A Glance Into the Old Style
I'm winding down from an extremely busy end-of-week/weekend, which was mostly a good thing. Thursday was our school picnic during the day, which none of us attended, meaning we basically had no school. Because classes were canceled anyway that day, we didn't bother opening the school restaurant on Wednesday, either. Instead, we took a quick quiz, watched a movie, then Mr. Gross had us clean and straighten up the dining room and supplies. Not too bad, and we got out about two hours early, which represented sweetness.
After a short time, I went up to Allentown. I hung out a bit and joined the family for dinner, then met up with Eric to see Little Miss Sunshine. Two of his new roommates, Jeff and Katrina, also came, as well as their friend, Ben, and all three were really nice folks. We all also got in free, cause Jeff knows one of the theater managers, or something like that, which was cool. The movie was excellent, and was kinda like a mish-mash of a black comedy, road movie, and character study. I originally wanted to see it just because of Steve Carell, and he was good in it, but so was everyone else. I really liked Toni Collette and Abigail Breslin, who played the little girl, Olive. She was round like a little peanut and was soooo cute and happy and funny. I recommend it! Afterward, we got some late breffast from City View, in addition to a hot chocolate for me, which was very good.
Thursday I mostly hung out around the house. As the week progressed, I was really sick, falling down with what I call "the sickness," which I seem to get every summer, now that I realize it. Like, total head congestion and massive nose-blowing. That sort of crappiness. I hate it. So I was quite under it on Thursday. I went with Mom to the bank to cash in a good portion of my U.S. savings bonds that I'd gotten as a baby and tot, growing up. Back then, it sucked to get those for my birthday or Hanukkah instead of legos or He-Man figures, but now it rules. I'm glad that all happened.
Friday I not only felt sick, but I felt really off -- light-headed, but way more than I'd ever been. And, getting up to pee in the middle of the night, I realized it was already happening as I slept, so it might not have been tied to diet this time. It really sucked and I kept getting these surges of tingling in my leg or arm, or in my head if I moved quickly. I did try to eat and drink a lot, and also laid down for a while, but neither really helped. As I realized on Thursday night, I forgot my antidepressant, which I take nightly. I don't know if I'd ever gone a night without it since I've been taking it, and I think the first night was alright.
I'm not certain, but maybe I was already withdrawing from the medicine -- or at least it might have been messing with me -- by the second day. I do recall that I felt somewhat similar at night for the first few days of taking my pill last year, as I was getting used to the effects, but this was even more intense. Whether that was a coincidence or not, I am certain that I was already getting really annoyed and on edge throughout the day. So most of the day I relaxed, but did go out with Mom to buy a new pair of shorts, and hung around for dinner before coming back down to Norristown. I immediately took an earlier dose for the night, and I did find myself feeling better after a little while.
This weekend was Craig's bachelor party out this way, since most of his friends live on this side of the state now. Shap and Laurie were at the Counting Crows concert at the Tweeter that night; originally, a bunch of the other guys were gonna go down to Atlantic City for the night, with Dan and I meeting up with them Saturday morning. As it happened, their room for Friday night fell through, so they just hung out at Scott's apartment, drinking beer, playing poker, and playing Madden '07; Brody came up that night, as well, and we both went over for a while.
Yesterday morning, then, Brody drove Shap and I out to Atlantic City, meeting the other 5 guys at the Showboat, where most of them were planning on entering a poker tournament. Check-in at the Econo-lodge wasn't until at least 4:00, and we got there at Noon, so we just hung out for a while. I'd met Scott a couple times before, and he's a cool guy; the others were all fun gents, as well, and it was a nice crew to roll around the town with. After a quick lunch of boardwalk food, we basically split off, with most going back to the poker room, and me, Scott, and Keith opting to walk the boards and maybe hit some blackjack a bit. We did both.
Unlike all experiences in the past, I did not win at the blackjack table. For one, minimum bets were $10, instead of my preferred $5, and they also went up to $15 in the middle of our sitting, which blew. So, cause I wanted to play more than just 2 or 4 hands, I played $100, rather than my usual starting amount of $40. Then I lost it all. The table was cold, the dealers were both turning a lot of cards without busting, and the second one, especially, decimated us.
