Fire(places) and Brimstone

This weekend started with a drive to organize the house a bit. With the change in the seasons, there was a need to swap out some clothes for the kids and so in the transition period, we had become overrun. A little cleaning, then we spent the afternoon running a couple of errands.
Highest on the list was looking for a wood stove to fit into our fireplace. Essentially what this will give us is an efficient fireplace to actually use rather than our current setup which would suck so much air out of our house that it would not really achieve much in the warmth department. We decided on a model and so now just have to wait the two weeks for supplies to be ordered, permits to be obtained etc. I think this will be a huge improvment in both form and function when compared to what we have now.

After this, we busied ourselves in cleaning again for just long enough for Mindy's dust allergy to flare up. She took an antihistamine and we settled to watch some TV. The drug hit her hard as she was pretty much in a coma about 30 minutes later. I guess the warnings about drowsiness etc are there for a reason!

On Sunday we watched the movie “Jesus Camp”, a documentary about some Evangelical Christian familes, focussing on a camp the kids attend, designed to build their faith. It was a very interesting movie and is highly recommended for viewing. Overall, the parents shown were abusive and controlling in subtle ways. Watching these kids get whipped into frenzies and reaching such a confused emotional state as to break down in tears was nothing more than psycholigical abuse in my view. Kids being taught that Satan is looking to get them (manifested through sin) and extreme nonsense like Harry Potter being evil (he is a warlock after all) is very distasteful and offensive. One funny thing (at least we thought it was funny)…the lady who runs the camp was quite overweight. At one point, she actually criticised Christians for not practising self-denial and fasting as many other religions do. Seemed a little like noticing the speck in someone else’s eye while not noticing the log in your own. It was quite clear that self-denial and fasting were about the only two things NOT on her menu! A larger theme was the fact that Evangelicals are now about 25% of America’s population, which is a large enough voting block to control the outcome of elections. As this group mobilizes and becomes more extreme and vocal, there is a real risk that the tenant of “separation of Church and State” will become eroded. Another point made was the disregard and denial of science and the scientific method. Again, I felt quite sad for these children growing up with such a narrow view of life. Certainly well worth a look.

I then watched the Red Sox clinch the World Series. I was happy with the result but, aside from Game 2, the games were all quite one-sided. With the ineptitude of the Orioles looking like continuing for a while, I guess I enjoy seeing the Red Sox do well. I like many of their players and them winning gets under the skin of Yankee fans, which is another bonus. Upcoming sport on the agenda is the NFL, although it looks like being another long season for the Redskins…and the cricket where I plan to spend many nights watching us spank the Sri Lankans and Indians over the coming months.

End of the Good Weather?

The weekend weather was absolutely perfect. Perhaps we will get lucky and get some more nice days but typically once we get this late in October, most of the good weather is behind us.

Saturday was the last cricket match for the year (at least for me...my club is playing next weekend as well). It was a very enjoyable game but unfortunately we came up short. Batting first I thought we had scored enough runs. My dismissal was my most annoying and frustrating for the season. I was hitting the ball well and feeling comfortable when I completely mishit a pull shot straight to mid-on. We were looking good with the ball until one of their middle order scored an amazing century. I bowled OK and was keeping the runs down but he was finding enough bad balls from the other end to score at the required rate. In the end, they won with 9 balls to spare but getting out there on such a nice day made the loss relatively easy to deal with.

Sunday involved a day with the kids as Mindy was manning another henna booth. We attended our monthy "Young Humanist" meeting with some friends where the kids crafted some Buddhist mandalas and I watched, due to me still having absolutely no artistic ability whatsoever! After this, back home for a movie (for the kids) and a nap (for me), a few errands and then off to get Mindy.

The kids fell asleep quite quickly so we watched a movie - Zodiac, a movie about the serial killer who terrorized San Francisco and the surrounds in the late 60's, early 70's. I thought the movie was superb...good story, well acted and full of suspense. Even though it was quite long (2 hr 40 minutes), I did not feel it drag at all and was engrossed the whole time. Certainly one to recommend.

Weekend With The Kids

This weekend, Mindy was off manning a henna booth at a local belly dancing festival, so I was on kid duty for the entire weekend. The kids were great, playing well together and managing to avoid any major sibling conflicts. Lunch one day at their "favourite restaurant" - Pizza Hut, a visit to the book store and of course a couple of movies to allow me to take some much needed naps and the weekend was pretty much sorted out.

This week is shaping up to be quite busy at work. More meetings and then resulting documentation of the design decisions will be done. Sounds fascinating I am sure! :-)

My Worst Nightmare

My worst fears have come true. England is playing South Africa in the Rugby World Cup final this weekend. I could not imagine a worse matchup. England - a poor team that managed to hit teams playing even worse than them in their knockout matches (Australia and France)...and South Africa - a good team who have managed to get through the tournament without having to really beat anybody through a combination of strange results and a nice draw. I hate to say it, but I have to hope England wins this game but either result comes with problems. I just hope that we get our act into gear over the next few years to ensure this never happens again!

