No way people are this stupid

I'm in the process of finishing my files for some of my drivers and I have to get verification of previous employment so I call up the companies and talk to whomever I need to or send a fax for them to complete. I call a fairly large company named Central Hauling and I this is what is said: Me "I need to get a previous employment verification." I can't be anymore clear than that. She says "from who?" If you're not completely baffled by what she said reread what I've wrote. My response is "Uhhhhh, from Central Hauling. I guess I don't get your question." She then says nothing and transfers me to the correct person. After thinking about it maybe her and some other people in the office play a game where they say the dumbest things and see what kind of reaction they get. I wonder what she would have said had I told her I needed a previous employment verification from "ABC Trucking" and I called Central Hauling to get it?

Why do we care.

I was looking at my wife's facebook page and a lady posted something about gay marriage should be legal. Well once she clicked Share every fucking Christian's bible caught fire and they bombarded this lady. I am a little disgusted at the thought of what gay people do so I'm not waving my rainbow flag over here. I just don't understand why I have the right to vote for these people not to get married. I feel like this is modern day slavery. It seems that inconceivable that a book translated countless times THOUSANDS of years ago can convince people that Jesus has given YOU the right to tell someone that they can't marry whom they choose. I seen the scripts on the facebook page about not laying with another man (and I personally believe the same) but shouldn't He be the one to handle it. I'm honestly baffled that this is still against the law, why the hell do I care what other people do? I'll use one of my favorite sayings "It's got about as much to do with me as the price of tea in China."

BEST.SONG.EVER.

I was working and listening to Pandora on my computer and on comes one of my favorite songs of all time...Uneasy Rider 88 by Charlie Daniels. It's the usual catchy beat that Charlie Daniels pours out of his fiddle and the words are absolutely hysterical. I hadn't heard it in a long time but when I heard it come on I cranked up the volume as loud as my little computer would stand and sang along and while smiling and laughing the whole time. The song ends..."Well I'm sittin' here in this county jail, had to call my daddy to pull my bail. But I learned me a lesson that I never will forget again. I done give up drankin', done give up bars, runnin' round the country in sooped up cars and went back where the women are women and the men are men."

Holy HOLY-WAR Batman

On my wifes facebook page(because I don't have one) I saw my aunt engaged in a conversation with a "friend" about abortion!?!?!?!? It started with a "no on 62" youtube video (which is apparently about illegalizing abortion) posted by my aunt and then another lady disagreed and told a story about her friend who was going to have major problems and baby would die...ended up getting an (unwanted) abortion. This "other" lady and my aunt had a civilized and intelligent discussion where they totally disagreed but were able to appreciate the others opinion. Other lady was pro-abortion and an Atheist, my aunt is POLAR opposite of that. Then, in comes another lady, (whom I'll refer to as Stupid Bitch) to the "conversation"(or whatever facebook people call it) and delivers this judgemental, Christian-is-the-only-religion, I'm-better-than-you, line of shit "I feel so sorry for you that you don't know god's love". Or something close to that. I've been to Church and understand that it's Christians job to spread his word but this Stupid Bitch actually thought facebook was the time and place????? I think she likes the "permission" that Christianity gives her to tell other people how inferior they are to her and her kind. I'm a libertarian so my opinion is live and let live and stay the fuck out of other peoples shit. If being a Christian means I have to look down on anyone, for any reason then count me the FUCK OUT!!

Well Fuck

So I received information that I finished 2nd in Top Gun standings. The top 2 players and top woman make the Top Gun tournament but you have to play in a regular APA league to participate, not just the masters league. But as it turns out the guy who got 1st and the top woman are in the same boat as me so the league operator is trying to see if we can participate in the tournament. The problem is that the tournament is this Saturday and I'm going to the Rockies game and the Broncos game on Saturday and Sunday so I can't play regardless. I would have loved to play in a tournament with such a strong field as this tournament will surely possess. I guess I can take solace in the fact that I qualified with my play from this session but I'm a little sad that I'll be unable to participate.

I'm not real sure why you have to play in a regular APA league to qualify for the Top Gun tournament, something about it's funded by the "23" league. Well why the fuck do I pay $10 per week and $10 per year? Where does this money go? I'm familiar with the APA and know that they're ENTIRELY about the "23" league. I used to play in it and the total skill level cannot exceed 23 points. I'm registered as a 5 (that's what I was when I quit APA about 5-6 years ago) and our team consisted of four people with skill level 5's and one as a 3. So we were at the maximum points allowed and when one of the guys skill level went up to 6 we decided to change leagues so our team could remain intact. APA is a business and are only interested in making money (I don't blame them for that) but they don't promote people to get better, only to diverse and enter with new teams and new people, making them more money. So I changed to BCA league which was handicapped in a different way, your teams total skill levels were added up and you spotted your opponents according to that. After playing that for a while I switched to the BCA masters league which is not handicapped at all. It counts games won only and whichever team wins the most games is the winner. I prefer this system much more than APA because it promotes good play whereas APA promotes people to sandbag, as in not playing to full strength because your skill level might go up and put you and your team in jeopardy of total points being too high. APA is a great league for beginners but people who take getting better seriously it's not in their best interest. Our team made the playoffs (no clue how, we were like 7th or 8th out of 11 teams) so we have another match tomorrow so I'll let you know how that goes.

My game is getting better but very slowly, it's difficult when you reach a certain level of play to get better. Not to say that I'm so good I can't get better, because that's not at all what I mean. I "know" only what I've learned and must continue to find new avenues of information and ways to improve. I'm very good at what I know and am getting better at what I'm trying to introduce into my game, ie. preshot routine. But every pool player hits a wall or a plateau and your game can level off and your not getting any better. I need to reread (or probably finish reading) Pleasures of Small Motions as it goes into many aspects of the game but mostly the mental side. Learning to take every pocketed ball as a small victory and keep you in the moment instead of getting ahead of yourself and miss a shot because you're not focused on this "easy" shot. I'm getting better at this but it is probably my biggest downfall. Most of the shots I miss aren't difficult shots, they're fairly simple shots that I'm taking for granted because I'm thinking about the difficult shot of the rack or position to a certain ball. I'm sure this is about as interesting as watching grass grow to most of you but it's fascinating to me. I read this simple, yet so very true line somewhere:
"Don't shoot in the thinking position & Don't think in the shooting position." This could not be more correct, if you break this rule you are sure to miss.

Unlikely

I won my match last night 7-1. My team had to put up first and I was the only one there when we started so by process of elimination...I had to play a guy who's skill level was a 5 which wasn't very fun for either of us. It is very difficult to play someone well below my skill level. I tend to have a hard time keeping focus, as missing a shot is of no consequence because he will likely miss also. I started out real well last night breaking & running the first game but my play slowly deteriorated as I lost interest in the match. I wanted to play their best player so I could accrue more points to try and win Top Gun, but that's pretty unlikely now. I was tied for first tonight with 61 points but it's unlikely the guy I'm tied with will lose or play someone with a skill level 5 or below, as this is the masters division so it's supposed to be more top tier players so there's very few players with skill levels below 5. I've finished the season with a record of 11-4 which is alright I guess, I lost some matches early in the season I had a very good chance of winning. Our session is over and our team is not playing next session but I'll be a substitute and possibly full time on another team next session. And my Wednesday night league starts on October 6th which is more challenging than the Tuesday night league. The rules are better and the format is more challenging, as well as the competition is more consistent. Our Wednesday night team finished 2nd last year and should have gotten first but we choked like dogs the last 2 weeks of the year to give 1st place away.

I got a Droid phone a couple months back because Verizon was cheaper than Sprint/Nextel and I could access the internet. I'm not a big tech guy and don't come close to using all the functions that my phone has. This is the first touch screen phone I've ever had and am used to Nextel flip phones that fit your face better than the flat touch screen phones. I have to hold this phone closer to my face so people can hear me but I've come across a little issue that has gotten quite annoying...THE FACE HANGUP. In an effort to keep the phone close to my face so people can hear me, my cheek hits the "End" button. I doubt I'm the only one it's happening to, so all you face hangupers come out of the closet and get this epidemic the attention it needs. I'll start a petition to Motorola Droid here and now. Put your name in the Comments section and we'll get this ugly disease the attention it deserves.

