Contest!

As my regular readers know I have been working from home on freelance projects for a few months now. I am at a point where I feel I need to be a bit more professional and come up with a business name. At the moment I go by CaApril which isn't exactly a businessy sounding name. I am looking for a name that will say something about me and something for which a logo may be designed for at some point in time. It could also become an official business name if I decide to go that route.

This is where the contest comes in....send me your suggestions and you may win a $50 gift certificate to any retailer listed on GiftCertificates.com.

Basically I do online research, data entry and other administrative tasks. I am focusing on the research though as there is less offshore competition.

Send your suggestions to April9807 - @ - yahoo DOT com

I reserve the right to not select any if they all suck but I somehow doubt that will happen. If I like more than one suggestion, it may be put to a vote or the winner may be selected from a hat...whatever strikes me at the time. You may submit more than one suggestion if you wish. The more original and unique the suggestion, the better chance you have of winning. Contest will end when I feel like ending it which could be at any time so don't wait.

Only suggestions sent to my e-mail will be considered as I don't check my comments here very often.

Mistakes

If you have been following me on Twitter (CaApril) then you know I am in Vegas and played in the 5pm MGM tournament. If you don't follow me (or anyone else) on Twitter then you must be named Steve.

During the tournament I made 3 mistakes that probably would have kept me alive to the final table. My first and second mistake were the same which makes the second one much dumber than the first. Basically I should have bet the river but I chickened out and checked it. I was last to act and I got scared. There really is no room in poker for fear and that is my biggest weakness. I don't know that betting the river would have got me any more money but I should have taken the shot.

My third mistake was folding pocket 7's pre-flop with a large raise and an all-in in front of me. It was right after the break and the structure had turned the tournament into a push fest. Really, any pocket pair should have been a push and I balked. The worst part was when a 7 came out on the flop. Talk about a sinking heart.

Anyway, for my first live non-blogger tournament I think I did okay since I did make it to the final 2 tables despite playing like a wuss. The fact that I can recognize my mistakes means I can only go up from here and I will hopefully not make the same mistakes again.

One more day in Vegas and I'm not sure what I plan to do. More poker, another tournament, or something unrelated to poker. Any suggestions?

I'm a Follower

I can now be found on Twitter! Look for CaApril and follow my mis-adventures this weekend in Vegas.

Speaking of Vegas, thanks to the Federal Government, I will have 600 extra dollars to spend while I am there. I got my economy stimulating check yesterday just in time for my trip. Good thing to because it's been a slow week on the freelance front. One week I get 5 jobs, the next I get a whole lot of nothing. I did get caught up on some of my Tivo though so it wasn't a total loss.

Also wanted to make a quick mention of a movie I watched a week or so ago. It's called The Orphanage. It's a Spanish movie so if you don't like reading, stay away. I found to be very haunting and just really good. I don't really want to say much else as I'm not into spoiling it for everyone else but I do recommend it.

I leave for Vegas in the morning, pick up my rental car and then I'm heading to the MGM until around 4pm when I can officially check into my condo. My cell number is on the spreadsheet or you can e-mail me at April9807 AT Yahoo DOT COM and I'll send it to you. I have no specific plans other than meeting up with bloggers at the bars and such. I'm also considering a couple of shows. So if anything interesting is happening give me a call or send a text and I'll be there.

Poker?

Yes, I actually played some poker this week. I played in the $15,000 guarantee midnight madness and actually finished in the money. I think I made a whole 3 bucks! Considering I haven't played a poker tournament since I was in Vegas last December, I'll take it. There really weren't any memorable hands, I just happened to get some good pocket pairs at the right time and got all my chips in the middle. I expected someone to suck out but my cards actually held up and I stayed alive.

Speaking of poker, I can't believe I am going to be in Vegas again in just a couple of weeks. I'm excited of course but also nervous. I think this is the first time I'm going to be there with no "security blanket". No Maura, mom, dad or Shelly sharing space with me and helping me keep my insecurities at bay. I will be all by myself. It's not that I've never been to Vegas alone before, I went on a short trip a couple of months after 9/11, but I'm going with expectations to hang out with my friends and wondering if anyone really wants to hang out with me or if I'm just going to be humored for a while and then abandoned. See, I told you I have insecurities.

