Here are some safe for work photos of chicks, tits, and cards.
Chicks:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dino_burger/2207915622/
Tits:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dino_burger/2207929520/
Cards:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dino_burger/2207138987/
Hehe, those are some nice pix, eh? Because there's a sheet of glass between them and me, there is a lot of reflection from inside. So I will try to minimize that in future pictures. We just set up the buffet recently, and these were among our first customers.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Ugly Americans
I attended the Bruins game at Madison Square Garden North yesterday with the dino nuggets, with the Bruins facing off against the New York Rangers. The Rangers fans were out in force, as Bruins tickets are easier to score than just about anything around here. They were very helpful in directing Bruins fans who seemed lost or dioriented by dint of never having seen the inside of the new Garden.
They also corrected long-time Garden singer René Rancourt, who forgot the lyrics to the national anthem, chiming in with, "Let's go Rangers (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap)." They helped Bruins fans survive the oh-so-boring and meaningless celebration of the 50th anniversary of Bruin Willie O'Ree breaking the NHL color barrier, serenading us with more entertaining Rangers chants. Unfortunately, some of the fans were overcome by excitement, and had to be assisted out of the arena.
We had seats in the very last row of the house, requiring the occasional use of oxygen tanks to supplement the thin air. I think that the thin air went to the Rangers fans' heads, as they disputed the dominance of Boston sports teams. One guy told a young Boston fan that he was "only a sperm" the last time the Bruins won the Stanley Cup (1972). Another brought up "1986." Oh, that's a good one -- let's see, the Patriots were in the Super Bowl for the first time, the Celtics won the NBA championship for the 16th time, and the Red Sox were in the World Series. Yes, I guess that was a really crappy year. Another one brought up the Mets -- yes, the same Mets whose collapse at the end of the most recent season rivaled that of the 1978 Red Sox.
What is it about the hockey jersey that causes the wearer to believe that he is actually the person whose name is sewn onto the back, that he himself is in competition with the opposing team, that the hits and fights on the ice represent a call to him to intimidate, put down, hit and fight? I guess it must be the requisite alcohol that is downed upon donning the sacred garment. Or the nasty nature of tribalism -- if not for the abundance of resources and wealth in this country, would New Yorkers, Bostonians, and Philadelphians be slaughtering each other like Hutu, Tutsis, Serbs or Croats? This sub-species of human, the hockey fan (or is it just the overly trimmed young male?), ridicules his "opponent" at the faintest sign of softness, always projecting a tough, edgy, cynical image. I pity their girlfriends, doomed to breakup/divorce if they're lucky, or to a life of wondering why the fuck they don't leave this asshole. Seemingly self-confident, these guys prove the old adage that certitude does not equal certainty. Ugly Americans indeed.
The game itself was entertaining, ending up in a shootout with the Bruins winning (Update: the Bruins won the rematch today at MSG South). I think I'd rather stick to baseball from now on, and just watch the Bruins on TV. The fans at Fenway are no Sunday school teachers, but compared to a hockey game, it is better for the kids.
They also corrected long-time Garden singer René Rancourt, who forgot the lyrics to the national anthem, chiming in with, "Let's go Rangers (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap)." They helped Bruins fans survive the oh-so-boring and meaningless celebration of the 50th anniversary of Bruin Willie O'Ree breaking the NHL color barrier, serenading us with more entertaining Rangers chants. Unfortunately, some of the fans were overcome by excitement, and had to be assisted out of the arena.
We had seats in the very last row of the house, requiring the occasional use of oxygen tanks to supplement the thin air. I think that the thin air went to the Rangers fans' heads, as they disputed the dominance of Boston sports teams. One guy told a young Boston fan that he was "only a sperm" the last time the Bruins won the Stanley Cup (1972). Another brought up "1986." Oh, that's a good one -- let's see, the Patriots were in the Super Bowl for the first time, the Celtics won the NBA championship for the 16th time, and the Red Sox were in the World Series. Yes, I guess that was a really crappy year. Another one brought up the Mets -- yes, the same Mets whose collapse at the end of the most recent season rivaled that of the 1978 Red Sox.
