only one problem, the hotel we stayed at had little to no internet connection.  It was available, but it was so slow, I gave up on it the first night there.

The intended getaway and unintended time away from poker was relaxing though.  I love going to Myrtle Beach.  It is definitely my favorite beach destination.  There literally is so much to do in Myrtle beach.  I’m already looking forward to my next trip down there, but next time we will make sure to stay somewhere where I can put in some online poker hours later in each night.

But it is back to the grind and the no internet in Myrtle Beach really hurt as far as my goal to 60k is concerned.  I need to make up the time missed somehow.  In order for me to reach my goal I need to play every chance I can.  Games at 10/20 and 15/30 Five Card draw are not always so easy to come by.

I am going to finish unpacking and hope to hit the tables later tonight.

Hopefully my brief stint away from the tables doesn’t hurt the run I was making to reach my goal.  Right now I stand at $5,670.13 and according to the pace I have set for myself, I need to have $3,261.  So thankfully I am still ahead.

My father passed away a week ago to the day that I am writing this, June 1st. 

My dad, in the coast guard.

It has been really hard to cope with and I know I will always miss him.  The first few days there were many moments where I couldn’t control my emotions.  But something came over me a few days after my father’s passing.  I just felt this since of serenity that is really hard to describe.  It was as if I knew that my father is now in a better place.   

How it started

My dad got into a really bad car wreck about 5 years ago.  He wasn’t feeling too good and he basically passed out at the wheel.  He ran nearly head on to a tanker carrying a full tank of gas on this old country road.  He hit the back left tire and his truck was nearly unrecognizable afterwards.  Not only was it amazing that my dad survived the wreck, but it was astonishing that the tank of gas didn’t catch fire and explode. 

He would be medevaced to a nearby hospital.  During his stay at the hospital, he would end up having his kidneys fail.  Whether it was due to the accident or not is unsure since he was already diabetic.  But I think the wreck had alot to do with it.  He was really in bad shape and at that point I was thinking I was going to lose my dad.  Somehow though, he recovered.  He really surprised many of the doctors tending to him.  I forget just how long he was there, but this would the first of many stays at the hospital in the coming years.

That was just the beginning

Over the next 5 years it would be one thing after the other.  He would be admitted to the hospital a handful of times and especially 2 times I was scared that my dad’s time had come.  But each time, he miraculously recovered.  Over and over again, he would have the doctors perplexed not only because they often couldn’t seem to pinpoint what was happening to him but also because he would recover from what looked like certain death.

But he was still there 

Although his health was slowly declining, he was able to be there for many milestones in my life.  He was able to attend my wedding, for which he was my best man.  He was there for the births of grandchildren, one of which was my daughter.  It was as though he survived past episodes to be there for each of these momentous occasions.  It was really a blessing to have him there.

Then it was his time

This time in the hospital, he was having a hard time breathing.  His lungs had become so weak that it was hard to breath on his own. 

Me and dad at my wedding (post accident)

 He really became weak.  He was not the same person I knew over the years, he was scarily thin and really weak.  It was truly sad.

The doctors would put him on the ventilator.  Not so much that he had to, but more to give his lungs a break.  He had been developing water on his lungs for the past couple of years, something to this day that the doctors couldn’t explain why.  This time they tried some different techniques to try and “cure” him.  Nothing worked though.

He would have his good days and his bad days.  More than half the time he was asleep or unable to communicate in any fashion.   But the last time I saw him alive.  It would be the first time that my whole family was there together.  My dad was able to communicate to us the whole time, but in his own way since he still had a machine breathing for him.  He even puckered up to kiss my mom!  It may not seem like much, but at the time, it was really heart-lifting. 

Come to find out, it was really a farewell party as later that same night, my father passed.  His body just couldn’t take it anymore and his heart slowly came to a stop.  I really feel as though he knew. 

I know it sounds crazy, but without being too spiritual, it really was his time.  I used to be scared of death but so many things have happened over the past week that words just can’t describe.  I really do exit this period of my life with a new outlook on death and other things related to it.       

Looking back

The funeral was this past weekend and I got to see many people that my father touched in his own way.  People from his hunt club, from my little league, his work, etc.  I was able to recall many wonderful stories and learn just how he shaped the lives of many people in this world. 

To this day, I am still receiving messages from people about my father’s passing.  Many of the people affected recall my dad as being an easy-going, gentle person that went out of his way to give his time to those in need.  He really did have what seems to be a profound affect on people.  Of course, I always felt this way about him.  But it was comforting to hear people tell me how they viewed my father. 

My dad after the birth of my child

I am usually skeptic about this type of stuff.  I mean people are just being nice, since my father just past away, right?  I really don’t feel that way.  People who I really did not think would be affected have come forth with their own memories of how my dad had either done or said something that still resides with them.  He really did make a difference.

