I need a vacation

You know how it gets sometimes, don't you?  You have a good job, you like what you're doing and almost everyone you work with (there's always someone no matter where you are who just gets under your skin), and you have no plans to work anywhere else.  But you need a break, some time off longer than a long weekend where you can get away from it all and not think about any of it for awhile.  Well that's where I am.

What's making it even worse is the PQ and I have been finalizing our Vegas plans.  Tickets are bought, rooms at Bally's and Green Valley Ranch are reserved, and the rental car has been booked.  Now comes the hardest part, waiting for the day.  It's already getting hard as the excitement keeps building.  Especially as I keep reading all these other blogs for people who have already gone to Vegas or are there now.  Unfortunately they will be long gone before I arrive. Big props to Lucki Duck for cashing in WSOP Event 7 and to Memphis Mojo for a 6th place finish in a Caesars Mega Stack event on the day he arrived in Vegas.   Setting the bar awfully high guys, well done indeed.

Last time in Vegas, the PQ and I hung out some with Lightning36 and we all had a great lunch with Lucki and the lovely Ms Duck.  Got to play a tourney with Mojo down here in St Pete a few months ago as well.  I'm sorry I won't get to spend anytime in Vegas with them this year.  

Things here have been going pretty well all in all.  Still working hard and racking up OT hours though less than last year at least.  I'm even up for a promotion which I should find out about in the next couple of weeks.  Still it's time I got out of town for a while.  The last few years the PQ and I have taken the opportunity around my birthday in July to go on the annual Neophyte pilgrimage.  I pick some small out of the way places and we drive there and spend time exploring the area.  It's really let us see some of the other parts of Florida, the non touristy, non Disney, less traveled parts of the state.  As populous as the state is, there are tons of areas that are pretty sparsely settled and I'm glad I've been to some of them.  If you ever get a chance to travel down here, I really recommend getting off the interstates and going exploring.  Unless of course all you want to do is sit on the beach and get some sun.  I also recommend that as well. 

This year I'll be in Vegas for the birthday so I hope to take that rental car out and travel around some sparsely settled areas of Nevada, Arizona and Utah.  I hear there are a lot of those areas out there as well.  I'm also planning on going west to cross over the border into California.  I don't plan on going anywhere in the state, I just want to say I've been to California.  Actually if memory serves me, there is a little restaurant over the border in California that Diners, Drive Ins and Dives went to.  Let me look that up and see if I can find it on the map.   Well I'm half right, there is a place just over the border in Cali but it's up near Reno, not down near Las Vegas.  Still there are plenty of places in Vegas to eat and we've already picked out a number of places to hit up. 

Originally we planned on arriving early in Vegas and breakfasting at Hash House a Go Go but the flight we are taking now doesn't get in until around 6pm so I'm not sure what we're going to do first when we get there.  I know we will be going to In and Out at some point as well as the Peppermill and of course Hash House.  Plus we always hit the Bellagio buffet and I hear we need to go to the buffet at the Cosmo as its supposed to be better than Bellagio's.  Now that I have to see.  And taste.  I'd also like to hit Binions steakhouse downtown at some point.  It's gonna be hard to hit all of the gastronomical delights we have planned.  We were thrilled to learn Hash House a Go Go opened up a location in Orlando.  Of course we've hit that.  And it was delicious.  I got a dinner plus 2 lunches out of one meal. 

I haven't played much poker, especially hold em tourneys lately.  We did hit one last weekend at Derby Lane.  We both did ok, the PQ went out about 18 and I final tabled but missed the money in 8th.  I thought I played pretty well, made mostly good decisions but let some opportunities go where I might have been able to get more chips.  Seemed like the times I did try to steal, someone always called me with a real hand.  Made it awfully hard to chip up much.  I did take some chips from one guy when he made a smallish raise in mid position with KK and I called him from the big blind with Q4 suited.  Flopped two pair and called his C bet.  I reraised his turn bet and he made a good decision to let it go.  Other than that I've been only playing Omaha 8.  I'd like to play some of that while in Vegas and I've been looking at the All Vegas Poker site to see what's available. 

Well I gotta get going.  Heading over to Derby Lane soon to bet the Belmont then down to the Trop to see the Rays and Orioles play.  I hope everyone has a good weekend.  Good luck to you tourney players.