Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in richardthe23rd's LiveJournal:

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Thursday, August 21st, 2008
10:09 am	Awake The town was bathed in a thick fog as I walked outside this morning. I seem to have been in somewhat of a fog myself. We've had quite a bit of weather over the past week, actually, heavy rain and flash flood warnings. One night a hailstorm brought all the neighbors out with a flash of cameras; many of them are Caribbean islanders who come here to work at the Broadmoor, and they acted as if they'd never seen the stuff before. One fellow cupped a huge mound of hailstones in his hand and stood beaming as a friend took his picture. It was quite a sight to be sure, a stream of hailstones glittering in the balcony light like golden cornrows. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Miles Davis, "Filles de Kilimanjaro" (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008
10:45 am	My Home Town Now that the Senior Open has come and gone, Colorado Springs will forever be known as that place where bears wander onto the golf course. Not that other towns should talk. Last time I was visiting relatives in Asheville, N.C., one of my great-aunt's neighbors had imported buffalo into the Great Smoky Mountains. They had a habit of breaking loose and straying over to the nearest golf course, as it was the kind of level ground they were used to. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Til Tuesday, "Voices Carry" (Comment on this)
Monday, August 11th, 2008
8:54 am	How I Spent My Summer Vacation Various complications kept me close to home over the past week. Even the poker tables didn't see me. Things were more severe for one of my colleagues at work, who was sidelined with a detached retina. As someone who's been through two of those, he has my complete sympathy. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Isaac Hayes, "Never Could Say Goodbye" (Comment on this)
Monday, August 4th, 2008
1:51 pm	Uneasy Lies the Head They needed four tables for the cash-prize game at Bombers Friday night; Jim couldn't remember the last time he'd seen more than sixty players show up for a tournament. And I beat them all. That win comes with a hefty number of points, so what may be the final tally for this tour shows me in the lead by nearly eight thousand points. This was great news to the dealers who'd been rooting for me, as they were tired of seeing the same player take first place tour after tour after tour. In fact I hear they may pay out a cash bounty that was offered for whoever finally showed up to unseat her. Of course, the honeymoon doesn't last forever. Just the other night one of the dealers told me, "Richard, I think you're a good player. People may talk shit about you behind your back, but I think you're a pretty good player." Huh? Wha? Current Mood: uneasy Current Music: Miles Davis, "Somedy My Prince Will Come" (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, August 1st, 2008
12:09 pm	Globally Warmed The radio said highs today in the upper 90s again, but it was overcast and breezy downtown when I had to walk to my bank and the post office, so it was altogether tolerable. "Today is Friday!" a fellow shouted at me from his park bench. "Today is payday! Today is when the eagle flies!" Indeed. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Joe Farrell, "Canned Funk" (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
8:34 am	The Heat Is On Colorado Springs continues to be unseasonably warm, more's the pity as I have to make the rounds of my banks, my landlord, and various hungry creditors over my lunch break. That's assuming we track down an issue with August's scheduling in time for me to have a lunch break today. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Funkadelic (Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
9:51 am	The Complicated Life of a Poker Champion Took second place at This Is It last night (which should keep me in orange juice for months). My dilemma now is which Wednesday game to go to. I won a $25 tab at The Mill Hill Saloon, but on close examination it turns out the tab can't be used on Wednesday or Saturday, the days they have poker games there. I might as well go to Benny's and eat there, and hope they have enough players show up to get a game together. If not, I can always mosey over to the Mill Hill. If I win, I can always eat there Friday before heading across town to the Bomber's game. I can pretty much count on free meals all the other nights of the week except Sunday... Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Flogging Molly, "Within a Mile of Home" (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
9:54 am	When I got home last night I found they had repainted our doors. I was hoping that explained why they'd been pretty haphazard about spraying over onto the doors while they were painting the wall. In other news, took second last night at Tony's, after a three-way all-in had taken out the third and fourth players. (I was drawing to an inside straight, so I abstained.) Hopefully this means I'm clinging to my lead, with only a couple of days left in this session. Aside from automatic entry to the finals tournament, the top-rated player gets an extra pile of chips there, or so I hear. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Flogging Molly, "Swagger" (Comment on this)
Monday, July 28th, 2008
3:48 pm	Quote of the Week "Many the past girlfriend has been confused by my love for Old Time Radio. There is no question that OTR fans are predominantly male. I'm not sure why this is, but I imagine it's because women have taste." -- Kliph Nesteroff at WFMU Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Fergie, "The Duchess" (2 Comments |Comment on this)
12:48 pm	Man About Town I had to walk to my bank then drive to my insurer today, and as I admitted to the kind lady who accepted my insurance payment, it is a bit warmer than I would like, the walk to my car and back being several city blocks these days. The company just announced they're going to move us all up to a new facility in Briargate, at the north end of town, which will be a substantial increase in my daily commute; when I moved here I selected an apartment based in part of its being only a few minutes' drive from our downtown offices. On the bright side, free covered parking will be built in. While walking downtown I spotted trucks for two paper-shredding outfits. The more interesting of the two belonged to Rocky Mountain Secure Shredders, whose method apparently involves hauling your documents to the curb in a couple of big plastic trash barrels, then dumping them into the truck's hopper, not unlike that of a garbage vehicle's, which then lifts the papers into the air and dumps them into the truck's equivalent of a woodchopper. Not certain how secure any of this actually is. Also saw a truck from Colorado Springs Utilities wielding a gigantic vacuum hose and their new motto, "It's how we're all connected." Charming. The best part of the drive was noticing how gas prices have dipped lately, although doing the happy dance over $3.77/gallon gasoline is a little like boasting about the results of The Surge. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Arthur Fiedler, "Pops Christmas Party" in July (1 Comment |Comment on this)
