Poker Night

I really enjoy the Wednesday night poker game at Jokers Casino. Tonight we had about 32 to 34 people in the tournament. There were 3 tables going with some alternates. My play is tight and when I have a hand I will start raising and try to take the pot. Early in the tournament I was not getting any hands and I felt I was going to be going home early. I was down to 1300 in chips and I needed to start moving. I got KK and felt like this was the moment to move. On the flop came xKx. I was all in at this moment. The turn was x and the river was a K. I just wished I had more to put in the pot. I had 5 callers when I went all in. This was going to be big. When we turned them over everyone saw the Quad K's. Wow, what a hand and I really needed it. I did get to the final table. I finally got down to 1500 in chips and with the blinds at 2000/4000 it was time to go all in. I had pocket Q's. Would they hold up. Nope, I ended up going out in 7th place tonight. I think that makes the 2nd week in a row for 7th place.

My play is tight and I play the best hands. The people at the Casino are getting used to me know and know that I will only play if I have a hand. They are even calling my cards when I raise according to what is on the table. I may change my style of play and try to loosen up a bit to see if I can start taking people off of their hands and maybe start stealing blinds. I have been showing my hands as well. They can see that I only play the best hands. Maybe I will try it on one hand next week. I will also need to start not showing my hands to hide what I am doing.

I would really enjoy playing more than once per week. I really feel I could learn more by playing more. I know that since I started playing at the Casino my play has gotten better. I am getting used to the people around me and the dealers call me by my name now. For me this is a good way to just get away from the every day things that go on with my personal life. I do have a lot of fun for the 2 hours that I am playing in this tournament.

Until the next time I play....... Have fun.

At the Muckleshoot

While I was in Auburn my sister and I went to the muckleshoot casino. My sister played the slots and I headed over to the Blackjack tables. We were there for two and a half hours and we both had fun. I walked away with money in my pocket. Now it wasn't big time but at least I didn't walk out with less in my pocket. When I play blackjack I play the standard rules and then watch the cards coming out and go with gut feeling on some of it. I don't like to hit with 15 or 16 and have the dealer showing 12,13,14,15,16. I want to give myself a chance and have the dealer bust. It is discouraging if you take a hit and bust and then the dealer busts as well. I like to sit in the #7 seat and watch the cards come out. I had a guy sitting in the #6 seat and he was doing very well in reading the dealer and saying what was going to happen. He wasn't counting cards or at least I couldn't figure it out. He did play either $10, 20, and 50 dollars at a time. I just kept watching him and playing like he was playing. There wasn't much difference though in our style of play. He was very sure of himself and was not afraid to show it at the table. Overall it was a fun evening and I even got Players Card so when I go back I may even get some comps. WhooHoo.

I did walk over and watched the 3 card poker table and the ultimate poker table game. I couldn't sit down since there were no seats to be had. I would like to play and learn the game. It seems simple enough. At Jokers Casino they have a 4 card poker table.

I have been reading the book Phil Gordon's little green book. I find it interesting and will probably reread it when I get done and see if I can pick up some pointers for the next poker night at Jokers on Wednesday.

Play to win.

Poker Night

This was not a bad showing after last week. I really enjoy the time playing poker, getting away from the other things going on in my life. This is 2 hours of concentrating on the players and the cards I have in front of me. I played tight again tonight and waited for the best cards. I did win a few hands that kept me in the game. Yes, I did make it to the final table again with my play and I was not a short stack. Now all I had to do was try to last till the end. One thing I also have to remember is you have to play to be able to win. I threw away K9 and the flop came out 99x. Wow, that would have helped my chip count a little bit. I tend to raise after I make a hand on the flop and not raise before the flop. I don't like to put money out there and know that I my hand is not made yet.

There were 20 players that started and I ended up being 7th. I figure I am doing well just need to get into the money. I went all in with pocket 8's and the other player ended up with 2 pair. I needed chips at this point and I was looking for something to help me. It didn't happen.

I will be in Auburn on Friday and I plan to play either 4 card poker or will play some blackjack. My sister will be with me. We will have some fun.

New Week

Here it is Monday and I missed the call finding out where the Poker game was at tonight. My plan for the week is to play on Wednesday night at Jokers and then I am headed over to Auburn on Friday. I will probably try to play some blackjack friday night at the muckleshoot casino. I will head back over the mountain on Saturday. Lets hope I have a good showing on Wednesday here at Jokers. My plan is to play just like I did this last week when I split 1st and 2nd place money.

I have been reading Phil Gordon's little green book. I like the way he gives his thoughts on how to play the different cards and what he would do. Makes you think about the way you play the cards and what to look for.

Lets hope for a good week.

What a week

My frame of mind this week has been really good in playing poker. I have played the right hands at the right time. I have been a little bit more selective on the hands and the position that I play those hands. When I get down to a short handed game I then try to open up the play and be mindful of how the other players are doing. How much in chips and where the button is at. What is the blinds at and what are the players doing.

Tonight the group playing at Jokers are very good players. I wanted to have a good showing. I know I can play with these guys. I don't do very much talking at the table. I might say something to the person next to me but very little to the whole table. I don't show my cards very often unless I have a really good hand and I feel I need to show the other players that I do get hands and that I don't play junk cards. I received pocket Aces tonight and won with them, and also got pocket 8's, pocket 6's and then pocket Q's. I even had a AK tonight and played them well. I kept building my chip count and was playing tight. When the table got down to the final 10 I felt good that I was not the short stack. Could I hang on and make it to the money. I still wanted to build the chip count up and show I belonged. This tournament was a $30 buyin and we had 19 players tonight.

I ended up splitting the pot with the person I was headsup with tonight. Yes, 1st and 2nd split the pot. He took the seat for the end of the month tournament. This was the first time I was able to get into the money and it felt good. This has been some week. Monday night I split the pot 3 ways and tonight split the pot 2 ways. I know this game is like golf. You think you are doing well and the next time out you are knocked down a notch. I have to keep this mindframe and hopefully build on this feeling and the way I played tonight.

Home Game

I was invited to play tonight in a $5 home game. I did very well tonight. I was able to play the people as well as the cards tonight. I even bluffed on one hand tonight and pulled it off. I had an A8 and the other player had A10. I put $2000 into the pot and she couldn't pull the trigger. If she would have called me I would have lost the hand. She knew she was bluffed when I showed the cards. That in itself was a perfect setup against her. The next time I went all in she decided to call me and I had 2 pair to her pair. I doubled up. I played very good hands throughout the evening. I had to change my playable cards when it got down to 3 of us left. At that point we decided to give 3rd place money. I just kept pushing and was building chips. Finally the offer was made to split the pot 3 ways. We all decided to do that. That was a nice split. Lets hope this will carry over to Wednesday night. This felt good.

Wednesday Poker

I sure didn't last long in the wednesday night tournament at Jokers. I did get some cards though. I was very impressed with the hostess, as when I walked into the table area she called me by name. Remembering me from playing only wednesday evening is really something. The group that was playing last night also knew each other very well and played to take your blinds and any chips put out on the table. The player next to me was going all-in almost everytime he played and I was getting tired of it. I finally got a pair of 6's and decided to call his all in. I got another 6 on the flop and the set held up. He was out of the tournament. I did win another hand with two pair and the guy next to me couldn't understand why I stayed in the pot. It was one of those where I just felt like I had the cards to beat. I was a little distracted last night as well as they only started 2 tables with 9 players on the alternate list. They must not have had an extra dealer. After I sat down to start playing I looked on the board and I thought I saw my name on the list as an alternate and I had taken someone elses chair. No one ever said anything but I was real conscious about it and I was not paying attention to the game as much. I also need to control the emotions a little bit better. I notice when I get a hand and I start to put chips in the pot I tend to start shaking a little and I hope no one notices that. I will have to work on that one next time I play. Calm, relax, and be the same when I play.