I bowed out in a flurry of activity, which I hardly followed. I was just playing a normal hand, when the two old ladies, who were sitting on either side of me and were nice and helpful, told me to split. I didn't have the change, so one threw in $15 for me to do that. Instantly, one side came out so they told me to double-down, which I did, using up all my chips. I think at least 2 of the 4 hands now were really strong. Except the dealer beat me by one, so I lost out on all that, as well as my full hundred, and thus ended my gambling for the day. It was quick -- only about a half-hour -- but that's why they call it gambling, I suppose.
Scott and Keith both basically finished with me -- Keith played some craps afterward -- so we just went out onto the boards, walking and checking out that new high-end mall across from Caesar's, which used to be Ocean One. Scott took us to this big, two-story candy store, which was pretty wild and filled with troughs of self-serve penny candies. He and I each filled about a quarter-pound bag with an assortment of mostly chocolates, which was delicious but too rich by the end of it. After a while, we went back to Showboat, where three of the guys already bounced. Brody finished up somewhat shortly after we got there, but Craig lasted until the final table, winning 9th place, out of almost 100 players! It was cool and, even though I don't know much about poker, was at least exciting to watch him by the end. But, with his success, we also had to wait about two hours between Brody finishing, and Craig finishing, which was boring and tiring for me a lot of the time.
At least I kinda vegged during that time, so I bounced back after Craig cashed out. We still hadn't checked into our hotel, so Craig, Scott, Brody, Shap, and I took two cars to do so, while the others were told to make reservations at some sort of restaurant of their choosing. We checked in and changed. It took us a long while to find the place, too, cause Yahoo! was deathly wrong. But it was actually quite nice, for a motel-style abode. And at least it was MUCH better looking than the "Taffy Motel." On our way back into town, since we were way out in Absecon, we learned that the three guys did not, in fact, look for any restaurants or make reservations. They just drank, instead. Fortunately for them, they managed to get us into some sort of Continental Cafe at Trump Plaza, which was pretty good. The menu was a mix of American and Asian food, and both our massive appetizer sampler and my "big bowl" of dumpling soup were pretty good.
What I didn't realize, though, was that between my two beers, 2 or 3 waters, and my soup, I consumed maybe a half-gallon of liquid in one sitting, at the very least. I was really bloated and uncomfortable after that, plus I had to fight my diluted fluids, now, in order to get drunk. From there, we tried two beach bars, the second of which we stuck with for a little while. It was here that I set upon my strategy of just doing shots, so I could avoid as much liquid as possible. This served me well for the rest of the night. After a while there, we went back to the Taj Mahal, where some played more poker, and others of us played craps or hung out at the bar (me). It was a pretty fun time, and a decent bachelor party, indeed!
This morning I got up sometime around 9:00, and we were all on the road by 10:30. Brody drove separately, straight down to Maryland; Mitch and John left early in the morning; and the remaining 5 of us piled into Scott's car. We had to check out by 11:00, but Shap and I especially wanted to get back, to make sure we had plenty of time to head over to Jeff's house for our fantasy football draft.
I've done fantasy basketball loads of times, hockey once, but never football. Fortunately, I spent some time on Thursday ordering my preferred players, strategizing a position draft order, and prepping, so I was only a little nervous today. It was a live draft at a several tables in Jeff's dining and living rooms, and all 12 guys in our league were actually in attendance, which was very cool (especially with some coming from Mass.) I just didn't want to goof up and hold up the show, but I did well and there wasn't reason to be anxious in the end, at all. It took about 3 hours and was, at times, a bit grueling, but I had a lot of fun, and I really was pouring over my lists and ESPN guide most of that time.
I, of course, desired the top pick, so I could be sure to draft my fellow Penn State 2003 classmate, Larry Johnson, the greatest and best player in the land. This did not work out, as I got only the 8th pick, which snaked to the 5th pick, every other round. From the beginning, things weren't going along as I wanted, but I bounced back and I'm really really pleased with my team (for now!). Who knows how things will actually shake out, with injuries, actual performance, etc, but that's the whole point of this game. Even in real life, the GMs won't know what's gonna happen. I did stick with my position draft order pretty closely, which helped a lot, and I got a really nicely balanced team, with lots of good depth, I think.
