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Ah well, a couple of events this week leave me in the hole for $2,000, or a grand in real money. Curiously, neither has left me particularly downheated. Indeed, one had me quite cheery.
Luton & Dunstable Hospial finally telephoned me to arrange an appointment for surgery on the impacted canines (procedures four and five on these two troubesome animals), which meant that what felt like 10 weeks of going nowhere and still having this collection of metal in my mouth would finally move forward. Let's just hope that it's successful. I'm slightly more opimistic about the eventual success of the operation(s), and considerably more optimistic about the skills of the surgeon, who by all accounts is as good as they get. So, next Friday is the day. Woo hoo. Although I might not be saying that aftewards.
The second $1000 hit culminated four days of horror when a three buy-in loss brought me to my stop-loss of five buy-ins. So, it's back to $100 buy-ins to regroup.
The $600 I lost last night was split evenly between Full Tilt and No IQ, although the latter was a much longer session. I was definitely unlucky on No IQ and I felt that I was unlucky on Full Tilt. But I'm 3.5 buy-ins down there now and I'm fairly sure that I need to go away and do some homework. My main fear is that dataminers are at work and that I'm being check-raised more often on the flop with air. Since I'm usually there with a big stack, and since we are in the standard situation where a third of the time when late raiser faces defender, both of you miss, the check-raise from the blind is a powerful weapon. Unfortunately, when I try it with air, it doesn't seem to work :-)
I've been thinking a bit about this, but a more logical move for the moment would be to stick to $200 buy ins on No IQ, where you can afford to walk away from this occasional occurrence, partly because it happens less often, and partly because there are more fish around who will give you money in other ways.
Still, regroup time it is, until I win the thousand dollars back.
The reason that I am not disheartened is that I'm quite comfortable playing at these stakes. Indeed, I'm itching to move to $400 buy-ins and I'm happy to do the necessary research involved (because the return on investment would be well worthwhile). However, what I'm not comfortable with is the cumulative effect of a bad run. In other words, I don't in the least mind losing a $400 pot on a bad beat, but I do mind hitting a bad run that takes me down more than a grand. Still, I slept quite easily last night, which I didn't when I lost $700 in a night after moving to $5-$10 limit in May 2005.
The superb irony of all this is that I only sat down at Full Tilt because it was the last day of a $150 bonus, and I had $55 to clear. I worked this out at about 800 hands and decided to stick this out (with a $400 stop loss). After about an hour it occurred to me that I hadn't had a bonus message click up. I checked the bonus account and saw that the offer did not expire at midnight (that's how it works on Party), but precisely 14 days after I "accepted" the offer. This meant that it expired at 11.57am on the 14th. I'd been playing the entire time for no bonus at all.
Even I had a chuckle at that one.
I need another 8 days at 100FPP a day to get to the Gold Ironman. I can't decide whether it's worth the masochism, because FTP killed me in the latter part of last year and it's hit me for $900 this month. A big gain on Stars and a by-now very modest performance on No IQ bring the net loss for the month to $300, and my performance at $200 buy-in is virtually flat (I had a four buy-in gain followed by a five buy-in loss). I'd like to stay at $200 on No IQ, but I would be very unhappy if I hit a bad run, so I'm not taking the emotional risk. $100 it is, until month-end, at least.
+++++++++++
I know that organizing conventions is a thankless task, but I can't help but feel that MidCon would benefit from at least one person who was not of the attitude that "everything will be ok in the end".
The problem is that inherently optmistic people have no idea what life is like for intrinsic pessimists. So, if Johnny H sends off an application for a convention, and hears nothing from either convention organiser or hotel, he will assume that things will probably be fine and, if not, well, something will sort itself out.
But when Birks sends off an application form and reservation and hears nothing, he imagines that the cheques have been lost in the post, that there will be no record of his turning up, that, for the first time in 15 years, the hotel will be fully booked (or burnt down, or the convention will have moved to another hotel), and that he will end up in some Bed and Breakfast five miles away.
And so it was that I telephoned the Angus, "just to make sure" that my reservation was there. And, of course, it was. It doesn't occur to the Midcon guys to send out soothing confirmations of an order, because when they send off an order themselves, they assume the best unless they hear otherwise.
I envy them.
++++++++++++
Our server has been acting up at work the past few days, resulting in occasional serious delays 'twixt keyboard and screen. I have therefore come up with a technological advance.
This wood-enclosed carbonite interface works directly to paper. No need for a monitor. Neither is there any need to switch from text to graphics. The carbon response mechanism works in either text mode or graphics mode.
At the opposite end to the carbon/paper interaction is an integrated self-delete device. This state-of-the art DEL (called an eraser) can actually delete parts of individual letters, whole words, and even, at a pinch, whole paragraphs. However, for the latter, the user manual recommends the application of a large-font "X" over the entire paragraph.
For graphics, the DEL mechanism enables the simplest amendments. Just try it once compared to Photoshop and you will be amazed at the ease of use. Indeed, some people have said that the item (Pencil(TM)) doesn't actually need a manual at all.
I've tried it, and, at just $29.95, I can tell you, it's a bargain. We'll all be using them soon, trust me.
((Anyone who says this is a nick from Rob Newman should be aware that I was piloting the "backwards invention" concept many many moons ago, and I have witnesses))
++++++++++
There are a few words that can guarantee a press release not getting past the first line before I delete it, and "solutions" is one of them. This morning I got something from a company that was either called, or referred to "Total Solutions" (I deleted it so quickly that I'm not sure which). I wonder how long it will be before some IT geek comes up with the bright idea of talking about his software innovation as a "Final Solution", and wonders why everyone else puts their heads in their hands.
Hell, I guess that it's already happened, somewhere.
"Yeah, well, like I think that we should push this product as the Final Solution to the Databaase Management Industry"
"Wayne, you are a moron".