PETITION
1. Preston Hollis
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

I'll stop there since it's only the seven of you following me, but I ask you do your part and bring as much attention to this as you can.

A little of this, a little of that

I'm late in reporting of pool for last Tuesday but here it is. I hadn't played or practiced at all since the previous week so my expectations weren't very high. I was busy getting ready for the Labor Day weekend at the lake and that didn't leave me any time to play. I had to go clear across town to play on below average equipment coupled with no practice time put me in a somber mood. I lost the flip and had to put up first, there was only me and another guy there so we flipped a coin and I lost so I was up first. They put up their best player (this was the first place team so they were all pretty damn good) and ended up whipping him like a rented mule. I won 7-3 and played pretty well considering my lack of play, only missing a couple shots and leaves. He didn't play his best though, as I've watched him play before and he can be a killer. I was up 4-3 and he broke a 9 ball game and didn't make anything. I played a pretty good safe and he kicked the 1 ball in but didn't leave himself a shot on the 2 and I got ball in hand. That was the last time he would be at the table. I ran the last 8 balls of that game and then broke and ran the next game and then made the 9 ball on the break in the next game for a 7-3 win. We won 2 out of the 3 matches and beat one of the best teams in our league, but they were missing their other very good player. I had 54 points going into that match which put me in a tie for second place, only 1 point behind the leader, for the individual standings and the guy I played had a skill level of 7 which is the highest so I'll have 61 points now and have a good chance of taking first place. There is no award for finishing first but I don't play for awards, I play to get better and I want to get 1st place for the satisfaction. This weeks match is the last of the year so if I win, I have a good chance of being Top Gun (that's what the winner is called.)

Last week I was making coffee and our goddamn coffeemaker took a shit on me. It spilled coffee all over the counter one day and I thought maybe I forgot to empty the pot as I often don't drink all the coffee I make. Well, sure as hell the next day I made sure the pot was empty and it did the same thing. We've only had this fucking thing a few months and it's supposed to be one of the nicer ones and it turned out to be a piece of shit. My wife bought a regular one so hopefully better luck with this one. But it never seems to fail, the nicer something and more expensive something is, the bigger piece of shit it turns out to be.

I'm back at the grind of trying to find another driver after captain success quit. I posted another ad on craigslist and already got a call about the job and faxed him an application this morning. I'm taking all wagers as to whether he actually fills it out and returns it. I hate this process, it's so hard to determine whether a guy is worth a fuck or worthless. I just gotta keep weeding out the fucking losers until I find someone who is actually willing to work.

On a bright note, as least the Donkeys lost!

Captain Success

Saturday was a shitty fucking day. That's the only way to say it. The guy I hired Sept. 3rd has apparently grown tired of working on Sept. 11th. He was supposed to pick up a load on Friday night and he never showed up. The broker called me Saturday morning and gave me this news and then proceeded to tell me that my company basically sucks, unfortunately at that moment I wasn't really in a position to argue. I tried calling him several times on Friday and when I didn't hear back I got a bad feeling that he either quit or got in an accident. So when my dog jumped on my bed Saturday morning at 5AM I was up for good with these terrible thoughts going through my mind. About 8AM, after calling him about 25 times and going straight to voicemail I decided to drive to his house in Denver and see if he was there or if his family could tell me if they've heard from him, or worse, from the police. So then I get his address from his application and also grab the copy of his drivers license and I'm on my way. I arrive at his house about 1 1/2 hours after I leave mine and all the while calling him every 5 minutes still. (the reason for this is where he was supposed to be loading there is no cell phone service so I was hoping that's why I couldn't get him) A little ringy dingy of the doorbell and a 65'ish year old lady answers the door and I say "is Greg Cribbs here"(if any of you know him tell him he's a pile of fucking fresh dogshit) and she gets a confused look and says "no". So I then ask a couple follow up questions that she couldn't have thought I would ask like "well DOES he live here?" (who the fuck woulda seen that one coming?), "do you know where he lives?" Well, to no avail, she could only tell me that her daughter used to date him and he's never lived there. FUCK ME, that's the address on his drivers license and application. I had my wife get me the phone numbers for any other Greg Cribbs, whom I'll call Captain Success from now on, and the State Patrol. I still don't know if Captain Success has died in a car accident or just abandoned my truck somewhere. I figured I'd check the handfull of truckstops in Denver and see if the truck was at any of them. This was just a shot in the dark, but I figured I drove clear the fuck up to Aurora, I'm gonna take a look anywhere I can think. The second truckstop I go to I see that ugly yellow motherfucking truck!!! I couldn't fucking believe it, unlocked with the keys in it and my POD's in there too. So I gather up all the paperwork shit, but couldn't lock the driver side door because the inside of it was all fucked up. That's kind of a problem for me because now I need to get it out of there ASAP because it's in the ghetto with an unlocked door and completely full of fuel ($600 worth of fuel in it). I figure out how and when I'll get it back to Pueblo, where I will park it, on my way drive home. Only people on my insurance can drive the truck I didn't have a lot of options, so I had to pick up one of my drivers at 9PM on Saturday in Pueblo.

South side of Pueblo to I-70 and Quebec = 2 hours. This wasn't bad because we shot the shit the whole way and never really got tired. The drive home was fucking brutal. I left Denver at about Midnight and I was exhausted, been up since 5 AM and have worn the fucking pavement out on I-25 but it was almost over. I leaned forward in my seat, so as not to get comfy, and downed Mountain Dews and chain smoked the whole way home to keep my ass awake. About Castle Rock I got a little bonus, I HAD TO PISS! This was very helpful in keeping me awake. I kept the hammer down and my eyes awake and got home a little after 1AM. Somewhere between 400 and 450 miles driven, awake for 20 hours, 1 semi-truck found, scared 1 old lady, and missed a night out with friends. FUCK YOU CAPTAIN SUCCESS

The Eye Test

So lets say that you walk into GNC and see Zydrunas Savickas(current world's strongest man titleholder) and myself(6'0" 155-165 lbs sopping wet) working and ask us if the "x" pills or "y" pills will make me get bigger. Suppose we kind of look at each other and I say "I think pills x", and Zydrunas says "I think pills y." You can clearly tell that neither him nor I know for sure but you look at us and think, "yeah I'm gonna go with the pills that the large musclebound guy thinks." When in doubt, use the eye test. I tell this fictitious story so you don't think I'm just making fun of fat people with my actual story. My wife and I are in Subway and we're standing in line(for fucking ever, but not relevant in this story, I'll speak poor customer service sometime) and this lady in front of us asks the two ladies working there if this bread or that bread has less calories or something like that and the two ladies kind of look at each other and neither one has a fucking clue what the correct answer is (which is pathetic, you work at a "health" minded restaurant and many people come there because it's healthy, KNOW THE FUCKING PRODUCTS!!!!!!) and skinny lady says she thinks this bread has less calories and fat lady says that bread has less calories...Looks aren't always deceiving.

Still not satisfied

I played alright tonight in league, but not where I feel I should be. The team we played had one of the top points leaders on their team (each player has a skill level and if you beat them then that's how many points you receive and if you lose then you get 0 points) and they put him up first. Now I usually don't care who I play but I wanted the challenge so I decided to put myself up. This guy was tied for first with 53 points and I'm tied for second with 49 points. His skill level only says a 5 (a 7 is the highest) but I think it's his first time playing this league and 5 is the default skill level, because he's actually better than a skill level 5. I beat him 7-6, another hill-hill match like last week and again I came from behind trailing 5-6. My play was rather inconsistent in that I messed up too many easy outs and gave a couple games away. I was fortunate to make the 9 ball early in two games or I probably would have lost the match. My pre-shot routine was solid and getting to be second nature, which I believe helped my shot making. I only missed a couple shots but my problem tonight was I fucked up way to many leaves. My speed was way off. I felt myself not staying down on every shot which is frustrating. The guy I was playing was a nice enough guy but he annoyed the shit out of me because when I was shooting he was always standing up. This isn't against the rules and he wasn't trying to shark me, it's just the way he waits for his turn but it bothers the fuck out of me for some reason.

