In my quest to relieve my life of the boredom that can sometimes be felt when you sit at home, alone, night after night, by yourself, with no one around...to relieve that boredom I have found a few meetup groups. My first experience with a meetup group was with scrabble, but I have found several more that do other social things. Some of these groups have trivia nights at area restaurants. I have attended several of these gatherings.
I went to one such trivia gathering last night. My team consisted of twelve people on several tables pushed together. We got second place. However, the three women seated closest to me were all married. And the closest single woman to me had a laugh that made me want to cover my ears, not that it would have kept me from hearing that loud piercing shriek. She kept trying to flirt with the guy next to me, but he really wasn't having any part of it. Another single lady at our large table was wearing a t-shirt that read "legalize gay", so I'm guessing she is out.
My food was horrible. I didn't realize a burger could actually be bad. Charred on the outside, raw on the inside, seasoned with some brine solution, stacked with the sourest pickles I've ever eaten and the bitterest onions I've ever had, topped with bacon cooked longer than the pig even lived - it all made for a terrible combination. I asked twice and never received any mustard, so I squirted some of the watery ketchup from the table onto it so that I could resolve the rumbling in my stomach.
The restaurant was very noisy. Unless you were blessed with a terribly loud and high pitched voice, it was hard for me to hear you. I had to lean forward and read the lips of the woman seated directly across from me in order to talk to her. I did find out she has a 6 year old granchild and a 10 year old daughter and she expressed a desire for more children. I hope she wasn't too offended when I told her a woman shouldn't have to get out her reading glasses every time she needed to change her kid's diaper.
For some reason, our table of twelve dwindled down to six by the end of the trivia competition. After the woman in front of me left, another woman slid down into her chair. Then as the second woman attempted to leave, she knocked over a tall, narrow glass half full of gin and tonic right into my lap. Fortunately I still have lightning fast reflexes and was able to jump out of the way or I would have looked like I should have worn a diaper myself. As it turned out, I only looked like I dribbled a little, which sometimes happens anyway when a guy gets over forty.
Then I got to drive home. Yay me!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Where have I been?
Getting a divorce, for those of you who didn't know already. I just needed to put that fact out there to explain some of the future posts I may write.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Snowpocalypse 2011 - Entry 1
January 9, 2010
At approximately 8 p.m., the first drizzles of sleet begin to fall outside my home. I have only been home about ten minutes as I finished my weekly journey to the laundromat. I had bought a few cans of soup, but not many other things to sustain me through what I assume will be a solitary snow day.
The snow piles up quickly. In just a few hours, there seems to be about six inches of snow piled up on the ground outside. I do not go outside to measure it though. I stay up late watching the snow, knowing that I will not have to work tomorrow. After midnight, a tow truck comes down the street with my neighbor's car. I watch as the tow truck tires spin as it struggles to maneuver into position at my neighbor's driveway.
January 10, 2010
All schools are canceled. I sleep late. In the afternoon, kids start sledding down the icy hill that was the street in front of my house. Others explore the snow in four wheelers. I watch as two four wheel drive vehicles successfully leave up the street. Later on I watch as a couple of vehicles do not make it up the hill and start slowly rotating around. They complete the rotation and go back down the hill to their homes.
I get out the bread to make a sandwich, but it is moldy. I decided to tear the bread into small pieces and toss it outside for the birds and squirrels to eat. I am amazed as each piece bounces on the snow and slides to a stop.
I am alone in my home, save for the dog. She refuses to go out into the snow. After several attempts, she finally does go down the three steps and there she stops, refusing to move. I go down to get her. I notice that the snow has a half inch thick crust of ice on it.
I am not feeling well and go to bed at halftime of the NCAA BCS championship game between Auburn and Oregon. I wake a few hours later with extreme pain in my ear. There is no pain medicine to be found in the house, but someone tells me to try a heating pad. I find a hot water bottle and sleep with it on my ear. It makes it tolerable for me to sleep.
January 11, 2010
I get a phone call that one of my employees made it into the office. Not that there is anything to do there. The economy has really affected our business. We essentially waste most of the work day doing nothing, because there is nothing to do.
Later I spy a blue jay eating the bread I had thrown out the day before.
I decide to make myself oatmeal for breakfast. It is old-fashioned oatmeal, but I make it in the microwave anyway. It turns out good. Who needs instant? I did discover that I do not have any regular sugar in the house though. I used some brown sugar. Oddly enough, I discovered 8 bottles of sprinkles.