The hand that took me out was when I got 77. It ended up being 3 of us playing this hand. The flop came 8710c. The turn and the river where no help. I ended up going all-in calling and one of the guys had a draw for a straight and the other ended up with clubs for a flush. I was done for the night. I knew the flush was out there and I played it anyway. I knew better. I should have thrown my set away. This night I was 1-1 for sets.

Jokers has changed the area of the casino to be with the lounge and I think it looks better. The poker area has 4 tables. They do need better lighting in the poker area. Lets hope next week will be better. Have fun at the tables.

Back Home at Jokers Casino

I finally got to play at home at Jokers Casino and I didn't last long tonight.

It is so cold here right now. I do not like the snow and the very cold weather. I finally had to pull my heavy jacket out today and start wearing it.

Tonight was fun. I really enjoy poker whether I win or loose. I feel like I learn something each time I play. Controlling emotions and making sure I am not giving away tells to other people. I had some good cards tonight but never got anything on the flop to continue the betting. I had a lot of KJ's, AK's, and just couldn't pull it off. The hand that really crippled my chip stack was a good hand for me. I had KJ and the flop came AAA. I felt I had the best hand with the K and at the least maybe a split pot. The one card that could hurt me was the A. On the turn came K. I now had the full house and still I felt the A was the card that could bring me down. The River was X and I put in a good size bet. I turned over my Full House and the other guy turned over the A. I was really crippled now and a few hands after that I went out holding K8 and went all-in and lost the hand. There were about 30 players tonight at $30 buyin and I was 23 tonight. Can't wait till next Wednesday night and I will try it again.

I am reading Phil Gordon's Little Green Book. I am enjoying the book. I like his thought process and the way the book is written. I will more than likely read it a couple of times to get the information to sink in. We will see how that goes.

Turkey Holiday

I was going to take my parents back over the mountain Saturday and decided against it and wait till Sunday and make an over and back trip. When I woke up Sunday morning it started to snow and the pass was not looking good for travel. I was trying to get my parents back home and go to work the next day. We started out from eastern washington at 0800 and we arrived at the destination at 1400. It was a long day. The worst of the travel was from richland to yakima and then it was a little bit better driving.

I started back at around 1530 and was called on my cell phone that the pass had been closed. That meant I would have to stay in Auburn again. After I got checked in and got my computer up and running I went and checked the pass conditions and found out they had opened again. The traffic was very slow but at least they were moving. Since I had already checked in I decided to just stay the night and start out in the morning.

This gave me a chance to go back out to The Muck and try my hand at blackjack again. When I got to the casino they already had a poker tournament running. I went out looking for a table to play some blackjack. I didn't do so well this time. I like to sit at seat 7 and I had to sit at seat 1. I was up about $20 and then people started leaving the table until I was the only one left. I played one on one for a few hands and my chips went to half my stack. That was enough. I then went to another table and the guys at that table wanted to go have dinner and that would have left me by myself again. I stopped playing and cashed in my chips. I stopped by the poker room and watched them and also watched some poker game at a table where you play against the dealer. That was interesting to watch but still prefer the good ole NLHE Poker. I do think I need to start learning the cash game and play that one and see how I do with it.

Driving back today was interesting. I had to stop for about 30 minutes on the pass so the crew could do Avalanche stuff. They let of a very load boom that shook the vehicle and the ground. Once they were done they let us go again and the worst part of this trip was the top of the pass to Easton. Slow and lots of traffic again. It is nice being home. This trip took 4 hours this time. The truck is dirty and I will need to wash it today. Get ready to go back to work tomorrow.

Blackjack

I made a trip over to the west side of the mountains to pick up my parents and decided to arrive the day before I needed to be there and I would spend some time at the Muck. My intent basically was not to play poker but to play some blackjack. I used to play blackjack only and now I haven't played it for awhile. The casino here in town used to have tables for blackjack and now they offer other games and I can't find a table for plain blackjack.

The trip over the mountain was very entertaining. It was snowing up on the pass with rain on the west side. Now I remember why I don't live over there. I would get so depressed having to live in that stuff. I ate at a BBQ place called Longhorns in Auburn and the food was good. I really like the honey butter. I really ate too much.

When I arrived at the casino the first order of business was to find a parking spot so I could remember where it was when I got done. I found one that was close to the South entrance to the smaller casino. It has been awhile since I played at the Muck, but since I have been reading a blog by Seattle John I figured why not. They have added to the place. I walked into the smaller one and couldn't figure out where to go to go to the main casino. Of course being male I am not going to ask anyone for directions. I ended up walking back out of the south entrance and walking around the building and going into the main entrance to the bigger casino. I did find out that if I would have walked through the back doors of the smaller casino I would have found the main one. Walking in the rain was just flat out fun anyway. I walked around the casino looking for the poker room and just looking at the inside of the building to see what was offered. I wanted to see what if any type of blackjack tables were being played as well. I did sit down at a video poker machine and basically threw away $20. I am not a fan of the machines. I just wanted to get into the mood of gambling before I went to the tables.

I found one blackjack table at the $5 limit and decided to sit down. I sat in the #7 chair. That one is the one I like to sit at because it gives me a chance to see all the cards that come out before mine. That can be good and bad depending on the players before you. How are they playing and are they using cards that you could have used. I play a game that is pretty much straight forward and try to always stay in the game and not get busted. I started with $80 and I dropped down to about $30 and built it back up to $80 about 3 times while sitting there. I never went over the amount I started with. I sat at that table for 4 hours playing blackjack and met some nice people. I really never got any cards during the evening that I could string together some wins and pull out and add to my chips. The guy in seat 5 was doing very well and was splitting cards and playing the Lucky Lady 20 at the same time. He was getting 20 quite a bit. My cards were like 13,14, 15, 16 alot. I had to struggle and gamble quite a bit that the dealer would bust. Well, at the end of it all I finally decided I had enough when I took my chips up to $85 and figured it was time to go home.

It really ended up being a good night and I did have fun. I will do it again. I still prefer poker but going back and playing some blackjack was fun. They did have a poker tournament going but I was late getting into that and I am not a cash player. I should learn that style of play sometime to broaden my poker game a little bit. I know it is different. I have books available and need to read up on the way to play it.

I am back on the east side and the sunshine is nice to see. We have the wind to contend with today.

Poker

I played poker at the casino this evening for a $30 buyin. Tonight I wanted to stay away from the all-ins and play smart. There were 30 players tonight. I started out in the number 9 seat next to the dealer until a tenth person showed up after about 3 hands were already played. I played very tight, during the first part of the tournament I would play strong hands and won some pots. I was building my chip count. At one point I played 10Q and ended up with a straight which knocked out 2 players. Not too long after that we went on a 5 minute break. When we started up again we were down to 2 tables. The cards I was receiving were mediocre hands. I would have an AKQ and a very weak kicker. Or an individual would go all in or raise the pot and I would have to fold. I was getting blinded out and not winning any hands and I finally had a $500 chip left. The small blind was $500 and I played my last chip. I had a 107 off suit. Four individuals went in on this pot. The flop came x10x, the turn was an x and the river was a 7. I made two pair and earned $2000. At that point the other table lost a player and asked for the player behind the dealer button. That happened to be me. On the second hand at the new table I have QQ and I went all-in. Three other players called. The hand came xKx, turnX, River X. I turned over my pocket Q's and the person on the button turned over Pocket K's for a set. I went out in 14th place.

How would I have played this tournament any differently? I need to learn how to pick up pots early and build chips during the early rounds. I played good hands when they were dealt and stayed away from big pots that would drain my chip stack if I would have lost the hand. The only hand I raised was the straight draw, all other hands I would call with the best hand.

