Living the dream baby!

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Black Tuesday

On the Strip
On the Strip
Reporting back on our trip to Vegas. The time away from work and the kids was VERY relaxing. We spent plenty of time at the pool and checking out the sites. We arrived at the Mirage about 11am and were unpacked and ready to go by noon. First thing we did was checkout the Venitian and the Wynn hotels.

We decided to catch a show the first night we were there, so we bought half price tickets for Le Reve at the Wynn. We headed back to our hotel to lay out by the pool and have a few drinks. I ordered this frozen monstrosity that took me about 30 minutes to finish while we soaked in the huge oasis of a pool at the hotel.

Big mistake.

It was hot, I was already dehydrated and the booze knocked me on my butt. We all decided to grab dinner at the Wynn before the show that night, but I was sick to my stomach so I spent the majority of dinner trying to recover. I was able to suck it up and actually enjoyed the 10:30 show.

It was an hour and a half of Cirque du Soleil type acrobatics, all within the confines of a theater that consisted of a huge swimming pool with a retractable stage and all kinds of trapeze type things that would emerge from the 40-foot high domed ceiling. It was quite impressive, considering the action and the fact that all the performers were sopping wet during the show.

At the WSOP
At the World Series of Poker
On Monday we did more pool lounging, albeit without any booze for me. We went to the Rio hotel that night, where the World Series of Poker was being held. I saw several pros, including Greg Raymer, the 2004 WSOP Champion. He was gracious enough to autograph a $20 bill for me while walking back to his table during a break from the Pot Limit Omaha event that was going on that night.

After having dinner at the Rio, we decided to head back to our hotel, but there was an amazing lightning storm which was circling the strip. We took a shuttle back to the Paris Hotel and scampered through the rain over to Ceasar’s Palace where we watched the lightning show for about 30 minutes.

By the time we got back our hotel that night, the girls were pretty tired and I wanted to do a little gambling, so I decided to show Scott how to play craps.

Second big mistake.

Sonya & Simon Cowell
Sonya & Simon Cowell
I burned through 75% of my bankroll in about 30 minutes, so I switched over the blackjack. I would lose my remaining 25% in another 15 minutes, so my attempts to beat the house came to a sputtering end in less than an hour. Thankfully, I am disciplined enough to set a loss limit and stick to it. Little did I know that my losing streak had just started.

My “black Tuesday” would continue the next morning when Yahoo stock took a kick in the pants by losing 20%. This would be followed by blackout in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, which knocked out all air traffic control in the south western U.S. This would ground our 7:30 flight in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Power was restored and we managed to leave Lost Wages at about midnight, which got us into San Jose at 1:30 Wednesday morning.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Today is Your Birthday...

Today, unlike any other day, the sun rose in the east, and will more than likely set in the west. And like sands through the hourglass, I am another year older. Yikes. These birthdays just seem to fly by now. Sonya and I are taking a break from the kids for a couple of days and will be headed to Vegas for a couple days of well deserved R&R.

I’ve been brushing up on my craps strategies and am even tempted to take my chances at one of the power tables at the hotel we’re staying at. I’ve been told that Vegas isn’t the place to get involved in a chance game of poker because there are vermin that make a living by hustling weekend warrior poker novices at the casinos.

Still I’m tempted. I think I can play a decent game, and surely there’s got to be one or two drunken schmucks there who will be more than willing to throw their money away. So maybe I’ll give it a shot. More to come on that.

I know I’ll feel a lot more comfortable at a craps table, because I know the game, and the only vermin I need to worry about add up to 7. It's the only game in town that pays true odds, which is the reason I play. I have a 49.2929% chance of winning on a pass roll and a 66.6667% chance to win on a 4 or 10 off a Don't Pass bet.

We’re meeting our friends Scott & Christine and will be soaking up plenty of sun at the pool and great eats at a few of the local haunts. They’re expecting their first child in December, so this is a “last hurrah” for them before embarking on that insanity called “parenthood.” Fools. Giving up a life of sleeping in as late as you want on the weekends, traveling whenever you feel like it, and not having to behave like an adult (Sonya would probably debate that I don’t actually abide by the first and last point here). The grass is always greener I suppose.

We all decided to punt on the $150 Cirqe du Soleil tickets while we’re there. There are just so many more useful things you can do with 600 bones.

I’m budgeting my bank roll, so I’ll report back on if it grew or shrank when I get back. I’m betting on shrank.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

4th of July

Can Opener!
Karsyn Kan Opener
Had a great 4th of July holiday. I had Monday off, so I got enjoy a nice long four day weekend. On Saturday, Sonya and I started to clean out the garage and found a few things we could list on Craigslist. We posted the baby backpack that we no longer need, along with three of the dog crates we’ve had over the years. They’re all in great shape, so we sold the backpack and one of the kennels in the first couple of days they were listed.

If anyone is interested in a 6’ x 12’ steel dog kennel, let me now. We’re selling ours to free up some space on the side of the house. We’re planning on having a garage sale this weekend to get rid of more junk from the house. It’s time to start shedding some of the accumulation while we prepare to kick off the house remodel.

Flying Ry Ry
I Believe I Can Fly
I worked an SCCA race on Sunday up at Infineon in Sonoma. It was a regional race consisting of local race drivers. I can never get enough auto racing, so it was a blast.

We took the kids to the San Francisco Zoo on Monday. It was ~70 degrees in Sunnyvale when we left the house, and blustery 50 or so at the zoo. I wore shorts of course and ended p freezing my butt off. They’ve done a bit of remodeling at the zoo since my last visit, so there are some pretty nice facilities there.

Zoo Train
Zoo Train
We ran into a couple of people from Yahoo, who like us, were there with their kids. Ry and Karsyn got to ride the train (which is a bigger deal for Ry), and we got to see them feeding the River Otters. Aside from the cold, it was fun to get out of the house and do something with Sonya and the kids.

Finally, our 4th of July was spent at the Redwood City 4th of July Parade in the morning, lunch at Sonya’s parents house in the afternoon, then swimming & barbecue at Roger & Joanne’s great house in Woodside.

The parade was a bit shorter than usual, but that worked out well. We had great seats on Main Street, and got plenty of sun. We got a chance to see Grandpa Karl and Grandma Marion for lunch. Mrs Haygood also joined us for a nice holiday bite.

Our friends Roger & Joanne hosted their annual 4th get together, which is always a blast. The kids swim all day, while the parents get to catch up with each other. There’s always great food & drink and plenty of great company.

We capped off the day with a series of fireworks in the driveway. The kids (including us big ones) always get a kick out of the fireworks. It took Ryan sometime to warm up to them, but he was clapping with the rest of by the end of the evening.

More [Zoo Photos]

More [4th of July Photos]