After seeing a picture of a facebook friend shoveling the snow on his driveway, I decide to do the same. Mind you, I do not have a snow shovel. I find the best technique is to turn the shovel on its side and scrape the snow to the edge of the path I am creating.
At approximately 8 p.m., the first drizzles of sleet begin to fall outside my home. I have only been home about ten minutes as I finished my weekly journey to the laundromat. I had bought a few cans of soup, but not many other things to sustain me through what I assume will be a solitary snow day.
The snow piles up quickly. In just a few hours, there seems to be about six inches of snow piled up on the ground outside. I do not go outside to measure it though. I stay up late watching the snow, knowing that I will not have to work tomorrow. After midnight, a tow truck comes down the street with my neighbor's car. I watch as the tow truck tires spin as it struggles to maneuver into position at my neighbor's driveway.
January 10, 2010
All schools are canceled. I sleep late. In the afternoon, kids start sledding down the icy hill that was the street in front of my house. Others explore the snow in four wheelers. I watch as two four wheel drive vehicles successfully leave up the street. Later on I watch as a couple of vehicles do not make it up the hill and start slowly rotating around. They complete the rotation and go back down the hill to their homes.
I get out the bread to make a sandwich, but it is moldy. I decided to tear the bread into small pieces and toss it outside for the birds and squirrels to eat. I am amazed as each piece bounces on the snow and slides to a stop.
I am alone in my home, save for the dog. She refuses to go out into the snow. After several attempts, she finally does go down the three steps and there she stops, refusing to move. I go down to get her. I notice that the snow has a half inch thick crust of ice on it.
I am not feeling well and go to bed at halftime of the NCAA BCS championship game between Auburn and Oregon. I wake a few hours later with extreme pain in my ear. There is no pain medicine to be found in the house, but someone tells me to try a heating pad. I find a hot water bottle and sleep with it on my ear. It makes it tolerable for me to sleep.
January 11, 2010
I get a phone call that one of my employees made it into the office. Not that there is anything to do there. The economy has really affected our business. We essentially waste most of the work day doing nothing, because there is nothing to do.
Later I spy a blue jay eating the bread I had thrown out the day before.
I decide to make myself oatmeal for breakfast. It is old-fashioned oatmeal, but I make it in the microwave anyway. It turns out good. Who needs instant? I did discover that I do not have any regular sugar in the house though. I used some brown sugar. Oddly enough, I discovered 8 bottles of sprinkles.
After seeing a picture of a facebook friend shoveling the snow on his driveway, I decide to do the same. Mind you, I do not have a snow shovel. I find the best technique is to turn the shovel on its side and scrape the snow to the edge of the path I am creating.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Forget Failures
Forget failures. Forget mistakes. Forget everything but what you're going to do now... And do it.
A friend of mine recently shared this saying with me. Forgetting my mistakes is something I have had a hard time doing. Instead of moving on, I want to dwell on those mistakes and sulk. Instead of getting back up and trying again, I want to just lie there and do nothing. Instead of being defined by my successes, I choose to identify with my failures. And in doing so I have chained myself emotionally to an imaginary cell that prevents me from moving forward to accomplish the tasks before me.
A friend of mine recently shared this saying with me. Forgetting my mistakes is something I have had a hard time doing. Instead of moving on, I want to dwell on those mistakes and sulk. Instead of getting back up and trying again, I want to just lie there and do nothing. Instead of being defined by my successes, I choose to identify with my failures. And in doing so I have chained myself emotionally to an imaginary cell that prevents me from moving forward to accomplish the tasks before me.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
My First Scrabble Tournament
Scrabble Tournament you say? What is that? I didn't know they existed a year ago either. Now I have experienced one for myself.
The tournament was held in a meeting room at the Hyatt Place near the Atlanta airport on December 4-5, 2010. A complete listing of the results can be found here. My name is listed as 13th place in Division 4. If you click on the plus beside my name you can see a game by game summary of my results.
I was excited about my first tournament. I had gotten some pointers from some of the people in the club I regularly attend. The tournament director told me that she thought I would do well, although I took that with a grain of salt as she was trying to get me to sign up. I really just wanted the experience, but I did hope to at least break even with wins and losses.
