Happy Birthday...here's some bad luck!

Well, I spent much of my birthday playing poker, both online and in the casino, and both sessions went terribly badly, so I guess the less said about that, the better. (Though I will almost certainly have something to say about it in bobby_the_worm.) So with that, I didn't get a whole lot done yesterday, I spent much of today just doing general catchup and whatnot. It's weird...it seems like no matter what I do I build up a backlog of e-mails. I really should just take some time and sit down and clean the bastard out, and then try to keep it clean from then on. I think I have a poor system...I get e-mailed about something I want to check out, but for whatever reason I don't want to check it out right then, so I leave it sitting around thinking I'll check it later. Then later rolls around, and by then there's new stuff I'm going to (not) check out, and usually the old stuff is too outdated by then to bother checking out anyway...I dunno. Clearly I am doing something wrong here. :) Another problem is that things keep stacking up for various projects I want to work on, and I never work on anything, so there's that, too. jammie718's recent talk about homepages reminds me that I have my own page that I haven't done jack shit with in a few years, so that needs attending to, as well. So much pointless stuff to do. :)

Speaking of that, I finished Prince of Persia: Sands of Time today, for whatever that's worth. The game got seriously weird toward the end, I have to say. Overall, though, I found it fun and I had a good time playing it. I have only minor quibbles...mostly that it seemed like their sound mixing left something to be desired, as dialogue volume seemed all over the place. I wouldn't have minded so much, except the damn thing didn't have subtitles, so I feel like I missed out on some stuff. That, and random dialogue is thrown in once in a while over regular gameplay, sometimes cropping up at inopportune times, like if I'm getting in a fight or saving or something. But that's all tiny stuff...it was a pretty fun game. Though I feel I sucked at combat, which is especially tragic because they made combat pretty simple. Not, like, Wind Waker simple, but easy enough that I shouldn't have had as much trouble as I did. Anyway...it was nice to play a video game again. I feel I haven't really thrown myself into one since Amplitude (though there was that Summoner 2 experience). Not that that's necessarily a bad thing...I'm sure I should be using my time more productively than for playing video games. I have missed it, though.

When I first dragged out the Cube to play Sands of Time, I couldn't for the life of me find my memory card. I picked up a new (used) one recently just so I could play this game, but I realized that, in doing so, I now have even less of an excuse not to replay Wind Waker (and even Eternal Darkness) should I feel the need. If it ever becomes an issue, I'd also have to re-unlock all my shit for Melee and whatever, but I don't see that being important any time soon. ;) Either that, or I could find my memory card one of these days, but I fear it's either lost forever, or else packed away in one of my Boxes I'll Never Unpack, which is the funtional equivalent. We'll see.

You know the time you spent reading that paragraph just now? You'll never get that back. Nyah, nyah.

I was thinking about my recent downswing in poker, all the stuff I've learned recently about bankroll management, and living expenses in general, and doubts have started to creep in about sustaining the poker-only lifestyle. I'm not ready to abandon ship just yet, mind you, but I feel like a little extra income is going to be desirable soon, if not necessary. The thought of a job makes me sick, though, so I'm not sure how to approach this whole situation. ;) One thing I was tossing around the other day, though, was that I could go for work as a dealer in a casino. There's a lot of upsides, I think. I could probably pick up whatever odd hours I want (I like odd hours); I'm pretty practiced with cards and chips already; I'll get to see a lot more poker without spending money for it; I've got a good head for math and such; and it'll still keep me out of the office. The base pay, as I understand it, is pretty crappy, but there's good potential in tips. On the downside, it'll still be scheduled demands on my time and it will probably mean no more long blocks of free time if I want them, except in the regularly alotted vacation time and whatnot. Also I'm not sure if there's training/certification I have to do, so that bears investigation. Still...something to think about. One big downside is that if I go for it, it's really cementing my absence from New York for a while longer, not to mention cutting down on my visiting opportunities. We'll see if anything comes of that. For sure I won't worry about it until I get back from Vegas (and possibly further travels).

Lastly, the title of my last post referenced Rob McKenna, which I realized I never explained. I invoked his name as a Rain God, as described in Douglas Adams. Just for fun, though, I Googled him to see if it was easy to figure out, and amazingly I came across this. There is apparently a real Rob McKenna out there, and he's a candidate for Washington State Attorney General. Washington, eh? I hear they get a little bit of rain out there. Coincidence? You be the judge. ;)

And that's that from my exciting life. Peace!