Lately I have been putting in some marathon sessions. I seem to start by losing 4-5 BI and then just hanging around and being patient with huge donks at the tables. I usually finish up break even or down just a bit. I just can't bear to quit the game until I absolutely have to go to bed or work or whatever. I always have the intention of playing a series of short sessions. Maybe I will stick to that.

I am pretty much break even on the month, especially after two decent sized losing sessions, but I am playing much better and feel very confident after my big downswing all the same. I haven't been playing nearly as much as the last four months, but will just have to put the time in to ride out the variance. I also had just started working with MrNutFlush and Klamsauce before all the holiday madness, and will need to pick that up again as I think we were all getting something out of it.

The restaurant has been super duper busy. It has been as if the holidays just never ended. One of our competitors in town closed, and we have been taking in a lot of what used to be their business. I think I heard they did around 2.5 million in sales a year. Hopefully we can capture around 20% or more of that business. I did the math to what that would come out to on my end, and it would be a pretty significant raise. I am a bit tired of working so much, though, and would like to drop one shift per week, if only to keep my sanity. I absolutely live for Sundays which is my only day off with my family. We have been going to a few museums, recently. I am not even tempted to watch football.

Studying for my sommelier test has been a low priority as of late, but that will have to change as I have only a little more than 2 months til the test. The last two weeks have not been without their ah-ha moments. I went up to Napa last week and had a great tasting at Grgich Hills and Flora Springs. I tasted some wine out of a 100% American Oak barrel, and then the same wine that was aging for the same amount of time in a 100% French Oak barrel. The difference was super clear, and something I had always read people could detect without quite believing it. I think I can pick it out now. I also seem to be picking up many more aromas in the wines I am tasting. Hands on experiences and focused tastings are really making a difference in my comprehension of what I am reading in books.

I think I will just have to resort to studying during the time I have during the day, and grinding 6 tables at night. It is possible, given my recent losing and winning patterns during the sessions, that I am getting myself into trouble unnecessarily. I would love to start exercising again, but it is just too cold to get out. I know it is California and all, and I am probably being a wimp, but I have been pretty freaking cold as of late.

Our tenant is going to break her lease, and it could possibly screw us out of the very slim chance we had of purchasing a new house. I put in a lot of hours at the restaurant the last 9 months with the specific aim of upping my income and qualifying for something in the neighborhood we now rent in. I won't know how successful I have been until I file later this month and see what we can get approved for. Maybe we can't afford where we would like to live anyway. All the same, she has been nothing but trouble, and I am glad to not have to deal with her any longer, tbh. We will not be giving her deposit back, but I have the feeling she won't pay her last month's rent anyway. I found out she is moving to a really rough neighborhood with her two adolescent sons, and I feel a little bad for her at the same time I feel a lot of anger towards her. The good news is we have already gotten a lot of interest from new prospective tenants, so we should be able to get someone else in there.

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ

Almost forgot to mention the Pixar tour. Most of the interesting stuff was in the No Photography zone, and I will spare you pictures of me by giant Pixar movie characters. Our host was very gracious, and he hooked us up with a lot of Pixar memorabilia and movies. We brought him Christmas cookies and a bottle of Maker's Mark.

It was interesting to see how a highly functioning, successful business is run. Looked like an amazing amount of creativity and an amazing amount of work. 4 years of work for one movie, and we got to see stuff from the very earliest character development and story boards to the finished product. Fascinating to say the least.

PFJ