More Live Poker

I am trying to stay away from Online poker now. Since I can't tell if it really illeagal or not and then trying to get the money into the site. I am trying to play poker every wednesday night at the local casino.

This week I played a home game. The tournament was a $25 buyin. We started with $5000 in chips. I played tight and when I felt I had the hand, I would call, raise and go all-in. One of my all-ins was with pocket 2's. The other person had pocket 8's. I flopped a 2 and a 2 came up on the river. I was able to double up with that hand. On one hand the flop came up 444 so I lead out with a big raise. I wanted to give the idea I had the other 4. The guy next to me looked at me and told me I was bluffing. He said he knew it but yet he just couldn't call me to find out since I put out a big raise. He went ahead and folded. One of the people across the table told the dealer to hold up the deck of cards so everyone could see the bottom of the deck. When he did that the other 4 was at the bottom. Someone was paying attention and at least he didn't give information to the guy I was trying to bluff.

I did make it to the final table. There were 6 of us and the tournament was paying 1st to 5th. I was #4 in chip stack. I have AQ and the the big stack decided to call me. I ended up getting all of my chips in the pot and on the flop came x10x. He now has three 10's for a set. The turn was an x and the river was an A. I went out in 6th place.

I should have stayed away from the all-in and not play with the big blind to get myself into a situation of having to go all-in so close to the money.

Playing Poker Again

My second live tournament experience went well. I showed up at the casino at 6:15 afor the 7:00Pm tournament. I placed my name on the list and was number 20. We ended up having 54 players tonight. They broke us up into two groups of 27. We would play until we reached 20 and then the next group would play until they reached 20. I was in the first group. I was in seat 9 next to the dealer. Having not played in a live tournament since February I wanted to play tight and would not use the all-in like last time. I wanted to get into the main tournament of 40 people. I was able to play and win a few hands to build my chip count. I even threw away AK at one point. My best hand of the night was when we were down to 21 players. I was dealt AA. I called to see a flop and the player in seat 3 went all-in. I called immediately. We turned over the cards and he had Q9. The flop came xx9, the turn was x and the river was an x. I had eliminated the 21st person. We were down able to go on break until the next 27 were down to 20. We played for an hour to eliminate 7 people. The next group played 1 1/2 hours to get down to 20. The 40 people are now set to finish the tournament. The payout was for 1st to 5th. During the rest of my time at the table I was not getting anything to play. My 11,100 chip count was starting to dwindle down. I picked up a hand A8 and figured I needed to move in and the flop came A67. I moved all-in and one person called me. He had A10 and the next two cards did not help me. I went out 26/54. I have to keep from going all-in and learn to stop playing the Aces with a low kicker. If I would have just raised or called with the hand to see the next card I could have remained in the tournament.

Thursday

Tonight I was playing PP and I had built my chips up to 28 when I got on this table and the cards just weren't going my way. I did win 3 hands in a row but couldn't get my chip stack back to the starting point. So, I ended up with 6 chips left. This is where you say you have a chip and a chair and I will go back at it tomorrow.

It will be interesting to see how the Forex market does in the morning. I have the account set and we will see how well or how bad I did. I am not too concerned since I hedge the market.

Back at it again

I am going to start this up again and not try to do so much this time. I am still doing the same ole stuff just got myself really busy and just couldn't find the time to put it down in the blog.

I am still working the Forex and am now using Freedomrocks. I have earned more from doing this than I have working at it for 3 years now. I wish this would have been here a couple of years ago. If you are interested in looking at it go to www.freedomrocks.com/SKIFX and see for yourself how it works. I have been in almost 1 month now and I am over 1% growth right now. Of course I get excited over just about anything.

I have been playing poker mostly home games. I came in 3rd the other night out of 12 people. I played well and did not play alot of hands. I played the ones that I felt I had a chance at.

I have put in an application to go back to College. I will be taking Computer Information and so the next couple of years should be fun. Another AS degree. This will make 3. One of these days I should try to expand that to a BS.

Back again

It has just been crazy around our house. Since the 19th we have moved two sets of people and I drove the truck over the mountain and we got back home the same day around midnight. That makes for a short night and a long day just looking to get home and get some sleep. I have been working some extended hours trying to get things done at work as well. Tomorrow I will fly out and head to Dallas for the next 3 days. The only bright spot is we are going to Fogo de chao. This is a Brazilian restaurant and is fantastic. A little expensive but worth it.

I have played 3 online SNG's and came in 2nd, 5th and 6th. The last two I pushed too soon and I knew it.

I have not even had the opportunity to do anything with Xooma. It is doing well and I am drinking the water like I should. They now have a flavored Xooma. Can't wait to try it.

Me taking the Byetta shots is working out real well. The Doctor has now moved me to 10 mcg per shot and states this is where I will notice the weight loss. My Blood Sugars have been the lowest since I started this whole process and it sure is easier to operate controlling the Blood Sugar when I am eating than after the fact.

I have not even had the chance to trade Forex. Now that is bad because I do enjoy that. It is really hard right now to concentrate on what I want to do.

I turned 50 this last week. Maybe that has a little to do with it. 50. I can't believe I am at that age. It was just yesterday that I was 21. Time flies when you are having fun. Now I just ask myself what have I done and when can I enjoy life instead of working nonstop for what? There has to be to life than just working all the time.

Write more soon.

Let the races begin

Today the NASCAR will start up again for 26 wonderful weeks. I have always been a sports nut and watch most sporting events. I usually can't watch a full event but to have it on and checking in on it from time to time is fine with me. I like to watch and keep track of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and a few others. I used to watch the older drivers but most of them are gone now. Watching the big track racing can be boring but to see them drafting and when someone gets out of line they are gone. I wonder what it would be like if they didn't have the restrictor plates in the cars so they could really get out and go. Especially on a track that you put the pedal to the floor and just let it go.

I watched the King of Vegas yesterday afternoon. It just kept going and going show after show. It started with 12 players and it takes one out each show and the last one will be crowned the King of Vegas. The personalities are great. A lot of trash talking. The game at the end is the Texas Hold'em death match. That is where one will go home. I was sorry to see Matusow have to go home. When I first saw him on WPT events I was not to keen on him but he seems to grow on you over time. He really is not that bad of a person. I do prefer him over Phil Helmuth. The book I would like to read is Dan Harringtons book. He is a pretty tight player. I don't see him very much. Maybe his playing style doesn't allow him to win? Maybe I shouldn't read his book. I like to watch Phil Ivey as well. His concentration is great and he does well. I also ended up watching a WPT event last night the Aruba one. Eric won that event over a person that got in by playing the internet.

My weigh in for the week was 235. I feel like this thing is really working. My breakfast in the morning is a breakfast bar and then at lunch I will take it easy with as light a lunch I can find. For dinner, since we eat out a lot it is hard, but I will find something and watch portions. But getting down to the 235 mark is a great achievement and I am anxious to get on with the next week. I will visit my doctor in March to get a prescription refill for Byetta and keep it going.

I will get back to my Forex trading and see what is happening with the trends. I have a few of them that are about ready to cross and I will pick and follow them in the trend. I would like to start trading with a longer time frame. This means of course that I will have to put a wider stop on currencies to allow them room to move a little in the day.

This is the week that I will be moving parents over to the other side of the mountains. I will be going this next weekend and picking up the truck then load it on Saturday night and Sunday morning. I would like to be out of town by noon so I am not driving during the evening hours. Will be a very busy few days.

Come on Weekend

We are getting closer to the weekend and it feels good. It is going to be cold here. I understand it is supposed to get down to 8 degrees over here for tonight and through the weekend. Wow, that will be cold. I just have to keep in my mind that spring is right around the corner.

