I know that when I post about poker it bores a lot of your, so instead of boring you with poker today, I’ll bore you with computer talk — so as to alienate the rest of the people reading the site regularly.

A couple of weeks ago, I signed up to the MythTV-Users mailing list. It’s pretty active, and I certainly don’t have time to read it all, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to glance through it before attempting to install myth myself. Reading it for a couple of days had me a little concerned though. It seemed like everyone was having problems getting things going, and nobody was having fun with it. Even taking the self-selected sample bias into account, it was still alarming.

Then I realized that 99% of the people having troubles are trying to install from packages. I think I saw one posting about someone having trouble getting it to compile on Gentoo but otherwise it was predominantly Fedora Core 3 problems, and apt-get problems. The occasional problem with hardware support and such, and people having problems getting TV-out to work. Since I’m feeding the projector VGA, I won’t have the TV-out problems, and since I’m going the Gentoo route, I won’t have package issues - just a long compile time on my hands apparently. I’m ok with that though. I’m getting close to the point where I can just type emerge mythtv and cross my fingers (I configured/compiled my kernel last night, now I just have a little more configuration stuff to do before the first reboot)

So, now that I’ve driven off the poker-haters and the computer-haters, <grumpy-old-man>what do I have to do to get rid of the rest of you?</grumpy-old-man> :)

Simpson’s quote of the day: “If you don’t start making more sense, we’re going to have to put you in a home.” - Homer

I played a warm up poker tournament Friday night, to get me into the swing of poker. Actually, I think I played two (I don’t remember what nights I played which games.) The first one, I got busted out early by a guy who called my all in (with a straight) and hit his flush on the river. That was ok though, because the next tournament I played, I won. I changed my strategy a little bit for the end game, and came up as the winner. So, at that point, I’d played in 5 tournaments (4 pot limit) and finished in the money 3 times (first, second and third.) I was all psyched for the big freeroll on Saturday night.

I didn’t do so well.

In fact, I was out before the people who didn’t even bother to show up.

I got busted on a bad semi-bluff. I had the guy pegged on either a bluff or a small pair, when he had actually been betting an inside straight draw, which he managed to hit on the river. When I fired at the pot, he thought for a really really long time, before calling me, and sending me packing. It was pretty counter intuitive to me, because he was betting all the way, when he should have been hoping for a free card, though I guess he thought he could get rid of me by throwing pocket change at the pot. It worked out for him anyway - well to the extent that he lasted a lot longer than I did - we both wound up with the same amount of prize money.

Anyway, so since I’d set aside that time to play poker, I signed up for a $10/1 single table tournament. It was also a lot of fun, except that this time I finished in the money - second in fact. FWIW, that’ s 4 out of 6 tournaments in the money now, and a grand total of +$39 to my account, which brings me back to about what the free money guys gave me (plus a buck or so.) More importantly though, I’m having a lot of fun playing, which wasn’t the case with those silly $0.50/$1 limit games I was playing. That’s enough poker for one day though. I’ll just close with this - the free money thing is real, and a good way to get to play live poker without risking anything online. They don’t even require a credit card. They also have an affiliate program, so if you’re interested, let me know, and I’ll send you info (I’m not going to post the information here, because I don’t want to. So there.)

Simpson’s quote of the day: “A cup-holder! Bart, we’ve got to stop and get a cup!” - Milhouse

After getting the free poker money last month, I’ve played a bunch of low limit Texas holdem, and managed to eat into my bankroll, bringing it down to about half. I just don’t have the right mentality for that game. I’m still signed up for the no limit hold-em tournament that I talked about, and it’s running tomorrow, so I thought I should maybe get some tournament experience under my belt before walking in blind.

The poker sites run “sit ‘n go” tournaments all the time apparently, so I sat down to my first single table tournament last night. $6 gets you in the game, then the top 3 finishers (out of 10) make money - $25/$15/$10. The low limit tournament wasn’t a lot different from the low limit games I’d been playing (ie, I’m not patient enough.)