My 2006 Tubbs' Terminators football squad (in order of drafting, by position):
QB: Daunte Culpepper, MIA (3rd overall)
QB: Billy Volek, TEN
RB: Ronnie Brown, MIA (my first-round selection)
RB: Willie Parker, PIT (2nd)
RB: Thomas Jones, CHI
RB: LenDale White, TEN
RB: Ciatrick Faison, MIN
WR: Donald Driver, GB
WR: Lee Evans, BUF
WR: Mushin Muhammad, CHI
WR: Donte' Stallworth, NO
WR: Samie Parker, KC
TE: L.J. Smith, PHI
TE: Vernon Davis, SF
K: David Akers
DEF: Jacksonville
IDP: Julius Peppers
IDP: Derrick Brooks
So I think my team can do really well, and there weren't really any rounds where I just had to settle on my choice, other than maybe the 17th round (of 18), when I pulled Ciatrick Faison. I guess the biggest key is Culpepper's coming back from a serious knee injury, but everything I've heard about him in the preseason has been very positive, as with the entire Dolphins team, which is why I drafted Ronnie Brown. Hopefully he does well. I think "Wee" Willy Parker will have an even stronger year than last, as PIT's clear no. 1 back, and in the absence of Bettis. It sounds like Thomas Jones might retain the starting job, and many are saying LenDale White will earn it by the end of the season, which would be cool.
None of my receivers are superstars, but the top three are all the main receiving superstar on teams with less balanced offenses, which I hope will translate into them carrying the brunt of their respective loads. I'm psyched over Lorenzo Javier at TE, as I think he'll have a real "break-out" year, with more playing time and no TO to take his attempts. Plus, I was shocked I got Davis, who I moved up in my own draft order to pick, just as much to block him from the rest of the league, as to serve as a really solid backup.
I added Akers sometime in the late middle of the draft, but only after Chad took Vinatieri first; Automatic Akers wasn't even among the top two kickers picked, but I definitely got the best one in the league. That was a coup. And I'm very pleased with my D and my individual defensive players. So I like it.
The whole event was such a whrilwind of thought that I don't know how the other teams stack up wholly, but I do know that some guys just went nuts. One team has 3 quarterbacks, another has 8 running backs, and a third has 8 wide receivers. Seems silly to me. But I think I did quite well! Go Terminators!
After a short time, I went up to Allentown. I hung out a bit and joined the family for dinner, then met up with Eric to see Little Miss Sunshine. Two of his new roommates, Jeff and Katrina, also came, as well as their friend, Ben, and all three were really nice folks. We all also got in free, cause Jeff knows one of the theater managers, or something like that, which was cool. The movie was excellent, and was kinda like a mish-mash of a black comedy, road movie, and character study. I originally wanted to see it just because of Steve Carell, and he was good in it, but so was everyone else. I really liked Toni Collette and Abigail Breslin, who played the little girl, Olive. She was round like a little peanut and was soooo cute and happy and funny. I recommend it! Afterward, we got some late breffast from City View, in addition to a hot chocolate for me, which was very good.
Thursday I mostly hung out around the house. As the week progressed, I was really sick, falling down with what I call "the sickness," which I seem to get every summer, now that I realize it. Like, total head congestion and massive nose-blowing. That sort of crappiness. I hate it. So I was quite under it on Thursday. I went with Mom to the bank to cash in a good portion of my U.S. savings bonds that I'd gotten as a baby and tot, growing up. Back then, it sucked to get those for my birthday or Hanukkah instead of legos or He-Man figures, but now it rules. I'm glad that all happened.
Friday I not only felt sick, but I felt really off -- light-headed, but way more than I'd ever been. And, getting up to pee in the middle of the night, I realized it was already happening as I slept, so it might not have been tied to diet this time. It really sucked and I kept getting these surges of tingling in my leg or arm, or in my head if I moved quickly. I did try to eat and drink a lot, and also laid down for a while, but neither really helped. As I realized on Thursday night, I forgot my antidepressant, which I take nightly. I don't know if I'd ever gone a night without it since I've been taking it, and I think the first night was alright.