We took my parents out tonight for their anniversary. They have been together 55 years this year. This is a great accomplishment. I rented the truck tonight and will be ready to move them to their new place on the weekend of the 25th. I went ahead and rented an auto carrier as well. I don't want my parents driving that distance in their car so this will be easier. We can use the car for stuff as well.

Starting this next week I should be in the Currencies for some long term trades. I will need to be careful because of the fundamental announcements but I think this will be better trading. I have also purchased a book on Commodity trading as well. Will see about getting involved with it as well. I was thinking about going back into stocks but I don't like the fact of the market being available only from the hours of 5:30 to 1:00 every day. I really like the fact the currencies are moving all the time.

I am doing well with Byetta shots as you already know. I did forget my shot this evening when I went to the restaurant. I had it all prepared and everything. Just forgot it. Oh well, it states that if I miss the shot I am not to take it after the meal is eaten. Wait for the next time it is to be taken. At least I know I won't be nauseated tonight.

Since I am now officially on call for the rest of the weekend I am unable to play any poker. Thats alright since this last week was not so kind. I know I need to play more to play better.

Where does it go

Where does the week go. It just shoots by so fast you can't keep up with it. We have been out most evenings late and then getting home just doesn't leave time for anything but going to bed and then getting up and going to work. On Sunday we bought a new 32 inch TV. We really didn't need it but I did it anyway. This should last us for quite awhile. This one is an HDTV. I am still trying to set the colors the way I like them and get used to the sound as stereo. I have also been trying to get ready to work on a Web site for an organization I belong to and that is taking up some time as well.

The Byetta shots are going well. It is taking time to get used to giving myself the shot in the morning and in the evening. Not eating until I have the shot is going alright. I have been nauseated and that will take some time to get used to. I am hoping it will settle down and go away. My appetite is not as strong or the desire to eat as much is going away. The Blood Sugar numbers have been lower. I am trying to drink as much water as possible. I did get another packet of X20 the other day so I have enough now to last all month. I also have 2 people underneath me now and lets hope it starts to take off so the residual money can start to come in.

I went to a Stock Trading seminar this afternoon. I took the afternoon off from work and went to the class. It was interesting to listen to the person talk about the stock market and making money with it. I agree with everything he said but I like the Foreign Currency and the ability to trade 24 hours per day. I don't trade for 24 hours but the market moving all day is a good thing. At least I can get in and get back out with pips earned. I want to try to use the daily charts and stay in longer.

I have not played any poker since the weekend. If I am going to play online I will need to put more $$ in the account. I didn't do very well and the account is down to not much. I am on call this weekend so the poker time will be non existant. The following week I am moving my parents to the other side of the mountains so probably will not play again for awhile.

The day after

Our Grandson is here for the day while his dad is in a class for his job. He is 2 1/2 now and is full of energy. Will see if us grandparents can keep up.

My byetta shots have done well so far. I was very nauseated Wednesday night and I am hoping that is just a stage and will clear up and not happen again. Now this morning after taking the shot I am feeling a little nauseated again. I ate my breakfast this morning as well. Maybe its just the weekend and I am not going to work and I am a little more relaxed. I still like it and they way it makes me feel better during the day. I have a little bit more energy and seem to do better. My Blood Sugars have been in the 80's and 90's most of the time. I don't mind giving myself the shot as well. I am getting used to it.

The big event for me happened Friday evening when a group of us went to the casino and played in a live poker tournament. This was a $40 buy in. I must admit, being the first casino tournament, I was a little bit intimadated with the people there. I went in and paid my $40 and then waited for the tournament to start. At about 6:10 they came out to the casino area and announced that the tournament was starting and you could pick up your seat placement. I was at Table 12 seat number 10. Fortunately I was sitting next to a friend I now and he is a seasoned live tournament player. I picked up a paper at the start to make sure I new the rules and how much the chips were. Fortunately the button ended up at the number 1 seat so I had a bit to watch the table and how people were playing. I had decided to play very tight and not be the first one to go out. There were 3 tables playing with about 33 people playing in this tournament. The hands I remember playing were the pocket 10's and ended up throwing them away. I even won a couple of hands I played so that in itself was exciting. I started getting used to the table and by watching players play I started to figure out what there style was going to be. I made it into the next round of blinds and maybe I felt I could play with these guys and maybe push a little bit. My one mistake, and it was costly. A good friend was in seat number 2 and I was dealt AKo. Now I figure that is a good hand to start with. My first bet was a raise to $500. I was called by my friend. Ok, I will just lead him on and see what the flop gives me. The flop comes up A96 and I was feeling good about my hand. At that point I didn't want to go any further with this hand and so I went all-in. I was surprised I was called. I would have been happy with the money out there and would have increased my chip count. I turned over my AK and he turned over A9. The turn was a 2 and the River was a Q. I was out of my first tournament. 30 minutes is all it took. I was not the first person out of the tournament and that was a good thing. I am anxious to get into another tournament and try it again. I feel that was a good learning experience and I will do better next time. I will not be hasty next time to push all-in. I did have a lot of fun and the wifes of all of us were waiting for each of us and we all had dinner at the casino. One of the guys did get in the money and that is a good thing.

I looked at our account this morning and the Tax money has arrived. That helps a little bit. This will help get my parents get moved at the end of the month.

My weigh in for Saturday is 237. My first week on Byetta and I can feel the decrease in appetite. I am not as hungry as I used to be or wanting to eat as much. Now add exercise to this and I should loose some weight. Could it happen?

Hump Wednesday

Lets see, have I ranted enough about the Seahawk loss? I saw a perfect picture today. It is the Ref looking into the replay booth and he is wearing the yellow and black stripe with the steeler yellow hat. Perfect. I really believe they will find out this game was rigged. Anyway, must move on.

I played Poker last night in the $10 SNG's. It was a better game and people were more willing to play the proper hands. I ended up 9th place in the first game. I figured I have to do better than this. The second game I came in 3rd and was able to get some money back. I will play the higher $$ games now since people seem to play better hands.

This is the second day of taking my shots for Diabetes. I must say I feel better. My blood sugars have not been as high and I am not eating as much. Of course this is only the second day. I do feel better. Giving myself the shot is not as bad as I first thought. The needle is not that long and poking myself is alright. I guess if I can prick my finger every day 2 or 3 times per day I can at least work with this needle. This morning I tried eating a breakfast bar for breakfast and I wasn't hungry until about 11:30 today. In fact I could have gone a little further. My blood sugar was the lowest that I have ever had it. It was actually in the 80's today. After eating the highest I have seen it is in the 140's. That is good for me. I can't wait to let the doctor know and what would even be better is if I was to go in and also have lost some weight as well.

Stormpay is a bust and I am watching them right now since they took money from my account. That is not right. Xooma is doing well. I have my two individuals now and will see how it is growing.

Monday after SuperBowl

First of all I am a Rams fan. I do like to watch a good football game. I truly believe the Seahawks won that game yesterday. They had the better team on the field. I truly believe the Refs were paid to make sure the Steelers won the game. What kind of a call was that in the endzone? In the regular season that would not have been called. I thought these refs were the best in the NFL? I don't know where they got them from but don't ever let them ref again. That was terrible. Maybe they just wanted to get involved and were jealous because Steelers fans were using their Terrible Towels and they wanted to join in? The only way they knew how was to throw the yellow flag out so they could see it. I have been reading from journalists from all over the country and they are saying the same things. If the Steelers would have won the game fairly then that would be one thing but they did not.

I am starting my new shots tomorrow for my Diabetes. I am all set. The pharmacist said I would really like the outcome of this. He has seen people do well on Byetta. I hopefully will do well. I am anxious to get started. I will have to get used to sticking myself with a needle. I am not a needle fan. My weight on Saturday was at 238. Up one pound from the week before. I even did better decreasing my eating and still didn't go down. I want this to really help me.

