Has it really been two years? It seems just like last month I was asking, "has it really been a year?" Actually it won't be two years in our house until September be we officially landed in Asheville in the middle of June, 2015. Still, time is just flying by. Liam will be starting his Junior year at Western Carolina University. I'll be starting my third season as an assistant soccer coach at North Buncombe High School. And Maureen is contemplating continuing with a third (yearly) session teaching ESL.
I just made my annual trek to the gun show at the WNC Agricultural Center south of Asheville. That was a big "deja vu" moment. In an ever changing world I'm fairly confident that this group will never evolve or change. I don't think anyone has told them the presidential election is over because there were anti-Hillary t-shirts and banners everywhere. And of course the "stars and bars" were displayed prominently at every other vendor's table. I've updated my camouflage. I have a new camo Lions International cap that I'm using to try and blend in. My attempt to mosey through invisible, or at least inconspicuous, was somewhat unsuccessful this trip. I was accosted by a man hawking concealed carry permits who wanted to know if I had mine. Having answered in the negative I answered his next query, "why?", with; "I never really felt the need," to which he had further, and I'm sure endless, rebuttals. What I really wanted to say was something like; "I'm not so insecure in my manhood that I feel the need to pack a firearm every time I have to leave the security of my home!" But I'm sure that would have made me less inconspicuous. If I really wanted to raise a ruckus I could have pointed out publicly that the many flags with stars and bars prominently on display in almost any form you can think of was in fact not the official flag of the Confederate States of America (CSA). The flag most commonly associated with the CSA was actually the battle flag for the Northern Virginia Army led by Robert E. Lee. And although later versions of the CSA's official flag incorporated the "stars and bars" image in an upper corner of the flag, that battle flag was never an official symbol of the CSA. Of course in order to make that particular proclamation in that company I would have to be "carrying" in order to make it out alive!
I took Liam and two of his friends white water rafting Saturday at French Broad Adventures (FBA), which was my next deja vu moment. If you recall, French Broad Adventures is the outfit I took my guide class with. You might also recall that I was unable to complete the course because one Saturday it was cold and rained all day resulting in my being sick for about two weeks. So I made a point of checking the weather forecast prior to booking the trip. Not only was the forecast favorable but on the day it looked to be gorgeous, a perfect day for rafting. When we arrived I was greeted by two former classmates that completed the course and were hired on by FBA. After checking in I worked my way down to the back and met Ed. Ed manages the raft guides and is every bit as crusty as you might image someone my age who has been associating with raft guides his entire adult life. I wanted to make sure he had an opportunity to rag on me a bit about dropping out of the class. It was going to happen eventually and I wanted to get it over with. I also saw Richard who was one of the guide instructors in our class and who would be our raft for our outing that day. All the while the sun is shining and the weather is still gorgeous, until... As we got on the bus it was the start of just the lightest drizzle. When we arrived at the put-in a steady rain began in earnest. It cooled down and the rain came followed by thunder and even a little lighting. The rain wasn't so intense that we couldn't have fun. Richard (our guide) was great and Liam and his friends were joking and smiling throughout the whole trip. With three twenty-somethings and me, we were a powerhouse of propulsion. With all that energy we were able to tackle some of the more technical routes through the rapids. And Richard took advantage and gave us the E-Ticket ride. As we got to the take-out the rain slackened. By the time we arrived back at FBA home base the rain had stopped completely. After, as if to mock me, when we stopped for dinner the sun came out just as bright and warm as the forecast had promised.
Off my deja vu subject line (or maybe not),
I really miss our Corona Host Lions Texas Holdem' Tournaments. I had some moderate success making the money a couple of times including a third place finish and a first place win. So it should come as no surprise that one of the things I've been doing to fill up my time is I joined a "Special Interest Group" (SIG) at the Osher Life Long Learning Institute on the UNC Asheville campus. This particular SIG is all about Texas Holdem' Poker. The group made entirely of retirees meets Monday afternoons for mini-Holdem' tournaments. Bruce, the orgainizer, also sponsors an on-line "Home Game" through PokerStars.net. The Monday games typically have between 20 and 30 participants. Early on I made a lot of final tables in the Monday afternoon games and even managed to win one of them. The prizes are donated by the players and can be almost anything. I've won movie tickets, a book written by Vince Van Patton, and fish salad. Since I've won a couple of prizes I donated a couple things back myself, baked goods or wine.
I just made my annual trek to the gun show at the WNC Agricultural Center south of Asheville. That was a big "deja vu" moment. In an ever changing world I'm fairly confident that this group will never evolve or change. I don't think anyone has told them the presidential election is over because there were anti-Hillary t-shirts and banners everywhere. And of course the "stars and bars" were displayed prominently at every other vendor's table. I've updated my camouflage. I have a new camo Lions International cap that I'm using to try and blend in. My attempt to mosey through invisible, or at least inconspicuous, was somewhat unsuccessful this trip. I was accosted by a man hawking concealed carry permits who wanted to know if I had mine. Having answered in the negative I answered his next query, "why?", with; "I never really felt the need," to which he had further, and I'm sure endless, rebuttals. What I really wanted to say was something like; "I'm not so insecure in my manhood that I feel the need to pack a firearm every time I have to leave the security of my home!" But I'm sure that would have made me less inconspicuous. If I really wanted to raise a ruckus I could have pointed out publicly that the many flags with stars and bars prominently on display in almost any form you can think of was in fact not the official flag of the Confederate States of America (CSA). The flag most commonly associated with the CSA was actually the battle flag for the Northern Virginia Army led by Robert E. Lee. And although later versions of the CSA's official flag incorporated the "stars and bars" image in an upper corner of the flag, that battle flag was never an official symbol of the CSA. Of course in order to make that particular proclamation in that company I would have to be "carrying" in order to make it out alive!