What is it about the hockey jersey that causes the wearer to believe that he is actually the person whose name is sewn onto the back, that he himself is in competition with the opposing team, that the hits and fights on the ice represent a call to him to intimidate, put down, hit and fight? I guess it must be the requisite alcohol that is downed upon donning the sacred garment. Or the nasty nature of tribalism -- if not for the abundance of resources and wealth in this country, would New Yorkers, Bostonians, and Philadelphians be slaughtering each other like Hutu, Tutsis, Serbs or Croats? This sub-species of human, the hockey fan (or is it just the overly trimmed young male?), ridicules his "opponent" at the faintest sign of softness, always projecting a tough, edgy, cynical image. I pity their girlfriends, doomed to breakup/divorce if they're lucky, or to a life of wondering why the fuck they don't leave this asshole. Seemingly self-confident, these guys prove the old adage that certitude does not equal certainty. Ugly Americans indeed.
The game itself was entertaining, ending up in a shootout with the Bruins winning (Update: the Bruins won the rematch today at MSG South). I think I'd rather stick to baseball from now on, and just watch the Bruins on TV. The fans at Fenway are no Sunday school teachers, but compared to a hockey game, it is better for the kids.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Poker update
It has been a while since I posted, but that's OK, because I have very few readers clamoring for content. I've been playing in the Blogger Skill Series and other poker blogger tournaments lately, and kind of avoiding the cash games, partly out of necessity, and partly because my Full Tilt bonus expired in December. I put a small deposit in Poker Stars, so I have a bonus that I'm working on there. I thought it never expired, but apparently it does, so I will have to get back to the cash games on Stars. Which are very good for me so far this year. In just 3 hours of play, I'm up 278 BB -- them's cheatin' stats!
In the tourneys, I've won one - the Blogger Donkament on Friday nights, and tonight came in second in the Riverchasers Online Poker Tour. Tonight, I busted out BamBamCan, among others, turning the nut flush, and avoiding the board pairing on the river to suck out on his flopped set. His wife is Pebbles, of course, and I'm the Bad Puppy. Babykins is a good baby when he's sleeping (or on the rail). In the Skill Series, I haven't done as well, busting out early in the PLO tourney last week, and surviving into the top half in Razz this week. Well, like I said before, I could only improve from where I started. The two cashes leave me in positive territory on tournaments for the year, which is not easy to sustain.
I'm heading out to California in a couple of weeks, and I may try to get in one session at the Bay 101. If not, I will be out in Vegas at the end of March/beginning of April.
I've had to work the last two nights, interrupted only by sleep, and today, a company party. It was at the MIT Museum, which was pretty cool. It was open bar, so of course I drank only water because the wife and dino nuggets were skiing at the time of the party. At least that left me sober enough to work and play poker at the same time. I also won a $50 gift check door prize, so I'm on a roll -- that's going straight to the bankroll.
In the tourneys, I've won one - the Blogger Donkament on Friday nights, and tonight came in second in the Riverchasers Online Poker Tour. Tonight, I busted out BamBamCan, among others, turning the nut flush, and avoiding the board pairing on the river to suck out on his flopped set. His wife is Pebbles, of course, and I'm the Bad Puppy. Babykins is a good baby when he's sleeping (or on the rail). In the Skill Series, I haven't done as well, busting out early in the PLO tourney last week, and surviving into the top half in Razz this week. Well, like I said before, I could only improve from where I started. The two cashes leave me in positive territory on tournaments for the year, which is not easy to sustain.
I'm heading out to California in a couple of weeks, and I may try to get in one session at the Bay 101. If not, I will be out in Vegas at the end of March/beginning of April.
I've had to work the last two nights, interrupted only by sleep, and today, a company party. It was at the MIT Museum, which was pretty cool. It was open bar, so of course I drank only water because the wife and dino nuggets were skiing at the time of the party. At least that left me sober enough to work and play poker at the same time. I also won a $50 gift check door prize, so I'm on a roll -- that's going straight to the bankroll.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
The last shall be first
Well, maybe not first, but I hope higher than last, which is where I am currently. I busted out first in the first Blogger Skill tournament of the year. I used to know how to play 7-card stud, but not any more. Well, maybe I never knew how. Anyway, if I retire now, I'm guaranteed to finish in last place for the year, so I have to play every week, at least until I draw, er ..., claw my way out of the cellar. Next week, the game is Pot-limit Omaha, about which I will make this prediction: watch this! When playing HORSE-like events and giving demo, never make a substantive prediction. I think there is supposed to be a leader board of some sort, but it wasn't working when I checked yesterday.