9:22 am	No Rest Finished up the week with third-place finishes at Bomber's on Friday and The Finish Line on Sunday. Might only be enough to barely stave off the challenge from my rival, who placed in three games Saturday, while I was off at the company picnic deciding my shoulder still didn't feel up to pitching horseshoes. When I got back in Friday night they had repainted the exterior of our apartment block. I couldn't help feeling that I had stumbled into the wrong building. We were also notified they'd be power-washing our windows this week, so we might want to keep our windows closed, which seemed like sage advice. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Dominic Frontiere, "Hammersmith Is Out" (Comment on this)
Friday, July 25th, 2008
10:00 am	The Fat of the Land This is a pretty good week for free eats. Aside from my winnings (of course), I've been attending "Crossroads" workshops enlightening us about the mysterious workings of other departments in the company, at which fresh fruit and snacks are served. Liberty Mutual lured us to the first floor with frozen fruit juice bars to talk about switching our coverage. The company picnic is tomorrow at the Wonderland Ranch (which always sends my mind scurrying in panic until it realizes it didn't hear "Neverland Ranch"), followed by a poolside luau hosted by my apartment management. It might even be worth skipping a couple of the Saturday games. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Seu Jorge, "Five Years" (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 24th, 2008
8:13 am	And Still... I think this is a first for me: First place wins on two consecutive nights. Last night's game was at the Mill Hill, and I can use the bar tab I won for one of their deluxe pizzas, so it's all good. Thought for a while I might be leaving early last night. The first time I finally had a decent hand, my phone rang and I had to step outside to take the call. It was an old friend asking if I can show up at her parole hearing... Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Devo, "Gut Feeling" (Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
8:15 am	Pizza Night Another first place win at This Is It last night (much to the disgust of second place; pocket threes, indeed). My neck and shoulder feeling somewhat better as well, and without the benefit of Tramadol. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Seu Jorge, "Rebel Rebel" (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
8:10 am	Man About Town As I was walking to Tony's, I saw this sign near some construction: PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY Who else would it be for? Anyway, slid into third place at Tony's, so I'll be eating free for at least one more Monday. Since one of the top two was a dealer who doesn't need his points, I'll actually get second-place points for my effort, which is handy since I heard my nearest competitor took a second place earlier in the day. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Seu Jorge, "Starman" (Comment on this)
Monday, July 21st, 2008
9:21 am	Oh and... ...a happy birthday to gerisullivan (Comment on this)
8:25 am	Room at the Top With every update of my poker league's standings I have advanced my lead. I played three games Saturday and finished fifth, second and third, thus staving off the advances of a colleague who took first, fourth and fifth in the same matchups. Nothing as illustrious on Sunday but it was an almost entirely pain-free day, so it's all good. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: B.W. Stevenson, "My Maria" (Comment on this)
Friday, July 18th, 2008
8:24 am	My Latest Win I finally won a monthly contest from Alabama Wildlife, as I learned when their large coffee-table book on Managing Wildlife showed up in my mailbox. The cover photo is of a deer staring at the camera against a wooded backdrop. She looks rather like the deer that stared into my headlights from the field next to the Mill Hill Saloon when I fired up my car the other night. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: George Harrison, "Beware of the Darkness" (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 17th, 2008
9:05 am	A Pain Finally went to see the doctor about the pain in my shoulder, and he tells me it's actually coming from my neck. The good news is with my insurance, painkillers and muscle relaxants are really cheap! Current Mood: complacent (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 16th, 2008
9:34 am	Sheared Last time my hair got seriously long and I didn't feel I could afford a trip to an actual professional barber, I just hacked it short myself. Although a clerk at my bank surprised me by telling me she liked my hair when I walked in, after another long while I felt it was time to let a professional stylist have a crack at it. I've been getting some compliments, too, although one of the players at my poker game thought Eric Clapton had just sat down next to him. Speaking of poker, another surprising first-place finish last night. I called a few big bets I could have stayed away from, but by and large folded my way to the top, hanging in long enough to call all in with pocket Kings when everyone else was betting the pair of Queens they'd hit, and pick up a few big blinds when I'd hit a pair on the board. Then when it was just me and the chip leader head to head, I got dealt pocket Aces, and tossed all my chips in saying "Let's not prolong this any longer than we have to." Then the next hand after that I stayed with an A-2 and hit two pair on the river. "Let's not prolong this," I said... This morning, hopefully, off to see a doctor about the persistent pain in my right shoulder. I hope the financial office will let me check in. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: George Harrison, "Awaiting On You All" (1 Comment |Comment on this)