I took Liam and two of his friends white water rafting Saturday at French Broad Adventures (FBA), which was my next deja vu moment. If you recall, French Broad Adventures is the outfit I took my guide class with. You might also recall that I was unable to complete the course because one Saturday it was cold and rained all day resulting in my being sick for about two weeks. So I made a point of checking the weather forecast prior to booking the trip. Not only was the forecast favorable but on the day it looked to be gorgeous, a perfect day for rafting. When we arrived I was greeted by two former classmates that completed the course and were hired on by FBA. After checking in I worked my way down to the back and met Ed. Ed manages the raft guides and is every bit as crusty as you might image someone my age who has been associating with raft guides his entire adult life. I wanted to make sure he had an opportunity to rag on me a bit about dropping out of the class. It was going to happen eventually and I wanted to get it over with. I also saw Richard who was one of the guide instructors in our class and who would be our raft for our outing that day. All the while the sun is shining and the weather is still gorgeous, until... As we got on the bus it was the start of just the lightest drizzle. When we arrived at the put-in a steady rain began in earnest. It cooled down and the rain came followed by thunder and even a little lighting. The rain wasn't so intense that we couldn't have fun. Richard (our guide) was great and Liam and his friends were joking and smiling throughout the whole trip. With three twenty-somethings and me, we were a powerhouse of propulsion. With all that energy we were able to tackle some of the more technical routes through the rapids. And Richard took advantage and gave us the E-Ticket ride. As we got to the take-out the rain slackened. By the time we arrived back at FBA home base the rain had stopped completely. After, as if to mock me, when we stopped for dinner the sun came out just as bright and warm as the forecast had promised.
Off my deja vu subject line (or maybe not),I really miss our Corona Host Lions Texas Holdem' Tournaments. I had some moderate success making the money a couple of times including a third place finish and a first place win. So it should come as no surprise that one of the things I've been doing to fill up my time is I joined a "Special Interest Group" (SIG) at the Osher Life Long Learning Institute on the UNC Asheville campus. This particular SIG is all about Texas Holdem' Poker. The group made entirely of retirees meets Monday afternoons for mini-Holdem' tournaments. Bruce, the orgainizer, also sponsors an on-line "Home Game" through PokerStars.net. The Monday games typically have between 20 and 30 participants. Early on I made a lot of final tables in the Monday afternoon games and even managed to win one of them. The prizes are donated by the players and can be almost anything. I've won movie tickets, a book written by Vince Van Patton, and fish salad. Since I've won a couple of prizes I donated a couple things back myself, baked goods or wine.
In January I joined the on-line group and won first place my first time out. That group usually has about 18-25 players registered for each tournament, a couple even from different states and one from Canada. After that initial win I had some varying degrees of success. I had a couple second place and a third place finish. Shortly after I had a bit of a dry spell. It didn't seem like I was playing any different but I just couldn't seem to win a race. Time after time I'd get my chips in with the best hand only to get out drawn by the time the river card came. It was completely discouraging especially considering some of the weak hands that went in against me.
Well it appears that the statistical probabilities have caught up with me. Over the past three weeks I've managed to finish third in a live tournament at Bruce's house, second twice (one Wednesday main event and one smaller Friday tournament), and first place three times (two smaller Friday tournaments and one Wednesday main event).
Last week I related to Maureen my struggles and my recent turn around specifically describing the eight day run I won, finished third, second and then won again. When I told her about my latest main event win last Wednesday Maureen's response was; "great, is that your first win?"
What? Really!
After our discussion just a few days before? I'm not sure if she forgot or was just not listening but I'm sure Maureen is not going to appreciate this written declaration. However, she did it to herself!
Our on-line group plays for points and bragging rights. Of the 49 players currently registered as members of the Blue Ridge Bluffers (our PokerStars.net home game group) I'm currently ranked number 7 in points total even though I've played fewer games than most of the members who have been part of the group far longer than I. I'm in the top 10 for average points per game (1.25 points per game). And I'm in the top 5 for knocking opponents out of tournaments (at 48 and counting). And even with my little dry spell I've been in the money 32% of the time.
Maureen always says I'm just too competitive. I don't see it. However, I am aiming for No. 1 (in all categories)!
Until next time, take care!
Rick
Our on-line group plays for points and bragging rights. Of the 49 players currently registered as members of the Blue Ridge Bluffers (our PokerStars.net home game group) I'm currently ranked number 7 in points total even though I've played fewer games than most of the members who have been part of the group far longer than I. I'm in the top 10 for average points per game (1.25 points per game). And I'm in the top 5 for knocking opponents out of tournaments (at 48 and counting). And even with my little dry spell I've been in the money 32% of the time.
Maureen always says I'm just too competitive. I don't see it. However, I am aiming for No. 1 (in all categories)!
Until next time, take care!
Rick