No worries though. I can always go back to my condo and curl up in the fetal position under the kitchen table if I feel like a reject. Actually, I'll probably just go play poker or something and take my anger out on some young asshole who thinks he's God's gift to the poker table.

Anyway, I'm not asking for anyone to hold my hand and make sure I feel included in whatever happens to be going on. I'm a big girl and just need to get over myself and have a good time. Seriously, I'll be in Vegas. If I can't manage to have a good time there, I'm even more screwed up than I thought.

See you in Vegas!

Couldn't Wait?

I think I may have been a little harsh at the end of that last post. Then again, I wasn't actually serious, well I was serious about the puking part. If you start puking, I'm running in the other direction. You'd think working in a hospital I would become accustomed to things like that but when bodily fluids and vomit start coming out of a person, I leave the room. If I didn't, the patient wouldn't be the only one spilling their guts on the floor.

Now that I've given you a nice visual, how about some bitching about work? As I mentioned before, I work on a per diem basis at the hospital which means I fill in if I'm available. I've been less and less available lately because all my co-workers do is bitch and whine about everything under the sun. I really can't stand to work with any of them and certainly don't want to work for any of them. I mean, they freak out so much about who's going to cover a shift when someone goes on vacation that they felt the need to call me while I was on vacation to ask if I could work two days at the end of June. AT THE END OF FUCKING JUNE, and it was the middle of April. Seriously, this couldn't wait until I got back? I politely told them I would let them know when I got back if I was available and then I waited 2 more weeks to tell them, just to watch them squirm.

As if that wasn't bad enough, when I got back to work after my vacation I arrived to find that the door to our department had a new coded lock on it and no one had bothered to call me with the code. They called me to ask me to work 2 days at the end of fucking June but they couldn't call to tell me the damn code to unlock the door? A lock on a door that hasn't been locked for the past 26 years! Now, all of a sudden we're concerned with patient confidentiality? The only good thing is now I don't have to worry about someone walking in on me while I'm playing on my laptop. I get a nice little warning whenever someone types the code into the key pad and can hide the evidence.

Yes, I take my laptop to work on the weekends, I get bored when it's not busy and what's the worse thing that can happen, I get fired? I'm the only person they have who works the weekend shift and there really is no one else to take my place. My chances of getting fired are slim but it won't stop me from trying. I may have to fire up some poker this weekend. Gambling at work must be against some rule and if not, there is always porn.

Not enough time!

How the hell did the whole month of April go by without me making one post? It's not like I didn't have stuff going on that I could write about. For example:

• I had another birthday.
• My great grandmother had her 100th birthday and I went back to Maine to celebrate.
• I had a beer shower at a hockey game and no matter what some of you may think, it was not enjoyable.
• Speaking of hockey......The Sharks are driving me insane!
• I've been trying to catch up on my TiVo but the shows just keep piling up. I think I watch too much TV. Really, aside from BSG, what's the point?

Going back to the beer shower, it may not have been so bad if it had been a decent beer. You know, a Guinness or Sam Adams, but no, it was Bud and I can't stand Bud. I hate the color, the smell, and the taste. The only time I drank one was because it was free, my sinuses were clogged due to allergies so I couldn't smell it, and it was so cold that my taste buds froze so I couldn't actually taste it. Of course I may not have been all that upset about the beer shower if the Sharks had actually won the game!

And last, but not least, I will be in Vegas in June. Once again I will have an extra bed at a secret, off-strip location. I will also have a rental car but, should anyone decide to room with me, please understand, I will not be your personal driver. I will also not help you if you drink so much you puke and if you pass out somewhere, I will leave you there. If I suspect alcohol poisoning I may call an ambulance for you but I will not do CPR if you stop breathing, even if you are good looking and single. If you're rich I may be willing but you'd have to show me a bank statement first. Anyway, if those terms work for you let me know and I will think about it. This is not first come, first serve. I have the right to refuse anyone for any reason or no reason at all. That said, I can be bribed.

