Helping Out

I know that I only get a handful of visitors to this blog here and there, but this is a great chance to help someone out, and even the laziest of people could do this....and boy do I know a whole bunch of lazy people. Please read this post from Wil Wheaton and pass along accordingly.

Thanks,
~~Max

At Least He's Not Jim Haslett

Rod Marinelli was officially introduced this week as the newest head coach for the Lions. Maybe he'll be the first head coach in my lifetime to have a winning record with the Lions. Well, Gary Moeller had a 4-3 record as an interim between Bobby Ross (aka the idiot who chased Barry Sanders away from the game) and Marty Mornhinweg who went 5-27 in his two years here for the worst career winning percentage of a head coach other than John Karcis who was 0-8 in 1942.

I guess only time will tell, but forgive me for not crowning Rod as our savior just yet. I appreciate the fact that he stresses dominance on both lines, and seems to have an attitude that would bring accountability to this team....but isn't that why Bobby Ross was brought in here? To play the hard nosed, throwback guy who would hand out bus tickets to players that didn't do the right thing after everyone got used to the wonderfully quotable clown of a coach before him? The proverbial bad cop to Wayne Fontes' good cop? Sound familiar?

Communication Breakdown....It's Always the Same....

It seems that only 1 of the 13 trapped miners survived the explosion and subsequent entrapment in a West Virginia mine the other day. Unfortunately, initial reports to the families of the miners and the media said that all but one were still alive in the mine.

CNN's story

Vegas Thursday Night

To read episode one of my December Vegas trip, click here.

So I nap for an hour or so, then shower up and head downstairs to meet Mark and Mike. Chilled at the sushi bar upstairs from the casino for a while as they eat and I drink my Pepsi (no place had Coke the whole weekend and I just couldn't grasp that, and ordered a Coke every time we went to eat. Sometimes multiple times at the same restaurant too.) which the bartender got into me a little about when I asked for it without ice. When I told him I was allergic to ice he didn't question it, didn't blink, didn't care....he was one of the coolest bartenders we'd see all weekend.

After the sushi we hung out in the casino for a couple minutes deciding whether or not to go to another restaurant or if I was just going to catch something quick on my own. We named places here and there and nothing sounded that good until Mark said, "How about that Italian place in Paris?"

I got up so quick that my chair started spinning and we were off to have some good food and GREAT bread. I am a carbaholic, always have been, and I really love bread. From now on I'm going to make sure I eat there at least once every time I go to Vegas....all because of the bread. I was pretty disappointed in myself for not thinking of the bread place as an option.

So we ate dinner at the little Italian place inside Paris. Wish I could remember the name of the place but I can't, and I don't feel like looking it up right now. After dinner we headed back to the room to freshen up and get ready for the bar. We left the room about 10ish or so and a few minutes and one semi-failed shortcut attempt later we rolled into the west wing entrance at MGM and walked right into the West Wing Bar/Lounge and immediately dug it....too bad we were the only ones in there as they were about to close.

We made our (roundabout) way over to Studio 54 to see if there was a line....I think I actually heard crickets when we got near the door. So we headed over to Centrifuge, the small bar in the middle of the casino area you first come into from NY-NY or Tropicana. The bar was pretty cool with a very attentive, attractive waitstaff and bartenders that know what a good pour is. Every so often the girls and guys that worked in the bar would get up on platforms or the bar and dance to a song for the enjoyment of the crowd. Thankfully we were sitting on the side of the bar where there were only girl bartenders.

After a few rounds at Centrifuge we staggered on over to Studio 54 to check out their "Dollhouse" night and see what that was all about. I had been to 54 a couple times before and always liked the layout of the place and the nice mix of people who go there on any given night. Some fabulous people watching to be had. The DJ was very good and gave everyone a chance to get out on the floor and shake their money maker. Too bad after a couple more drinks inside 54, I wouldn't really be able to shake someone's hand, much less get out and dance. The biggest draw for the "Dollhouse" nights are the girls and guys who change outfits every so often and get up on the platforms and dance in various stages of dress and undress, or in some cases just stand there and let someone paint their body.

