Quick Wednesday Night Thoughts -- Scores and Scorches

1) I sent in a check to pay what should be my last obligation on my daughter's lease from her ill-fated move to Texas. Thank goodness the property managers found someone to sublease the apartment. Otherwise, I was on the hook until October.  SCORE

2) Turned in my signed contract for next work year. I was on the contract team when we negotiated this sweetheart five-year contract about four years ago -- right before the bottom fell out of the economy. Nothing like putting money directly into the pockets of your coworkers to make you feel the love.  SCORE

3) A big down side of my daughter's Texas travails -- and we were afraid of this -- bed bugs! My daughter's apartment had bed bugs and we most likely brought some home with us. My arms look like Josie has been slapping me around. We seemed to find the source (hopefully), so with some cleaning and an exterminator's help we will get this unpleasant surprise taken care of.  SCORCH

4) I really miss playing blogger tournaments and cash games at Full Tilt. I was really ready for a great BBT6 series. I have still been playing some cash games at UB, but it is not the same.  SCORCH

5) Las Vegas is coming sooner than I think. Only 5 1/2 weeks to go! I'll be there June 19-24. I hope to meet up with Yestbay1 before he leaves town. I have already offered my services as his final table servant should he go that far in his WSOP event! Anyone else going to be in Sin City that week? Let me know.  SCORE

Quick Tuesday Thoughts

* Worked on my federal tax form last night and finished it except for paying and e-mailing it via Turbo Tax. It is amazing how simple the task was with this system, which I used last year for the first time.

* My friend who is battling Stage IV breast cancer recently posted pictures on facebook from her trip to Hawaii. I am humbly reminded today that I have been blessed with a great life.

* At some point I might give my views on Survive Donkey Island. I am glad that the people who were involved seemed to have a good time. Frankly, I am glad that it is over so that we can hopefully get to BBT6. Al -- are we still on, bud?

* I hope to find time tonight or tomorrow to post an update on Chicago professional sports teams. Quite a mixed bag, they are ...

* Midwest weather means never having to store away your shorts or your jackets. It is currently 50 degrees and will get up to 80 degrees by Sunday. After that? Back in the 60's and mid to high 50's.

* Today might be the first grilling day of the season. Can the burner make it through one more season? I will find out tonight.

Catch ya on the virtual tables ...

Friday Family Updates

Sometimes things just do not work out, as my oldest daughter found out the hard way. Her move to Texas this past January did not turn out the way she hoped. She was immediately homesick, had difficulty finding a job, had to deal with bed bugs three times, had car problems, blew a tire, on and on ... We finally decided that enough was enough and pulled the plug on her Texas adventure. She is really looking forward to coming home despite having to immediately live with her parents! I'll be heading into Lucki Duck territory in a week to get her.

Mrs. lightning has a job interview at the neighboring university next week. We hope it goes well. Although she has applied for a number of university jobs, this will be only her second interview. She is almost at the two year mark without full-time professional employment. She has always been able to find part-time gigs that don't pay much, but getting something more closely fitting her education, experience, and skills would be nice.

It was about one year ago that we started checking into a health problem my son was having. On April 2, 2010, I wrote a post about my son's early struggles in life. Among other things, I said "Challenges exist in every family. We seemed to have weathered this major one." Little was I to know that on one week later my son would be diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, necessitating an immediate trip to the Mayo Clinic for surgery.

I am happy to report that my son's recovery has been excellent. He appears to remain cancer-free. He has really gotten into school work, and we think that by the end of his high school junior year he will have already accumulated 29 hours of college-level credit thanks to taking Russian at the local community college and testing high enough to receive many AP credits.

My youngest daughter survived her bullying problems from a couple of years ago and can not wait to get out of middle school and begin high school in the fall. She is still waiting for her dad to take her back to Las Vegas!

As for me -- well, I'm still chugging along. My plan for healthier living got waylaid last spring due to dealing with the cancer ordeal. However, I am giving it a shot again and have already started changing my diet and eating habits. The exercise part will soon follow. I continue to have a great secure job, and I am certainly thankful of that in this economy. However, the legislative peckerheads in Illinois are doing everything they can to get at my pension money. Only time will tell how successful they will be.

I continue to play online poker, probably with less enthusiasm than in the past. I need to play more b&m poker. I am excited to hear, however, that BBT6 is on the way!

That is it from my little corner of the world. Challenges are always present, but I am thankful to have the life, family, and friends that I have, including several of you online poker donks! My best to all of you as we make our way through this thing we call life.