Try Again

My phone interview did not happen yesterday. Apparently the woman who was supposed to call me had to leave the office for some unspecified reason and would not be able to conduct the interview. It has been rescheduled for next Friday since they only do phone interviews on Fridays. For those who are wondering about the interview, it is with Best Friends Animal Society in Utah. They do great things there and I have always wanted to be a part of it. I'm just not sure about the whole moving to the middle of nowhere thing. Plus, I'm not sure they are going to pay enough for me to be able to keep up with my bills and be able to rent a place to live. I've already decided I will probably have to cut out food in order to make ends meet. My dad is convinced they are a cult but he is being as supportive as he can be. I think he is scared I may actually move and leave him alone with my step-mother.

How about a poker update since this is supposed to at least partially be a poker blog? I haven't played any poker in over a month. There is your update!

I am still doing freelance work. One of my clients renewed his contract with me and plans to continue to do so for awhile. He has a lot of work for me. It's boring and tedious but it pays well. I also just got awarded another job so things are definitely looking up. If this can become more regular, I will quit the hospital for good. I just wasn't cut out to work with people I guess.

I am planning to be in Vegas in June so, if you are going, I'll see you then. I'm thinking about hosting a Stanley Cup party at a sportsbook but that isn't set in stone yet. Let's just say if the Sharks are still in it, there will be a party of some kind!

Next Time, Slap Me!

I don't know what I was thinking last year when I agreed to go back to work at the hospital. I guess it was the money talking or something. I have to give credit to Maura and TxApril for their concern about my decision to go back. Between the two of them they must of asked if I was sure at least 20 times. I replied that, since it was only on the weekends, it would be fine. I thought the drama wouldn't seep into the the weekend shift since I would be by myself but it has and it's even worse when I fill in during the week. Apparently, even though I am per diem, I am taking too many weekends off. I never signed an agreement saying I would work every weekend and I'm not getting paid any extra for working weekends even though there is a program that does pay more for giving up your weekend. So, let's evaluate these vacations.

In December I missed one weekend due to the blogger gathering. There was plenty of notice and no one seemed to mind.

Then I had the chance to go to Australia and I missed 2 weekends. Apparently all my co-workers did while I was gone was bitch about having to work weekends but I doubt if any one of them would have passed up the opportunity I had to do something I have always wanted to do.

My next trip is in a couple of weeks. My great-grandmother is going to be 100 years old and I am NOT going to miss it. I scheduled the trip so I would only miss one weekend even though I usually go back east for at least 2 weeks.

After that is June in Vegas with bloggers. I got a great price on airfare and will probably stay at the secret location again. Plus, I need to see and hang out with all my crazy blogger friends. I feel good about myself when I am around everyone and I just feel refreshed when I leave because I don't have to pretend to be someone else for a few days. The trip is one fucking weekend in June, my co-workers need to get over it.

Now for the kicker, my mom is visiting in July. She wants to go to Disneyland and I've been promising for years to get her there. This summer I am going to do it. She's my mom, she's getting older and she deserves a trip to see Mickey before she gets to old to enjoy it. I may miss one weekend though I haven't completely figured it out yet. I did notify my co-workers though because I'm too fucking nice and figured they wouldn't get angry if they knew far enough in advance. Apparently someone in the department isn't happy as my manager mentioned that if someone else wanted that time off in July, I would probably have to work. Um.....I'm per diem, I'm supposed to be able to say no whenever I want. I guess what per diem really means is that I'm everyone's bitch. I work weekends and whenever they want time off or are sick or need to wash their hair. Seriously, every other department has more than one per diem to fill in, why don't we?

None of this may matter in a few days anyway. I have a phone interview for a job in another state. If the interview goes well I will be spending two weeks at the location on a try-out basis to see if I like the job and area. If I completely fall in love with it, I'm moving the hell out of Dodge. If it turns out to not be for me, I may still leave the hospital. I obviously have no friends in this department and feel I owe them nothing. I've always tried to think of them in the past when planning my life but I give up, I can't please them. Besides, no one should be made to feel guilty about spending time with family whether they are related by blood or the Internet. I've made due without this job before and I can certainly do it again. And please, once I do leave, make sure I never, ever go back....even if it means slapping me upside the head!

