Obligatory New Years Post

It is the last day of the year and it seems as though all bloggers are posting a wrap-up of the year. I will also do so.



I did not complete all of my 2007 resolutions, but I think I did well enough to call 2007 a success. I think I learned enough in 2007 to make good in 2008.



From a fitness perspective I did pretty well. I am able to do 10 pull ups now. I wanted to be able to do 20, but that didn't happen. I think I will get there in 2008. I have been riding my bicycle more and my aerobic capacity has increased. I never did ride a century though. I am not sure if that will be back on the list for 2008. Overall I am much more fit that I was a year ago.

I did find a new job, I think. We have agreed on everything other than a start date. After Jan 1, I need to give Richard a call to see where we are.

The year was not good from a financial perspective. I did not pay off enough debt. This has to be a focus of 2008. This will take a lot of work, but I really must get a handle on my credit card debt.

Poker has treated me well. Aside from a few tilt-fests, I am playing pretty well. I still need to work on concentration and situational play, but overall my results were good.

I went to Canada, San Francisco, London and Bethany Beach. All great trips, but also a reason my debt did not get paid down. I am planning to go to Vegas and Bethany Beach, but without the other two trips, I should be in better financial shape.

My relationship with my daughter is great. I would like a little improvement in my relationship with my wife and that is my fault I guess. That is something I should pursue in 2008.

I did a crossfit total on Dec 26. I scored 625, which is above my goal of 618. I was pretty stoked. After I easily beat the amount I needed to squat I think my mind went on to autopilot because the rest of my lifts were not as strong. Oh well, I met my goal.

This morning I was able to bang out 10 str8 pull ups. This is the second time I have been able to accomplish that feat. I wanted 20 by year end, but that did not happen. I will have to make that part of my 2008 goals. It SHOULDN'T be too hard. I only have to add one per month (with lee-way to miss two). So for 2008 my fitness goals will be a crossfit of 675, 20 pull ups and a 24 minute 5K.

Back from Holiday time off

I am back to work after a nice holiday break. I will provide a brief description of the activities over the last 5 days.

On Friday we had a wine-tasting party with some friends. It was plenty of fun and we ate great food. This particular friend is a dietitian, and she cooks fantastic food. As far as the wine goes, I am not much of a wine drinker, but it was fun anyway.

On Saturday I took my mom to the airport and then went to the new poker room. Everything I have heard to date is correct. The room is very nice and the players are very bad. That is not entirely true. The players are not that bad. I had a very nice win rate 4.5 BB's/hour. Mostly from a few big pots. I played pretty tight, but I adjusted to the table which was fairly loose. Many hands had 6 players pre-flop.

As I was driving home I wondered to my self if I was a mean person. There was a homosexual at the table who happened to be fat, from Cleveland, and quite smelly. I started to needle him early on and did not let up. On the other hand, I did tell an attractive girl next to him (after he moved to escape my barbs I think) that I would be leaving shortly and she could have my seat. Also, when I left I said goodbye to the table and it was handshakes and Merry Christmas's all around like a friend leaving. So I think that is just my style. I tend to be very friendly between hands, I never talk when the cards are out but I needle certain people in a friendly banter way to exploit them. I guess it is not mean, just one of my weapons.

On Saturday night, we went to Smokey Bones for dinner. It was ok.

On Sunday I took Abby to the Westmoreland Museum of Art to look at the toy and train exhibit. The have 2 arts/crafts rooms and she seemed to enjoy them. We then finished our Christmas shopping.

Monday was Christmas Eve, and I went to the Strip District with Uncle Ed, EJ and Andrew. I was pretty much the usual. Which is a good thing. Jane and Abby met us around 11 and we had lunch. Jane and I cooked a nice meal after Abby went to bed.

On Tuesday (Christmas) Abby woke us up at a reasonable 7:45 and she opened her presents. It was amazing to see how she believes. She enjoyed her presents, mostly the American Girl doll, Nicki. After a nice bike ride, we went to the in-laws for dinner.

Yesterday I loafed with Abby. We visited the Cemetery and Target and then we went to our cousin's house for another party. More food, beer and cigars. I need a break.

Pittsburgh Tri-fecta

The Pitt basketball team, the Steelers, and the Penguins all won last night. It was a great showing. I watched all three games in a bar, and unfortunately I feel like crap because of it. I wish I didn't drink as much beer as I did, oh well.