All in all we had a good time at 54 and left as the crowd started to thin which is when we decided it was the right time to hit Fatburger. On the short walk there I found some "slippery when wet" cone/sign sitting outside and realized that it was actually put there just for me, so I picked it up and carried it with us. But when we got to Fatburger, the security guard stationed at Walgreens wouldn't let me take my cone in and forced me to leave it outside. Well, at least for a few minutes because I just went and got it when he wasn't looking anyway and put it in the seat next to Mike.

Things are kinda hazy for me inside Fatburger, but I do remember that Mike made quite a mess with his food and condiments, and earned the nickname Big Vagina from the guy sitting at the table next to us whom he ended up wrestling around with in the parking lot after we were all done eating. Sometime during all this the poor Walgreens guard came in and took the sign back outside. Why do I insist on making people's jobs (and lives) harder than they already are?

After dining on the burger that is so fat, we headed back to the room to let Mike pass out and Mark freshen up a bit. I also passed out sitting straight up in a chair waiting to see if Mark was up for more hi-jinks. When he woke me up I had no flipping idea where I was or what was going on. Love that Grey Goose and Red Bull.

After a short conversation where I told Mark I wasn't going to go to the Horse with him, I had a Monty Python moment and followed him out the door as he left. Again, details are hazy, but we left the Horse after a couple hours and lamented the fact that we didn't bring our sunglasses with us.

I Hate Being Sick.

Haaaate it. Thank God I don't get sick very often, but when I do it's bad. I'm sure being a baby and whining about it doesn't make it any better, but hey....

Went to dinner last night at Johnny Carino's, a new chain restaurant that recently opened up nearby and serves Italian food. Had some bread and Italian butter (olive oil and black pepper), couldn't really taste it. Had some bruchetta, couldn't really taste it. Had some ravioli, couldn't taste it and was full after a few bites. This is not how I want to lose weight....I haaaaaate being sick.

I don't have a full on sinus infection yet, and I am trying to keep it at bay with some Advil Sinus (since I can't find the Motrin Sinus anywhere now), orange juice, water, chicken noodle soup, and plenty of rest. So far I'm just dealing with some sniffles and a whole lot of sinus pressure. Last night seemed to be the worst of it with the nearly blinding headache at and after dinner, which thankfully went away as I slept (more or less tossed and turned and coughed actually) last night. Did I mention that I haaaaate being sick?

OK. I am done whining about being sick. To make up for it I will work on the rest of my Vegas posts and try and have them up before I get all types of comatose later today.

Christmas Recap

So how was your Christmas? Personally I had one of the most laid back, chilled out, stress free weekends I've had in years. On Christmas day none of us left the house, and that was nice. We had food and basketball and football and even watched a little poker. Our gift giving was short and sweet and I think my parents got more for the dogs than they did for anyone else.

Then my mom decides it's time for negotiations...."Hey, do you still think I should quit smoking?"

"Of course, it'd be great for your health."

"OK, then how about this?"

This is where I begin to panic. My mother has only agreed to quit smoking for one thing....ever....and that's a grandchild. And I would be all for that if my parents had only supplied me with a sibling or two, but being an only child makes that a little difficult for me to support. And I swear to God if this is another push at getting me to settle down and start a family before I....

"If you lose say 20-25 pounds in 2006, then I will quit smoking."

Did I hear this right? After so much fuss about the smoking issue and the grandbaby first mentality did she just say lose a few pounds and I'll quit? My response was short and came out almost immediately.

"Done."

So maybe this is the push I need to get back in shape after more than a year of sitting on my arse and plumping up at the 9-5. Every job I've ever had involved standing, walking, or running for a good portion of my shift. In my latest position at the 9-5 I've been sitting for about 8.5 hours and only standing/walking for about 30 minutes a day. That's a big change and my waistline has reflected it. Now I have a week to map out and implement a workout plan and diet that will help me drop my BMI rating from "I can't believe you haven't had a heart attack yet" to the coveted "Well, at least you aren't as fat as most other Americans".