I know have the 2 individuals in with me for Xooma. Lets see this thing grow now. Maybe start making some residual income. Take a look at the links area if your interested.

I am looking at Pinnacle-Exchange for some Forex help. They are long term traders and I might do well with that. It would be like Mutual Fund Trading. Trading more trends.

No poker since Saturday night. Our daughter in law came in 1st place in that tournament. Our son came in 3rd. At least the money stayed in the family. In this game it was a $20 buyin and had 22 people attend. Way to go kids.

Cold Weekend

I was doing so well with 12 Daily Pro. Then StormPay decided to hold the business money. Thank goodness I did not have much in that account. I will wait and see what happens. The company has a Lawyer on the case and trying to get the money released. I am not a fan of HYIP type of stuff but it did sound good and thought I would at least try it.

Xooma is doing well. I now have the two individuals that I needed under me and now I need to keep going and see if this thing will grow. Putting the Sachets in the water is no big deal and as long as I feel better it should be alright.

I played Live Poker tonight. Out of 22 individuals I placed 7th. Not bad for the people that were there. There was not much I could do when the blinds entered the $1600 / $3200 area. I was one of the short stacks and needed help by that time. I know I didn't play very many hands during the evening and when I did I did make some chips to keep going. It just didn't last long enough.

On Friday I went over the pass in the Cascades and it was alright. A lot of snow up there and we were glad to get back over the mountain pass that night. I looked on the Internet at the passes and it was covered with snow so it really laid down the blanket of snow after we went through. The wind hadn't picked up yet either. Today it is cold here and the wind is just biting.

Tomorrow is SuperBowl Sunday. Go Seahawks. I would like to see a good game either way as well. Just let the Seahawks win at the end.

Hump Day

Here it is a Wednesday already. Need to catch up on the blog here.

The 12 Daily Pro is going well. I keep surfing the 12 sites every day and the amount keeps going up by .72 cents per day per $6 I have in the account. I did receive payment and it was placed in the stormpay account. I am very pleased and will keep at it.

The Forex trading is about breakeven for the week. On Monday I was in AUD/CAD and went -45 pips. I then turned it around and then with EUR/USD I was +20 pips and USD/CHF I was +20 pips. At this time I am in EUR/USD. I have 2 other currencies set up and ready to go when and if it reaches the entry position.

Poker was a bomb tonight. I placed 8th, then 7th and then I tried a third game and came in 9th. The AK did not make the all-in and my third try was gone. At that point I decided to stop playing for the night.

I am headed to the other side of the mountain on Friday. We have been having a lot of snow up in the mountains and that will be good for the summer months. That also helps the farmers.

Went to the doctor today and my A1C was a 6.0. This is up from a 5.7 but he was pleased. I am going to start taking shots for my diabetes. This is not Insulin. I will be taking a shot before I eat breakfast and dinner and this will help the blood sugar stay normal as well as helping my appetite so I will start to loose some weight. The way I am doing it now is not good. I am skipping breakfast and really skimping on eating during the day and then at night I eat. Sort of makes up for the day of trying to be good.

Here we go again

Just when the weekend starts we start another week. I would like to have a 5 day weekend and 2 days to work. I could go for that.

The 12 Daily Pro is doing well. I haven't been paid into the stormpay account yet. I am waiting for 2 payments of $7.92 to be entered into the account. Each payment is a gain of $1.92. Just looking at 12 advertisements per day is not hard to do and earn the extra cash.

Xooma is starting to go. I was told that my upline person just placed a person under me. I only need one more person to look and see the benefit of the X2O and then take off with this. I have been drinking my 24 oz. of water daily with the sachet put in the water. I still believe this is worth something for those people that exercise or do sports and need to replenish themselves with drinking water instead of the flavored drinks. It doesn't look that hard. And to be involved with people that are pushing this product is great. I went looking for someone that was excited to be in the business doing this and to see if I could get the help I would need. Looks like I found the person.

This is a first for me in that our Taxes are done for the year 2005. Usually we wait till April to do them. Of course I need to go into work tomorrow and tone down my deductions. Wow, I don't like using this as a savings account. We were paying for so many years and I was so tired of it that I think I went way overboard the other direction. Now I have to try to get back to mid line and this will give me a raise in my paycheck on payday. I will like that and so will my wife.

I haven't been able to play poker this weekend due to being on call but I have been reading the Poker blogs and found a sight that was giving interesting information on the players. It even had some information and pictures of Shana Hiatt and one of the pictures was of her on the cover of Playboy 1995 issue. I thought I might have that issue and went and looked. I sure did. Never know who you are going to see on the cover. I am hoping that I can play some online poker this week and do a few SNG's.

The Forex trading will be very cautious this week. Being the first of the month and also Greenspan is having his last meeting tomorrow. I will probably wait till after that meeting to get into the market. Let things settle down abit and see where the market is going and try to pick up some pips. I ended up the week with +30 pips which was a good way to end the week.

I see in the paper where Jerome Bettis guaranteed a victory for Pittsburgh. I hope the Seahawks are up for the challenge.

Grandson Story

I tell you when Friday evening came along I was ready to turn the brain off and just do nothing. And that is what I did. I made it through a work day.

Why is it that you must always choose? Is it our nature as a civilization or is it something religious? I think most decisions we make have 2 sides and you have to put up with the consequences of that decision. Now, how is that for being vague about the issue? Just something to ponder.

I will not be playing poker over the weekend since I am on call from Thursday thru Sunday. Just can't chance tying up the computer. I am thinking about starting up an email poker game. That would be interesting. Having up to 10 people playing. It would be a slow process but may be fun to try. I am also working on a blackjack game that would be somewhat like poker. Since I enjoy both games why not try to put them together. My mind sometimes works overtime and then you have to take the time to implement what I have thought about. That can be dangerous.

Did you see the cartoon with Garfield with a Bathrobe on drinking coffee and he says, " I am not fat, my brain is full and it had to go somewhere." I like it. It fits me well. I put the sign up at work. And working into that I should say that my weigh in for the day netted 237. Now I have to make sure I don't gain it back and will work on one more pound this next week. No pressure, just do the right things. That exercise thing is still sitting out there that I know at some point I will have to do. Can I keep from it?

Oh yes, the story. My wife went to pick up our grandson the other morning and he was in a grumpy mood. He didn't want to kiss his dad good-bye and got in the car to go to daycare. As they were driving he decided that he did want to kiss dad but it was too late. He didn't like that and stated that he then did not want to play with the kids at daycare. My wife said that would be alright but if he didn't then he would need to go stand in the corner. Well, when he arrived at Daycare he walked into the room and the teacher said good morning and he looked at her and immediately walked over to the corner and stood there. My understanding was that he was in a grumpy mood all day. He is learning how to try and manipulate people to do what he wants. It doesn't work with us. At least grandma.

Today is going to be busy with 2 events going on this evening. One at a very nice restaurant in town and the other after that is a Birthday party for a friend. Hopefully I don't get called for computer related needs.

One more day to go

Here we are looking for Friday again. Weekend is right around the corner.

The 12 Daily Pro is doing well. I am now at $11.52 for this session and tomorrow another will go into the payout mode. I am waiting for the payout and see if this really pays off. I am receiving .72 every day for $6 that was initially put in. You can see after 12 days times .72 how much I am earning each time. I have a rotation of every six days I am putting money in and soon will be using money that I am earning from.

Last night I played 2 SNG's and I came in 6th place in both of them. I tried to play a few more hands and see if I could get a flop for very little chips. I noticed that some of them were playing that way and were building there chips and able to stay in the game a little longer. I don't like to play that way but sometimes you have to go with the herd. The second game I had pocket A's and was taken out with straight. Didn't even see that coming. I figured I finally got a hand to play and then BAM. Took me down.