Outsourcing = Frustration

I'm working from home again. Well, let me rephrase that, I'm trying to work from home. I signed up with and created a profile on a couple of different freelance websites. The type of jobs offered are right up my alley and I like that I can pick and choose what I want to work on. Unfortunately, those buying my services make it very difficult to make a living as they will often decline my perfectly reasonable bid to accept the bid of someone in a foreign country who will do the job at a fraction of the price. To say that I get pissed off every time this happens would be an understatement.

Now, I understand the reason for outsourcing to foreign countries, its cheaper and usually the work quality is excellent, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with it or like it. Personally I think every US corporation that outsources to another country should be ashamed of themselves. The bottom line should never be more important than the people you employ. Of course a lot of the people who post jobs on these websites aren't big corporations. They are just regular people who need some help so I can't blame them for wanting to go with the cheaper provider. All I ask is that they state in the job description that they don't want to pay a reasonable United States wage. I'll take my services elsewhere and not waste my time or energy.

All that said, I have been offered, and I accepted, two jobs that I have been working on for the past week. One is a tedious, boring job that pays well so I forgive it for being boring. I've already been asked to stay on and complete more work for this client. The other job is performing research and the client was so impressed that she doubled what she was paying me. I'm glad that these people were willing to overlook the cheaper bids and go with mine. I appreciate them giving me this chance to get established. I'm sure I will get more jobs because of them so I will stay the course and keep submitting proposals. Hopefully, I will eventually stop caring so much when a job goes to someone willing to be paid $2 an hour. Then again, is complacency ever a good thing?

Go Play!

Bodog Poker has been hosting a tournament series every Tuesday night exclusively for poker bloggers. If you haven't played yet, you should! Here are the details:

Bodog's Blogger Poker Tournament Series - Tuesday Nights

Next Tournament: Tuesday March 4, 2008
Start Time: 9:05pm EST

For more information and to register please visit the following link: Poker Blogger Tournament Series

What are you waiting for? Go sign up!

Cough

The title pretty much sums up my life for the last few weeks. I developed a cough in Australia and it just kept lingering. Last week the coughing started to get bad. Shoot me and put me out of my misery bad. Luckily for me, I work at a hospital and I can be "seen" by a doctor without actually going through the formal check-in and pay a co-pay routine. After a quick listen to my lungs and a summary of my symptoms, I was given a prescription for Antibiotics. He also threw around words like "Atypical Pneumonia" and "Pertussis" but assured me that the drugs would kill any bacteria that may be associated with my coughing. As long as it isn't the Hudson River Virus, I'll probably live. (Bonus points if you get the reference.)

I can say that I do feel somewhat better but the cough still lingers and I still prefer to be in bed most of the day. How that is different from any normal day I don't really know except I haven't even gotten up to watch much TV and those who know me know that I usually watch a lot of TV. Speaking of which, I would like to know what rock the producers of Big Brother 9 looked under to find the current cast. I want to make sure I never come across that rock.....ever!

Now I must go take more cough medicine before I cough up a lung.

Thank You Full Tilt Poker

I did make it back from Australia and I just want to take a moment to thank Full Tilt Poker for allowing me to fly on their dime. I have always wanted to go to Australia but never really thought it would happen, of course I never saw myself graduating from high school either so maybe I shouldn't be that surprised. It was a great trip and hopefully I will have time to do a write up of some sort and post some pictures. Right now I am just trying to get reaclimated to my life. While I was away, things were good and, now that I'm back, I'm my regular chaotic overwhelmed self. I'm discovering that a change may be in order so I can get back that semblence of sanity I felt in Aussie land. So, something big may be on the horizon.....the planets aligned once and I got to take the trip of a lifetime, maybe, just maybe, they will be aligning again soon for another journey.

Stay tuned....

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie....you know the rest!