"What did I say?"
______________________
Luton & Dunstable Hospial finally telephoned me to arrange an appointment for surgery on the impacted canines (procedures four and five on these two troubesome animals), which meant that what felt like 10 weeks of going nowhere and still having this collection of metal in my mouth would finally move forward. Let's just hope that it's successful. I'm slightly more opimistic about the eventual success of the operation(s), and considerably more optimistic about the skills of the surgeon, who by all accounts is as good as they get. So, next Friday is the day. Woo hoo. Although I might not be saying that aftewards.
The second $1000 hit culminated four days of horror when a three buy-in loss brought me to my stop-loss of five buy-ins. So, it's back to $100 buy-ins to regroup.
The $600 I lost last night was split evenly between Full Tilt and No IQ, although the latter was a much longer session. I was definitely unlucky on No IQ and I felt that I was unlucky on Full Tilt. But I'm 3.5 buy-ins down there now and I'm fairly sure that I need to go away and do some homework. My main fear is that dataminers are at work and that I'm being check-raised more often on the flop with air. Since I'm usually there with a big stack, and since we are in the standard situation where a third of the time when late raiser faces defender, both of you miss, the check-raise from the blind is a powerful weapon. Unfortunately, when I try it with air, it doesn't seem to work :-)
I've been thinking a bit about this, but a more logical move for the moment would be to stick to $200 buy ins on No IQ, where you can afford to walk away from this occasional occurrence, partly because it happens less often, and partly because there are more fish around who will give you money in other ways.
Still, regroup time it is, until I win the thousand dollars back.
The reason that I am not disheartened is that I'm quite comfortable playing at these stakes. Indeed, I'm itching to move to $400 buy-ins and I'm happy to do the necessary research involved (because the return on investment would be well worthwhile). However, what I'm not comfortable with is the cumulative effect of a bad run. In other words, I don't in the least mind losing a $400 pot on a bad beat, but I do mind hitting a bad run that takes me down more than a grand. Still, I slept quite easily last night, which I didn't when I lost $700 in a night after moving to $5-$10 limit in May 2005.
The superb irony of all this is that I only sat down at Full Tilt because it was the last day of a $150 bonus, and I had $55 to clear. I worked this out at about 800 hands and decided to stick this out (with a $400 stop loss). After about an hour it occurred to me that I hadn't had a bonus message click up. I checked the bonus account and saw that the offer did not expire at midnight (that's how it works on Party), but precisely 14 days after I "accepted" the offer. This meant that it expired at 11.57am on the 14th. I'd been playing the entire time for no bonus at all.
Even I had a chuckle at that one.
I need another 8 days at 100FPP a day to get to the Gold Ironman. I can't decide whether it's worth the masochism, because FTP killed me in the latter part of last year and it's hit me for $900 this month. A big gain on Stars and a by-now very modest performance on No IQ bring the net loss for the month to $300, and my performance at $200 buy-in is virtually flat (I had a four buy-in gain followed by a five buy-in loss). I'd like to stay at $200 on No IQ, but I would be very unhappy if I hit a bad run, so I'm not taking the emotional risk. $100 it is, until month-end, at least.
+++++++++++
I know that organizing conventions is a thankless task, but I can't help but feel that MidCon would benefit from at least one person who was not of the attitude that "everything will be ok in the end".
The problem is that inherently optmistic people have no idea what life is like for intrinsic pessimists. So, if Johnny H sends off an application for a convention, and hears nothing from either convention organiser or hotel, he will assume that things will probably be fine and, if not, well, something will sort itself out.
But when Birks sends off an application form and reservation and hears nothing, he imagines that the cheques have been lost in the post, that there will be no record of his turning up, that, for the first time in 15 years, the hotel will be fully booked (or burnt down, or the convention will have moved to another hotel), and that he will end up in some Bed and Breakfast five miles away.
And so it was that I telephoned the Angus, "just to make sure" that my reservation was there. And, of course, it was. It doesn't occur to the Midcon guys to send out soothing confirmations of an order, because when they send off an order themselves, they assume the best unless they hear otherwise.
I envy them.
++++++++++++
Our server has been acting up at work the past few days, resulting in occasional serious delays 'twixt keyboard and screen. I have therefore come up with a technological advance.
This wood-enclosed carbonite interface works directly to paper. No need for a monitor. Neither is there any need to switch from text to graphics. The carbon response mechanism works in either text mode or graphics mode.
At the opposite end to the carbon/paper interaction is an integrated self-delete device. This state-of-the art DEL (called an eraser) can actually delete parts of individual letters, whole words, and even, at a pinch, whole paragraphs. However, for the latter, the user manual recommends the application of a large-font "X" over the entire paragraph.
For graphics, the DEL mechanism enables the simplest amendments. Just try it once compared to Photoshop and you will be amazed at the ease of use. Indeed, some people have said that the item (Pencil(TM)) doesn't actually need a manual at all.
I've tried it, and, at just $29.95, I can tell you, it's a bargain. We'll all be using them soon, trust me.
((Anyone who says this is a nick from Rob Newman should be aware that I was piloting the "backwards invention" concept many many moons ago, and I have witnesses))
++++++++++
There are a few words that can guarantee a press release not getting past the first line before I delete it, and "solutions" is one of them. This morning I got something from a company that was either called, or referred to "Total Solutions" (I deleted it so quickly that I'm not sure which). I wonder how long it will be before some IT geek comes up with the bright idea of talking about his software innovation as a "Final Solution", and wonders why everyone else puts their heads in their hands.
Hell, I guess that it's already happened, somewhere.
"Yeah, well, like I think that we should push this product as the Final Solution to the Databaase Management Industry"
"Wayne, you are a moron".
"What did I say?"
______________________
