The Things on My Mind

Ugh. It’s Saturday afternoon and I haven’t posted in a while. Not really by choice, mind you. It’s been so busy that finding the time to post has been harder that I would think. Here’s a short list of the events of the past week:

• Got my temporary crown installed put in crowned. The story behind this is last week, I was having a apple for breakfast and I felt/heard a “pop” at the back of mouth as I bit down. So off I went to the dentist who told me I had cracked my tooth and that I would need a crown. But she couldn’t do it that day because the whole thing was going to take two hours. Tuesday was the big day and it went about as good as oral surgery could go. By the time I got home, I was so exhausted, sitting down in front of the computer was not in the cards.
• Wednesday was a fantastic 13-hour workday where I spent eight of those hours in front of my computer reading through, editing, and reassigning issues and bugs for the project I’m working on at work. Needless to say, getting away from the computer was a necessity for my sanity’s sake
• Thursday was poker night. Not my game but a friend’s game. It’s a dealer’s choice, $1/2 fixed limit game with a $40 buy-in and a good group of guys. I was not playing well and knew it at a few points. But I managed to eke out a profit of exactly one dollar. Mainly due to two hands of razz: one where I made a wheel against two opponents that went all the way to showdown and another where (if I recall correctly) I made a 76 against an 86. Next Thursday is poker at my place and I’ll try to pay closer attention and give a detailed report.
• Friday was fantastic. A birthday dinner at one of the best steakhouses I’ve ever been to: Keens Steakhouse. It’s decorated with clay pipes all over the ceiling, as it used to be a pipe club for the celebrities of the early 20th century. They’re known for their mutton chops but I opted for the surf ‘n’ turf. We started with whiskey. Well, I had whiskey, some had bourbon, some had rye, and some had whisky. Then came the oysters, which led to a call of bullshit on my oyster taste. I dissed West Coast oysters to a foodie from Portland, Ore. and he chastised me. So we ended up ordering a dozen, half East Coast, half West. After eating, I stood and yea, still stand, by my original assumption. Two bottles of red (I think a Cab and a Haut-Medoc; the Haut-Medoc was very good), a rare filet mignon, lobster, and a grappa for dessert. A cigar between bars and another whiskey to close out a fantastic night. I think it was best I wasn’t writing anything when I got home.

Which leads to today. I was supposed to start it off playing softball but the previous nights activities led to me sleeping through the alarm and mild headache. Dreams of accomplishing things slipped away as I vegged out. I’m off again for a continuation of the birthday celebrations in a bit. I’ll be back to some substantive writing in a bit. Just need to catch up with the rest of the world…