Meetings

This week at work has consisted of all day, 10 hour customer meetings to determine their final requirements for the project we are working on. Yes, this is truly as tedious as it sounds! This weekend I will be on kid duty as Mindy will be at a local Belly Dance Festival performing Henna art tattoos on any willing participants. Originally, she was going to attend the festival as an observer but found out yesterday there was an opening. I believe today she will be running around like mad trying to get ready.

Nothing much else happening I guess. I am reading the various poker magazines I picked up in Vegas, along with finishing James Randi's "Flim Flam", his book on various paranormal phenomina like ESP, remote viewing, dowsing, the Cottingley Fairies, psychic surgery, UFOs and other such nonsense. Essentially, the book clearly shows how there is really no evidence for these types of things and shows how some scientists have been duped by participants in these "arts". Most of it kind of obvious I think but the way that certain people have been given a level of credibility due to shoddy methods and flat out poor scientific methods is amazing. Also, I am enjoying the new season of "House" that has just started, one of the few shows we actually watch.

Old Dogs v Young Pups

Our cricket team played an intra-squad match on the weekend, roughly splitting the squad on age lines. I was right on the bubble between the two sides but was ultimately picked with the youngsters. The game was quite competitive and I think everyone had fun...but unfortunatley, the Old Dogs ended up winning by about 25 runs. I think this game will become a regular match on the Dogs' schedule. Personally, I bowled OK but collected my first duck of the season with the bat. I guess it is better to get it in a game like this rather than in a more competitive match.

Vegas Days 4 and 5

Day 4 was a mix of work and fun. The afternoon was comprised of meetings but there was still plenty of time in the evening for some fun. The conference entertainment was a free concert from the Goo Goo Dolls. They were actually quite good and seemed to enjoy playing in front of 5000 computer nerds! After this, we hit the poker tables again where we played several more hours of limit poker. Lost money after having my 3-of-a-kind beaten by a lucky straight on the river...but for the week I ended up $150 on the positive side of things, so it was a good week.

Friday involved making my way to the airport and flying home. All in all, an enjoyable but tiring week.

Vegas Day 3

Today was better. A few conference sessions and customer meetings scattered throughout the day but plenty of time for gambling in the evening. Decided to play $2/$4 Limit tables as I was with some friends and planning to drink...and playing No Limit can be dangerous when you are not fully concentrating. It really is like people are lining up to give away their money. I played for a few hours, drank and finished $80 in the profit column, so it was another good night. I would have hit about another $80 in one pot - I missed hitting my flush on the final card but if it had hit, there were two sets out there and a lower flush so I certainly would have been paid off. No complaints though. Now need to try to grab a few hours sleep to prepare for Thursday.

Vegas Day 2

Vegas day 2 was as uninteresting as I had suspected. All day client meetings with barely a break for lunch. Sad to say that by the end of it all that was done was a team dinner with my manager and other North East SAP consultants and going to bed. I wish there was something better to report.

Vegas Day 1

I am out in Las Vegas for a week long conference with work. My current client (Colgate) had some meetings scheduled with SAP development during the conference so I was asked to come along and assist.

Monday was a long day due to the time difference. My flight arrived in Las Vegas around lunch time and after performing a few admin tasks, was able to hit the poker tables by about 4:00. After watching the hands that were going to the river, I resolved to simply wait for monster hands and then value bet them, hoping for some out-of-line calls. The table was $1/$3 NL. After about an hour, I got KK on the button, there was one pre-flop raiser to $12. I made it $50 and he called. I had pretty much made up my mind to push the rest of my stack in (about another $100) if there was no A on the flop...but the flop was A-T-4. It was checked twice (I felt he had me beaten). On the river, he then bet about $75. It perhaps looked like a bluff but I folded and he flipped over TT for 3 of a kind! Glad the A hit the flop - saved me some money.

I added another $100 to my stack to bring it close to the maximum buy in of $200 and waited again for more good cards. KJ offsuit to a limped pot led to me raising it to $15, again got 1 caller (the BB). Flop was K-J-4. He checked it to me and I bet $15. He then reraised it to $50. I figured with a set he just calls there so I pushed all my remaining chips into the pot (another $150). He called immediately. Turn was a Q, River a 2...he then said "You have it" and flipped over AK. So I doubled up to $360...which was what I ended up leaving the table with.

Later that night I sat down to $1/$1 NL and found the same thing (but even moreso) with the players here. One guy in partucular was clearly drunk with a huge stack and playing very carelessly. However, his stack was pushing people around and he was also getting lucky. Same tactic as before, wait for a big hand and hope for someone to come along. AK netted my about a $60 profit. The biggest hand for me was JT, $10 in the pot with two other players. Flop was T-2-2. I bet $10 and was called by one player. Turn was a 7. I bet again ($20), was called again. River brought a 6. I figured I was probably still ahead so bet $50 on the river. He thought for a long time, then folded, flipping on card...a 2!!! He said "I think you have me outkicked". Saying nothing I pulled in the chips. Unfortunately I did not get the chance to go against the big stack and settled for a $50 profit on the session.

Today (Tuesday) will be all day meetings :-( . However, hopefully there is time for another trip to the tables later this evening.