I'm not certain, but maybe I was already withdrawing from the medicine -- or at least it might have been messing with me -- by the second day. I do recall that I felt somewhat similar at night for the first few days of taking my pill last year, as I was getting used to the effects, but this was even more intense. Whether that was a coincidence or not, I am certain that I was already getting really annoyed and on edge throughout the day. So most of the day I relaxed, but did go out with Mom to buy a new pair of shorts, and hung around for dinner before coming back down to Norristown. I immediately took an earlier dose for the night, and I did find myself feeling better after a little while.
This weekend was Craig's bachelor party out this way, since most of his friends live on this side of the state now. Shap and Laurie were at the Counting Crows concert at the Tweeter that night; originally, a bunch of the other guys were gonna go down to Atlantic City for the night, with Dan and I meeting up with them Saturday morning. As it happened, their room for Friday night fell through, so they just hung out at Scott's apartment, drinking beer, playing poker, and playing Madden '07; Brody came up that night, as well, and we both went over for a while.
Yesterday morning, then, Brody drove Shap and I out to Atlantic City, meeting the other 5 guys at the Showboat, where most of them were planning on entering a poker tournament. Check-in at the Econo-lodge wasn't until at least 4:00, and we got there at Noon, so we just hung out for a while. I'd met Scott a couple times before, and he's a cool guy; the others were all fun gents, as well, and it was a nice crew to roll around the town with. After a quick lunch of boardwalk food, we basically split off, with most going back to the poker room, and me, Scott, and Keith opting to walk the boards and maybe hit some blackjack a bit. We did both.
Unlike all experiences in the past, I did not win at the blackjack table. For one, minimum bets were $10, instead of my preferred $5, and they also went up to $15 in the middle of our sitting, which blew. So, cause I wanted to play more than just 2 or 4 hands, I played $100, rather than my usual starting amount of $40. Then I lost it all. The table was cold, the dealers were both turning a lot of cards without busting, and the second one, especially, decimated us.
I bowed out in a flurry of activity, which I hardly followed. I was just playing a normal hand, when the two old ladies, who were sitting on either side of me and were nice and helpful, told me to split. I didn't have the change, so one threw in $15 for me to do that. Instantly, one side came out so they told me to double-down, which I did, using up all my chips. I think at least 2 of the 4 hands now were really strong. Except the dealer beat me by one, so I lost out on all that, as well as my full hundred, and thus ended my gambling for the day. It was quick -- only about a half-hour -- but that's why they call it gambling, I suppose.
Scott and Keith both basically finished with me -- Keith played some craps afterward -- so we just went out onto the boards, walking and checking out that new high-end mall across from Caesar's, which used to be Ocean One. Scott took us to this big, two-story candy store, which was pretty wild and filled with troughs of self-serve penny candies. He and I each filled about a quarter-pound bag with an assortment of mostly chocolates, which was delicious but too rich by the end of it. After a while, we went back to Showboat, where three of the guys already bounced. Brody finished up somewhat shortly after we got there, but Craig lasted until the final table, winning 9th place, out of almost 100 players! It was cool and, even though I don't know much about poker, was at least exciting to watch him by the end. But, with his success, we also had to wait about two hours between Brody finishing, and Craig finishing, which was boring and tiring for me a lot of the time.
At least I kinda vegged during that time, so I bounced back after Craig cashed out. We still hadn't checked into our hotel, so Craig, Scott, Brody, Shap, and I took two cars to do so, while the others were told to make reservations at some sort of restaurant of their choosing. We checked in and changed. It took us a long while to find the place, too, cause Yahoo! was deathly wrong. But it was actually quite nice, for a motel-style abode. And at least it was MUCH better looking than the "Taffy Motel." On our way back into town, since we were way out in Absecon, we learned that the three guys did not, in fact, look for any restaurants or make reservations. They just drank, instead. Fortunately for them, they managed to get us into some sort of Continental Cafe at Trump Plaza, which was pretty good. The menu was a mix of American and Asian food, and both our massive appetizer sampler and my "big bowl" of dumpling soup were pretty good.