I weighed in at about 235 last night and 25 pounds seems like nothing really. I could get that done by February if I really needed to, but boy would I be a grouchy em-effer for the month of January if that were the case.

I'll do my official weigh in at the gym on the 2nd, and track my progress until I reach my goal. It doesn't make for interesting reading, but I'm sure I'll end up posting that here on a semi-regular basis.

Merry Christmas!

Spending the weekend with my parents and and three dogs, each of them weighing about the same as my mom. Good times.

Have a great and safe weekend.

Paging Doctor Heimlich

Last night Jen and I went to Kiernan's Steak House in Dearborn for dinner. My filet was unremarkable, which really disappointed me because I was looking forward to it because I know they have bernaise sauce, which I really like with my steaks. But the food ended up playing second fiddle to the people watching action at the table right in front of us. The lineup at the table was a well-to-do retirement aged lady with a nose that was definitely not the one she was born with. 2 stereotypical "mother of an affluent man" types complete with the old lady clothing that is nothing but old lady clothing, but still not your run of the mill department store old lady clothing. We also had the affluent white male who is on the board of a local hospital group, and the last person was hard to peg, and we just assumed she was part of the help for someone in the group.

Toward the end of their dinner, and just as we were getting our entree, little old lady began to have trouble breathing because some of her food didn't quite make it all the way down. She was still getting air, but was in distress. Some of the staff tried to Heimlich her, but it didn't seem like the food was lodged high enough for that to work. I watched intently to gauge the woman's condition, deciding whether or not to step in and take over administration of first aid.

Just as I was resigning myself to the fact that I would need to step in for the safety of the old lady, a man at the table next to them calmly came over and did so himself. From the way he grasped the old lady and Heimliched her, you could tell he was a doctor. After a few attempts he decided to try using her gag reflex to help clear her airway, and stuck his finger down her throat. I didn't see her gag reflex kick in, but after a few moments she said she felt better and all was well.

The excitement seemed to thin the crowd drastically, especially after the paramedics arrived, and pretty soon we found ourselves almost completely alone in the restaurant to finish our meals. We made sure to chew everything very thoroughly after that....

Spaced

I have this spaced out, preoccupied feeling right now....and have felt that way all week, even though there isn't anything I am (consciously) preoccupied with. Maybe it's all because the 9-5 needed me in at 2am on Monday instead of the normal 6am, but didn't call me until almost 11 on Sunday night. Of course after I finally got to bed that night I was stressed about not getting enough sleep and tried very hard to fall asleep....nothing worked and the alarm went off before I ever got any rest.

So now my normal sleep schedule has gone out the window, and I think my brain may have followed....

I'll try and get my Vegas Thursday part II post up later today....hopefully I can get them all up before the details start to fade....

Vegas Thursday Part 1

Not much sleep on Wednesday because the day just ended up being a whole bunch of halla walla after I got off work. Capped off by the fact that I had to drive to Howell (2+ hours round-trip) to get my valid license so I would not have a problem in Vegas.

6:00am: Woke up early to finish laundry and packing for the trip.

6:35am: Grossly underestimated the amount of time it takes for my socks to dry.

6:55am: Tell (lie to) Mark and Mike that it's only going to be another couple of minutes til my stuff is dry and I am all packed up.

7:05am: Dump my still damp whites in my carry on and head out for the airport.

7:07am: Can't find my phone....need my phone.

7:12am: Drive home and find my phone sitting right outside the porn shower.

7:15am: Let Mark know the flight leaves for Vegas at 8:30, not 8:00 like I had originally told him. His response, "That's probably the only thing you could ever lie to me about and not make me mad...."

7:15-8:15am: Drive, park, shuttle, baggage, security.

8:15am: Mike gets stopped when the plate and screws in his ankle set off the metal detectors and confuse the TSA peeple.