DAY ONE
Saturday morning my first game was against an elderly woman who had difficulty hearing and moved very slowly with a walker. On her 7th play she made the bingo SAILING. Meanwhile I was struggling with a consonant heavy rack. I finally elected to exchange. Then she plays TOONIES for another bingo. I elect to challenge, but the word was acceptable and I lose my turn. At this point she has two bingos and I have taken two zeros, so I whimper home to a humiliating loss. She is a good player though and I have gotten the nerves out of my way.
My second game is against a young man who graduated from Georgia Tech in 2008 and who is playing in his first tournament as well. We had chatted a bit waiting for the tournament to start. I figure I should be evenly matched against him. He goes first and opens with the bingo SEAGULL for 66. Two plays later he bingos with GROUPIES and I am down by 109 points. I never find the big play for myself and wind up losing by that same margin.
My third game is against the number one seed, a fourteen year old red haired girl. I play the bingo DOILIES on my second play and am able to maintain that lead until she bingos with RACKING for 84 points on her ninth play. From there she scores 40, 23, 38, 34, 22, 11, while I struggle with 5, 14, 14, 23, 6, 18, 6. I feel like I should have scored much better in the end, but played poorly.
My fourth game is against an opponent that attends my regular scrabble club. I am confident against her because I have played her in the past. I open with QUEASY for 56 and make the bingo WOOLIEST later for the win.
Lunch is then served at the hotel, but it is rather forgettable.
I next play a young lady from Huntsville, Alabama. I play horribly in this game and get really frustrated. She finally bingos with DIRTIES on her twelfth play and follows it up with QAID for 48. This game has me questioning what I am doing here. My best play is only 30 points.
Next I take on the eventual champion. She is a local young lady in just her second tournament and her appearance makes one think she would be more at home in a beauty pageant than at a scrabble tournament. I succumb on the strength of her two bingos, RECLINE and AREOLAS, to my none. This game was played on a board with orange tiles with blue letters. The letters almost seem to jump up off the tiles like 3D. After this game I am mentally exhausted, but the day is not over yet.
My seventh game of the day is against another regular from my club. I have never beaten her at club though, so I know it will be tough. She goes first and opens her word vertically, the only vertical opening I have seen at the tournament. My play opens up the DL-TW for her. She says, "Preston, you know better than to leave a vowel there like that." as she scores 48 points. She bingos with MUSKETS a few plays later and as she normally does, she shuts down the board. I take another loss.
My final game of the day is against an older gentleman. He moves out to an early lead, but I get the bingo STILLEST on my ninth move. He slowly crawls back into it and I eventually lose by ten points after I struggle with a vowel heavy rack playing EAU, OE, and EAU on consecutive turns. After only winning one game on the first day I am not so sure I want to do this any longer.
DAY TWO
My first game of the day (9th overall) is against the number two seed. On her second play she bingos with STABLES, but I bingo right back with GRINDERS. From there she slowly extends to a bingo sized lead. Finally the bag is emptied and I have my last chance to bingo. I glance at the clock. 2:52 left. I decide that I have to bingo so I look and look and look. There is one bingo lane that would required my word to start with a vowel. I try and try to find something for that spot, but finally give up. There is another spot where she had left the word CROUTE. I could add an S and make a bingo through the TWS, but surely she would have closed that lane off. I decide it is my only shot. I lay down STORIES, creating CROUTES, for 79 points. She challenges the word. She is certain CROUTES is not valid. But it is! I am out. I catch her with the Q and a lot of letters and get 38 points added to my score. I have a 10 point win. She congratulates me, dumbfounded because she was certain she would win. We fill out the slip to turn in. Then she looks at the clock. She says, "you went over." I look at it and see a -0:53. 10 point overtime penalty. The game has ended in a tie. Now I am in shock. I thought I had won. But it is a tie.
My next game is against the 10 year old sister of the 14 year old number one seed. She is playing in her first tournament and hasn't won a game yet. It is almost like taking candy from a baby, but I try not to run up the score or play questionable words against her as I coast to a win.
My next game is against another first time player. Neither of us bingo, but she passes on a turn, swaps twice, and I successfully challenge off one of her words. She also takes an overtime penalty and I win the game. So far so good.
My next game is against someone I had played and beaten at the Decatur Scrabble club. I have a tight game going. I play a two blank bingo TAMALES. On his 14th play with a 40 point lead he lays down LWEI for 23. I challenge and lose. Then I desperately play a word that he challenges off and I wind up losing big.
My next game is against another older lady. I get one bingo SPARING. She plays ZEDS for 53. She has a lead of that amount when I play SIX for 43 on my 16th turn. She manages to hold me off for a 20 point lead, but she kept repeating, "I don't like this game" on her last several turns.