I tell you my forex trading has not done well this week. I went -30 pips and then decided to get into EUR/JPY since I have been doing well with it. I decided to not go for such big profits and try for at least 10 pips tonight and get out. I set up EUR/USD, GBP/USD and EUR/JPY and so far 2 out of the three have turned in 10 pips each for a total of +20 pips. GBP is Farting around and not getting with the program tonight.

I received the package from Xooma this evening and got my X2O and have drank my first 24 oz. of water. It says I can take one packet minimum during the day. Maybe take 2 or 3 to get into the system and see if it will help my Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Arthritis or anything else it wants to help.

What a Tuesday

This has been a very busy evening. I have a number of items I have been trying to work on with the internet in the evening. Sometimes I get so many extra things going I start to not do anything and then I don't get anywhere.

I ended up at -25 pips this morning. My system isn't doing well right now. I won't give up though. This evening I set up GBP/USD with a sell and will see how I do with that. It is coming back to the Tunnel. I have to give this some room and let it make its way there.

12 Daily Pro is now at $8.64 after surfing this evening. I was told that the upgrade from the 4th would be put into the account and I still don't see it. They did state that it would show up on the 24th and maybe it will be there tomorrow sometime. I put the new Xooma site on there and it has 27 hits so far. That is nice. Maybe I will start a downline with some help. Go look on the right side and the links I have posted.

I am trying to get the new website up and running for an organization I belong with and am having some issues with the past people taking care of the site and that is some of the issues for tonight. I wish it was easier.

I have a friend that decided to loose some weight this month after being told his face looks round. He decided to go on the subway diet of one 6 inch sandwich at noon and a 6 inch sandwich at dinner time. So far he has lost 12 pounds. Beats my 2 pounds. Maybe I should start that diet or at least eating the sandwiches. That just seems boring to me.

No poker tonight. Just busy and I like to have my mind clear when I start on a poker game.

Monday again

A very busy evening last night. I will tell you about it soon.

12Daily Pro is at 5.76 for the 23rd of January. I am earning about $1.44 per day right now. The company sent me an email today telling me I will have another upgrade coming on the 24th due to them missing the first one that I put in on the 4th when I signed up. I also put a website on the site now and it has had 5 hits so far. I will continue to work with this and see if things will grow.

I did something I said I would not do again. I spent 5 years with MLM's and it did not go well. That is when I got into Stock and Stock Options and now Forex. Well, I joined one last night. It is call Xooma and it is real interesting to read. I put the Link on the right side so you can go visit and read about it. I also put the 12daily pro there as well. You will also see StormPay. This is where I place the Finances to back the 12daily Pro. Go ahead and look at them and if you have any questions let me know.

I set up two currencies tonight. EUR/JPY and GBP/USD. I will see how they do in the morning before I go to work.

Football Sunday

I have alot of catching up to do here. I keep thinking I need to put something up and then the day is gone before I know it.

Today the 12 Daily Pro is now up to $12.24 and am starting the first payback to my account of $7.92. So the first $6 has grown $1.92. All I did was look at 12 sites per day to get that. If I would have had more money in there I would have earned more. I am going to stay with the $6 every 6 days and see how that goes and let this thing build up and then start increasing the amount that I will put in to earn the money.

The last time I was working the Forex I was -20 pips on Tuesday. Wednesday I set up and was -15 pips. So on thursday I set up the tunnel system and was -17 pips. Not a good week. I need to go back to the papers and see if I was setting it up wrong or if I missed something.

I played Online Poker on Friday evening in a Shootout Tournament. This tournament has 4 sessions and you have to be in the top 3 on each of your tables to advance. They pay the top three in the first 3 tables and then on the last table will pay 5 spots. The start of the tournament we had 1320 players. I was 3rd place on the 1st session and was able to get to the 2nd table. On the 2nd session there are 396 players and I made it to 1st place at my table on this one to advance to the 3rd session. In the 3rd session there are 120 people left and I placed at 45th place trying to get to the final session of 36 players. I got real close. I did make some money on this tournament. I am in the positive with the account. I am definatly not playing with my principal.
Now on Saturday night I started to play SNG's and placed 6th out of 10 and on the second game I placed 4th. On the SNG's they only pay the top 3. I was chip leader with the second game and tried to take some players out and my stack just twindled and they got better cards and I couldn't get them to back down. It cost me. I should have been more patient. I had the chips.

My weight for the week is 238.

I set up a listserve for a software company this weekend as well. I hope it goes well. It will take some of my time to monitor it but I do believe it will be worth it. I told the company that I wanted to do this some time ago and I hope they will back it as well. I am also supposed to be monitoring and setting up a web page for our church. That will take some time as well.

Football is going and right now the Pittsburgh Steelers are way in front of Denver Broncos. How about a Steeler and Seahawk Superbowl.

I watched Two for the Money last night. That was a good movie. It got a little predictable in the end and it got a little choppy with the story line. Goes to show the movie could have gone a little further but with time restraints they started chopping it and that is what I thought it looked like. Good Movie. I would give it 4 starts out of 5.

Tuesday looking for Friday

I have been watching the Forex tonight trying to find one of the currencies within the tunnel. EUR/USD and GBP/USD are the only ones starting to drop out of the tunnel. I will wait just a little longer to see if they will continue the move down before I short one of them. Remember Patience. Don't chase the currency or you will end up loosing on it.

The 12 Daily Pro is now at $7.20. I have only been in this about 8 days now. So far so good. This is simple to do and if I can earn some extra money doing this great.

I have not played any poker since Saturday night. Maybe tomorrow night I will do another SNG.

Monday Morning Blues

Have to get up and have to go to work. Not a good day. I started the day out with a headache that was not going to go well. Usually I will end up with a Migraine with that early of a start. I got to work and took some aspirin and was hoping I didn't have to get into my Migraine medication because that will change how I can get through the day. I hate it when the computer starts to flicker and the lights hurt your eyes. I did make it through the morning and by the afternoon the aspirin took hold and I made it the rest of the day.

My setup with forex netted me +19 pips this evening. I have now waited and it looks like USD/CHF is working and I will set up for a Sell at 1.2796. It is real close to the Tunnel and looks to be moving down. I set my stop at the top of the tunnel. I am about ready to head to bed and will check this out in the morning.

My 12 Daily Pro is now at $5.76. I purchased another upgrade. One of them now will close out in 6 days. The program is looking good so far.

This evening I received another booklet from Vegas on the tunnel system. I like his theory and the system. I am studying the system to make sure I get the full understanding of the way it works.

The Vonage phone system is working well. I still need to get a local number so will keep working on it. At some point I want to get rid of our phone company and keep our costs down.

Our son is playing for a Semi Pro Football team and starts his season the first of April. He will be playing in 8 games and will come into town to play our towns team. Will be fun to watch him play. This is the second team he has played for on a Semi Pro level. No, he doesn't get paid because he wants to keep his eligibility for College. He is Community College right now and wants to go to a University later.

I am done and am headed to bed. One more look at the Forex Market and I am done for the night.

Division Playoffs

What a day in the Football world. Carolina beating Chicago and will now face the number 1 seed Seattle Seahawks. That should be a good game. AFC will have the Steelers playing the Broncos. The Steelers looked good today. Go Seahawks. I hope we get into the Super Bowl.

I played live poker last night and was able to get to 6th place out of 16 people. Just didn't have enough chips to make it any further and had to play the best hand I felt I could get to try and double up to keep going. We had one person down to one chip and she came back and got 3rd place. That was something to watch. I am back to SNG's this week.

My sister ran the Marathon in Phoenix over the weekend and for being hurt she did well. Congrats on your finish.

I did the 12 daily pro and am now at $4.32. Just keeps growing.