What I didn't realize, though, was that between my two beers, 2 or 3 waters, and my soup, I consumed maybe a half-gallon of liquid in one sitting, at the very least. I was really bloated and uncomfortable after that, plus I had to fight my diluted fluids, now, in order to get drunk. From there, we tried two beach bars, the second of which we stuck with for a little while. It was here that I set upon my strategy of just doing shots, so I could avoid as much liquid as possible. This served me well for the rest of the night. After a while there, we went back to the Taj Mahal, where some played more poker, and others of us played craps or hung out at the bar (me). It was a pretty fun time, and a decent bachelor party, indeed!
This morning I got up sometime around 9:00, and we were all on the road by 10:30. Brody drove separately, straight down to Maryland; Mitch and John left early in the morning; and the remaining 5 of us piled into Scott's car. We had to check out by 11:00, but Shap and I especially wanted to get back, to make sure we had plenty of time to head over to Jeff's house for our fantasy football draft.
I've done fantasy basketball loads of times, hockey once, but never football. Fortunately, I spent some time on Thursday ordering my preferred players, strategizing a position draft order, and prepping, so I was only a little nervous today. It was a live draft at a several tables in Jeff's dining and living rooms, and all 12 guys in our league were actually in attendance, which was very cool (especially with some coming from Mass.) I just didn't want to goof up and hold up the show, but I did well and there wasn't reason to be anxious in the end, at all. It took about 3 hours and was, at times, a bit grueling, but I had a lot of fun, and I really was pouring over my lists and ESPN guide most of that time.
I, of course, desired the top pick, so I could be sure to draft my fellow Penn State 2003 classmate, Larry Johnson, the greatest and best player in the land. This did not work out, as I got only the 8th pick, which snaked to the 5th pick, every other round. From the beginning, things weren't going along as I wanted, but I bounced back and I'm really really pleased with my team (for now!). Who knows how things will actually shake out, with injuries, actual performance, etc, but that's the whole point of this game. Even in real life, the GMs won't know what's gonna happen. I did stick with my position draft order pretty closely, which helped a lot, and I got a really nicely balanced team, with lots of good depth, I think.
My 2006 Tubbs' Terminators football squad (in order of drafting, by position):
QB: Daunte Culpepper, MIA (3rd overall)
QB: Billy Volek, TEN
RB: Ronnie Brown, MIA (my first-round selection)
RB: Willie Parker, PIT (2nd)
RB: Thomas Jones, CHI
RB: LenDale White, TEN
RB: Ciatrick Faison, MIN
WR: Donald Driver, GB
WR: Lee Evans, BUF
WR: Mushin Muhammad, CHI
WR: Donte' Stallworth, NO
WR: Samie Parker, KC
TE: L.J. Smith, PHI
TE: Vernon Davis, SF
K: David Akers
DEF: Jacksonville
IDP: Julius Peppers
IDP: Derrick Brooks
So I think my team can do really well, and there weren't really any rounds where I just had to settle on my choice, other than maybe the 17th round (of 18), when I pulled Ciatrick Faison. I guess the biggest key is Culpepper's coming back from a serious knee injury, but everything I've heard about him in the preseason has been very positive, as with the entire Dolphins team, which is why I drafted Ronnie Brown. Hopefully he does well. I think "Wee" Willy Parker will have an even stronger year than last, as PIT's clear no. 1 back, and in the absence of Bettis. It sounds like Thomas Jones might retain the starting job, and many are saying LenDale White will earn it by the end of the season, which would be cool.
None of my receivers are superstars, but the top three are all the main receiving superstar on teams with less balanced offenses, which I hope will translate into them carrying the brunt of their respective loads. I'm psyched over Lorenzo Javier at TE, as I think he'll have a real "break-out" year, with more playing time and no TO to take his attempts. Plus, I was shocked I got Davis, who I moved up in my own draft order to pick, just as much to block him from the rest of the league, as to serve as a really solid backup.
I added Akers sometime in the late middle of the draft, but only after Chad took Vinatieri first; Automatic Akers wasn't even among the top two kickers picked, but I definitely got the best one in the league. That was a coup. And I'm very pleased with my D and my individual defensive players. So I like it.
The whole event was such a whrilwind of thought that I don't know how the other teams stack up wholly, but I do know that some guys just went nuts. One team has 3 quarterbacks, another has 8 running backs, and a third has 8 wide receivers. Seems silly to me. But I think I did quite well! Go Terminators!