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.