My next game is against a guy from South Carolina. We play a tight game. Then I make a huge mistake and leave a triple letter square exposed next to a vowel. Finally he plays the X on it both ways and scores 61 points on his 15th turn and I lose by 56 points. Huge mistake on my part on a game I should have won.
My final game of the tournament my opponent bingos on his third turn with BAILERS. I am behind. He plays ROUTE leaving the hook exposed into the TWS for CROUTE which was such a pivotal word in my first game of the day. I get 41 points for the word I did not record. He challenges CROUTE and loses his turn and I am back into the game. He struggles through some vowel heavy racks and we go back and forth in a very tight game. That is until I leave a vowel exposed next to a premium square and he uses the X to get 36 points late in the game and I limp home from there.
The tournament ends and I have gone 3 wins, 11 losses, and 1 tie. I am not happy about my results because I believe I could have done better. I made some critical mistakes. I also realize that I really need to learn the three letter words, especially the twos into threes. We'll see when I make my next venture into a Scrabble tournament.
The tournament was held in a meeting room at the Hyatt Place near the Atlanta airport on December 4-5, 2010. A complete listing of the results can be found here. My name is listed as 13th place in Division 4. If you click on the plus beside my name you can see a game by game summary of my results.
I was excited about my first tournament. I had gotten some pointers from some of the people in the club I regularly attend. The tournament director told me that she thought I would do well, although I took that with a grain of salt as she was trying to get me to sign up. I really just wanted the experience, but I did hope to at least break even with wins and losses.
DAY ONE
Saturday morning my first game was against an elderly woman who had difficulty hearing and moved very slowly with a walker. On her 7th play she made the bingo SAILING. Meanwhile I was struggling with a consonant heavy rack. I finally elected to exchange. Then she plays TOONIES for another bingo. I elect to challenge, but the word was acceptable and I lose my turn. At this point she has two bingos and I have taken two zeros, so I whimper home to a humiliating loss. She is a good player though and I have gotten the nerves out of my way.
My second game is against a young man who graduated from Georgia Tech in 2008 and who is playing in his first tournament as well. We had chatted a bit waiting for the tournament to start. I figure I should be evenly matched against him. He goes first and opens with the bingo SEAGULL for 66. Two plays later he bingos with GROUPIES and I am down by 109 points. I never find the big play for myself and wind up losing by that same margin.
My third game is against the number one seed, a fourteen year old red haired girl. I play the bingo DOILIES on my second play and am able to maintain that lead until she bingos with RACKING for 84 points on her ninth play. From there she scores 40, 23, 38, 34, 22, 11, while I struggle with 5, 14, 14, 23, 6, 18, 6. I feel like I should have scored much better in the end, but played poorly.
My fourth game is against an opponent that attends my regular scrabble club. I am confident against her because I have played her in the past. I open with QUEASY for 56 and make the bingo WOOLIEST later for the win.
Lunch is then served at the hotel, but it is rather forgettable.
I next play a young lady from Huntsville, Alabama. I play horribly in this game and get really frustrated. She finally bingos with DIRTIES on her twelfth play and follows it up with QAID for 48. This game has me questioning what I am doing here. My best play is only 30 points.
Next I take on the eventual champion. She is a local young lady in just her second tournament and her appearance makes one think she would be more at home in a beauty pageant than at a scrabble tournament. I succumb on the strength of her two bingos, RECLINE and AREOLAS, to my none. This game was played on a board with orange tiles with blue letters. The letters almost seem to jump up off the tiles like 3D. After this game I am mentally exhausted, but the day is not over yet.
My seventh game of the day is against another regular from my club. I have never beaten her at club though, so I know it will be tough. She goes first and opens her word vertically, the only vertical opening I have seen at the tournament. My play opens up the DL-TW for her. She says, "Preston, you know better than to leave a vowel there like that." as she scores 48 points. She bingos with MUSKETS a few plays later and as she normally does, she shuts down the board. I take another loss.
My final game of the day is against an older gentleman. He moves out to an early lead, but I get the bingo STILLEST on my ninth move. He slowly crawls back into it and I eventually lose by ten points after I struggle with a vowel heavy rack playing EAU, OE, and EAU on consecutive turns. After only winning one game on the first day I am not so sure I want to do this any longer.