The rumors are true, I am going to Australia on Monday! I gave it careful consideration and decided it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. There was only one problem, I didn't have a passport. After some investigating I found a local travel agency that, for a price, would get me a passport in 24 hours. I also spoke with Maura to see if she wanted to go with me. She is a more seasoned traveler than I and I thought having her along would be helpful as well as a lot of fun. Once she got the okay to take the time off from work things got really hectic. Seriously, try planning a two week stay in a foreign country, when you have no passport, in one week. It's not easy. Text messages and e-mails were flying back and forth for days. We were also communicating with Dawn Summers and Bacon Bikini Mary trying to coordinate some accommodations. Saying it was a stressful week would be an understatement but I am nearly ready to go. Well, except for the packing, copying of all my important documents, getting some cash from the bank, and any other little thing that pops up between now and our flight to LAX.

I am really, really excited and want to thank Al and Full Tilt for making this possible, though mostly Al. He has been the go-between all week, making sure we were all booked on the plane and putting up with some of my general craziness when things were stressful. I really appreciate the opportunity to do something that I never thought I would get to do and I can never thank Al enough!

Bought

First I would like to thank Mr. Smartass for his comment on which MP3 player to buy, it was soooo helpful.

Seriously, thanks for the advice to everyone who commented. I decided to go with the Sansa View because Best Buy did not have the Zen and I was using a gift card so going to another store was not an option. Besides, I got a 16GB View for the same price as an 8GB Zen.

Once I got it home, the fun began. I had to go to the Sansa web-site to find the manual so I could figure out how to turn it on. I guess math is not the only thing I find challenging. As soon as I was done feeling like an idiot, I started downloading music. This is where the real problem started. I signed up with Rhapsody because I get a month free from Best Buy. Every time I start to transfer music, the site freezes after a few songs. I have to close the site, then reopen it to continue the transfer and then it just freezes again after a few songs. It has taken way longer than it should to get my music downloaded. Has anyone else had this problem? I'm wondering if it is the web-site, my laptop, or the MP3 player? It's just a really big pain in the ass so if anyone has any insight on this problem I would really appreciate it.

So, I have a new addiction. My little MP3 player has been glued to my ear for 24 hours now. It's so nice to listen to music and know I'm going to like each and every song that comes through the headphones. No more scanning radio channels looking for a good song. I have just under 200 songs downloaded already and I'm open to suggestions for more. What's on your MP3 player? Tell me in the comments.

MP3 Help

I need advice about which non-Apple MP3 player to buy. I am stuck between the SanSa View and the Creative Zen, 8GB versions. Which of the two is better, or am I missing something else? Please do not suggest an iPod as I will not consider it. Thanks in advance.

Poker Hates Me: Trip Report Part One

Although we arrived in Vegas late Wednesday afternoon, I decided to take it easy and just hang out at the condo that night. I was going to be in Vegas for a week so there would be plenty of time to play poker. I also had decided to heed Otis's advice and play poker during the day, leaving night time to socialize with the bloggers. It was great advice and made perfect sense, unfortunately poker seemed to be pissed off at me and I didn't post a win at any point during the week.

I headed to the MGM at 1pm on Thursday afternoon looking forward to check raising some douchebags in the 2-4 limit game. There was immediate seating and I sat down in the 8 seat with my rack of chips. I was ahead briefly but I couldn't catch any cards and, had I played my junk like everyone else at the table, I would have lost even more. Nothing was hitting. It was a shame too because this British couple showed up and started some serious donking around. They were the only British people not in town for the Hatton fight and were supposed to be on a plane back to England. It turned out there was a 6 hour delay so they decided to take a taxi back to the MGM for a bit more poker. They weren't trying to make a profit and probably went through 4 or 5 buy-ins. The wife was splitting her winnings with the dealers and they definitely made out better than she did. There were so many chips on the table and I couldn't get any of them. Finally it was time to leave and meet up with the parents for dinner. When I left the table, I was down $47.

On Friday I got to the MGM to find that there was only an interest list for 2-4. However, they were seating a 3-6 table and I decided to give it a shot. I was up and down most of the day and we didn't have a full table until almost 5pm. At one point we were playing 4-handed which I actually found to be kind of fun. I also discovered that I was sitting next to a local who knew all about the bloggers. He was actually preparing to meet some of them that evening and I offered to introduce him. Cactus Jack also gave me a few pointers on my play that I will hopefully remember in the future. By the end of the session I was up $50 but still down $3 for the trip. It was the best day I would have as far as poker play for the rest of my stay.