I returned from a sleep-, gift-, and relative-filled week of delicious time off to an 8:30 am dentist appointment. Apparently, I haven't been brushing or flossing well enough, because it hurt like it used to, and the dentist was scolding me more vigorously than his norm. Then it was in to work, where I made it through another "strategic planning" season without being riffed. I think I will make it through the next one as well, but the 2009 strategic plan may well call for my head (as did the 2005 one, by the way, but somehow I scrabbled around, and managed to cling like a burr to another project, buying myself a year and a half, until another project jammed its sweater onto me, ripping me from my carrier/savior.)
I checked my "PTO" balance and usage. I have 154 hours of PTO built up, and will receive another 200+ hours this year. In each of the last two years, I only used 120 hours. I also cashed out 120 hours' worth last year, to help out with our cash flow during moving, renovations, and (gulp) selling. Let's see, I've got the kids' school vacation weeks blocked out; that's 80 hours. I've got a couple of days in April for a Vegas Baby trip; that makes 96 hours. A few days next Christmas, which makes 120 hours. That leaves 254+ hours. That means I can leave 5 hours early every Friday all year! I'm making it my only resolution to end the year having used my 5 weeks worth of time off, and without taking the money this time. If I accomplish that, I will go into 2009 with about 4 weeks built up, and saving for a winter 2009-2010 sabbatical. Maybe I will take the last week of December 2009, all of January 2010, and the first three weeks of February off. We'll see if that works out. That could be some nice skiing, maybe some time in Vegas, maybe a trip to a warm place. All financed by my poker winnings, of course (hah!)
I returned from a sleep-, gift-, and relative-filled week of delicious time off to an 8:30 am dentist appointment. Apparently, I haven't been brushing or flossing well enough, because it hurt like it used to, and the dentist was scolding me more vigorously than his norm. Then it was in to work, where I made it through another "strategic planning" season without being riffed. I think I will make it through the next one as well, but the 2009 strategic plan may well call for my head (as did the 2005 one, by the way, but somehow I scrabbled around, and managed to cling like a burr to another project, buying myself a year and a half, until another project jammed its sweater onto me, ripping me from my carrier/savior.)
I checked my "PTO" balance and usage. I have 154 hours of PTO built up, and will receive another 200+ hours this year. In each of the last two years, I only used 120 hours. I also cashed out 120 hours' worth last year, to help out with our cash flow during moving, renovations, and (gulp) selling. Let's see, I've got the kids' school vacation weeks blocked out; that's 80 hours. I've got a couple of days in April for a Vegas Baby trip; that makes 96 hours. A few days next Christmas, which makes 120 hours. That leaves 254+ hours. That means I can leave 5 hours early every Friday all year! I'm making it my only resolution to end the year having used my 5 weeks worth of time off, and without taking the money this time. If I accomplish that, I will go into 2009 with about 4 weeks built up, and saving for a winter 2009-2010 sabbatical. Maybe I will take the last week of December 2009, all of January 2010, and the first three weeks of February off. We'll see if that works out. That could be some nice skiing, maybe some time in Vegas, maybe a trip to a warm place. All financed by my poker winnings, of course (hah!)
Monday, December 24, 2007
The Fleecing of the Burgers, Part I
This is the first in a series of posts that will track how the Burger family bleeds money due to corporate greed, our ineptitude, laziness or naïveté. There are some things that are worth the time and effort to pursue, and some that are not.
About an hour ago, I climbed down from our roof, which was leaking this afternoon, after a couple feet of snow followed by 1/2-3/4 inch of rain last night. Most of the snow had melted, and it wasn't all that deep on the roof to start with, so there was a maximum of about 3 inches of snow/ice/water up there. OK, so what? Why the hell was I up on the roof, and what does this have to do with the fleecing of the Burgers? Well, this is a new roof. A very expensive, flat, rubber roof with fancy copper flashing and drip-edge flashing. A new roof that was installed less than a month ago, and which started leaking this afternoon, after all of the rain last night.