8:17am: I run ahead to keep the plane at the gate just in case Mike's search gets a little too personal....

8:22am: Walk down ramp to plane, run into line. "Hmmm, hope they didn't over book...."

8:25am: Find out some rather rotund woman was holding up the plane because the overhead bins were full and she refused to check her carry-on. Low level yelling and near obscenities strew from our mouths. Flight attendant announces plane doors will close in 30 seconds, as I stand in the doorway and tell her that there's gonna be a problem between her and I if she tries that. Not finding the humor in my words, she begins to explain that it's all a grand psychological ploy to make Big Fun take her seat.

8:27am: Big Fun sits, Mark's carry on checked with regular baggage. I pass Big Fun and refrain from hitting her with my briefcase, but do point her out to everyone as peanut target practice later on....

8:35am: Rolling down the tarmac and I stop looking at my watch....

During the flight the three of us, all seated on the aisle near each other, begin talking about whether or not mathematics exists or if it's something that humans made up on our own. Surprisingly, we tend to agree on most points....ironically leading to a very short conversation which leads us to another, longer conversation about Absolute Truth(s). This conversation starts to tail off as I begin my third Malibu and Pepsi. Getting the drink alone was hard enough considering the attendant I ordered it from couldn't care less about my order.

The plane lands without me ever pulling out anything to read or write on....truly my quickest plane ride to Vegas ever.

Pick up our bags and hit the cabstand, which had no line at all, and run over to the Aladdin. We roll into the Aladdin lobby somewhere around 10am and I find a very lovely clerk who agrees to check us in early AND upgrade us to a strip view room for free as long as I meet her in said room after she gets off work....OK, it was actually a $50 bill that got us in early and upgraded, but hey....gotta make sure my readers are paying attention right?

Insert pic of room view here--->

$50 between 3 guys for 4 nights is well worth it for the view we got of the fountains across the street at Bellagio. Once we get our bags from the bell hop we are off to Bellagio like a rocket.

GELATO! MMmmmm....Dulche' de leche and Oreo gelato on a waffle cone....welcome home Mister M. After our delicious traditional indulgence we walk by the poker room and see Scotty Nguyen. Man is this trip going to be fun or what baby?

From the poker room we stroll over to Snacks and each get a sandwich. None of us are very impressed and Mark and Mike wander off to the slots as I finish off my huge club and nearly deck some ugly woman who won't get out of my way when I go toward the trash with my tray....had the sourdough not soaked up some of the rum from earlier I might have put an ugly lady's head shaped dent in my tray.

It's 11 am, I am in Vegas, and I have nearly hit a woman on two occasions....I need to chill the eff out. Let's hit the strip!

We walk out into the sun and make our way up the east side of the street to Wynn. We go in, check it out....it's nice, but it looks so familiar. Oh yeah, it's the Bellagio....but different color schemes, and a different layout....Impressive sure, but not so much.

I must say though, that we all noticed the high level of hotness in the cocktail service area....Hottest in town, with really nice outfits too.

From there we crossed the strip and hit the Fashion Show Mall because I needed to get some black pants for the weekend. The food court there is a pedophile's dream....I don't remember 16 and 17 year olds looking like that ten years ago....we quickly got uncomfortable and left the food court for the mall.

We actually saw a fashion show there too. As we were walking back to the strip from Dillard's there was a Christmasy one going on....it wasn't good enough to hold our attention, and we headed back. Walking along the cove at TI we noticed it was empty, but the audio for the show was still going strong. We walked inside of the Forum Shops for less than a minute to show Mike the curved escalators, and then back to the Aladdin.

It was about 4pm at this point and I decided there was no way I could make it through another 12+ hours without a nap....and I was the first of us to sleep in Vegas.

Read part two here.