I will always cherish the time we shared.  He continually went out of his way to make sure that I was happy.  I owe many things to my dad.  I can only hope that I can be half the dad to my children as he was for me.

All I can say is if you are lucky enough to have a father figure still around.  Cherish the moments and let them know just how you feel about them before its too late.  I feel blessed that I was able to say goodbye one last time and tell him how much I loved him.  I always will.

Rest in peace dad!

April 16, 1947 – June 1st, 2010

Swing Batta!

Today was “opening day” for the softball league I have played in the last 3 or 4 years.  I am glad to be able to get out of the house and doing something active once again.

I don’t really play for the competition as I do to meet back up with some old friends and have a good time.  After playing baseball in college, it is hard to get motivated to play a game of softball strictly for competitive reasons.  So it is just for the fun.

Since I was a pitcher in college, I never hit in college as we used a designated hitter.  So it has taken me some time to get my “swing” back.  The first couple of years I was mostly just a ground ball and line drive hitter, and for the most part of last year as well.  Until something happenned, I don’t really know what I did, although I think I have some ideas….I started hitting for a ton more power.

Well, after tonight’s game, I am right back into the “swing” of things as I hit one homerun and one off the fence which is 290ft down the lines and I believe like 350 in center field.  The homerun I hit cleared the fence by quite a distance as I was admiring the ball flying through the air while making my trip to first.  I am not used to enjoying such a flight as I have been more of a pitcher my entire life.

We ended up crushing the team we played, which is of no surprise as about half my team played baseball passed high school.  Good times.

It is pretty sad to think that I am going to be sore tomorrow.  I must be getting old and way too out of shape.  On that side of things, I have been thinking about picking up that P90X workout routine to do in some of my spare time.  From what I have read, that thing really is the real deal.  I think I will eventually put down the money on that thing, but for some reason I am having cold feet.

Poker wise, last night I had another great quick session in 5 card draw as my good run continues.

I’m sitting at the 15/30 table right now on PokerStars, if anyone wants to play.

What’s up everyone.  It’s been a while.  I haven’t had too much to post about lately.  But I just wanted to stop by and say hi.

2010 thus far has not been so good poker-wise.  I haven’t logged in nearly enough hours and when I have, things have definitely been running below expectation.  I have taken a couple weeks off here and there to do some deep mathematical analysis type stuff.  Stuff that will only make me become a better player in the future.  I plan to share some stuff that I have come across here on my site some day soon.

I am not really too worried about still reaching my goals for 2010.  But admittedly, things are not looking too good as of now.

I have also done some “soul searching” lately.  lol, I guess a losing streak can do that to you.  Again, maybe I will post some things when it comes to that some day as well.  But for now, I just wanted to stop and say “hi”.

I have been in the market for a new laptop computer for the last 6 months or so.  When I got back from the PCA, I thought it was a great time to make the splurge.

I wanted a top-of-the-line machine that will not only be able to handle the applications of today, but things well into the future.  So I needed to look for a pretty stacked computer.  The only thing is that it doesn’t come cheap, so I definitely did my research.

I don’t really have a desktop computer, and I do all of my work on a laptop for which I have a pretty relaxing setup in my family room.  I planned to keep the same setup and look for a new laptop as opposed to a desktop.  I needed something that could handle the load of playing multiple poker tables at once with other programs running in the background.  I also needed something that could handle photo and video editing software with a breeze.  Not only did I need the machine to be able to handle these tasks, and handle them well, I wanted something that would last me well into the future.  I didn’t want to buy something that will be pretty much obsolete in a few years time.

All of my research kept on leading me to two models over and over again:  the HP dv8t and the Alienware M17x.  I couldn’t really go wrong with either machine.  However, I had this bias for the Alienware M17x as I have always wanted an Alienware machine ever since about 5 years ago.

Here is a pic of my new computer and how my set up looks when I am normally using it.

When it came down to it, I decided to go with my heart and put down the money for the Alienware M17x with some upgrades.  The computing power could come close to being matched by the HP dv8t after multiple upgrades, but I really needed the backlit keyboard that the Alienware machine offered.

A couple weeks after placing the order, it arrived and I have been glued to the screen.  Now, a couple weeks since prying this baby out of the box, I have nothing but great things to say about it.  I am really pleased with my choice.

I bought some other programs to load up onto the machine from virus protection to Photoshop Elements/Premiere 8.  I have not been able to put the thing away!

Speaking of Photoshop….  I have always in the past used Microsoft Digital Image Suite to do all of my photo editing and Photoshop is much better!  I am still learning all that it can do and watching tutorials left and right and just fooling around with it.  It truly is a great program.  In fact, looking at this website, some things might need to be redone to look a little “cleaner”  by using Photoshop.  So some changes might be coming to the website in the near future.  We’ll see.

But all in all, I am really excited about my purchases thus far and would definitely recommend the Alienware M17x!