I've done some practice drills recently and have noticed a couple little problems that I'm aware of and am now working to fix. I'm hoping I can keep up the practicing and get a jump start on preparing for Vegas. It's a long ways away but last year I don't feel like I gave myself the opportunity to do as well as I can by slacking off. Summers are always going to take away from my game because I have other things I like to do and I'm fine with losing some ground but I need to hit it hard when Summer is over.

Last week I was playing at Antiques and there was this old guy (who I'll call "weird old guy") there who was clearly a regular and "weird old guy" was talking to this guy I was playing and asked him if he could get him a beer because they wouldn't give him one. It was not spoken of as to why they wouldn't serve him. Anyways, "weird old guy" was there tonight wearing a plaid pajama top & bottom with the pants rolled up to his calfs. He uses a cane and I've not seen him EVER shoot pool or even carry a pool stick. He's what I would call a strange cat.

But what does a self-employed pocket-billiard player know?

Why?

Why do people insist on wasting my time? I'm in need of a driver so I put an ad on craigslist and have received several phone calls by people interested in the job. I explain what I do and don't do and ask if they're still interested and always get a resounding yes. Then I fax or give them an application and have received a total of one back. This lucky gentlemen will be getting the job but I'm confused as to why people do this. I tell them when they call what the pay is and how things work and then I ask them if these things are acceptable to them. All they have to say is "no thanks", or "not gonna work for me", or "go fuck yourself". Any of these are better than me going through the hassle of explaining everything and giving them an application and then getting no response. My favorite is one guy actually said "my unemployment runs out in "x" amount of days so I'll be needing a job after that." Does he really think that I'm interested in hiring someone who is insistent upon running out his unemployment? Not really a go-getter and not someone who will be a good employee.

I'm going to touch on some pool now, hitting all topics of my blog name. At the tournament in Vegas back in May there was this new rack and it's the end-all be-all of racks. It's simple and very useful and I wanted to get one for my home table so I was looking for where I could get one and no one sells them. I called the small place here in Colorado Springs where I get the work done on my cue and buy most of my pool related products and he didn't have one. Then I called Fodors(reluctantly because I hate this place with a passion) and the lady I spoke to said "I've never heard of that, is it for racking balls?" The name of the product is Magic Rack. I said "nope, it's a set of Tits with magical powers." I didn't actually say that but it reaffirmed my hatred of Fodors. If you're going to be in the billiards business then you need to know the latest and greatest products. I don't expect them to have the latest and greatest but knowledge of it is paramount, or why would someone like myself shop somewhere that they have no useful knowledge of ANY products. It's actually almost impossible to get this rack, for whatever reason, the only way to get it right now is to email the makers of it and tell them you want it. It's not for sale or even mentioned on their website. So, why was the rack available for use clear back in May but not available for purchase 3 months later? WHY FUCKING WHY??? I'm not a brilliant business mind but with my futile brain I've come to the realization that if people cannot find where to purchase your product, it's seems unlikely they'll buy it. Which, in turn, will make turning a profit verge on the impossible. But what the hell does a self-employed pocket-billiard player know?

I wonder if anybody else has 2 hyphens in their blog title? Someone should do some research on this.

NOT IT!!!

I'm ready for POOL!!!

I'm ready for winter and moreover ready for pool. I've been playing league one night per week but that's about all I've been doing. No practice or tournaments makes the game suffer badly. I've been keeping myself busy this summer by going to the lake and camping. However, I'm ready for some football and playing pool on a regular basis. This has been a very productive summer in many ways, work and personally. I completed 3 years of taxes for my business, personal, and my old company. This was a TON of work, and the tedious, time consuming type that I despise. I've also leased on a couple trucks and paid off a couple trucks. My wife and I bought a boat and I got a work truck.

So summer pool has been very inconsistent for me, after last nights match I'm 9-4. Which isn't too bad but I haven't played very well so I'm unhappy with my play, not necessarily my results because the competition level isn't what my winter league is. I've been playing more the last 2 weeks so I'm expecting my play to start getting more consistent and last night was not exactly what I was hoping for. I played a pretty good player and beat him 7-6 but I was losing 6-4 and won the last three games to win the match. I missed way to many shots and position leaves to be happy about my play. But an interesting story from last nights match I'll share. I'm losing 6 games to 5 and I've just broke the balls and about to shoot my first shot which the ball is basically hanging in the pocket and I'm looking at the table for where I'm going to leave my cueball, not at if I'm going to make the shot because it a hanger. And some jackass walks by and says "I'll bet you 10 bucks you miss." Now I'm usually a pretty easy going guy and don't let the dumb shit people say get to me...BUT I wasn't playing well and I'm focused on my game and this dickface decides to talk a little shit and everybody who knows me knows I LOVE to gamble on anything. Anyways, I turn to the guy(who I've never seen, I don't think he plays league or anything) and say "Put your money up." Then he says "well which ball you shooting?" I says "whats the difference, you said I'd miss so put your money up loudmouth." He didn't say anything back immediately but a little later during the game (which I was still shooting in because I didn't miss) I hear him mutter something about not being proud.

That's all for now but I'm going to start blogging again, hopefully a couple times a week so all the people who been hating on me for not blogging can SHUT THE FUCK UP! Just kidding.

Feeling pretty good

I've been playing a lot of pool the last 2 weeks and I'm real happy with how I'm playing right now. The biggest difference is I've change my stance a little bit. I was playing this VERY good player that I've played several times and he was saying that I shoot good but I need to change my stance some. I was not on very good balance and after fixing what he suggested I'm playing great. By moving my back foot out about 12" it's given me much better balance and actually helps me stay down on the ball because my feet are a little wider apart which allows me to not have to be bent straight over. I'm still having some mental lapses and not focusing on every shot. I have made improvement on this problem but still need to focus 100% on all my shots. It usually happens on an easier shot or leave when I'm in the middle of a tough rack. I'll be so focused on getting to a ball or getting a certain leave and I'll come to the cupcake ball in the rack and let my focus slip because I've already done the hard work or the next ball is the hard work. I know many players have this same handicap so I'm not alone but I don't want to be "many players", I want to be better.

I played a pretty good player in league last night and beat him 7-2. He won the lag and chose 9 ball. He can either choose the game or to break. Generally, not always, but usually when I player chooses 9 ball it's because they're always going to try and combo the 9 in or bang it around and hope to get lucky. That wasn't necessarily the case with this dude but he did combo it in early once and the runout was easier than the combo. I was ahead 6-2 when we finished 9 ball and I won a defensive struggle in our 8 ball game. It took probably 10-12 safeties and about 8 ball in hands before I bested him with a sweet safety and then ran my last two balls and sank the 8. It was a good night for me in that I didn't miss any easy shots and only 1 shot that I should make more times than not.

I'm very excited about going to Vegas. I think I can do real well with how I'm playing and my confidence is sky high right now.

Protocol

Have you ever been out somewhere and when you get back to your car you see it? It's shining in the sun and laughing at you. DING. A nice ding on your car door from some worthless faggotface who can't seem to understand that when he flings open his door it's going to fly the fuck open at a NASCAR rate of fucking speed and hit the person's car next to you. It almost never fails that the queefsniffer who did it to you is gone. But today the car that did it was still there. I've had many thoughts as to what I should have done. What I did was nothing. I thought I'd be a bigger man and take the high road. I believe this was a mistake, very out of character for me. It's still eating at me that I didn't get revenge. Here's a list of the things I wanted to do to this pristine Chrysler minivan:

1. First thought was key it.
2. Spit a big loogie on the drivers side window.
3. Dump my coffee all over their hood.
4. Take a big fucking duece on the hood.

Out of all these I should have done #2. I think #1 may have been a little overboard. I had just drove to get my coffee and it was cold out so I didn't like #3 either. I would have absolutely loved to do #4 but as is turns out I didn't have it in me. Literally.

