You name it... I'm bloggin' it

Trips to the doctor are getting pricey.
Today, I had to go to the doctor, to see about a "funky" patch of skin on the side of my face. Nothing grotesquely disfiguring though when you've got so very little to work with in the first place... Anyway a prescription for some creams and then he whips out "the canister" of nitro and freezes the badboy right then and there. Freeze? HA, burns like hell! I know, I know suck it up cheer_dad! Anyway, of course I pay on my way out, just the co-pay, but the receptionist whispers to me, by the way your insurance "cough" BlueCross "cough" won't cover those prescriptions. Joy. This, all on the heels of yesterday's visit to the oral surgeon with my daughter, who at 16 will be getting her impacted wisdom teeth removed. CHA-CHING!!! Initial consult for the day, NOT included, I will need to come up with and fork over 1/2 of the total fee for the whole Extraction of Wisdom Teeth. My 1/2 equals $780, so you do the math. Oh and incidentally this particular doctor is not within the list of preferred providers of the almighty "cough" Blue Cross "cough." Still they cover somewhat. If I stay in the network of BlueCross's beautiful people then they pay 85% of the "allowed" fee. Meaning they set the total fee and then pay 85% of it. They muscle the doctor into accepting a lower fee than usual with the threat that if they don't play nice, they'll lose business. I get that some doctor's may willingly gouge the prices but not to this degree. The doc's got as much right to make a buck as do I. There I said it. But since this doctor's NOT in the network (which by the way NONE of Parkersburg, WV's oral surgeons are.) I can drive another hour to the west or to the south and find one, but wtf... Anyway, since the local/trustworthy/recommended doctor... the insurance company will pick up 70% of the accepted fee. I am directly responsible for the 30% more of the accepted fee AND any and all amounts in addition to the accepted fee. Aha, I didn't realize I'd visited the proctologist. How 'bout ya lube up there next time, big fellah. Ooof! Anyway, said extraction of teeth will occur in a week and a half. Brother can you spare a dime... a bankroll perhaps?!? I kidding... I'll survive or rob a bank.

Bodog account is just back over the 5 hundy mark. I had a minor setback just before Vegas that cost me during a night of play. Got some Big Sets crushed... the one that hurt the most was the frackin' QUEENS, which lost to the douchebag holding 3-6os, who called the preflop raise in the first place. There's a special place for you in hell, my friend. I'll refrain from posting the things I said and wrote about you that night. I'll keep the internet safe for the PG-13 crowd.

I've got poker this weekend on Friday at the Yanoks house. 2 qualifier games, which move fast and the chips fly. Then, on Saturday I've got the NDPT tourney at my house. I'm hopeful of a decent score somewhere in there. So, beware lil fishies! On the heels of that I'm feeling the urge to next week head down south to CrossLanes and play for the night in the poker room at the Tri-State Casino and Racetrack... call it an itch, call it Vegas withdraw, it is what it is... Let's see I need to work on the begging/pleading aspect to Big Red.

Cover me boys... I'm goin' in! Suppressing fire!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Found notes from Harrah's poker session

Okay, there's nothing incredibly insightful here, but I did have the common sense to a least pay some attention and take some notes while I was playing in my 2nd session at Harrah's Poker Room from last week in Las Vegas. Remarkably no one was complaining that I was typing on my cellphone when I wasn't in the hand. Anyway, for what it's worth here's the rambling nature of my note taking all the while hopped up on an inordinate number of cups of coffee!

• Third hand of the morning QQ, small win better than a loss.
• Jr takes hit when villain hits set of 7's on river.
• I call with AQos miss on flop fold to a bet.
• 2nd rnd of table i pick up QQ again raise mid pos get 3 callers flop is jack high i bet n win.
• Lot of chips flying at table many more than yesterday.
• So tight for an hour now at $22 up.
• In bb flop straight only take weak pot, still a win is a win.
• Hour n half in two hands in row i look down at AJs bet out miss first time on royal flush draw. 2nd time pair aces only... Wins me nearly a $200 pot! R U kidding me!
• 2 hrs in up $100.
• Seat 1 asian is loose... he needs to pay me off more. : )
• Alan Schoonmaker playing in room, writer for CardPlayer.
• There's the girls... and 3 hrs in... time to cash out! UP $146.

I know, I know... nothing earth-shattering there, just wanted to share and re-live.
Also wanted to mention... I REALLY liked having Jennifer as a dealer. She was very kind, knew her some 80's trivia, and kept the morning game moving right along!

And I wish I could remember the name of our cocktail waitress from that morning. She was a real dynamo, and kept up with not only everyone in the poker room and sports book, but later I saw she was also serving a hellish grouping of slot machines too! I hope the tips piled high for you during your shift.

Regards,

cheer_dad

An Ode to the Pepper Rose

I WISH that it would never close

The deli called the Pepper Rose.

Sandwiches piled with meats and cheeses

The wondrous taste how it pleases;

The Reuben oh it made me cry

It was so good I thought I'd die;

The ham and cheese wow was it good

I couldn't believe and so I just stood

There outside the Harrah's Poker Room

The hunger I felt would meet its doom.

Dream of food perfection while you doze;

Run don't walk to the Pepper Rose.

