quick report prior to thanksgiving.

tuesday night saw a highly-entertaining visit with nemo friend sukach, in town to make sure that local tv station ownership wasn't lying to the world. beers were consumed, laughs were shared, and conversation was generally without-pause.

it's a risky proposition to spend time with someone you don't actually know, but it worked out tremendously well. i think it wound up being about an eight-to-midnight kind of night, and it was good. and corporate america footed the bill. woof.

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i spent much of the summer of 2003 at the casino. losing money. regularly. once twice in a day. (like...play blackjack for three hours, get my haircut, play blackjack for three more hours.) it was an unhealthy summer.

so jeff and i briefly discussed casino-ing last night. and then i wound up in a conversation with boss2 about gambling. and i got the urge to play blackjack wednesday night.

so then i tried to recruit a co-worker. then i tried to recruit a former coworker. and then i resigned myself to spending the night cleaning up the apartment in a pre-thanksgiving disinfecting session. but then, come ten o'clock, i decided i was ready to play blackjack.

so i dropped in sixty bucks. and i lost 20 on the first round. and midway through the second round i got 7-7 against a dealer 5. my bet was ten dollars. i had 30 dollars sitting in front of me. 7-7...bust card out...you split. have to split. and then another 7. so i split again. then a three. so i double. and when i'm done playing the hand, i've got a 7-3-3, a 7-5, and a 7-8. and dealer doesn't bust. and i dig into the wallet. (i dug out the remaining 50 bucks. wallet was empty at this point.)

but it worked out from there. i made some well-timed larger bets. i split 7-7 against a 3, and turned it into 7-3-9 (double), 7-6, and 7-8. but the mark the dealer (just in for danny) did his job and busted for me. so, by the end of the night, i had played for about 80 minutes or so. and i turned the 110 i put in into 200 bucks. happy days.

according to my records, this was my first winning gambling venture (my fifth venture overall) since 5/31/04. but i'm over it now. still, nice to win.

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rough thanksgiving plans:

thursday morning: cut down the christmas tree with the fam (garsh). leave the aunt's by 5 or so.

thursday night: catch up with uncontacted high school friend?

friday: watch nebraska-colorado. i always watch it. i love the game. even though it's basically meaningless. friday's my favorite game of the year.

friday night: the wedding crew from last weekend?

saturday: ?? watch the irish

sunday: try to drive home in time to catch the entire bears game. this implies departure by 8 a.m. or so. i think i can make it happen.

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i've officially requested four-day weekend time for the gurs yuletide party. a pollstar search indicates not much of a selection. caribou on friday. iron & wine/calexico on sunday night. i've not seen a rock show (an actual rock show, not a covers band and an overpriced qca three-dollar cover) since the electrifying conclusion last new year's eve. i certainly don't want to make it a full year.