I'm wandering what the protocol is for this? What is acceptable punishment for catching your door ding criminal? Or should I act the like 29 year old man that I am and let it go?

Sneaking up on me

I'm going to play in the BCA tournament in Vegas and it's less than 3 weeks away. I'm usually counting down the days until Vegas but not this time. I need more time to practice and get into my groove. I was playing really well a few weeks ago but not so much now. I've haven't been playing as much as I would like to and when I do play it's league usually and I don't play jam up and really focus. I'm going to start playing tournaments every week as many as I can. I tend to really focus and play my best, like in the couple tournaments I played in Fort Collins and Denver a couple months ago. I've never played as strong as I did in those, I felt like I could play with anyone. And confidence is almost as important as shooting well. When I've got that combo going I feel like I could do some real great things in Vegas. With short races to 5 anything can happen. At the tourney in Denver I played at several weeks ago I broke and ran 7 of 16 racks I broke! So regardless of who I'm playing, if I'm stroking it that well I've got a good chance. I tend to really focus in tournaments, when I played in Vegas 2 years ago I played probably about as good as I ever had. I made the 1st round of the money so I was satisfied with my results that year. My goals this year will be to make it quite a bit further than that but I don't feel I can only be results oriented at this tournament. I could play the best 2 players in the tournament and lose and be out right away. So my main goal is to play the best I can and the rest will take care of itself. If I play great and lose then that's ok because I ran into someone better than me and I know there are many people out there better than me. I'm a much stronger player than I was 2 years ago so I'm very excited to kick ass and take names.

Letter to ESPN

I'm just starting to watch the Masters coverage on ESPN and I can't help but be annoyed by this super flaming faggot Mike Tirico. He's so fucking self-important like everyone wants to hear what he has to say. Well listen to what I have to say to you Tirico "No one cares what you have to say, I want to watch golf not you talking to some other queer in the Masters Cabin. I've got in on this channel to watch golf and not two dumbasses wearing a suit talking about how these players are going to handle this course. If you idiots would shut up and put the camera on the players we could see with our own eyes how these players are handling the course." I don't understand why or how these annoying pricks got this job but it's at the very least- borderline completely fucking useless. Here's how you televise this: show golf and every little while flash the leaderboard on the screen. I don't want to see some self-important schmuck being introspective or retrospective or any goddamn spective. Show me Tiger fucking Woods.

Sincerly Yours

The life and times of a self-employed golf watcher

Dog Anal Raping?????

You know how when you're talking to someone and you're pretty sure you know what they're going to say and then...SMACK!!!!!! I'm at the vet having my dog checked out for dragging her ass across the carpet. My wife did some research and found out it was the anal glands or anal sacks as they're sometimes referred to, I just recently found out. So I'm telling the Vet why I'm here and his response to her ass dragging is "oh thats from anal sex." And I'm like right...wait...what! He then explains to me what anal sacks are and his dog had to have them taken out and I really stopped listening once I was sure he wasn't accusing me of anal raping my dog. It's a basic part of conversing that I didn't adhere to. I talk and he listens and then he talks and I LISTEN. I'm not supposed to think about what I'm going to say or assume I know what he's going to say. Listen, and you won't be accused of dog anal raping. Pretty simple folks.

Common or NOT Common

Sense that is. After reading this story I'm not sure if it's common at all. Without getting into a whole thing about if this kid needed to have the shit whipped out of him or not, I'm fairly certain 2 grown men could have restrained this child without slapping him in the face or using a stun gun. I have little doubt that there will be a lawsuit, maybe deservedly, but what happened to the days when whomever was watching you had the right to beat your ass if the situation so called for it. It was a transfer of the iron fist. I guess the problem is that people have no common sense to gauge a situation and act accordingly. I would want my child to be disciplined accordingly to the behavior but I'm not sure I would trust a day care to make the decision to what is "accordingly." So while I miss the way things used to be when I was a kid or at least the way things were for me as a kid, it probably just doesn't make sense in todays world. So the question is...Do adult men with expert training in self-defense need to be told not to use a stun gun on a 94 pound child?

UGH

If you listen really closely you can hear it...shhhh...wait for it...there it is. Someone just said something really stupid. It happens several times a day in my life, sometimes I partake in the stupidity as well. For example on Saturday night I go to a poker game with about 2 people I know there and 20 people I don't know. The game was Hold'em and I hear this guy playing at a different table than me spew this doozy "I lose with Aces(pocket aces is what he's referring to) 90% of the time." For those of you trapped under a rock for the last 8 years and haven't played or seen hold'em played, aces are the best hand you can start with. So the idea that one would lose with the best starting had 90% of the time is laughable. That's immediately followed by this gem "When I have Aces there's only 2 left in the deck for me to hit(the other 2 aces). I'd rather have Ace/King because it gives me more cards to hit my outs." This might just be the absolute dumbest thing I've ever heard. He would rather have more "outs" to hopefully hit a hand that will MAYBE be as good as the hand he claims to lose with 90% of the time, AND SAYS HE DOESN'T WANT. So by his theory he would rather be DRAWING to a pair of aces as opposed to having them from the start!!!!! Now I would normally relish in giving this goon a ration of shit but since I knew 2 people there I thought it wise to bite my tongue.

I was giving one of my drivers his load information today and upon telling him that he had 5 different places to stop and what the load paid he says "That's a lot of work for that amount of money." Let me explain something to you about my field of work. The truck gets paid x amount of dollars to travel x amount of miles in x amount of days. The idea is to get the most money for the least amount of miles in the shortest period of time. The load in question passed all these tests but because in had to go to 5 different places he was pissed. This, in turn, pissed me the fuck off. The rest of the conversation went something like this:
Brilliant Dispatcher: :"Would you rather I found you an easy fucking load that paid like shit?"
Stupid Truck Driver: "Well no, but the load we do to Beloit almost pays as much as this one does and it only has 1 stop."
Brilliant Dispatcher: "That's true and IF there was a load to Beloit, I'd have gotten it for you but there isn't and this is a good fucking load."
Stupid Truck Driver: "I'm not mad at you, I just wish they would pay more for these multi-stop loads."
Brilliant Dispatcher: "They are paying more, a straight load(this means 1 pickup and 1 delivery) to Chicago out of Denver usually pays about $1200.00 This one pays $1575.00 So you're getting paid for you extra work."

Truck drivers are a whole different breed of people. There are exceptions to every rule, but by and large truckers are whiney, full of shit, irresponsible, and long winded just to name a few. Truckers will whine about whatever load they have gotten no matter how good it may be. They will then tell another trucker how great their load is and how much money they make and yada, yada, yada. Basically if their lips are moving, they are feeding someone a line of bullshit. It normally doesn't bother me and usually I find it comical but when I have to explain to a guy that he's making more money for working hard and not spending it on fuel...it can get tiresome. Only one of my guys is this way and he's not usually as bad as I've portrayed him to be here. I do have another guy who gets diarrhea of the mouth though and I'll finally get so annoyed that I snap at him to get to the god damned point. He thinks I'm an ass. And I guess if the shoe fits...

Wicked Beatdown!!!!