All apologies to poet Joyce Kilmer and "TREES." http://www.bartleby.com/104/119.html

After eating at the Pepper Rose Delicatessen, outside Harrah's Poker Room, I was a believer.

http://www.harrahslasvegas.com/casinos/harrahs-las-vegas/restaurants-dining/pepper-rose-detail.html

Mmmmm, that's good eatin'. In fact, I think that sandwich may have been the only food I had all day. Alcohol however, is a story for another day.

Regards,

cheer_dad

NDPT #2 February 28, 2009 @ 6:00pm

NDPT Tournament #2 will be held at my house on February 28th, 2009 at 6:00pm.
Sorry things shifted a bit, but we were in Vegas last week and we couldn't get things together for last weekend.

Anyway, same format as last month. Hope to see you all there!

Begin the RSVP'ing NOW!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

It's not complete until...

... you run yourself into Elvis and ham it up for the camera! Thank you... thank you very much.

But now that we're home, it's back to reality. Kids had to be taken to school, unpack, mountains of laundry, all the while jet-lagged.

Still, I wanted to go through some of the pictures I had, and this one made me laugh.

Have a great day everyone.

Regards,

cheer_dad

On the road again. Vacation really over now. 2 hour drive home is all that remains, other than a lot of great times and stories.
Regards,
cheer dad

Blackjack is evil! My buddy JJ can attest from past trips. Now JR can confirm as well. Losing session last night NY NY.
Regards,
cheer dad

Met Alan Schoonmaker playing at Harrah's, he's a writer for CardPlayer magazine. Nice man!
Regards,
cheer dad

Closing in on 3 hrs at Harrah's up a lil over $100. 2 loose players at table driving action... One of them sitting on about 1K.
Regards,
cheer dad

Headed back to the poker table at Harrah's to put in a few hours. Today's the day folks! Or not... : )
Regards,
cheer dad

Lady luck is cold hearted bitch... Card dead at the IP, escape with life and a few chips. Now at Margaritaville. YUM!
Regards,
cheer dad

Playing at the Imperial Palace... Sluggish game.
Regards,
cheer dad

Plan is for JR to play Venetian tourney this evening. I will be there prolly at the cash tables.
Regards,
cheer dad

Left Harrah's up but not where i was earlier. Flopped set of 7's i raise the bettor. He gets all in i call and he catches 4 cards to straight. Sigh
cheerdad

Playing at Harrah's poker room... 3 hours or so at the moment. Up a lil over $100.
Regards,
cheer dad

Spent last night and early morn downtown at Fremont taking in the sights. Giving $$$ away at the tables. Now... Back to it!
Regards,
cheer dad
cheer
cheer

On your mark, get set, GO!

A mere 5 Hours, 21 Minutes remain before our plane taxis down the runway. Next stop VEGAS! I'm herding Big Red toward the door right now. JR's already texting to see if we're on schedule. Dude, you're a junkie! Addiction is a scary thing. Whatevs... hang on tight folks cause here we go!

Regards,

cheer_dad

I'm so excited!

I can hardly contain my excitement! We leave tomorrow for Las Vegas! We leave in the morning around 10:00 to drive to Columbus, OH and hop our plane. Doubtful that any of us will sleep tonight, of course we won't be able to do much of that in Vegas either, so this is just practice right?

By this time tomorrow... the Vegas sites and sounds will be all around me. I'll be doubling down or shoving all-in depending on the table I happen to be at, at the time.

The plan is still to head downtown on our first night, to check out old Vegas, particularly for JR, who has never been there before. Beyond that, we're really playing it all by ear, but there will definitely be poker play at Venetian, and probably an obligatory stop at the Imperial Palace. I'll try to post up some of our goings on to the blog, and maybe you'll be able to follow along as we go.

Time to get back to packing.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Rode the 600

Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward,

All in the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"

Charge for the guns!" he said:

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

~excerpt from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade

(most enjoyed as delivered by Alfalfa in Little Rascals, episode Two Too Young.)

Another milestone of sorts here at the old NDPT Blog. This is the 600th post! I don't know if it even comes across your radar of observation, or if it's an event of note at all. Still, it's a pretty big deal to me! Thanks for continuing to visit me here, and I hope (at least on occasion) I write something worth reading. Regardless though, the thing does me good.

Today's a busy day, Whitney has to cheer at two basketball games today, at both high schools. Cole has bowling in a few minutes, followed immediately by Rec League basketball. Then, Big Red and I will be cramming clothes and cash into a suitcase in preparation for tomorrow morning's flight. Ring...ring... It's VEGAS calling! We've got a lot of things to get done before we leave, but we'll be there soon.

That's all for now... there's just no more time. The day begins...

Regards,

cheer_dad

P.S. Just as I'm wrapping up my post... the door bell rings with a delivery for Whitney. A dozen red roses for my baby-girl from the boy child who fancies himself to be her boyfriend. Okay Jordan I'll cut you some slack, you're a good guy and you seem to treat my daughter very well. Thank you for that... but let's keep it that way, shall we? : ) Nevertheless, kudos on the flowers. And Happy Valentine's Day all!

Ooops my geek is showing!

Yeah, go figure I take a quiz... it likens me to a little green guy, although I'm not feeling all that Yoda-like this morning. Never saw him get all bent outa shape about anything. I did just this morning over a friggin' email. But I did say my peace... punctuated it with a few expletives.

But now I'm meditating quietly in my little corner finding bliss in the fact that I leave for Vegas in 5 Days, 5 Hours, 33 Minutes! The non-technical management overlords can get bent!

Regards,

cheer_dad