It's Newt!

       Poker has become extremely elusive in the last few weeks. As i said earlier without the option of an authorized online alternative, playing consistently is my biggest obstacle. This week/weekend was packed with family dinners and work to the point it didn't seem like it was going to end. My only somewhat free day was yesterday afternoon, and knowing that if i went to the casino i would be there till 3 or 4 in the morning. Those times don't work well when you are on an early schedule. So my alternative to playing poker was to see if it was on any particular candidates agendas. Newt Gingrich was speaking at the Jim Thorpe center last night and a friend and I decided to go and listen to him talk. 

      Newt is a very motivated and captivating speaker who is not easily ignored. As i expected online poker was nowhere near the front of anyones mind. I mean; how could it be? Being in the bible belt contraception and religious freedoms are hot topics, as well as oil and job production. I was still very impressed as he spoke with great conviction and determination. They opened up the speech by saying that Oklahoma is no longer a "fly over" state for Republican Candidates. Something tells me that this is only because this has been one of the craziest primary elections I have seen. Once one of these three candidates wins the Republican nomination I will be anxious to see if they make a return trip to our state. Either way I am still undecided who to vote for and with the way things are going we could have an entirely new candidate tomorrow!

Finally!

 

   So Ladies and Gentlemen, my shower is finally complete! Here are the before and after picture THE shower that I'm sure you are all familiar with by now. Not to shabby. It took twice the time that was expected but I am very happy with the outcome. Actually it could have looked like crap and I would be happy just to get my shower back. But, needless to say, it turned out great! We also got rid of the terrible yellow paint and now our bathroom looks like it belongs in a slightly newer home. 

On the poker side of things; I played in that Irish Baseball Charity tournament over the weekend. The turnout was about half of what it was last year and the quality of play and structure was ten times worse . I ended up placing sixth of about thirty or so which seems great, but the tournament only paid the top five. Suck. So I missed the money by one and was very glad to be out of the tournament with the pace of play mimicking that of a crawling snail. It was excruciating. It was filled with first time players and grandparents who used to play "back in the day". So my night consisted of explaining basic poker procedure and listening to "when i was a boy" stories. You could pay $10 for a cup that got you all the beer you wanted all night, and for that I was extremely grateful. After striking out on the tournament I went home and did a little political research about online regulation. Word on the street is it may be added to the coat-tails of the Pay Role Tax Cut bill currently sitting in Congress. I kind of doubt it will be added in such short notice though. And I have accepted to fact that I can't base my election vote strictly on online poker. There are to many problems much greater than that to be focused on. 

I really enjoyed Dr. Hochenauer's talk on Tuesday. It was nice to see how just a small blog can turn into such a highly respected, award winning publication. I don't really agree about anything he says from a political standpoint, but I respect that fact that in such a conservative state he has chosen to still talk in what he believes in. I think that is the main reason why his blog is still so successful. He is passionate about what he writes about.