I should finish my Christmas shopping tomorrow.

I hate dumb people bitching

In my office, I can hear the usual conversation of two of my employees. It is usually mindless dribble, but many times, it is pure crap. This morning was one of those pure crap time. The conversation was on the price of gasoline. They have discussed the topic many time, but have not come up with a solution. That is one thing that bugs me. They don't talk about the root cause of the high price of gas, they just blame in on the President. They also don't look at the grand scheme of things. Gas is not that much more expensive. As a percentage price increase it is, but lets look at what it really means to the average driver. Assuming the average drive drives 10,000 miles per year and has fuel economy between 15 and 20 mpg their weekly increase in fuel cost is between 19 and 14 dollars. The less someone drives, the less their increase is. In the long-term, if people drove cars with better fuel economy the overall price of gas would decrease. What bugs me about these discussions is that people just complain. They offer no solution.

The bash guard, chain and rear cog for the bike are in. If I had the chain ring, I could start on the bike this weekend. Maybe it will come in today or tomorrow. If it comes in, I will start the rebuild either Saturday night after the Bruno party or on Sunday.

The Crossfit WOD was 9 sets of back squats with the final 5 being single rep. I got up to 225. I think I could have went heavier if I was on the rack with the pins in case I failed. Calculating it out, I think I can perform a crossfit total of 618 by year end. I am going to attempt it on December 31. My goal is squat 235, dead lift 275 and press 110. I am pretty confident I can get the squat as it is only 10 pounds heavier than I was today. The dead lift and the press should also be no problem. There is a shoulder workout scheduled for crossfit soon so I should be able to gauge my likely number there. I will include a dead lift session soon as well. CF total 618, here I come.

The Fisher is completely stripped of all gearing parts. Now it is a wait for the parts to come in. I ordered the rear cog and the chain before I ordered the chain ring and bashguard. I wish I had reversed that order as the front chain ring must go on first so I can line up the cog. Oh well, I should use this time to adjust the brakes as it will have to be done anyway. Truthfully though I am not too worried about that.

Yesterday's WOD, Angie, was killer. I am really feeling it today. Tomorrow is 9 sets of back squats. That should be fun as well.

The Fisher Rises

I have started my single speed conversion. I was able to removed the rear cassette. Today I will order the conversion kit. I hope to strip off the gearing stuff this weekend. This will allow me to get the rear wheel on next weekend. I am still debating on what to do with the front sprocket. I am now thinking about buying a new bottom bracket, crank set, and single speed chain ring. A bike repair stand would come in handy as well. Perhaps I should buy one now. It couldn't hurt I suppose. I must check the budget. It looks like I will get to ride a single speed by New Years Day.

single speed dream

I have recently become infatuated with converting my Fisher into a single speed. I can't really explain why I want to do it. Maybe I am caught up in the single-speed wave that has washed over bicyling. What ever it is, I am going to do it. There is a kit that for $20 I can convert the bike plus I will likely have to buy a tool. But, I think it will be cool. Plus, I can monkey with the fisher in other mechanical ways. This could be a cool winter project.

UB doom switch is off

UB finally turned off the doom switch. I played 2 s-n-g's last night and took second in on. Thus, I had a positive night. I played a little this morning and also won. So, I think the kill switch is off. The funny thing is that I saw a str8 flush last night before my luck turned around. This is the same omen from a few summers ago when I started to win again. LOL

Now I have to concentrate on building my bank roll back up. It has been pretty much destroyed over the last few weeks. I will take it slow and steady and hopefully I can build it up to 1k by the end of 2008.

I played 2 HORSE tournaments last night and did not cash in either. The first one I missed a big score when I folded a RAZZ hand that I would have won. I thought I might be good, but on other player called so I second-guessed myself even though the pot was offering me 8:1. I only needed to win the pot 11% of the time for it to have been a profitable call. That fold crippled me. In the second game, I flopped the nut str8 and some moron called me to the end on won on the river with some donk impossible draw. The thing with these HORSE tournaments is the importance of winning just a few big pots. My results will be pretty good if I can get through the first round even and then look to win a few big pots and then get into the money where I can open up my play.

UB hit the Doom Switch

I cannot win on UB. I think they hit the doom switch on me. I do not know why. I have been playing there lately, an I cannot win. I have moved down in limits, and I just cannot win. I think I am playing well, but I am just not winning. I must stop for a while to see if I can pull the nose up on this crap.