Vegas Afterglow

It's not so much an afterglow as it's about three days of separation anxiety and heavy under-eye baggage....The more I go to Vegas, the less likely it is that I will end up back in Michigan. This time was extremely hard to cope with. Had I been lucky enough to take a fitness exam and face an oral board out there on this trip, I might be looking for housing in Henderson right now. The department has urged me to apply again because I was very near the cutoff date and might not have even been considered because they got the number of applicants they wanted before I even turned mine in....so not all hope is lost. Although I would love to do it, it's hard to imagine that it would be the best thing for me. How long before I seriously think I could make a good life playing poker? I don't have the constitution of a high stakes player. I like stability in my life, and that goes out the window the minute you let the cards determine whether or not your bills will get paid for a given month, or even year....I know that it's a game of skill more than luck, but luck is still in the equation.

I handle bad beats pretty well, unless I hit a rash of them in one night or, God forbid, a week. But I play low stakes with money I have already written off as gone. Had I to play for rent money or food money, would I be able to take those beats without beating the hell out of one of the donkeys who laid it on me? The answer is probably....knowing me, I'd end up picking the biggest donkey of the bunch and get my own ass beat on top of losing my money. At least I'd have a hard time getting the word "rebuy" out if my jaw was wired shut....

I am still piecing together last weekend's events, and hope to have the first of my five posts done later tonight or tomorrow, with the others following soon thereafter. Stay tuned for my somewhat coherent babbling about my somewhat unsober affairs....

I SHOOK DOYLE'S HAND!

Just getting back into the swing of things here after my long Vegas weekend. Had a great time as usual, saw tons of poker pros in town for the Bellagio Five Diamond Classic, and of course, got to shake Doyle Brunson's hand during one of the breaks on the first day of the tourney. More to come....

Sin City and All That it Stands For

Yay capitalism! You've just gotta love a town that is run on greed and love of the almighty dollar. It's like the Republican Party without the uptight religious facade. Although I am sure you'll find more people praying in Vegas than you will in the House or the Senate, but they just may rival Vegas for high stakes poker games and prostitutes....

Anyway....my procrastination is catching up with me again. 46 hours from takeoff and I am woefully behind on everything I need to get done before Vegas. Thankfully I already have a dog watcher in place, because this trip proved to be the toughest to cover yet. I still need to get a new phone. Mine is only good for about 8 minutes of talking anymore, and the connection problems persist. On top of that I need to get my finances in order, a haircut, and find some more clothes....but really, that's about it. Not much to get done, but a whole lot of running around today.

I am hella excited about this trip. Not only is it just me, Mark, and Mike unsupervised, but there is a WPT event starting on Monday, and a WPBT event on Saturday that I am going to camp out at the Imp for....with any luck I'll get one of the few open spots. I'll probably just donate my funds, but it should be a great experience to play in a tourney with all the bloggers I read about....

Next post should be after Vegas! Hopefully it'll be after I take down the Bellagio Five Diamond Classic....

A Long Time Coming....

Hi. My name is Max....and I'm an absentee blogger. For more than a month now I have been disappointing my faithful readers (OK, reader....who is probably no longer faithful anyway) who think that maybe, just maybe, today is the day that I will return with wondrous stories and thoughts on life....Well, today is that day....at least the returning part. Can't guarantee I'll share any stories or thoughts today, but I have returned just in time to make sure I have a November entry for my archive....

So what have I been doing with my time lately? Other than heading down to Mississippi for hurricane clean-up, pretty much just the normal daily grind at the 9-5 and some online poker here and there. My fantasy football teams are both pretty much garbage, so I don't have that to worry about anymore considering playoff time is coming and I won't be part of that in either league.

I'm going to Vegas soon. Next week as a matter of fact. I'll be in town for the WPBT event at the Imp on Dec 10th....but I booked too late to be part of the tourney....unless there are some no shows on the day of and I can slide in there on the first come, first served basis....I've been reading some of these player's blogs for quite a while now and would love to see them all in action....

Either way, I am going to have a hella good time because it's just me, Mark, and Mike this time around. Mike is in for a little more poker than he bargained for, but hopefully we'll have him hooked by the time we leave.