I played in the Dr. Cue tournament this weekend and all I can say is......... holy-fucking-crap! I got there Saturday morning to find out there are 128 players. I heard players from Fort Collins all the way down to Albuquerque, NM were there. Looking around I see SOOOO many great players and I realize before I even take my cues out of the case that I'm dead money. Some people see this as the wrong attitude but I try to be realistic and honest with myself about my skillset and where I'm going to finish. I was like the Junior high kid playing in the NBA allstar game. Unfortunately I didn't play well at all and went 2 and out. I think maybe I let myself get too intimidated by all the great players. I know I can't win that event but if I play well I believe I could make the money, they paid out the top 32 places. I'm not saying I was in the top 25% of players there but if I played real well you never know what can happen. Both matches I got off to real slow starts and I believe that is a HUGE factor when playing short races(they were to 4). No matter how good the player if I run out the first or second rack, most people will see that you can play and it adds a little pressure to them because if they miss then they realize they will probably lose the game. I didn't do that ever. I've got no excuses for my bad play and I'm very frustrated and honestly a little embarrassed about the way I played. There were a lot of people I knew there watching me play and I choked big time. Again, not making excuses but these are some of the REASONS I believe I played poorly. I had in my mind right off I had to play great just to win a match. I put more pressure on myself instead of just going out there and playing pool. I played a more conservative game than I normally do because I was afraid to take the "hard" shot of the match and maybe miss. So in an effort to get great position to take an easier shot I would usually hook myself or leave myself a harder shot than I originally would of had. This was WAY out of character for me because it's very rare I run into a shot I don't believe I can make. Again, I allowed myself to be intimidated into not even playing the game that has gotten me to be a good player. I played scared, I played like a bitch, I was clearly not on the level of ANYONE in that room on that day. I know for a fact I can play with 80% of the people in that room and didn't, I embarrassed myself instead. It's also very hard to play without being able to warm-up before you play. Get up and play after sitting for 4-5 hours is difficult for me to do. Now obviously this is the case for everyone and not just me, so again not an excuse but something I didn't handle well.

There were probably about 10-12 people who had a realistic shot at winning this tournament and I played one of them in the first round. Mike Helmer was his name and kicken' Preston's ass was his game. He owns a pool hall in Fort Collins and this cat could shoot some stick. I would say that out of the top 20 players in Colorado, 16-18 of them were at this tournament. This was a ridiculously strong field. I'm going to Denver this weekend to play in another big tournament this weekend. I have got to try and redeem myself after this pathetic outing.

A couple things from this past weekend I'd like to note. I met my dad for breakfast at this little joint at about 9AM and there were about 10 people in there drinking a beer for breakfast! I also added another thing to my list-o-shit that annoys me.

I've got it all figured out

Have you ever thought that you had it (pool is my it, yours is: golf, sewing, poker, skipping rocks, etc.) all figured out and then come across more information that makes you feel as if you know absolutely nothing about the game? I knew I didn't have it ALL figured out but thought that I was really getting somewhere with my recent work on my preshot routine and mental game work. I'm reading a book on the mental side of pool and I'm only a couple chapters into it but I realize I've got, well, nothing figured out. There is some serious shit in this book and I feel like I need a psychology degree to understand some of the stuff he speaks of. I was also reading on a billiard forum about stroking straight, which seems easy and obvious enough but it got very deep and someone actually put a picture of a skeleton and the hands. Now I also need a damn biology degree! I'm not terribly fascinated with learning about how my mind works nor what my mind does that makes me fail when I practice. I'm doing this because I love to play the game and want to be as good as I possibly can. I guess where I'm going with this rambling is am I prepared to get neck high in a barrel of shit? Am I willing to look down every avenue, read books on all topics concerning pool, and take the time and effort to import them into my game? These are the things I don't enjoy and I'm not sure if I want to make this sacrifice. I'm not satisfied with where my game is though, but I don't know if this is even possible for me. I'm not happy unless I make every shot and get every position. This "goal" is unattainable because it's impossible for any human to do that. Looking back to just 2 years ago, my game has dramatically improved.

I think one of my problems is I need some sort of goal. This goal is usually preparing for the annual tournament in Vegas but I'm not able to go this year. I think I need to attend more tournaments and set a goal for what I would like my results to be in those. I'm also going to play more straight pool and my goal in that is to run 50 balls. I'm playing in a big tournament this weekend (should have 64 people) with lots of strong players so I'll post my results on Monday for that. I played in it last year and lost my first two matches. I'll be interested in seeing how my results stack up against last year. It won't be apples to apples as both the guys I played last year were pretty good, but people I expect to beat. I'm very excited for this tournament.

Bitter Sweet

Tuesday night league was a late night but I played well and won so that helps putting up with not getting home until midnight. This league is usually over pretty early, but the owner of the bar is on the team we played so we only play one table. I think they do this so people will be there longer? Anyways, it's what I would call a classy establishment with the stripper poles and waterfall thing in the corner. OH YES, it's part time pool hall...and part time stripper joint. I don't particularly like playing there because it's pretty tight quarters where we play and I feel comfortable around the type of people that attend this kind of place. They did recently re-felt their tables which was helpful to playing conditions. The team we played is the best in the league by a long shot and all their players range from good to real goddamn good. I played a guy who was a notch below real goddamn good and I beat him 7-4. I played very well until the end when I started choking like a dog. I was up 6-1 with 3 balls left(playing 9 ball), basically a cosmopolitan and I screwed it up and then I stunk the last 3 games. I totally lost my focus when I blew the game and never regained it. All I could think about was how I should have already beat this guy instead of trying to beat him now and how embarrassing it would be to lose after being up 6-1. Pretty disappointing that my mental game folded like a lawnchair. Overall I'm pretty satisfied with how I played but I want to be real hard on myself so I don't get satisfied with playing an average or even good game if I know I can play better. But the first 7 games I played last night were off the charts for me, I saw the table well, made difficult shots, and got good position on just about everything.

I managed to get through a game of racquetball with only minor pain from my chest situation. I shouldn't be playing but it's just too damn fun so I'll put up with the pain(except for when I come on here and piss and moan about it) for as long as I have too.

Eventful Weekend, Sorta

What a weekend, I went to a poker game, bought a new car, and spent all day Sunday sick on the couch. Friday Night was a blast, I played poker with a few friends. We played very small limits which I really like because then nobody is worried about losing a lot of money. I won $12 and another guy lost $10 so it's more for bragging rights as opposed to monetary gain. I just enjoy hanging out with my friends, talking shit, and having a few beers as opposed to playing for a lot of money. Friday afternoon we looked at an Escalade that we really liked but it had some damage to the front bumper that they said they wouldn't fix so we decided to hold off and go to Longmont/Loveland area and look at a few up there on Saturday. I'm confused as to why they still call it a bumper? These new cars are made completely out of paper mache and so is the "bumper", it used to actually be made out of steel so if you bumped something it wouldn't damage it. Whereas now, if you so much as hit a gnat the bumper explodes into a thousand pieces on impact. Anyways, on Saturday morning the salesman call me at 8 in the morning and says that the bumper will be replaced at no additional charge. So we went back Saturday and test drove it and ended up buying it. This was a pretty tough decision for me because I really didn't want to have a car payment again but it was priced right and very low miles so hopefully this will last us for 10 years. We actually ended up pretty limited on the cars we looked at due to the features we wanted. First and foremost it had to be a V8, my wife and I both subscribe to the motto "drive it like you stole it". It's really stupid because I always leave way early if I'm going somewhere so I don't need to speed but I always seem to be in a hurry while driving. We also REALLY needed the third row seating for all the kids we don't have?!? We wanted something with low miles in the hopes that this will be the last car we buy for a loooonnnnggg time. And after looking at some other cars it made sense to us to pay only a couple thousand more and find a '05 or '06 Escalade with low miles and priced right as opposed to a Mercury Mountaineer. We got our '05 for well below blue book and sold our jeep for well over blue book so that really helped as well. I've still got a little buyers remorse going on but not because I'm not happy with what we got but because I really didn't want to have to buy a new car. Our P.O.S was falling apart though and I'm sure it was the correct decision.
Sunday sucked though, I was sick and watched tv on the couch all day. I did win a couple bucks on some bets I made but other than that it was awfully miserable. And I may or may not have, but definitely did crack my rib playing racquetball. It hurts like a son of a bitch when I do anything. I guess I could have ruptured my spleen or maybe I had a heart attack, I'm not real sure what's wrong but my chesty area hurts.
I will also be adding to my list of things that annoy me so check back with that.