As I was up there, watching the beautiful sunset view, I felt a little like Par Ingalls (must use the r sound to bridge two vowels when in Massachusetts.) One false move with a 15-pound load of ice chunks, and whoop! I fall 12-35 feet to my hospitalization-death, depending on which side of the house I fall off. Luckily, the edges of the roof are slanted up at the edge, to allow water to flow toward the roof drain. So I would plant my front (left) foot, placing most of my weight there, and shove with my shovel arm from about 3-4 feet away from the edge. I was on the roof for a good hour and a half, and got it all shoveled off (with a plastic shovel, of course.)
OK, boo hoo hoo, my new roof leaks. And it was expensive. So what does this have to do with the fleecing of the Burgers? The fleecing in this case comes from the initial lowball estimate from the contractor, and the subsequent tacking on of the copper drip-edge flashing. Originally we thought we would be able to use the original flashing, but oh, no, it's not wide enough, we'll never be able to save it. OK, ouch (a 23% increase in the original quote)! But save the old copper for me. OK. Where's the old copper? Oh one of the guys took it. All right, what ever, man, just finish the job already!
It turned out that on the lower of our two rooves, there was nothing between the roof decking and our playroom "carpet" (just that Berber stuff that everyone who wants to throw down carpet when selling a house installs.) So when the workers took up the old tar and gravel roof, large amounts of ground up tar (a.k.a. soot) fell down between the cracks in the roof decking into our house. Lovely. The guy asked me if I wanted him to clean it. Yeah sure, go ahead, tromp in here with your boots, and do a half-assed job. Yeah, that would be great. So we vacuumed many times, and even brought in a carpet cleaning service. We had guests for Thanksgiving, and then had a big party the following weekend. Not that anyone would have noticed, but at least we did our best.
So am I going to sue this guy, or get him to pay for the carpet cleaning? No. Why? Because, (a) I want him to fix the damn roof; and (b) it would take more time out of my life, and I would rather waste time writing about it than waste time arguing and taking days off to go to small claims court.
Speaking of which, our delicious Christmas Eve dinner of fondue and champagne interrupted this post, and now it's time to go watch IAWL with the family. Merry Christmas!
Next up: Verizon Fios.
About an hour ago, I climbed down from our roof, which was leaking this afternoon, after a couple feet of snow followed by 1/2-3/4 inch of rain last night. Most of the snow had melted, and it wasn't all that deep on the roof to start with, so there was a maximum of about 3 inches of snow/ice/water up there. OK, so what? Why the hell was I up on the roof, and what does this have to do with the fleecing of the Burgers? Well, this is a new roof. A very expensive, flat, rubber roof with fancy copper flashing and drip-edge flashing. A new roof that was installed less than a month ago, and which started leaking this afternoon, after all of the rain last night.
As I was up there, watching the beautiful sunset view, I felt a little like Par Ingalls (must use the r sound to bridge two vowels when in Massachusetts.) One false move with a 15-pound load of ice chunks, and whoop! I fall 12-35 feet to my hospitalization-death, depending on which side of the house I fall off. Luckily, the edges of the roof are slanted up at the edge, to allow water to flow toward the roof drain. So I would plant my front (left) foot, placing most of my weight there, and shove with my shovel arm from about 3-4 feet away from the edge. I was on the roof for a good hour and a half, and got it all shoveled off (with a plastic shovel, of course.)
OK, boo hoo hoo, my new roof leaks. And it was expensive. So what does this have to do with the fleecing of the Burgers? The fleecing in this case comes from the initial lowball estimate from the contractor, and the subsequent tacking on of the copper drip-edge flashing. Originally we thought we would be able to use the original flashing, but oh, no, it's not wide enough, we'll never be able to save it. OK, ouch (a 23% increase in the original quote)! But save the old copper for me. OK. Where's the old copper? Oh one of the guys took it. All right, what ever, man, just finish the job already!