The movie Firewall really looks interesting and will try to go see it. If not at least keep it in my book to rent the DVD when it comes out.

Weekend

The shootout online poker game didn't last long for me last night. I ended up in 8th place out of 10 seats in the 1st session. There are 4 sessions and I didn't get out of the 1st one. I won a hand that was a Flush draw and bluffed at it and won it. The next one I got the flush and won that one. That was it. I mainly played the BB and the SB and if I felt I had a hand that I wanted to see a flop with. I had pocket 10's and lost that hand on the BB and then the SB I had a JKo and ended up all in and lost it. Statistically I played in 13 hands and won 2 of them. Tonight there is a live game with a $5 buyin. I am going to play in that one. Let you know how that one turns out.

Don't you hate it when you are driving at night and you have these Bright Lights staring at you and it is those Fog lights that people use when there is no fog. That is a big pet peeve with me. I found out the other day that anybody can drive with there fog lights on at any time. That is just wrong. I would like to have a big flood light I could aim at people that use them. See how they like lights in there eyes when there is no fog.

12 Daily Pro is now at $3.60. I am moving now. That money will continue to grow.

My weigh in for the week was 240. I was down to 239 last week and just gained it back. I know, exercise!!!!!

Everyone take care, Congrats to my Sister that just bought their house and now have a lot of work to get it cleaned and ready for Parents. My other Sister in Phoenix don't run too hard. Remember there is another day and you don't want to destroy or hurt parts any further.

It is finally Friday

I didn't think it would ever get here.

I got on the bus this morning from the new parking lot at work and found out that one of the riders had his car stolen from the lot 3 days before. Where have I been? Evidently not paying attention. They found his car about 200 miles away on the side of the road and all he was told was that the wheels and tires were still on the car. My next concern is about the security in that lot and my truck being parked there. Is it safe? I like riding the shuttle every morning because it takes me right to the door and I don't have to walk ( exercise ) to get to the work place.

This morning I looked at the Forex currency that I had set up the night before and found it the USD/JPY at +5 pips. I went ahead and took the positive pips. Again I don't like to be in the market over the weekend. This was a good week for trading for me. I like this Tunnel trading. Once I reach my predetermined amount of Principle I will start opening with another Lot. That will start the $$ to start multiplying.

I am going to try and play poker tonight. A friend called and is going to start in a shootout at 8:40 and I am going to go see if I can register for that. Hopefully I will have good news for you tomorrow.

The 12 Daily Pro is now at $2.88. Let it grow. I need to find something to advertise. Maybe this blog? Maybe not?

Welcome to my sister that started blogging yesterday. I will post her site here soon. Now if I can get my other sister to start her own. See how easy it is to journal.

One more day

Not much to talk about tonight.

Today is my Brothers Birthday. He turned 51 today. I called him this evening and talked with him for awhile.

My Forex Trades did very well last night. The EUR/JPY ended at +134 pips this morning. If I can do that on a weekly basis I would be happy. I used the tunnel method and it worked well. This evening I started the USD/JPY and it went down to a +12 and then moved back up toward the tunnel. Since I don't like to trade on Fridays I went ahead and took +4 pips this evening and got out. Today was a good day for a total of +138 pips. I will wait now till Monday to trade again.

No poker tonight. I am on call again for work.

I finished setting up Vonage and the only thing that is not good is that they do not have any local numbers for this area. So, we have a Spokane number now. We will have to keep our other phone service and will put minimal service on it and then wait for Vonage to get local service. We can use Vonage to call out but anybody else will have to dial in on the other service. At least now we have long distance service and having to pay for it through Vonage. Just a little disappointed. We have a friend that lives about 4 miles from us that has Vonage and lives in a different county and she was able to keep her number. Must be a County thing. I will have to do some extra work to see if this number can be transferred.

12 Daily Pro is up to $2.16 today. Just moving along earning on a daily basis. I need to find something to advertise on there site. Maybe Vonage? I can get 2 months free service for everyone I get to sign up. New people get 1 month free.

Hump Day

Well, the Forex trading didn't go so well last night. I ended up -69 pips down by this morning. Tonight I have set up the EUR/JPY. This set has just gone below the Tunnel and will let it run. The problem with the setup last night was I was late and I started the sets in the wrong direction according to the tunnel. Thats what I get for not following the system. Tonight lets hope for some better results.

The 12 Daily Pro is starting to earn some money on a daily basis now. In two days I have now earned $1.44. I will let this grow and then start compounding the income. Could be a good way to earn some spending money and also advertise a home business. I don't have one but still the opportunity is there.

I set up the Vonage Phone tonight. It does work. The only issue right now that I have is the fact if someone from town calls me it is long distance. I sent an email off to the company to see if we could get that taken care of. I want to get rid of the regular line and that also gets rid of the constant calls every night for money. So, for the family members out there when we get it working to our satisfaction I will let you in on the new number. This hooks up through the internet and has its own wireless box. I have little blinking lights going all over my desk in my office now.

My online poker has been non existant right now. I am on call tonight and tomorrow night and I can't tie up the computer. I am anxious to get back at it. I do read the poker blogs out there.

Our daughter in law is pregnant and she is starting to show. She is due in May. I promise I won't spoil her. We have a Grandson from our foster child and he keeps us busy now. We had him over this last weekend and he spent the night and was with us all day. That will wear you out. He is getting to the point that he wants you to read to him. He is smart and we just have to laugh at him. He was talking to my wife the other day and she told him that he couldn't talk with her with his binky in his mouth. He took the binky out, which he calls baby, and looks at her and tells her he is done. At that point he puts baby back into his mouth.

My brother turns 51 tomorrow. I am not that far behind him. I am set to make a trip to Dallas in March. I will be there for 3 days for a User Conference for a Computer Software we use at work. Should be a good trip and a fast one. We tried to get tickets with United but they are $100 more than Delta. That means I get to fly through Salt Lake again and see if my luggage follows me. It has been 2 times within the year that my luggage has met me from Salt Lake. When I was in Knoxville, TN the guy told me Salt Lake was known for not getting luggage on the next flight. So far it has happened to me twice.

Here goes Tuesday

Got home late from work this evening and am working at the computer listening to my favorite group the "Blue Man Group" We went and watched them this last year in Las Vegas and had a fun time. This group really gets the crowd into the concert. They are fun to watch. At one time they had pulled rolls of paper down over the audience and we were sitting right at the edge of the aisle. When my wife got out from under the paper one of the guys was standing right next to her face and she screamed. I was able to get out from under the paper just in time to see him staring back at her. He never changed his expression.

I am working in Forex tonight. I am in the market with USD/CAD. I just checked and now I am in with EUR/USD. I will need to watch these and see how I do this evening. If I can pull out 20 pips on each I will be happy. Remember to be patient. I have set my stops a little more out to try and let it run a little bit more.

We also got our new phones tonight. We are switching over to Vonage. A friend from work uses Vonage and she states she is doing well with it. Tonight I have them in the charger and will set it up tomorrow night. I am excited to be able to save some money by using Vonage. If your interested let me know.

I have also done my 12 daily pro set and have also done an upgrade. I have earned some money so far from it and will be able to withdraw down the road with this. I am still evaluating this to see how it will work. It also allows a person to advertise as well. That is a good thing.

Another Monday

I am not able to play Poker tonight due to being on call and this week I will be on call on Wed., Thur. as well. Maybe tomorrow I can play a couple of SNG's.

I set up the EUR/USD this evening for a Sell at 1.2034. I have been reading and setting the entries up with which ever I am feeling comfortable with at the time. This is the Beau Diamond setup. I have been reading the Tunnel setup and will be getting more information about it hopefully soon. I like that one and really looks interesting. I had emailed the author for the tunnel and he emailed back with some more information.