DAY TWO
My first game of the day (9th overall) is against the number two seed. On her second play she bingos with STABLES, but I bingo right back with GRINDERS. From there she slowly extends to a bingo sized lead. Finally the bag is emptied and I have my last chance to bingo. I glance at the clock. 2:52 left. I decide that I have to bingo so I look and look and look. There is one bingo lane that would required my word to start with a vowel. I try and try to find something for that spot, but finally give up. There is another spot where she had left the word CROUTE. I could add an S and make a bingo through the TWS, but surely she would have closed that lane off. I decide it is my only shot. I lay down STORIES, creating CROUTES, for 79 points. She challenges the word. She is certain CROUTES is not valid. But it is! I am out. I catch her with the Q and a lot of letters and get 38 points added to my score. I have a 10 point win. She congratulates me, dumbfounded because she was certain she would win. We fill out the slip to turn in. Then she looks at the clock. She says, "you went over." I look at it and see a -0:53. 10 point overtime penalty. The game has ended in a tie. Now I am in shock. I thought I had won. But it is a tie.
My next game is against the 10 year old sister of the 14 year old number one seed. She is playing in her first tournament and hasn't won a game yet. It is almost like taking candy from a baby, but I try not to run up the score or play questionable words against her as I coast to a win.
My next game is against another first time player. Neither of us bingo, but she passes on a turn, swaps twice, and I successfully challenge off one of her words. She also takes an overtime penalty and I win the game. So far so good.
My next game is against someone I had played and beaten at the Decatur Scrabble club. I have a tight game going. I play a two blank bingo TAMALES. On his 14th play with a 40 point lead he lays down LWEI for 23. I challenge and lose. Then I desperately play a word that he challenges off and I wind up losing big.
My next game is against another older lady. I get one bingo SPARING. She plays ZEDS for 53. She has a lead of that amount when I play SIX for 43 on my 16th turn. She manages to hold me off for a 20 point lead, but she kept repeating, "I don't like this game" on her last several turns.
My next game is against a guy from South Carolina. We play a tight game. Then I make a huge mistake and leave a triple letter square exposed next to a vowel. Finally he plays the X on it both ways and scores 61 points on his 15th turn and I lose by 56 points. Huge mistake on my part on a game I should have won.
My final game of the tournament my opponent bingos on his third turn with BAILERS. I am behind. He plays ROUTE leaving the hook exposed into the TWS for CROUTE which was such a pivotal word in my first game of the day. I get 41 points for the word I did not record. He challenges CROUTE and loses his turn and I am back into the game. He struggles through some vowel heavy racks and we go back and forth in a very tight game. That is until I leave a vowel exposed next to a premium square and he uses the X to get 36 points late in the game and I limp home from there.
The tournament ends and I have gone 3 wins, 11 losses, and 1 tie. I am not happy about my results because I believe I could have done better. I made some critical mistakes. I also realize that I really need to learn the three letter words, especially the twos into threes. We'll see when I make my next venture into a Scrabble tournament.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Atlanta Sunday Scrabble Competition Conclusion
I was reminded that I have not posted any blog entry in over a month. My last blog entry was about a competition at the Atlanta Sunday Scrabble club. I really left my readers hanging on the outcome.
The final week of the competition was my best yet. By this time I already had an idea of who the stronger and weaker players are. Fortunately for me I was not paired against some of the stronger players on this day. The first game was against Patricia and I won 348-268. The second game was against Fred whom I had never before seen at the club, but was apparently a regular before some health problems. I beat Fred 321-288. My opponent for Game #3 was Lisa. I made 87 points for STRIFES and won the game 408-285. The final game of the day was against JJ. It was a tight game and then she challenged VIG late in the game. Four plays later I had won 330-303. I was able to turn the day into four wins. I still finished out of the money though.
The final week of the competition was my best yet. By this time I already had an idea of who the stronger and weaker players are. Fortunately for me I was not paired against some of the stronger players on this day. The first game was against Patricia and I won 348-268. The second game was against Fred whom I had never before seen at the club, but was apparently a regular before some health problems. I beat Fred 321-288. My opponent for Game #3 was Lisa. I made 87 points for STRIFES and won the game 408-285. The final game of the day was against JJ. It was a tight game and then she challenged VIG late in the game. Four plays later I had won 330-303. I was able to turn the day into four wins. I still finished out of the money though.
My friend has a blog!
One of my good friends has finally published some of her writings into a blog. Check it out!
From Caterpillars to Butterflies
From Caterpillars to Butterflies
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