Well, that's all for right now. I am going to review my hand history from the last couple of SNGs I played (finished first in both) and see if that can help me keep the streak going. I've had three consecutive money finishes before, but never three consecutive wins. I'm sure I'll post some of the highlights from the most recent SNG, just to show how lucky I got getting the cards I needed, when I needed them. Long story short, I started off playing very tight (for me) and ended up short stacked at about 150ish when the blinds jumped to 50-100. Too bad for them they didn't realize what a great short stacker I am....

Official Victory

I'm not sure what happened that got Mike Carey's crew all Baltimore hating yesterday, but that's sure what it seemed like watching the Lions' game. I'm not going to complain about the bad officiating or the more than questionable call on the replay of Joey Harrington's fumble that was picked up by Kevin Jones and advanced to the Baltimore 2, leading to a TD. But game did seem a little slanted in terms of penalties. Mind you, the Ravens did nothing to help themselves when they were bumping referees, grabbing umpires, throwing the ball in disgust after chewing out a linesman, or making an obscene gesture to the Detroit crowd after a great goal line stand.


For at least part of that I give Kevin Jones credit. After his first TD, on a nice 14 yard run in which he beat Ray Lewis to the corner, he mockingly danced in the end zone like Deion used to. The Ravens D took notice and got a little chippy with the Lions players who did not back down. Then after punching in the score following the reviewed and upheld fumble call, Jones aimed his dance moves at another Ravens defender. This time it was Ray Lewis. Then the Ravens D started to play a little dirty, as a former linebacker I feel horrible for saying that, which I am sure the Lions pointed out to the refs who began flagging the visitors for anything outside the letter of the rulebook.

Any win is a win, but the offense seemed to be bogged down once again. Maybe it's the fact that we have played three of the top 5 defenses in the NFL in our last three games. Maybe it's injuries taking a toll on us again. Maybe our WRs need to learn how to bring in the ball down the field. Maybe our QB needs to make better throws....Maybe I am on to something here. How many games can you possibly expect to win when your QB has a 52.7 passer rating? Well, we are one replay review away from being 3-1 (admittedly Joey's rating would be a smidge higher with that TD in Tampa) having beaten two teams with a combined record of 2-7. One of our defeats came at the hand of the only team with a worse passer, rating-wise, than the Lions.

That's right, only Kyle Orton has a worse passer rating than Joey Harrington. Kyle Orton was not a top 3 pick in the draft. Kyle Orton has not had four years to learn his offense. Kyle Orton doesn't have three WRs taken 2nd, 7th, and 10th overall in their respective drafts, and one of the best pass catching TEs in the league. Kyle Orton is a rookie who was drafted in the 4th round (103 picks later than Joey was taken in 2002) this year and was pressed into action when Rex Grossman broke his ankle for like the 7th time, and the Bears cut Chad Hutchinson because he was ineffective. Welcome to the NFL Kyle. You get to be the starter after only a month of reporting to your first NFL training camp. I'm not sure how much your contract with the Bears is worth, but I do know that your numbers could get you about $5 mil/year in Detroit.

Tip of the Day

Altoids: Good
Bananas: Good

Tip: Keep them separate.

Weekend Recap

Friday night was pretty much a wash since I had a lot of house cleaning to do before people could come over on Saturday for Marktoberfest. Some of the usual crew headed out to Royal Oak to see the Killer Flamingos, the band that Paul is now actively stalking. Well, as active as Paul can be with anything anyway. Jen came over and offered to help with anything I needed as far as the cleaning was concerned, but I was just happy to have her to talk to as I went about the house wondering how certain things got in certain places. She crashed pretty early and I went out to Farmer Jack at about 1am and spent an hour there returning bottles and buying Red Bull while wearing my ultra fabulous 'With a shirt like this who needs pants?' T-shirt and some mesh shorts to match. About an hour after that I was in bed and ready for a long Saturday.