Pretty Sad

Last night at league I played a pretty good player and lost 7-6. I would say that we both got some good breaks in the match but he got another roll or two. I played a very average game most of the night and gave away 2-3 games by missing DUMB shots. This last statement is why I'm not pissing and moaning about my "bad luck" during our match in which he combo'd in the 9 early twice and got super lucky kicking it in another time. If I play well I'm going to win regardless of what kind of luck he gets. He was a good shotmaker but he doesn't have all the "shots". By "shots" I mean cue ball control, english, and knowing how to get the cue ball where he wants it on a tough shot. My opponent was very friendly and a good player but I'm quite disappointed that I lost to him. I picked this guy to play because this team has the raging douchebag that I spoke about in an earlier post, the really good player that complained about everything. I beat him last time and I really enjoy playing people better than me but this guy was too much so I made sure another guy on my team had to put up with his shit.
This team has six people on it and all they all came to our place, their bar is clear down south and probably a 20 minute drive and only three people can play. I don't really understand this, my team has three people on it and one guy who said he would be a sub so he would only come if someone couldn't make it. I enjoy playing pool and being around it but I don't need to drive 20 minutes to not play in a match. When I see something like this that I don't understand I like to dissect why they would do that and all I can come up with is they hate their wives and want out of the house.

I'm really annoying myself with this damn car situation. I'm waffling back and forth on what to do and if I should buy this car or fix my car or maybe get that car...FUCK, SHIT, ASS!!! Just make up my mind already and stick the fuck with it. You know that guy that you have to see sometimes that really annoys the shit out of you and want to jab your pen in his eye, well thats the way I feel about myself right now. I'm usually a very decisive person so when I'm not I get aggravated with myself.

When I'm annoyed I have a tendency to let even more things annoy me that might not ordinarily do so. For your convenience and enjoyment I'll run down a list of these things:
1. I have WebMD on my homepage and one of the headlines is "Did malaria and bone disease kill King Tut"? Well I'll start by saying this-Who the fuck really cares? Really? Seriously? Where do they get the money to do these tests that 1 in a billion people care about? Couldn't we use this money for...well ANY-FUCKING-THING-ELSE!
2. Why do I have to dry my towels three goddamn times before they're dry? I've had a guy come out and check the vent out of the house, I've had a guy come and check out the dryer(and actually replace a part that was supposedly fixing the problem), and had to speak to "Steve" from customer service who can barely fucking speak english.
3. Why are brokers dropping my loads on me? I can't get a goddamn thing done today.
4. people who type like this. Move your goddamn pinky and hit the shift key when you type your first letter of the sentence. You lazy sons-a-bitches it isn't hard.
5. PEOPLE WHO TYPE LIKE THIS...DO I NEED TO ELABORATE. This is the faggot in the bar or at work that talks so fucking loud you can't hear yourself think.
5. People who can't count.
7. Anybody name Fred.
8. People, who when counting on their hands, use their thumb for number one. HEY FONZIE, use your index finger like the rest of the educated world!
9. Grown men who wear sweats in Public. Come on people, it's not like this is something that just came up. Put some damn pants on, nobody and I mean NOBODY wants to see what you're packin'. Grocery store or convenience store= OK, running out for something real quick in sweats. Driving 50 miles to get to a pool tournament wearing sweats= Douchebag.

That's all.

Uncertainty

I'm not a very religious nor superstitious person and I pretty much believe we make our own "luck". When something goes bad I try to find what I've done wrong or incorrect to have this negative result come about. The same goes for when something positive happens, and anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I don't mind sharing how great I am! Having said that I do allow myself to be susceptible to bad "signs or omens". The same is not true for good ones though, which obviously doesn't make any sense. Yesterday we decided to get a new car but the place that had the car we looked at before and liked, had sold it an hour before we got there. So today I'm thinking that this was a sign and we shouldn't buy a new car because if we were "meant" to get a new car then it would have been there. But when we first looked at getting a new car it was there and priced right and just what we (my wife) wanted. So why wasn't that a good sign? I'm not looking for "answers", just merely stating that it's something stupid that I do. Neither the Sun, nor the Mountains, nor Simon Cowell, nor the Greek God Zeus made the car get sold before we got there, it was happenstance. This goes back to my thoughts on being self-employed and being fiscally responsible and I guess being cheap has crept into my choices on personal finances as well. A wise man once said..."That's all I have to say about that."

Back at it.

So after not playing much pool for about a week or two I'm back at it. My Tuesday night league started up again this week and the Wednesday night is still going for another
1 1/2 months. Tuesday night we played a team that was pretty bad. I usually don't have anything to say about anyone's skill level but the Tuesday night league is supposed to be a Masters league and this team is quite poor. I don't get much enjoyment out of playing someone who doesn't even want to play me because "I'm to good" and beating her 7-1. I've spoke in ad nauseum about the mental side of pool but this attitude will get you nowhere fast and keep you from getting better. If there is only one piece of advice I could give to someone wanting to get better it is this: PLAY PEOPLE BETTER THAN YOU. It's not always the most enjoyable thing when you're doing more racking than breaking but if it bothers you enough then you will figure out what you're doing wrong or what you could do better and start winning more.

I drove clear over to the west side of town for tonight's match and there was one person there for the other team so they had to forfeit. This would normally get me a little pissy, to put in mildly, but it was at the Elk's club and they had a snooker table there. I'm a fan of pretty much any game played on a pool or billiard table, although I'm not at all familiar with balkline and only vaguely familiar with snooker, but pretty much anything else, I'm game. Whether it be 8 ball, 9 ball, 10 ball, one pocket, straight pool, or my most recent adventure golf. Don't be confused golf is played on a snooker table, which is a similar to a pool table. I played this old guy on my team a game of golf since we all drove clear over there any damned ways. He beat me up pretty bad but it was a good time anyways. I would have to say that one pocket is probably my favorite game but 8 ball is my best game, this is undoubtedly due to the fact I didn't play anything else until about 3 years ago. I believe straight pool is the most difficult game, it looks easy and sounds easy but you better shoot'em pretty sporty if you're gonna run some balls in that game.

I'm planning on taking a trip to Denver or possibly Wyoming at the end of the month to play in a big tournament, at least 32 and hopefully a 64 person field. I enjoy a different setting than league play offers on occasion and the competition is usually top notch. There is rarely a tournament in Colorado Springs with these characteristics so I'm forced to the Denver area. Both tournaments are handicapped in a form that you enter as a "C", "B", "A", or "AA/AAA", with "AA/AAA" being the best, and play people from that same level. I'm probably going to enter into the "A" field. This should be real competitive and force me to play rock solid if I want to do well. The "AA/AAA" players are out of this world good, and the only reason they group the "AA" and the "AAA" players are because there aren't enough of them in the area to get a full field, that will tell you the skill level of those guys. Playing in the "A" bracket might be a little over my head but I love a good challenge.

It feels so good to hurt so bad

I started P90x workout program with my wife on Monday and I'm very sore. I've got the gift of high metabolism so to the naked eye I appear to be in good shape. This is ABSOLUTELY INCORRECT. For the last 5 years I've sat at a desk for 8 hours a day and the majority of my exercise is walking around a pool table. Not exactly what the P90x gurus would call "high intensity". Last year we played softball which at least forced me to run, I honestly can't remember the last time I ran as fast I could before softball. My wife has been working out for quite sometime and is in very good shape so working out with her is helpful in the sense that I have someone to push me. But my DNA consists of having to be the best or quickest or strongest or, well you get the picture. So when I can't finish whatever devil exercise they're doing and my petite wife is having little problems I get PISSSSEDD OFF. Obviously not at her, I'm very proud of her workout and diet regimen that she is doing. I understand that I've only been working out for 2 days now and it takes time and blah, blah, blah. I've always been at least "good" if not better than good at pretty much everything I've ever done so when I start a new hobby and I'm not good at it, it's a pretty tough pill for me to swallow. The one thing that I've been able to stick with that I suck at is golf. I first played golf about 10 years ago and started playing somewhat regularly about 6 years ago. I've spent many a dollar, day, and golf ball on a game I'm still very, very bad at. It is just baffling to me, how I can play something so much, derive so much enjoyment out of, and still be just as bad as I was when I started. It is quite a humbling experience to go out and shoot a 110 after all the my years of playing. I've got pool league tonight after I workout and I'm hoping I'll be able to lift my arms that high. I put my seatbelt on yesterday and I thought my chest and arms were going to explode from reaching up and across my body. I'm excited to be getting back in shape and hope that I can get past the first couple weeks of being ridiculously sore and stay with it.