Then I sat down at a pot limit single table tournament. Same structure as the other one, but with the increased limits on bets, the game is a lot more dynamic. It’s far less likely that some goof will call a big bet when all he has is 8 high and he still needs two cards to make a straight. That happens in low limit all the time, and when you’ve got enough of those goofs, chances are good that one of them will hit his big hand.

Anyway, the first tournament was a lot of fun, and I managed to come in second. I knew when to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em and all that good stuff. The second tournament was even more fun after getting down to a very short stack, I built it back up again through well timed bluffs, and having the right cards at the right time. I managed to bust out three other players through skillful play, and put two others on life support when they wouldn’t call me for their last few dollars. I got all kinds of good cards too, which doesn’t hurt. It came down to three of us left, and I had more than half the chips at the table, but I doubled up one of the other players twice to get busted out myself. I was taking bigger chances, because I wanted to win the first prize, and the difference between second and third didn’t matter so much to me. I think that next time I’d be a little more cautious, but in the end, pocket fours hitting their trips on the flop would probably beat me with a pair of kings again.

So, I’m really looking forward to this tournament this weekend. The top 60 finishers are in the money (out of something like 600) so I don’t expect to walk away with anything, but you never know. It’s going to be a fun time, until I get busted…

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Alright brain, you don’t like me and i don’t like you, so let’s just do this thing and I’ll go back to killing you with beer.” - Homer

The new RAM arrived on Tuesday, and I gave it a test - three hours and no errors, so I’m satisfied that it’s ok. I gave a quick attempt to restarting my Gentoo install, but I was too tired, and kept making silly mistakes, so I called it a night and went to bed.

Why was I so tired? Well, William decided to test out his lungs Monday night. He screamed inconsolably (I want up, I want down, I want my socks on, I want my socks off, I want Mommy, Mommy go away, I want upstairs, I want downstairs) for the better part of two hours (though with a break between hour one and two.) and so I’d be surprised if I got 3 hours of sleep Monday night. I barely function if I’ve had less than 8 hours of sleep, so the next day was a little rough. Let’s just say that I’m not on speaking terms with my alarm clock.

So I’m finally starting to feel a little more normal.

We were supposed to have a blizzard here yesterday, but all we got was a couple of cm of snow and a lot of wind. It’s pretty cold out, not that some people seem to understand that. Waiting for the bus, there were quite a few people with nothing on their heads, despite the -49 wind chill. There was one bald guy that even had a hood on his jacket, but he didn’t pull it up. I don’t mind the cold, but that’s just plain silly.

So, it’s a new year, and it feels just like the last one. What’s funny is that I can still remember all the discussions that people were having on the local BBS’s in 1990 about if it was really the 90’s, or if the 90’s didn’t start until 1991. To those people who argued that it wasn’t the 90’s yet, I have to say, give you’re head a shake. I’m ok with 2000 belonging to the 20th century, but 1990 doesn’t belong in the 80’s. It’s not called the 198th decade, it’s called the 80’s. Get over your pedantry. Phew. Where did that come from?

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Ooh, your powers of deduction are exceptional. I can’t allow you to waste them here when there are so many crimes going unsolved at this very moment. Go, go, for the good of the city.” - Comic Book Guy

The next day, we were in Moosomin, and planning to drive to Brandon for the wedding/reception. There was only one small problem - the roads were closed to Brandon. Closed as in barricades across the highway. We watched the weather network all morning, and the roads were still closed until pretty close to when we’d have to leave to get to the ceremony. At some point, someone decided that we wouldn’t be able to make it to the ceremony, but we’d try to make it for the reception (can’t pass up free food, eh?)

So, that was great. We left Moosomin in a three car convoy, heading for Brandon. The roads were actually in really great shape, with both lanes clear most of the way, though the one stretch where Dave decided to pass a slow moving truck did happen to have the passing lane covered in snow because of a windbreak between the Eastbound and Westbound lanes. (Did I mention that the highway to Brandon is double lane most of the way? It is.)

