JamesSlusher.com

I’ve been struggling along with a back injury I got at work in November.  Of my two lowest discs, one is bulging and the other is pretty much herniated.  I also damaged my left wrist and right elbow and am weaker in my arms than usual (though the pain isn’t as constant or intense as the back stuff).

Yesterday I went to the back doctor to get another cortizone shot.  He told me that I could never again do squats or military presses or any sort of standing weightlifting that would put added strain on my lower lumbar region.  Never.

I’ve been in a bad mood ever since then.  I’m no ubermensch, but much of my self-identity is tied up in being stronger than average.  I’m no giant, but pound for pound, I’m used to being one of the strongest people I know.  Having activities in the gym eliminated and modified just plain bothers me.

Admittedly, I hate doing squats.  But I did them simply so I wouldn’t end up looking like a chicken with a big chest and skinny legs.  Now that’s out.  Permanently.  Not to mention that on my Physical Therapist’s little grip tester thing I register lower than average on both hands (the right slightly and the left significantly).  Lower than average is not where I want to be at.

I’m bummed.

Bluff Magazine has an online version which I frequent, partly because of Doyle Brunson’s blog which features his “Doylism of the Day”.

Today’s was “Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.”

He’s right.  Seems like it is lasting forever for me, at least.

I mentioned a few months ago how I was determined to one day become a profitable player on Sharkscope.

I am tickled to announce that today is that day.

UPDATE:  If you see this post more than one day old, you may be confused.  I didn’t keep my winning ways, so I am now slightly in the negatives again.  It won’t be long , however, until it is positive permanently.

You might think that as you rise in the level of buy-in that the level of skill of the players increases proportionally. For instance it would seem a safe assumption, that the players in a $10 tourney are somewhat better than those in a $5 tournament.

You’d be wrong. The average $10 dollar player is definitely not twice as good (or even, in my opinion, significantly better) than a $5 player. He/she is just willing to bet twice as much. That’s all. There are weirdo’s, lunatics, suckers and fish at every level. The only real benefit to someone like me building up his stack slowly and starting out at the lower levels is that you can figure out how to navigate around these people far less expensively at the $2 and $5 level.

I am, as always, a gambling genius.

I just booked my flight and hotel to my second annual trip to the WSOP. Tough times in the country are turning into a boon for me as the flight and the hotel are dirt cheap. I got the room for less than half of what I paid last year and it’s an upgraded room in a nicer casino.

They haven’t published the 2009 WSOP schedule yet, but I already know that there will be a $1500 buy-in tourney that I’m interested in starting that Saturday and going thru Monday. There is one of various stripes going on about all the time. If there aren’t any No Limit Hold ‘Em tourneys in the designated time, I will get into a Razz or Badugi tourney.  Those are both types of poker I tend to do fairly well in and would expect to money.  That is my expectation, reality is not always in accord with what I expect.

This trip, as it was last year, is for the sole purpose of magnifying my spot in WSOP history.

There are many cynics and naysayers amongst the citizenry. They are jaded and gloomy and positive that good can’t come from the man we have just elected President. They are sure that Barack Obama can’t help us. They will tell you, at great lengths, that he can’t restore the Constitution to it’s former glory nor can he regain America’s moral high ground. Nor can he restore the rule of law, fix the healthcare system or bring progressivism to Washington, D.C. They will tell you, with absolute certainty, that he can’t do it, it is just not in him.

They are absolutely right. He can’t.

But we can. And this is one president who won’t stand in our way.

Yes, We Can.

NO, this post isn’t one of those “wow, I haven’t posted for awhile” posts. I know I haven’t posted for awhile. I was there while I wasn’t doing it, so my laziness comes as no surprise. This post is about my behind. There is too much of it, to be precise.

Yeah, I’ve gotten myself fat again. There are things outside of my control that I can blame it on, but really it comes down to me feeding myself more calories than I used up. Pretty simple, really. Why I was choking down too many calories and why I wasn’t burning them back up is irrelevant. The fat on my belly really doesn’t care why it got there. My concern is how I’m going to get it off (no matter what it wants).

First things first, I need to cut some calories. No more snacks when I get home. After work I tend to futz around in the kitchen and scrounge in the fridge for something to eat. Why, I don’t know. I really have no reason to be hungry because I have usually eaten within a couple hours prior to getting home. Since it’s not a sustenance thing, it has to go.

Second, no in between meals snacks. That should be a no-brainer for a diabetic, but this pump has made me tolerant of things like that. I do because I can. Doing it has made me fat, so maybe just because I can, doesn’t mean I should.

Third (and not directly related to weight), I’m going to cut down on sodas. For a guy who drinks more than a gallon of diet drinks a day, that’s a big deal. So on Tuesdays and Thursdays, no diet sodas. I haven’t quite talked myself out of all caffeinated products on those days, I might have unsweetened tea or something, but definitely no Diet Mountain Dew (or anything that comes bottled from Pepsi or Coke).

Those three things are the lifestyle changes I’m willing to make in pursuit of the slimmer me. We will see how they work out.

It’s a YouTube kinda day. Check out this abridged history of American warfare from WWII to the present. Oh yeah, they use food to represent the countries.

I wish Physics was cool twenty years ago.  Or rather, I wish I had known how cool it is.