Saturday was the big tournament and I don't really count the entry fee as part of my poker bankroll. It's money saved for this specific purpose and if I happen to win some money, great and if I don't, I don't mind. I got down to the final 3 tables and was very short stacked. I finally found a hand when Rooster raised ahead of me. I knew it was my best chance and I knew he was going to call so I went all-in. My AK did not stand up against his monster 6 10 and I was out somewhere between 25 and 30. Of course Rooster took my chips and went on to win the whole damn thing so at least it wasn't a total loss. If I'm going to lose I want it to be to the person who eventually wins.

Sunday, I played no poker. I was too tired and there was lots of football on (I don't really like football but bloggers were there so I went to hang out).

On Monday I sat down at 3-6 again. It did not go well. I was never ahead of my buy-in and I just couldn't get any cards to help me out. It really, really sucked! After I went broke I had some time to kill before meeting the parents for dinner so I went looking for a lucky penny slot machine. Within minutes I had run my $20 up to $130. Thanks for the tips Grubby!

Tuesday came about and I was determine to take my slot winnings and win big. I left the table with $15. These 3 guys from Boston sat down about halfway through the session and actually knew what they were doing. Apparently they play at Foxwoods all the time. There was a lot of pre-flop raising and they were able to take down a lot of pots. Again, I couldn't get anything though I did have a couple of good plays and, after a few hours, I left with my head down and a tear in my eye (not really but it sounds more pitiful).

So, all in all the poker part of my Vegas trip sucked. I think it was a combination of bad cards and that fact that the MGM refurbished all their poker tables with this ugly brown felt. I think brown is an unlucky color for me, yeah it was the MGM's fault.

Links

I just went through my blog links on the left and deleted a few. I am going to go through them one more time and delete any that haven't posted in the past 6 months. After that I will be adding some blogs to the list. If you want to be added please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail.

Also, thanks for the "hugs", it meant a lot.

I Need A Hug

I've been in a funk all day. Most of it was migraine induced but the math final I took while the migraine was raging didn't help, then my final didn't get submitted due to some sort of computer glitch so I have to take it again tomorrow. I also think some of the funk is the post-Vegas blues. Bloggers are affectionate people, they like to hug, and I don't get enough of that in my life. On days like today I just want to curl up in bed with someone's arms around me until the pain goes away. Is that really too much to ask?

Home

I am finally home from Vegas and I have appeared to have grown a new appendage. My cat, Punkin, has not left my side since I walked into the house. When we walked in the door she started crying to let us know that she was happy to have us back and to tell us that we can never leave her again. She hasn't let me leave her sight and has even escorted me to the bathroom. While it is nice to be missed, I'm seriously considering drugging her food so I can have a few minutes of peace.

I suppose I should write up some sort of trip report. I have a great title, I just need to get a few things done here at home before I can write up my thoughts about the trip. A huge thank you to Falstaff for planning a great event and to the Venetian for putting up with us.

Contemplation

I've had a great time with the bloggers these last few days. Spending time with people who don't expect me to be anything other than what I am has been very peaceful. Since I haven't had to pretend to be someone else my head has been clear and I've had time to think about the state of my social life. While I'm okay with my life in San Jose, I'm certainly not content and definitely not as happy as I would like to be. What I need is someone who can give me their undivided attention without smothering me. Someone who "gets" me completely and can be there in the dark times as well as the light times. Unfortunately, romantic relationships scare me. I like unrequited romance but, if the object of my affection starts to return the feelings, if I start getting what I want, I have a panic attack and run in the opposite direction. Of course if I can find someone who "gets" me, maybe they can keep me from running.

Anyway, these are just some thoughts floating through my head that I felt like sharing. I want to thank everyone who mentioned to me over the last few days that they still read my blog. I was starting to think I had lost all my readers, and I certainly wouldn't blame you, so it was nice to know that I am missed when I don't write.