My daughter and I took a ten day trip to CA, and we had a blast.
It was good to come home though.

I had no problems getting back on the chin up routine.  Well, it's not a routine, but I do the chin ups.

Poker-wise:  Last Sunday I got it all-in-pre-flop with J/J vs A/T and was crippled when he flopped an Ten, then turned another Ten.
I managed to come back but then got it all-in-pre-flop with J/J vs T/T, and he spiked a T to knock me out in 6th.  Had I won I'd have been in 2nd with at least twice the chips of anybody below me.  Oh well.
It was against my buddy, and he went on to win, so it wasn't all bad.

On Wednesday I won the game.  It was also the first game of a series where they count points.  The winner will get $50 and 2nd & 3rd somehow split the remaining $50 of the $100 prize pool.
Anyway, it's cool to be in the #1 seat.  Tomorrow night I play again, and hope to extend my lead.

I really dislike the scoring structure though.  First place gets one point for everybody in the game.  Second place gets one point less than that.  Third gets one less point, etc.  Until the first person out gets 1 point.
That scoring system sucks as it rewards tightwads who can play every game.

In my opinion poker should reward the top finishers, not those who squeak into the final table.
Someone who plays two games and gets middle finishes should *not* have the same score as someone who missed one of those games but got a 1st place in the other.
Top finishes should be top heavy with points.

Updating because I'm bored

My chin ups are going fine.  My right elbow was aching a bit, and I thought I might have to quit but the pain went away and I keep doing the chin ups so we'll see.
I'm pretty laid back with the regime, especially since I'll be on vacation for a couple weeks pretty soon.

 My girl friend took off for Canada for three weeks, to catch Canada geese and band them for some research project.  She'll be flown into a remote camp, with no phone and no Internet.  She can use the satellite phone for a few minutes each week.
It sounds like a fun trip despite the fact that there are no showers and someone has to carry a rifle due to the polar bears.

I planned on fishing early today so I set my alarm for 5:45, to get out before sunrise (sunrise was at around 6:30, but there's light at about 5:45) and I woke up at 5:43 so I just stayed up rather than suffer the indignity of hearing that alarm go off.
 I tried to catch another trout but I only caught a catfish.  I considered switching tactics and going for some bass but I didn't feel like paddling across the lake.
I'm tempted to go back out early tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow I'm going to my in-laws for my father-in-law & my brother-in-law's birthdays.  Should be good times.

On Wednesday my daughter and I are flying to Sacramento, where my mother/father/brother will pick us up and drive us to Lake Tahoe for a family reunion.
Then on Saturday we drive to another lake for another family reunion.  We'll be at that place a week before driving back to Sacramento and flying home.

-

A couple weeks ago my father and I did some target practice in his front yard, because we hadn't shot our Henry Big Boys in awhile.  I brought a spinner, which is .3/5" thick steel.  My .44 Magnum puts some significant dents in it.  :)
I brought him some .38 Specials and I got some .44 Specials for myself, but I ran into a weird problem.

Awhile back I sighted my my rifle at just over 55 yards with my .44 Magnum ammunition.
A few weeks ago I shot the Henry and could hit the spinner (4" diameter) every time at about 30 yards.
A week later a friend and her two sons came over and I hit the target no problem at 25 yards while standing.
Well, my father-in-law and I shot at 50 yards, and I couldn't hit the spinner at all!
I wasn't hitting the target or seeing any reaction.  I had no idea where the bullet was going.
I decided to shoot about 6" low so I could at least see a puff of dust, and "PANG!" I hit the spinner!

A .44 Special is an under-powered .44 Magnum.  I figured that less power meant that the bullet would go lower.  It made no sense that it would shoot so much higher than the .44 Magnum.  (Remember, I was aiming low because the bullet was going half a foot + over where I was aiming)
Maybe my scope had been bumped or misaligned in some way?  IMO, a weaker cartridge should shoot *lower* not higher.

I put some magnums into the gun and they all went where they were supposed to.  The bullets went right to where the cross-hairs pointed.  What the?!?!

So I put some Specials back in and they shot high again!  I had to aim into the dirt.  Could my ammo be weird?

Today I Googled the problem and found this: http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=258207
That solved the mystery.

To sum it up, the .44 Special shoots substantially slower than the .44 Magnum.  Because of this the bullet does *not* leave the barrel before the gun starts to recoil.  So the barrel is on its way up before the bullet leaves the muzzle, resulting in a higher shot even though the bullet is under powered compared to a Magnum

I found that really interesting.  I wouldn't have thought of that on my own.

Checking in

Well, it hasn't been a year since the update.

I didn't win MVP for season 5 because I had a pretty poor finish.  Them's the breaks.
The following season I did even worse.  Same situation.  People were getting better, and things just didn't go my way.
I'm taking the current season off, and since I'll be on vacation when the new season starts (in a couple weeks) I probably won't play then too.

I do play in the Hold'em Freaks game sometimes.  They play at 9:30 on Sundays, and I like the late hours.
Plus they offer a $ prize for first place.

I'm still dating the same woman, though it's more of casual thing now.  We're still very good friends.  We just know that we have different destinies.

I quit doing the Perfect Pushup routines because of pain in my right elbow.  I was going to pick it back up after Machu Picchu but the pain came back.  I was really impressed at what it did for my back, pecs, and triceps, but it did very little for my biceps.
I kept kicking around the idea of getting a chin up bar from Walmart.  They were $40, but I wasn't sure if they'd fit in anywhere but my closet door because the hallway has a low ceiling due to central air.  But then I saw a similar one on DailySteals for $15 so I bought it.
I've been using it off and on for a week and I already feel a difference.  I don't look any different, but I'm not as soft under the skin.
I could do three at first, but now I can barely eek out 5.  That's still not a lot, but I weigh 200lbs.  That's 1,000lbs right?  :)

Anyway, I'm not going to follow any regiment like I did with the Perfect Pushup.  I have it set in my pantry, and every time I walk by it I do as many as I can.  I do let myself skip it if I'm sore or tired.  But if I go in there to get a snack, then I always to it.
I spare myelf from doing it if I'm doing laundry, as that's punishment enough.  :)

I haven't had any elbow pain yet.  I was worried about that.  I think it may have been some repetitive stress thing from how I sat and held the mouse.