Vegasbound

This weekend I'm heading to Las Vegas for a friend's wedding. I love Vegas...what a city. Craps is my game, and after learning how to play the right way from my last trip in August where I actually left Vegas $200+ ahead, I'm ready to see if it was just luck or if I'm really onto something here. I always get excited for Vegas, and it seems that it just gets better and better every time; possibly because I make more now than I used to or have bigger events going on these days. Whatever the case, I am PSYCHED. Expect stories and pictures on Facebook when I get back!

Basketball!

The IBM Basketball league started today. I looooove basketball and this league is one I look forward to every year since I know a lot of the players and there's more pride and bragging rights to be won. This year I am playing on a team that is all speed. We have 3 point guards including myself, which is funny because there are a few teams out there who don't even have 1. For the record, I actually prefer to play the 2, but can play the 1 if need be. Anyway, tonights game was against my former team of the last two years. That team's captain wanted to draft me again this year but another friend of mine snatched me up first. So my new team doesn't have much height (only one guy over 6') but we are really quick and can all shoot and handle the ball well. I think I racked up 8+ steals tonight...I was a really a pest out there, hehe. My shot wasn't falling tho' and I must've been 0-7 from beyond the arc, but I got my layups and you can't overlook the number of turnovers I forced. Oh, and my teammate asked if I had springs in my shoes 'cause I was really getting up there on the glass; it's nice to be healthy again!

As for the game, it was close for the first 30 minutes or so, but the last 10 minutes is when we really turned it on and put together a nice run, winning the game 60-53. It was also nice to get the victory against my former captain since I know he was disappointed that my new captain stole me in the draft from him. This team can really run and I'm looking forward to the next game. Now if I can just get my outside shot to fall next time... :)

A Moral Dilemma: Triplicate or Go for the Win?

I bowl in the IBM Bowling League every Thursday. My average is a solid 188 right now (up 30 points from last year) through 20+ weeks. Last night, however, I just didn't have it...couldn't throw a strike for the life of me and the good balls left either 10-pins or splits. My first two games I recorded a 154 and there's actually an achievement out there if all 3 scores in your 3-game series are the exact same: the Triplicate. In order to get the triplicate, I needed another 154 in my 3rd game, but with all the double scores in bowling, it's not as easy to get as it may seem. Through 7 frames, I already had 147 with a spare going into the 8th. I was then presented with a moral dillemma. Do I throw a gutter here, try and get 7 on the second ball, and then gutter the last two frames? Or do I go for the better score and help my team try to win a a close game? For the record, we had already locked up the championship game match at the end of the season by winning the first half (we would play the winner of the second half - if it's us again, we win the whole thing). We were 7 games behind 1st place when the night started with just 3 weeks left, so realistically it didn't look like we'd have a chance to catch the top team, which would be our goal this half. So now would be the time to tank the game and go for the Triplicate, right? I mean, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...only one other bowler in the league is a member of this exclusive club. Well, I decided that it wouldn't be moral to do so - beating this team would help another team for example - so I didn't throw any intentional gutters in my 3rd game. What really sucks is that we ended up losing the 3rd game anyway cause the other team had a bowler hit 246, so not only did I lose the game, but my Triplicate as well. Looking back, I partly regret that I sacrificed my Triplicate chance and took the ethical route. I'll just have to go out next time and try and get three 200s or something. That'd be a prouder score anyway.

On a side note related to bowling, for the second time through 21 weeks, I am the team leader in average! This is surely a feat since I roll with Chris who is better and usually a 190+ bowler! I doubt this lead will last, but either way, I've come a long way from last year.

Yoga Fire!

So this weekend I went up to Phoenix to celebrate my dad and my sister's birthdays in the last week. Celebration aside, my sister and her husband have been doing the P90X home fitness program. They were currently on the Yoga phase of the program and I decided to join them for a 90-minute session. This was the first time I ever tried Yoga, and I must say it definitely is more challenging that it sounds. My favorite poses were Warrior One, Warrior Two, and Reverse Warrior (probably cause they look and sound cool) and about halfway through the workout I was already pretty tired. Today I am feeling a little sore in my hamstrings, but overall I was quite satisfied with the Yoga experience. I can see why it's so popular!

Making It Happen

So I've been trying to be more socially active this year. That doesn't exactly mean going out more often, but rather trying to hang out more frequently with friends and following up with new people I meet along the way. I've been making the effort to see who wants to do stuff and just making it happen. That's my motto this year, "Make It Happen". Instead of talking about what you want to do, just make it happen. Call that friend up and say, hey, let's go to this place or that place tonight or come on over if you don't feel like going out, hell, I've drive out 40 minutes to your place if that's what it takes. I understand that I might have more expendable time than others, so I just find out who's free on what nights and cater to their schedules.

With that said, last night I made my way up to North Tucson, an area I haven't been to in a while. I met up with my good friend Teqas who's been in Tucson for just as a long as me, but had distanced himself for quite some time. He took me to a place near his home called the Fox and the Hound, and I was pretty impressed with the bar/restaurant. They had delicious wings, $2 drafts, and real darts - not those plastic cheapies - that you could play for free! It was a good time as we played about an hour-long game of Cricket among 4 of us (yeah, we're not that good haha), drank about 20 or so beers, and kept the tab under $50. :) And after the Fox and the Hound, we made our way over to World Sports Grille, which is like a poor man's Dave n Busters. The games were a little expensive and kinda sub-par, but we received free pool since one of our friends knew the bartender, and pool is always fun. It was great to hang out with Teqas again and we're gonna make it happen more often. Tonight I am heading over to a friend's birthday dinner. Tomorrow is bowling league and for the last several weeks after bowling, I've been going out with other players in the league and getting dinner with them instead of just heading home afterwards like I used to. So yep, that's my goal this year: making it happen and loving every minute of it!

Super Sunday

Today was the Superbowl. I wasn't even planning on staying in Tucson this weekend, but ended up here and actually had a pretty good turn out in guests showing up at my place on such short notice. Earlier in the morning, I prepared some homemade hamburger patties and homemade salsa, both I had never tried making before but turned out pretty good! As for the game, I was rooting for the Colts, but said I wouldn't actually be upset if the Saints win. Little do I know, 'cause when the Saints had that pick-six with 3 minutes left on what coulda been a gametying drive for the Colts, well, it left a little sour taste in my mouth. Guess I really am a Colts fan... Ah well, kudos to the Saints, they had a great season!

Selling Out

So the other day Matt bragged about earning a whopping $.46 by enabling AdSense on his blog. I didn't want to do it at first 'cause I wanted my blog to be more "respectable" than that, but if I can make some small cash on the side for doing almost nothing, why not, right? Sorry if advertising offends you but today I am selling out. :\

Happy Birthday Ben!

Last night we celebrated Ben's birthday at Level. He reserved a table, where there was a $25 per person drink minimum. At 8 people, we were easily able to get to that, including another $100 on Chet's tab that wasn't shown in the picture. As for Level, I have never seen it so constantly dead. When Mike Band visited a few Fridays ago, I wanted to show him the venue since he never been before, but it was also dead that night. I'm thinking maybe it's the new places in downtown that are attracting all the business or maybe Level just isn't popular anymore. Kinda sad 'cause I like the place. Anyway, we still had a good night...perhaps the highlight was Dan Combs going to 4th avenue with a random drunk girl who was apparently married but just decided not to wear her ring. Hehe, good times. Happy Birthday Ben!

On a side note, I successfully performed my first solo oil change today! Thanks Wayne for teaching me. W00T!