It turned out that on the lower of our two rooves, there was nothing between the roof decking and our playroom "carpet" (just that Berber stuff that everyone who wants to throw down carpet when selling a house installs.) So when the workers took up the old tar and gravel roof, large amounts of ground up tar (a.k.a. soot) fell down between the cracks in the roof decking into our house. Lovely. The guy asked me if I wanted him to clean it. Yeah sure, go ahead, tromp in here with your boots, and do a half-assed job. Yeah, that would be great. So we vacuumed many times, and even brought in a carpet cleaning service. We had guests for Thanksgiving, and then had a big party the following weekend. Not that anyone would have noticed, but at least we did our best.
So am I going to sue this guy, or get him to pay for the carpet cleaning? No. Why? Because, (a) I want him to fix the damn roof; and (b) it would take more time out of my life, and I would rather waste time writing about it than waste time arguing and taking days off to go to small claims court.
Speaking of which, our delicious Christmas Eve dinner of fondue and champagne interrupted this post, and now it's time to go watch IAWL with the family. Merry Christmas!
Next up: Verizon Fios.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Welcome back to Poker Stars
Thank FSM that I'm back on Poker Stars. I made a deposit on Full Tilt Poker, and earned a bonus, but was only able to work off about 1/3 of it before it expired. That's mostly because I only play one table at a time, and I play at the lowest possible stakes (.05/.10 NLHE). After the FTP bonus expired, I moved back to Poker Starts for my cash games, and I'm finding them much easier than the FTP games. Sure, there are still lots of bad players on FTP, but there are also a ton of bot-like players 8-tabling at the lowest limit tables. I started out this go-round on Stars at the .05/.10 tables, but the bonus is structured so that no fractional points are given. So I moved up to the .10/.25 tables, where there are many more hands that rake the minimum .40 for scoring a bonus point. I have been kicking ass at those tables. There are few tricky players, and lots of very loose calling stations. I had one guy call 4 of my bets, for his whole stack, while he was holding pocket 4s (I had an overpair.) I made lots of money off of that guy. Of course, it has not all been roses, but in general, I like Stars much better.
I've been reading Ed Miller's blog for a while now, and it has been helpful. I'm concentrating a little more on opponents' stack sizes, and on hand reading rather than hand hoping (putting my opponent on a hand that is dominated by my hand instead of on a range of hands.) I think the experience of playing the tougher FTP tables has helped.
I've been reading Ed Miller's blog for a while now, and it has been helpful. I'm concentrating a little more on opponents' stack sizes, and on hand reading rather than hand hoping (putting my opponent on a hand that is dominated by my hand instead of on a range of hands.) I think the experience of playing the tougher FTP tables has helped.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Bubblicious
Thursday and Friday night I bubbled out of poker tournaments. I don't think I played particularly well, especially in the Friday tournament. But playing well is not the point of that particular tournament -- Katitude's Blogger Donkament. The point is to blow off steam from a week's worth of work, kids, and real life. Or a year's worth. I made a laydown of QQ at one point when there was an all-in raise followed by a re-raise all-in. I had them both covered, and was definitely considering re-re-raising all-in. But I guess I must have left my balls in the minivan again. So I ended up finishing 4th, and the top three places paid, and the previous night in the Riverchasers tournament, I finished 6th with either 4 or 5 places paying. Oh well, at least I had fun.
The kids are bouncing off the walls with excitement about Christmas, and we took a ride around town looking at lights after eating dinner at Ixtapa Cantina, voted the Best Mexican Restaurant in the Greater Lexington area. That's because the only competition is breakfast burritos at the McDonalds in the highway rest stop. Anyway, it was a fun time, and the food there is pretty good. I left a nice tip, because "it's 'tis the season."
The kids are bouncing off the walls with excitement about Christmas, and we took a ride around town looking at lights after eating dinner at Ixtapa Cantina, voted the Best Mexican Restaurant in the Greater Lexington area. That's because the only competition is breakfast burritos at the McDonalds in the highway rest stop. Anyway, it was a fun time, and the food there is pretty good. I left a nice tip, because "it's 'tis the season."
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