William was a little hysterical for good chunks of the evening getting ready for the reception. At the reception, he was fairly well behaved, and even danced with his Grandma and Grandpa individually. He seemed to really like the New Year’s noisemakers, hats and masks.

At one point, I was checking up on him, and came across my cousin’s 7 year old son, and her boyfriend’s son goofing around in the mens room. I joke around with them and horse around with them a lot, so this time I told them that they’d better watch their steps, or I’d dunk their heads in the urinals and flush. They took that as a suggestion, and both walked over to the urinals and stuck their heads in. They both pulled them back out (thankfully dry) but then my cousin’s son went back for more, and came out with water dripping down his face. Ah, the power of suggestion on sugared up 7 year olds.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Oww! My face is on fire!” - Ralph Wiggum

When you last heard from me, we were preparing to go to a New Year’s wedding in Brandon Manitoba. Thursday rolled around, and the weather was getting a little rough down South, plus Erin was feeling full-on morning/afternoon/evening/night sickness. Anyway, William and I dropped her off at the MediClinic for some followup blood tests (everything is fine) and hit the mall to pick up some last minute travel supplies.

I made a stop at the SaskTel Mobility store in the mall, to break down and buy a cell phone. What I really want is a cell phone with a pay as you go plan that has good coverage of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. SaskTel’s pay as you go phones only have Saskatchewan coverage, and Telus doesn’t offer pay as you go phones in Saskatchewan. Rogers coverage is pretty spotty in rural Saskatchewan, so basically I’m out of options at that point.

So, I decided that I’d bite the bullet and buy a phone with a contract, and pay the crazy $20+++/month for a phone that I don’t plan to ever use. This was spurred primarily by the fact that we were going on a road trip through some rough weather.

I had my credit card on the counter, and pen in hand, ready to sign on the dotted line, when they told me that I failed the credit check, and I’d have to pay a $250 deposit for the privilege of being a virtually pure profit customer. I’ve been a SaskTel customer for 10 years. I’ve paid my bills regularly. I’ve never been refused a loan for any reason, and have always gotten good rates when I’ve had to borrow money. I was offended (rightly or wrongly, I was offended) so I picked up my credit card and ID, and walked out of the store. I had some words for them involving sex and travel, but I bit my tongue, and just walked out silently fuming.

Fast forward to that night at about 8:30, and we’re driving down a desolate stretch of highway that’s covered in drifts. I’m “following” a truck whose taillights I can see off in the distance, trying to hit his tracks through the drifts. Going 50Km/h, and keeping the rubber side down/shiny side up, between the ditches. I guess i missed the truck’s tracks on a particularly big drift, and the car went into a short skid, winding up in the snowbank on the shoulder of the road. We weren’t going very fast (probably less than 15 when we hit the snow) but fast enough to get essentially stranded on top of a big pile of snow in the middle of a blizzard, on a very desolate stretch of highway. The next car didn’t come by until about an hour later (thanks for stopping, Tanya!) and she had a cell phone with which we called a tow truck. I belatedly thought that I should have called Dave and Katriona’s to tell them that we’d be ok, and just a little later than we’d thought.

So, another hour and a bit goes by, and we see more headlights (none in the intervening time, btw.) Two sets in fact - a car, and a big truck. The car was my Mom’s car, being driven by Jonathan, with Dave in the passenger seat. The big truck was the tow truck that headed out from Moosomin when we called. We got towed out with no problems, and made it to Moosomin on the flatbed of the tow truck, without further incident.

So, that was the big adventure of the time off. We’re ok, the car is ok, and I don’t think William even really noticed that anything was wrong - we played cars in the front seat, and played on his xylophone, only starting the car for a couple of minutes every fifteen minutes or so (we had a full tank of gas, and the exhaust was clear) huddling under lots of blankets, and snacking on the plethora of food that we had in the car. We would have been fine in there until morning, but thankfully didn’t have to be.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “I hereby declare this day to be Snow Day, the funnest day in the history of Springfield.” - Mayor Quimby