On the Road to Tunica.....

....a place I said I would NEVER, EVER again visit...and yet, here we are, sitting in the parking lot of Best Buy...having just bought a laptop 'chiller' to set my laptop on and keep it from overheating. (the damn thing doesn't set right, and I'm close to walking it back in there and swapping it out for another one! Is that my O.C.D. taking over?)

I also tried to get the new 'FLO-TV' handheld unit...which is a snappy new piece of technology that allows you to watch TV...literally watch TV...from, well...the poker table! And its pretty cheap, $150 for the unit...then $17 a month or something for the service. What could be better in my attempts at a 'new image' that involves me having NO involvement with people at the table than to have a TV to watch, along with my iPod to listen to? Well...my luck, neither store in Biloxi had it. So now I will be 'sans FLO-TV' on my trip to CottonLand. Wonderful.

Well, try as I did to never go to this place...some things in life just can't be avoided. And if getting back into the Beau Rivage is dependant upon me completing a 'rehab assignment' in Tunica, then so be it. I am literally taking $2000...and completely expect to come home on Saturday with none of it. We are calling this a $2000 'investment' on getting back into my home casino. Kind of pathetic...I know, but I am becoming 'The Conforming Monkey' these days...so I am biting the bullet and taking one for the team.

Took a quick tour thru the Verizon store and discovered I was eligible for a free upgrade to their newest wireless internet toy...so of course I took them up on their offer...so we shall see how much better this one is than my previous one...if at all. I am actually quite pleased with Verizon and their service over the 2 years I have used them. My effing Cable One signal seems to go out every night at some point...and usually after I've just raised with AA deep in a tourney on some online poker room ...so as well as being my 'on the road' internet provider that gets me away from the hotels and their $13.99 a day bullshit charge...it also saves me in home emergencies.


I was supposed to have left yesterday for Tunica...but a couple things stopped me. One: The yard again needed to be mowed, and it pretty much rained all day. Two: I wanted to try and pop something in the Sunday majors. I came close on a couple, finishing 14th in one and 30th in another...good for not much...and in the 1 Million Dollar Turbo Takedown, where 1st was good for $60,000....I finished 1325th out of like 19,000 or something for $130. Woo-hoo! I also won a satellite into another satellite for that new contest they have to win that kickass Lamborghini. Now my question...if someone normal (like me) wins this thing...how the FUCK are they going to afford to pay the insurance on it? I guess I'll worry about it after I win it!

So yeah, I pretty much broke even for the day. Which is about what I've been doing since I got home from Vegas. The 4 day respite from poker while we went to the beach with family was kind of nice, actually. The wife made some wonderful dinner, and we got a good night of sleep. I woke up and got after mowing the grass. Holy crap, it just keeps getting harder and harder. Mainly its the ghastly heat and humidity. But the yard looks awesome. And now, like I have the last few times I did the yard work, I am wrestling with a tremendous headache that I have figured out is a result of the intense heat and subsequent sweating I do.

Squirrel took Mollie to get her 9-inch nails of death clipped, and to cash a check I wrote her for some Tunica cash...only the bitches at the bank wouldn't cash it, and almost caused her to have a panic attack. Something about signatures not matching. Whatever. These banks can be such assholes about letting you have access to your OWN money. What I really love is how they only ALLOW you take out $500 a day from the ATM. I mean...it is OUR money, right? Just making sure. Or how about Bank of America? If you travel any significant distance...and try to make a charge...BOOM! Declined! Why? They are trying to 'protect you.' Because they see it as abnormalities on your account. Yeah...what it is is fucking embarassing when that waitress walks back over to your table with that fucked up facial expression on her face that we all know...I mean...since we were 18 right? Uh-oh...she has that 'your card's been declined sir' look on her face. WHAT NOW!???

I have yet to make a room reservation in Tunica. Yeah, its safe to say my heart isn't in this trip. Did finally hear from my backer this morning, in the form of an email. That was nice. Was getting a wee bit nervous...hadn't heard from her since Vegas. She was very encouraging. And actually had some good advice: Pretend like you are somewhere other than Tunica. Hmmm....I shall give that a shot!

I would have snagged a couple of movies from Redbox...except for two things: 1) I'm pretty sure I have seen just about every new title out there, including 'Green Zone' which we stopped and rented on the way back from Destin the other night. Pretty good movie. Thought Matt Damon was very solid in his role. 2) I highly doubt there is ANYWHERE in Tunica where I could drop the movie off at after I had finished it. So we will hope that the new modem has lightning fast connection speed and I will attempt to watch something on streaming video on NETFLIX.

Meant to give a shout out to Tim Thompson...one of my most avid supporters, both on this blog and in general. He snapped off a nice tourney on Pokerstars a couple weeks ago...for like $4k. Those are tough as hell to win...I think we all know that. So big props to Tim!

To Mrs Cutler! I know you read my blog. Your son, Joseph...who I thought was a good friend of mine? Ever since these marriage plans of his I and several of his other friends have ceased to exist in his world. In fact, he literally has failed to even return a phone call or text in the last 3 weeks. I would show concern for his well-being...but I just can't bring myself to think anything has befallen him, except the lovebug. So please...tell that little son of your to please contact me! And oh...thanks for reading my blog, maam. :)

Um...okay that's about enough. Time to get the hell on the road. According to my calculations...being 7:30pm now...I should be getting up there after midnight...which, I guess is okay, assuming I get a room!!! Hotel Toyota isn't as great as it was when I was about ten years younger!

Monkey