Ready for Las Vegas!

August is always one of, if not the, most challenging months at work for me. On August 19, the first day of fall class signified the beginning of the end for me -- my 38th year in higher education and my 26th year at my current school. It has been one long and tiring but enjoyable road. I am looking forward to retirement next July.

I customarily take a trip each September after our rush period is over. Many years ago, I used to go fishing in Canada with some of my wife's relatives. After my brother, thundering36, returned home from Australia in 2000, we took many trips to Las Vegas and almost always went around Labor Day -- which also happens to be right around thundering's birthday. Last September I visited him in Australia, but this year I am back to making my September trip to Las Vegas.

Luke Johnston appears to have some interest in having a night of mixed games somewhere next week. Chris Abramski sounds up for it. A night at Sam's Town also sounds good to me. Outside of these ideas, I do not have any plans set in stone. Hit me up if you want to get together for some poker or a meal. Cash me outside - how bout dah?

I must say that I am looking forward to this trip more than usual. For whatever reason, I used to get a bit anxious before Las Vegas trips. Now, with my new attitude at work (beginning to let go, not letting things bother me), I am feeling really ready to head out.

66 hours and counting ...

Thanks for reading!

When You Get Screwed With at Work

Work
In my last post, I spoke about how last Thursday I celebrated 25 years with my current employer. While not always perfect, my school has overall been a great place to work. However, sometimes pin headed administrators make stupid decisions or treat workers with a lack of respect. Both happened in a meeting on, of all days, my 25th anniversary.

My unit had been scheduled for a meeting with four administrators and the head of Human Resources. What essentially happened is that we were sandbagged with a plan that showed a lack of understanding of how we operate and our work flow. Worse yet, the manner in which things were presented was pretty disrespectful, considering many of us are long-term employees. We all ended up being pretty upset after the meeting. Not a great thing to do with long-time employees who could potentially contribute to fund raising efforts after they retire.

Poker
My poker heater continued for two days this past week, then came to a crashing halt on the weekend. On Thursday night, I had a comp night at Par-A-Dice Casino in East Peoria, IL. After work on Thursday, I headed to the boat, checked into the hotel, and made a small profit before their poker room closed at midnight. On Friday, I had a good afternoon and early evening session and drove home that evening with a smile on my face. There is nothing like the feeling of continuing a poker heater! However, things were soon to end.

On Sunday, I decided to head to Harrah's Joliet, where I have had good success over the years and over the past few weeks. Well, the streak ended when I made a reckless play. I originally raised with A-K and got three two callers. The flop came Ace high with two diamonds. I made a pot sized bet and had two callers. The turn was another diamond. I was unfamiliar with the players and made a regrettable move - pushing all in with one pair and the nut flush draw. The first player went in the tank for some time and decided to call. The other player then also called, and I knew that I'd better hope for a river diamond. It didn't come. It turned out that the first caller had a middle flush and the second caller flopped a set. Bad thinking, bad timing lightning!

My second bullet was doing okay until I got rivered on a flush when I flopped a straight, missed a flush for a huge pot, and then finally got called when I pushed all in with top pair and was called by a guy who had a nut flush draw, which he hit on the turn. Bah!

But ... I had a great time while on the heater and saw the sockroll start to become a tad thicker. I can't wait for my next session!

Las Vegas
I am still tentatively scheduled for a Las Vegas trip Sept 1-6, staying at Gold Coast and then Orleans or Flamingo. But that work situation I mentioned? It actually leaves my trip up in the air for now. I doubt I will have a problem if I still want to go.

Thanks for reading!