In Review

I'll review my last 2 weeks since I've blogged. I've been to Vegas, paid off the last of our personal debt, bought plates for 4 trucks, played very little pool, and fixed my jeep again. I'll start with the enjoyable part of time away which would be Vegas. It was a nice time away from work and a nice little vacation. It was like most vacations to Sin City, get up at 11 in the morning, start drinking at noon, and go to bed at 4 in the morning. Rinse, lather, repeat. Broke even for the trip which allowed us to use that money to pay off the last of Lori's student loan, and in turn, the last of our personal debt. This was EXTREMELY satisfying, we've worked hard to save money and I worked 3 jobs for a while to expedite this process. It took around 2 years to complete our debt free mission. The only significant amount of money we spent was the down payment on our house and going to Vegas two weeks ago.

Now the rest of my time away is frustrating to think about but here goes. I knew I would have to buy plates for 2 trucks but it turned out 2 other guys didn't put a penny away so I was left with 2 choices. Don't buy them and they stop work and, henceforth, stop working for me or buy them. I had a mental breakdown when I found out this was the position I was in, and that's not exaggerating. I contemplated, for a moment, getting rid of everyone but my 2 trucks and get a regular job. It was never something I was going to do as I would have felt like a quitter and a failure but it showed my HIGH frustration level with these 2 gentlemen who didn't do their job to save money for plates. So I had to write a check for $8200 instead of the $4100 I had planned on. Then there is the fucking loser who I was having take care of all my "safety" matters. He screwed up the paperwork on the plates the first time, failed to tell me I needed to pass an emission test to get the plates, and waited until the last day to complete my IFTA paperwork causing me to have to drive to Pueblo and pick it up so I could have it postmarked by that day. Needless to say he will not be working for me anymore. I must take responsibility for this loser though. In his case, and some other cases in my business matters, I've not been as involved as I should have been. My thinking was that I've hired him to do a job and he's knows what he's doing and I don't need to worry about those matters. It's my job and responsibility to ensure that everything is done properly.

I got back from Vegas on Monday afternoon and had pool league on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I played pretty poorly all 3 nights which tells me my pre-shot routine isn't quite my routine yet. I need to practice so that it becomes the norm and I don't have to remember to do it. I haven't practiced since I've been back which is a week now and need some quality practice before I can expect to play quality pool. I'm not including league as practice because it's not, it's "playing" and there is a big difference. Practice is doing drills, different shots, speed control, etc., not hitting the balls around. This is an important lesson for people who aspire to get better, don't throw the balls on the table and whack them around and think you're practicing. Proper practice will advance your game, but it is hard to do because it can get boring and tedious. I try to work in some "fun" things to keep me attentive and motivated to finish my practice time.

And lastly is my damn jeep. The P.O.S. was leaking transmission fluid like a sieve. It turned out only to be a hose that had a hole in it so the cost was minimal compared to an actual problem with the transmission itself. We've had many problems with it this past year and spent quite a bit of money fixing them. For now we're keeping it, but hopefully later this year we'll be getting a "new" ride. I also noticed yesterday that some worthless bastard hit my pickup. Put a dent in the driver side rear quarter panel. It looks like someone had to run into it with a pickup or high setting vehicle to do the damage it did. In an unrelated story my neighbors across the street have 2 pickups. I don't know if I should say something to them. I doubt they're going to come clean if I confront them so it's seems useless in that sense, but at least I would let them know that if they fuck with me I'll call them out. Confronting them seems like I'm looking for trouble in a situation that cannot be resolved so what's the point? I also have no proof that they did this other that my undoubtedly magnificent investigative work.

50 year old Children

The holidays and the new year are personally enjoyable but are a pain in the ass for work. January is the month which truck plates must be renewed and as usual NOT ONE person has saved the money to pay for them. So I am left to be responsible and pay for every ones plates which on average is probably around $1800 per truck. One guy is actually going to trade in his truck for a newer one and the biggest reason is his truck needs brakes, tires, and some other repairs and maintenance. He has been paid $30,000 for the last 6 months and doesn't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. Now $30,000 in 6 months isn't exactly getting rich, but it is a livable income and that is paid to him, no taxes coming out of that. His money management is nonexistent and has no clue how to run a business which is what he does. He doesn't even have a checking account for his business. The week of Christmas I mailed his check on Monday and he usually gets it two days later at the most. Well this week it didn't get there before Christmas and he calls me on Christmas Eve all upset that he didn't get his paycheck and he can't buy his kids presents and that I ruined Christmas. I (as calmly as I could) explained that I don't work for the post office and wasn't my fault in the least. I should have told him to manage his money so he wouldn't live paycheck to paycheck but I'm 29 years old and I don't think I should have to explain to a 50 year old man the concept of money management. His wife doesn't work and hasn't for the 3 years I've known him so it's not because of the economy that she isn't working. Now that's none of my business but when he doesn't even have money for expenses that truckers incur on a daily basis and I have to advance him the money then gets pretty tiresome.

I know what it's like to be part of a business that failed and realize that small business owners need to be fiscally responsible and need plenty of good luck as well. I pay myself a fairly small wage and spend as little as I can out of the business. My company was not paid $21,000 due to companies going out of business and there is little recourse I can pursue to get these funds. I'm still able to continue because of proper money management and not think that because there is alot of money in my business account that any of that is mine personally. The trucking industry is such that we handle a large amount of money but only an extremely small percent of that is ours to keep. This is due to the cost of the truck payments, insurance, fuel, and trailer payments. Sure I would love to get a nice new vehicle to replace the one that is taking a shit on me and just make the payments for it out of the business, but it's just not the smart thing to do. I probably wouldn't even notice the $500 a month payment for a new car, but I've only been in business a little over a year and I haven't earned the reward of a new car yet. I've heard something like 50% of small businesses fail in the first 2 years and 90% fail within the first five years. These are not exact numbers but the point is that a VAST MAJORITY fail. Why am I going to be any different? I think many of these people think that "I'm different and I KNOW what I'm doing." Well the unfortunate part is I'm not different than many of the people who have failed. I think that I could do everything perfect and my business could still fail. Every month there are several brokers that go out of business and if they happened to be some of my bigger accounts then I would be screwed. So what gives me the right to piss money away on a new car if I could do a perfect job and my business still fail? I believe that this is where many small businesses fail, not necessarily a new car but things that are not a business necessities. I've made it through my first year in business and hope to give this same speech in 12 months!

Playing better pool is between my ears?

I practice stop shots, draw shots, power draw shots, follow, running follow, kill shots, banks, pinch banks, play the ghost, and as important as all these are-playing my best pool is in my head. I've been reading some material on the importance of a pre-shot routine and it's really helped my game tremendously. I started with one and it's now evolved into my greatest asset. About a month ago I went and played in a tournament in Ft. Collins with THE BEST players Colorado has to offer. I played well and finished just out of the money, being beaten by the players that finished 2nd & tied for 12th in a 64 man field. This was the first use of my pre-shot routine. What I mean by pre-shot routine is doing the exact same thing every time and clearing my head before I get down to shoot. If I'm thinking about what I want to do, I can't do it and neither can you...confused??? So I started with lining up my shot by pointing my stick at exactly where I wanted to hit the cue ball, back to my cueball and did this as many times as needed. Now I was ready to get down on my shot and I thought that I stroked it best with exactly 4 warm up strokes so I would count these 4 and then fire. This could at times be a lengthy process and thought I needed to tweak it. So after some research I found a column by a doctor/poolplayer he stated in a nutshell that we need to have all the info "input" in our brain and then stop thinking about it and produce the results. So the problem with my pre-shot routine was when I was down to shoot the cueball I was counting my practice strokes. The doctor said that once you get down on the shot that ABSOLUTELY NO THOUGHTS should be in your head. So now I line up my shot, stand one step from where I want to approach the cueball, decide what english, what stroke, and the result I plan to attain from this shot. After I'm satisfied with all these things I'm now ready to get down on the shot. Once down on the shot, I do practice strokes til I'm comfortable, not counting them. When I'm playing well nothing gets in my head at all, however sometimes this damn voice says you're gonna miss the shot, position, or whatever it may be. I'm learning to be disciplined and stand up and start all over again. It's easy to start over on a difficult cut or position leave but when it's a "gimme" then you think this is an easy shot and I can make it, but that's when you can miss a stupid shot. Another aspect this helps me in is that it keeps me in the moment. I can't count how many times I've gone through a rack making hard shots and perfect leaves and then missing an easy shot or easy leave with 2 balls to go because I was "about to break & run" this table. My pre-shot routine only allows me to think about THIS shot and what english, stroke, and leave I want to perform. A pre-shot routine has been the biggest addition to my game of all the things I have ever done.