I did my 12dp today and will be repurchasing within the next two days. I want to see if this works and will keep at it to either prove it works or it is like all the rest and does not. I will give it a chance.

I watched more football this last weekend than I did during the season. TB and Redskins. No offense but a lot of defense. I hope Seahawks can handle the Redskins. Panthers and NY Giants. Wow, Panthers did a number on them. They just did not look like they wanted to play on Sunday. Steelers and Bengals. Steelers look good and I would hate to have to bring down Bettis. New England and Jaguars. I didn't watch them but here comes New England. They are defending champs and if they get on a roll. Next week will be interesting to watch.

Early Sunday Morning

My weigh in for the week was 239. I lost a pound over the week. Now my next goal is to loose another one for this week. I know that exercise is a big part of what I need to do. Having led the sedentary life style for so long makes it hard to get after it. I spent part of this last summer building my deck on our house and I believe I did something to my elbow. I was lifting so many concrete blocks and moving them and stacking them and placing them that I hurt it somehow. I went to the Emergency Department and they told me they were not going to do an x-ray that my arm needed some rest. So, I am about 6 feet short of finishing the 30 foot x 10 foot patio because of the arm and the "rest" it needs.

The Forex trade on Thursday night did not go well. I should not have gotten in due to the MA's not crossing. I knew better. In fact one of them hit the stop and the other one I closed at 3:30 am when I woke up and started thinking about the Fundamental announcement that was going to come up in 2 hours. After checking on the pair at the end of the day friday I found out I would have stayed in I would have made some pips on that one. I need to stick with the plan and system. Trade on Crosses.

I have been with a Survey Company online for a few years and every now and then they will send a survey out and when I complete it I get paid $5. It gives me spending money for the year. I just started with another company online that pays for watching ads online. I have to watch 12 of them per day and get paid for doing that. I just started that and will let you all know how that is going a little further on.

I have not played any online poker in the last few days. I did play live poker last night at a friends house. Buyin is whatever and you get 20 cent chips. At the end of the night around midnight then we just stop and the amount of chips you have left you get paid for. My night last night ended up leaving all my money with the other people sitting at the table. This game is for fun and if I make some bucks that is great. As we go around the table and each person deals they have the opportunity to call the type of game we are going to play. We end up playing all kinds of Poker games through the evening. You don't really get into any type of rhythm and it really doesn't matter. I am anxious to play some online games. Maybe this afternoon. I am reading a new book on Online poker. "Internet Texas Hold'em" by Matthew Hilger.

Looks like Washington Redskins are going to be playing the Seattle Seahawks. I am a St. Louis Rams fan since the 60's and living in Washington State I do like the Seahawks. I don't like it when these two teams play each other because I want each to do well. Except my loyalties go to the Rams. But, since they are out I have to now hope that the Seahawks can show they belong in the Post Season.

Another week is getting started and we will have some people out of the office for the week. Short staff makes for more work. We are hiring 2 new people and that will be good.

Slow Computer

My computer is not doing well this evening. I am not going to chance it by playing poker tonight. It is acting slow and taking forever to load any application that I am trying to run.

Forex: I am in a position this evening and I am hoping to get out of it early before morning arrives. I do not like to be in the market on Fridays anyway and this being the first Friday of the month does not help matters. I am in USD/JPY this evening. It looked to be the best one with the MA's nearing a cross over. I went ahead and went in before the actual crossover which is not a good move but something that looked like I could get away with because of the wide swings this was taking. I am in positive territory as I am writing this and would hope to be out sometime soon.

My weight loss food intake for the day consisted of :
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs and 1 toast with 8 oz. of Orange Juice.
Lunch: Tomato Soup with 1/2 sandwich egg salad with 1/4 can of Diet Cherry Coke.
Supper: 6 oz of Rib eye with Baked Potato, Nachos and Ice Tea.

I think I need to start eating a light snack sometime around 2:30 because I eat lunch at 11:30. When I get home I want to eat everything in sight. At some point I need to add exercise. What a treaded word for me.

What a Game

That was a fun game to watch tonight. Texas beat USC and takes the National Championship in Football and in Baseball this last year. What a great feat by both teams and the University.

No poker tonight. I was watching the game and just didn't play.

Forex is something I did do and am still in. I did a Sell this evening when the MA's crossed and at this time it is up. I just don't think it will move very far before heading back down. I purchased the EUR/JPY tonight. I went in at 140.52. I will give this room to move.

Weight loss: I had 2 fried eggs and toast this morning with 8 oz. of Orange Juice. Lunch was Steak/Onion soup with a salad and then on the way home I stopped for some Nacho's from Tumbleweeds and then had 3 pieces of Pizza. Way to go Steve. Do well all day and then when I get home I go nuts with eating. That needs to change.

Back to work

Ok, back to work in 2006 and wow, what a busy day. Everyone is getting started again and here weeeeee gooo.

I started the day out by eating 2 eggs and toast for breakfast. Soup and 1/2 sandwich for lunch and then for dinner I had Carne Asada. I thought I did pretty good for the day. I was never full and I drank water for most of the day.

I opened up the Forex when I got home and noticed the USD/CAD was doing a cross and waited for the second bar. I put in a sell and rode it down to 12 pips and then went ahead and got out. I went looking for another cross and none was to be had. I will wait until I see the next one. Patience.

That is not the way it went for my Poker tonight. I went in and played 2 games of SNG tonight and the first one I came in 6th. Never did get any cards to play. I finally went all in with what I had left and was busted out. At least it was 6th and not 10th. The next game I came in 4th. I lost to pocket jacks with a KQ. Again I should have just folded on the Turn but at that point I was pretty much pot committed. I was not patient at the end and that is what really hurt me. I had the chips to last to get at least 3rd but played to aggressive at the end.

I received an email from one of the services I get for Forex tonight. He was talking about a side business to gain some money by looking at Ads. Ok, I will try it. If it works and you are interested give me a holler and I will send you the information. Looks like he made about $3000 in one week. I went ahead and joined and will give it a try.

2006 is Here

Here we are at 2006. Time just flys when you are having fun.

This past week was really busy with Christmas and trying to keep up with work. I didn't get a chance to blog anything. I did do some trading with the Forex. I also got to play a little bit of Poker online. I even figured out how to put pictures in my blog and added links to it. I will post the blogs I like to read soon.

At last writing I was up with the Forex and then last week I nearly gave all the profit back at the end of the year showing not much profit at all for 2005. Sometimes a little impatience does hurt. I met a person online that does trading here in town. He is using the Bunny Cross system. I decided to take a further look at it and see if it might work for me. I like the simplicity of the system and will go ahead and work with it. Today I woke up and decided to start using it and then found out the FXCM is not live yet. So, I will have to wait until tonight or maybe even tomorrow before I start. I would like to see the year 2006 be a good year for trading.

I read the ebook "Bird Watching in Lion Country" and really enjoyed the book. I even emailed the Dr. and asked him a couple of questions. He responded and it is a possibility I might take him up on his mentoring. It would mean I would be using more Fundamentals in trading but then again it might not be a bad idea.

My poker is up for the end of 2005. I enjoy playing SNG's online and have done well with it. I am not ready to go up in the table price though. I am going to stay where I am at and keep learning. I watched a tournament the other night where the 1st place amount was $44,000. That was fun to watch online. It did cost $200 to get into the tournament. You still have to play with patience.

I was able to put up a picture of one of the tournaments I played in. That was fun. The picture looks great.

One other item I am going to try and blog about is my adventure in weight loss. I need to lose 100 pounds. That will take some time and if I can loose 1 0r 2 pounds per week then I will feel good about it. At this time I am at 240 pounds. If you have people that are supportive and will help you reach your goal and keep you on track that is great.

Here comes 2006.

I Trade Forex, Play Poker and Work with Computers.