Saturday morning came very fast as Jen's alarm went off about 9:30. She set it just early enough to get up and get online/on the phone to make sure she got Bon Jovi tix when they went on sale at 10:00. I of course offered to help and volunteered to be on the computer as opposed to the phone. In the end she got tix to the show, but not nearly as good as she had hoped for. After that was the final tidy up duties inside the house and some yard work for the outside.

While I was putting the finishing touches on the party prep I watched Michigan beat Michigan State 34-31 in OT. It was a game that as a fan you just couldn't stop watching because either team could have come up with a big play at any time. After Michigan jumped out to a lead early the Spartans fought back to within a FG by halftime. Michigan received the ball to start the second half and gave it to MSU with a Chad Henne interception on the 3rd play from scrimmage, just 17 yards away fromt the end zone.

UM's defense hung tough and forced a FG after three plays. Those would be the only offensive points for Sparty in the second half. After that both teams played a field position game to start the 3rd quarter until MSU put together a nearly perfect drive that ate up a good portion of the 3rd and spilled over into the 4th. Precision passing, great play calling and execution took them from their own 5 to the UM 6 yard line where John Goss missed a FG that was barely longer than an extra point. To put it better, a kick that I would have had a good chance at making, and I haven't kicked a ball in more than 10 years.

On the very next play Mike Hart took off on a 64 yard run to the MSU 16. Four plays later he ran it in from the 1 on a great stretching dive. Michigan's defense held Sparty to a 3 and out, then continued to roll down the field churning out 40 yards on 8 plays. The ninth play of the drive Henne dropped back to pass and was hit as his arm was coming forward with the ball still in it. The play was ruled a fumble and some random slow DL from MSU picked it up and ran it back 75 yards for a TD with not much pursuit from the Michigan players, just that squirrel tail looking hair he had sticking out of the back of his helmet. So now instead of holding a 10 point lead with about 6:00 left in the game, Michigan was now looking at a tied ball game with the Sparty stands going wild.

Michigan put together another nice drive eating up about 5 minutes and moving the ball 50 yards down to the ten where Garrett Rivas missed a 26 yarder with less than a minute left in regulation. Into OT where MSU got the ball first and moved it 4 yards before Goss got to blow another FG attempt, this time at least from 38 yards away. Michigan's follow up possession covered 7 yards in two plays before Rivas kicked the game winner from 35 yards out, and the house went wild!

Sunday was just a lazy football day and we went out to watch a bunch of games. The Lions lost, the Redskins won, and my fantasy team did poorly once again. Even with the loss the now 1-2 Lions still hold a share of first place in the NFC North. What a great division huh? Green Bay has a chance to grab their share of the division lead tonight if they can tally their first win. How sad is it that an 0-3 team can tie for the division lead with a win?

Our defense looked pretty good against Tampa with Teddy Lehman grabbing a nice INT in his first game back, but our offense looked bad again. How sad is it that I keep telling myself that this offense will soon show us all something with the 4 early first round draft picks that are out there, as well as the high 2nd round RB who gained all those yards in the second half of last season? It could be worse. I could still have season tickets.

Less Poker, More Madden

Lately it seems that my spare time has shifted from my poker addiction to a new Madden 06 addiction. I'm sure no one will be surprised by this as football has been a way of life for me since I was a wee Max, but it has caught me a little off guard. I played the game once in the first couple weeks I owned it, and maybe three times total in the first month. Now that we are getting into the NFL grind it seems that I have almost abandoned the poker, I hope my free rolls will be good for a while, to advance my football fixation to the CGI level as well.

Sooner or later I will take the time to write a Madden 06 review, but it'll have to wait until my Redskins are done with their first season under me. 1-0 so far. Dallas is next. Watch out Cowboys!

Within five minutes I am one click away from....

I need to limit the time I spend online. Companies today make it way too easy to buy things from their website. I had some extra time this morning and decided to check out the new iPod Nano. I already want one and plan to buy one very soon, so what harm could come from checking it out online? HA!