Another late night

So I turn 29 today, and it's not that I feel older or going through a mid-life crisis but I'm not accustomed to being up until midnight for 2 nights in a row. I'm wiped out today and I want nothing more than to relax at home and go to bed pretty early tonight. It's funny how we look at what's "old" the older we get. I remember when I was 19 or 20 and thinking that being 30 was OOOOLLLLDDDD and that I would be married, have 2 kids, gray hair, and a mortgage. Well I've got three of those things and I'm still young and I still feel young(aside from the fact I've been constantly listening to my 3 disc George Jones CD I got for Xmas...LOVE IT!!). I didn't have any time table of where I wanted to "be at" when I was 29 or 30 or any certain age but I'm very satisfied where I'm at. I want kids but I don't feel like I have to have one like right now or anything. Although I was at the YMCA playing basketball the other day and little kids were having basketball practice and I thought about how much I would enjoy taking my kid to basketball practice or coaching him.

Pool league again last night and as usual it was a late night. For some reason our Wednesday night team plays our match on one table all night. Well this is a race to 13 games for a possibility of 25 games(for you math handicapped) played by deliberate and usually very good players. Some games are done in 2 minutes and some games take 20 minutes depending on the layout of the table and the style of player. We played the first place team and gave them a good asswhooping beating them 13 to 9. I was 3-2 on the night and played real well again. On two of the games my opponent broke dry and I ran out, another one my opponent broke and ran on me, and my most enjoyable game of the night was a tactical game against a STRONG player that he won. He left me a shot that I looked at for what seemed like 10 minutes(probably like 2-3) that I didn't see a way I don't sell out the game and sure enough I did. Very enjoyable game and my opponent was a real nice guy coming over and discussing the game and the specific shot afterward.

After the match was over one of the guys on our team says "that could have been a thousand dollar match." Meaning that 1st place pays like $1000 more than second place or somewhere close to that. I look at this different than him and most people. Here's the way I see it, I pay my $20 yearly dues and $10 per week and I see this as entertainment costs. I'm in no way shape or form looking at this as some sort of investment opportunity or secondary income. Of course the money is a nice perk at the end of the session but I don't think about it during the session.

I'm leaving for Vegas next Thursday afternoon and I'm trying to get everything situated at work. I haven't missed a day of work since I started my business last December. My dad is going to watch things for the 2 days I'll be gone but I'm pretty nervous about not being at work. I will have everything lined out for Friday and possibly Monday and he may not need to do anything. But when it comes to my work I am a control freak and need to be in charge to make sure everything is done. I'm not building cabinets or sending someone to the moon here and everything will be fine without me for a couple and probably several days but we are who we are.

Tuesday night league.

So I played this guy in league last night who is a really, really good player. I played really good, not great by any means I missed some dumb shots, but really good overall. I ended up beating the guy 7-5. I know that he is a better player than I am and if we played 10 times he'd probably come out winner probably 7 times. He was just a jackass during and after our match. He would "complain" really loud that "His speed was off", "I can't make anything on the break", "He's out now", and one that I actually commented on as it really pissed me off was when he broke dry and I ran out. After the game he said "You got out and took the WRONG balls" and I told him that it appears that I took the right ones since I got out. Then he said "Well you almost screwed yourself upthere" (pointing at where I didn't leave myself the best, not terrible actually) and to that I simply said "horseshoes and handgrenades" which ended that conversation. So anyhow after the match he was bugging me to play him for money. Now I don't mind if a guy asks me once to play him for money to which I said "no, not now". But he asked me a 2-3 more times that night and to cap off the night after my friend and I were done playing on our hourly table I tossed my friend a couple bucks to pay for the table and he goes "YOU ARE PLAYING HIM FOR MONEY!?!? My reply was "no and it's really none of your fucking business" He is a really good player and he didn't play his best and I played well and won. That doesn't mean that I'm better than him or think that I am. He was so annoying.

Now as far as my game went I am pretty happy about several aspects of my play. The first is that I tend to lay up when I get well ahead or behind. I got out to a 4-1 lead and stayed on the gas. I subconsciously think that I'm great and I don't need to try that hard to win because hey I'm kicking this guys ass. I don't purposely think this and it never enters my mind but that is the only explanation I can come up with. It's pretty harsh and a little embarrassing but I want to be hard on myself to keep myself from laying up. I didn't break and run any tables but I did run 3 after he broke dry, one in 8 ball and the other two in 9 ball. I came real close to a break in run in 8 ball but my cue ball ran about 1/2 inch too far and couldn't see all of the the 8 ball. I made a kickass 45 degree cut all the way up the table and my cue ran to the side rail, across to the side rail and up and out to the middle of the table but just a tiny bit too far-BUMMER. I also broke the balls well, only coming up dry once the whole match. I was AWFULLY disappointed in my safety play. They were bad speed and hooked him almost never, need to work on that and my speed for sure. My pre-shot routine was good, I took my time on all shots. Whether it was moving chairs to get comfy or just lining up my shot several times if need be.

I will do it allover again tonight although it's a different team, different rules, and different format. I prefer the format of my tuesday night league to wednesday but I enjoy the rules and wednesday night team more. Everyone takes it pretty serious and I like that. I take my getting better pretty serious and enjoy an atmosphere like this more than I do my Tuesday night team. One of my mental pitfalls is I don't like to converse when I'm playing seriously. Which I guess isn't a pitfall in and of itself but when one of my teammates does talk to me I allow myself to get of the "zone" and I don't stay down on shots and don't totally focus. This does tend to happen more on Tuesday nights and probably because one of the guys is a great friend of mine and I enjoy his company and our conversations ALOT. So in a perfect world I would play my match without a word spoken, but in reality I need to get this problem under control. I can appreciate that people do not take this as seriously as I do, as they don't or can't practice as much as I do and might not want to. Some people are satisfied with their current playing ability or don't/can't put in the time to get better as this doesn't happen overnight. I have this thing in me that has to be the best at whatever I do, I have a hard time just "going out there and having a good time." I can have absolutely no more than 2 hobbies at one time, right now and almost always pool totally consumes me. I enjoy playing, reading about people who played it, watching it on TV, and am fascinated by the mental side of it. The last part of that sentence I believe is a HUGE part of the game and if I can, for lack of a better word, "master" it I believe my level in play will rise dramatically.

And by the way I got talked to one of the companies that owed me money and the guy told me the check went out on the 8th. My reply in an annoyed and frustrated voice was I hope it did because I was told on the 4th that it had already gone out. He says I don't like your attitude and you're basically calling me a liar. I stayed pretty calm and said I was either lied to or given false information by the accounts payable person last week (not the person I was speaking to now, I believe he was the boss actually) and wasn't calling HIM a liar and surely he could understand MY point of view and where I was coming from... He could not and hung up on me. They take over 50 days to pay, lie to me about when they sent they money, and get pissed at me for wanting to know when I will get the money they OWE ME!! Unfuckingbelievable!! Pissing me off all over again.

Today sucks!!

Every Monday I get my invoice aging report from my factoring company. There were 3 invoices over 40 days old I had to call on. Well 2 of them I had called on last week and was give the classic "it's in the mail" line. Still no check from them so I'm calling them again and I get the classic "he/she's just stepped out of the office, leave a message and I'll have them call you back in a little bit" when I ask for A/P. STILL no phone calls back about 2 hours later so I'm calling them again.