LAPC Los Angeles poker classic is an event to exercise your poker prowess. You can go from chip chump to chip champ . I entered the Omaha eight or better 147 people in the field. I got served my walk of shame papers half way. I played my almost best and I realize how much I missed playing. I saw Robert “chip burner” Turner the alleged inventor of this crazy making game and of course the usual suspects. The Mexican and Filipino mafia each said their hellos. and I was happy to know the few mistakes I made were not rookie ones. As the book says “you have to be willing to die” I say chip happens
Cards
Green Wood Goat
Ireland was my first thought when I read 2015 Chinese horoscope. Sheep herders there sometimes “tag their sheep” by simply using a spray can. I needed a boost to my spirit given that last year was a little rough and I made changes without much thought and more impulse. I looked back and I was much like the sheep I saw while in Ireland, meandering and looking for the next patch of grass minding my own business. My coat growing heavy and wet with regret and knowing there’s more I should be doing to grow and explore. Here comes the part where the sheep is shorn and underneath is a fresh start. Year of the Goat which states it it will be a year of peace balance harmony and calmness. Just in time because I have a affinity at times for the opposite, like control chaos. I am open to receive this or am I not? I want a different life without detracting from the one I have been living. The best has yet to come as they say so I will greet the new year with my chin up and my pack ready.
Excess and success
Christmas got here in a big hurry. I feel the spirit every time I hear a loved ones voice and I don’t feel overwhelmed. I do feel a deep sense of relief. The changes I made this year has help my focus. I was so caught up in the stuff and it was taking its toll. Affected sleep and feigned happiness. I am choosing to leave my phone in the car. I am working on being engaged and listening to others. I had several drinks at a recent party and that’s the extent of my excess..so far. I do want excessive laughter, fun and merriment. I am going to actively seek this out.
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Bruise Cruise
I should not expect to win if I haven’t played. I just thought it be like riding a bike. Nope not the case but I did meet Mr. Johnny Hale, who is an 1980 WSOP champ. At 87 years old he is kicking ass and taking names. He said while at the table ” I wish I was 20 years younger” another player said ” You mean you wish you were 40 years younger” Mr. Hale said ” No 20 years is fine”. 195 poker players played on and off for seven days. I recognized some players from Las Vegas high limit Venetian Room and I was intimidated then during a tournament I made a rookie mistake and Bam! I was out. The beautiful ocean and sea spray helped me cool down but I felt bruised and defeated. I still love playing poker. Badugi and open face chinese poker are kinda popular these last few years. I often say to those who play Omaha high low “you’re either a omaholic or omahalogist”. Poker invokes a lot of math so I cracked up when a really good aggressive gal player said. ” I spend half my life playing poker half my life sleeping and half my life shopping” sounds good to me.
Chocolate Massacre
Women love chocolate. With one exception. In 12 days I am going on a quickie Poker cruise the last one I was on I partied hard late into the night, I then crawled into my bed as not to wake up my bunk mates. In the morning I screamed looking at my bed then grabbing my neck for some kind answer to the question “who stabbed me in the night” why? OMG the sheets had what appeared to be old blood high up on the pillow area. Duh, these luxurious cruises place a chocolate on your pillow before you retire, I fell asleep and melted that damn Ghirardelli chocolate square. Mystery solved.
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STUFF..ING
Today we delivered an “overflow” which are items left behind because there wasn’t enough room in the first place. We have delivered several of these overflows, none of which we have created. I realized that some of us most of us all of us are attached to our stuff. Long time ago Life magazine featured families all around the world and their stuff. A Saudi family, a nomadic family in Nepal, and a family from America were the ones I remember. All the items in the home were brought outside placed on a foundation and lifted on a crane. Of course the American family of four had the most stuff. The Saudi family had twice as many people but significantly less. 2 or 3 Mercedes and super long couch is what I remembered. The nomadic family had whatever they could load on 4 or 5 Yaks. I’m somewhere in between the Saudis and the Yaks. I have become a keen observer of behaviors and some of us are possessed by our possessions. The accumulation can be overwhelming since I only have 2 feet and wearing more than one pair of shoes at a time is a realization that maybe I got the message a little too late.
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Mighty Miss
The River is milk chocolate brown and is 12,355,200 feet long. I try to imagine all the written and unwritten history that has taken place here. In long haul trucking it’s the most often used reference amongst drivers. And just about everybody had to spell it in second grade. She is beautiful and dangerous and her silt is showing. Between the giant barges and alligators she has plenty of company and doesn’t get mad when I cross her…
over and over again.
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Fork in the Road
Eating healthy was the goal but now it’s about making choices with the best outcome. When you have a 53 foot trailer and truck, you are limited to truck stops for you dining options. The limits increase ten fold once you get inside. I look around and see the swelling of rolled hotdogs and all package foods. I am scared (scarred too)further by the sites of many a trucker with large abdomens. It seems these pendulant bellies are accompanied by missing teeth. A vicious cycle begins since you can’t chew properly for nutrients you stick to soft foods. Some salad bars are hideous others like today terrific. Plain strawberries and grapes. Some soups are identified by observation not by title. Green Chile beef soup did not sound appetizing but upon inspection so healthy. Beans bay leaf clear broth and meat that appeared decent and edible. So soup du jour.
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G is for Gambling.
Arrival into Las Vegas Nevada last night is fun. Not complaining only explaining. I got up at four am to be at the truck yard by 5. I tried my darndest to nap while traveling from Long Beach to San Diego then here. I begin to think about the din of Keno machines, the numbers I’ll pick, the waitresses that love to cut up with me and bring Ginger ale with bitters in the tall glass. My palms start to perspire and I lean into the glass to see those lights that I love. My home is here and now it is temporarily occupied by family. I remind myself that charity begins at home. I’m a thimble full of resentment.
Oh well. I am often a bridesmaid never a bride since one of the crew hit a jackpot. Damn foiled again. I tell myself my luck will be ever present when I get back to playing poker. Later today I am meeting a new acquaintance thru friends to view his new Corvette. He is a magician and maybe he’ll make me disappear.
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JUST THE THREE OF US.
. Plans change and now Florida is out and Tupelo Mississippi is in. This time it’s a party and saying goodbye to some good sleep. The driver called me ” how set are you about going to Florida?” And “Brian is going to join us”. I like Brian but it changes the sleeping arrangements. So head to toe the driver ( six foot six) and I (5’6) in one bunk and Brian upstairs in the penthouse. All three of us have traveled together before and we all got along. We joke since Brian who happens to look like the actor Keanu Reeves, works well others also sees things differently. Back in May the driver told Brian “Dude you’d shit gold bars and complain they weren’t shiny enough” Thanksgiving on the road will be a first. I appreciate that my mom did not give me sad eyes or “what about me?” Which she has perfected over the years. It’s like the bend and snap “works every time”. Thank goodness! May God Bless and hold tenderly all who have served on this Veterans Day.
Girl about the country 