Within five minutes I am one click away from having it shipped to me in 1-2 weeks because of high demand. Then I check out the specs to see if it comes with the dock or not, and if I'll even need one. Along the way I see that you need at least Windows 2000 on your computer to load anything onto the Nano. My not-so-new computer still runs 98.

So I think, "It's high time I get that old piece of crap out of the house anyway....let's see what specials Dell has today. Find exactly what I want, and get a coupon code from TechBargains and within five minutes I am one click away from having a brand new system shipped to me, with $5000 of instant Dell credit at my disposal. Only have to hit the customize button and get rid of the monitor as I already have a top-notch Dell flat panel. Only problem with this is I can't do that with the package I want, and paying for the monitor that comes in the package puts me over my budget for a new desktop....but not for a new laptop.

Within five minutes I am one click away from having a brand new notebook shipped to me, after finding a great deal on TechBargains that will save me nearly 1/3 of the money I would have normally spent. This is too easy. Have I thought this through yet? What accessories will I need for the notebook? Will this be enough to completely replace my desktop? What do I do with the new monitor I have that's just waiting for the rest of my new desktop?

Many more questions fill my head as I am one click from tossing more than a grand, and probably up to about 2k, at these electronics that I don't NEED. Can I wait for these and make sure I have the best deals? Of course I can, I am a great at budgeting and finding deals. Will I wait? This still remains to be seen.

I am beginning to cool off now and imagine the potential buyer's remorse involved here. Because I like always finding the best bargain, buyer's remorse is one of the worst feelings I get and an excellent way to stop myself from buying things I don't need.

Every week the deals get better and better for new desktops. I'm sure I can wait at least a couple or few more and take the money I would have spent with me to Vegas in January and have a much better time out there while still enjoying the very things I nearly bought in haste.

Cancelled

So after being moved to Galveston from New Orleans, our cruise has actually been cancelled now. All the excitement for our warm Caribbean vacation has been cancelled as well. The company I booked the cruise through is currently "working on getting me a refund" and Northwest Airlines wants to charge me 1/3 of my original fare to cancel my reservation. No wonder they filed chapter 11. Union-busting, imperialists jack holes.

I tried my best not to get mad at the customer rep reading off of her script at whatever hour of the night it was in her part of India, but I was so frustrated that everyone else was so helpful and/or tried to help me to the best of their ability in the wake of this amazing disaster, and there was this smug woman telling me that flights are running to New Orleans and I could go there tomorrow if I wanted. She had no smug answer for me when I asked where I could stay if the hotel I booked was still partially submerged. And after I asked to be assured that my money would at least go to hurricane relief, she told me she could not guarantee that because it was a billing issue. The last straw for me was when I asked, "So the airline is just going to profit off of one of the worst natural disasters in this country's history?" and the woman flatly said I guess so. I had to hang up....lest I unleash my anger upon this woman who had no options to exercise herself where my airfare was concerned.

Well, I still have my reservations at the soon to be Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino but currently bankrupt and still hemorrhaging cash Aladdin for the first week in December. Maybe Vegas is trying to tell me something??? I've got to call the Aladdin one way or the other....maybe I can call to see about lengthening the stay. That way I can just switch my ticket to Vegas instead of New Orleans and not give Northwest my money for nothing....interesting. Let's look into that.

It's been almost three years since my first stay at the then fairly new Aladdin, and I can remember the bankruptcy talk even back then. It just goes to show that merely opening a large resort on the strip doesn't guarantee a windfall for the owners. Bad planning and poor management decisions put the resort in a hole from the very start, and with the interest on their debt accumulating faster than the profits from the small casino and surreptitiously configured shopping mall, there was really no rosy outlook for the young resort.

Planet Hollywood's plans portray a much better design, and a flashier facade that is more inviting, contemporary, and rather gaudy. This all sounds very Vegasy right away, but more and more it's beginning to sound more Times Square than Vegas Strip to me. It will be interesting to watch how the transformation of this resort plays out.